title: Saints Row 2

text: • Shaundi investigates the Sons of Samedi, a Haitian voodoo gang who run drugs operations, led by "The General" (Greg Eagles) and his right-hand, Mr. Sunshine (Phil LaMarr). One of Shaundi's exes, DJ Veteran Child (Neil Patrick Harris), is a high-ranking lieutenant, who is forced by the gang to kidnap Shaundi after the Saints interfere in their operations and steal most of their customers. The Boss kills Veteran Child to rescue Shaundi, before focusing on eliminating the Sons of Samedi by killing Mr. Sunshine and the General.


title: Saints Row 2

text: After defeating all the rival gangs, the Saints find themselves targeted by Ultor's power-hungry CEO, Dane Vogel (Jay Mohr), who was playing the gangs against each other to lower real estate values in Stilwater, which Ultor could then purchase and redevelop. After fending off several attacks by Ultor's private security forces, the Saints retaliate by destroying one of the company's labs and killing its board of directors. Taking advantage of this to assume full control of Ultor, Vogel decides to personally deal with the Saints, but before he can do so, he finds himself targeted by them at a press conference. Escaping back to the Ultor Building, Vogel is pursued by the Boss, who fights their way to Vogel's office and kills him. Afterward, the Saints return to ruling over Stilwater undisputed.


title: Saints Row 2

text: At any point during the game, the Boss can listen to wiretap conversations between Troy and former Saints leader Julius Little (Keith David) at the police station, which reveal that Troy asked Julius to disband the gang in exchange for not arresting certain members. Knowing that the player would disagree, Julius attempted to kill them on Hughes' yacht, then retired. The Boss calls former Saints lieutenant Dex Jackson, who left the gang to work for Ultor, to discuss their findings, and agrees to meet him in person. When they arrive, however, the Boss is met by Julius instead, and realizes Dex lured them both into a trap. After surviving an attack by Ultor's security forces, the Boss and Julius argue over what the Saints have become, before the Boss executes Julius in revenge.


title: Saints Row 2

text: Volition began work on "Saints Row 2" in 2005, about a year before "Saints Row" was released. The sequel was first announced by THQ's CEO Brian Farrell in a February 2007 conference call, alongside another six franchise continuations for the 2008 fiscal year. Game details began to surface in May 2008 after the first teaser trailer was released and sites like IGN and "GameSpot" reported on an early version of the game.


title: Saints Row 2

text: One of the development team's core goals was to develop an identity for the "Saints Row" franchise within the open world genre. The series was known as a ""Grand Theft Auto" clone" based on its first release's similarities to the open world sandbox game "Grand Theft Auto III". Accordingly, "Saints Row 2" was compared to the "Grand Theft Auto "series' own upcoming sequel, "Grand Theft Auto IV". When questioned about the two sequels' close release dates, lead producer Greg Donovan responded that they thought their game could compete, that he saw the "Grand Theft Auto" sequel moving "in a more realistic direction", and that there was "room for more than just one game" in the open world genre as "a very different experience than what ... other games are looking to do". The team took an "over-the-top" design approach, with cartoonish pastiche and "wild and outrageous" gameplay. Many early game elements were considered too crass to be included in the final release.


title: Saints Row 2

text: Many of the original "Saints Row" developers continued onto the sequel's team. Thus, the team worked from their lessons learned rather than starting anew. The two games were consequently similar in design. They overhauled the game engine to enhance the sequel's graphics, and added contrast and higher-quality textures to make the city setting of Stilwater more realistic. Visual enhancements were also applied to people, cars, explosions, lighting, shadows, and the weather system. A central design goal was to "create a world that exists independent of the player" that featured more realistic non-player characters (NPCs) that would smoke cigarettes, use cellphones, drink coffee, open umbrellas when it rained, and physically interact. The original game's engine could not support proximity NPC interaction like sitting together or cuddling. As the city design finalized late in development, the team laboriously hand-placed 20,000 nodes throughout the game world that trigger NPC actions.


title: Saints Row 2

text: The "Saints Row" series narrative was conceived as a three-part story, with "Saints Row 2" as the second of the three. While the developers continued the story of the original game, they sought to accommodate newcomers to the series. The final script had roughly 80,000 lines of dialogue, twice that of "Saints Row"'s. The story drew strong cinematic influence from Quentin Tarantino films "Pulp Fiction" and "Kill Bill". While the script was written to follow "a path of betrayal, revenge and redemption", the game retains "Saints Row"s light humor, with the "over-the-top, socially distorted" narrative juxtaposed with dark, gritty moments. "Saints Row"'s silent protagonist speaks in "Saints Row 2", granting the protagonist more personality and improving the storytelling, according to James Tsai, one of the lead designers. They sought to heavily stylize the game's characters and assign them unique personality traits. The basic character designs followed naturally from the story Volition wanted to tell, but the characters' personalities and mannerisms were mainly a product of the voice acting performances, where the actors had freedom to interpret and develop their characters. The game's voice actors include film and television stars such as Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Dorn, Mila Kunis, Jay Mohr, Keith David, and Eliza Dushku.


title: Saints Row 2

text: While the first game was released as an Xbox 360 exclusive, Volition expanded the sequel's initial development to the PlayStation 3 platform. The platform was successful in Europe, where Volition wished to expand. The port was developed in-house by a team that previously worked on Xbox 360 development. They struggled with the PlayStation 3's Cell architecture. The game was particularly unstable during development, and would crash after several hours of play. Lead producer Greg Donovan blamed their "failing to take systems and features to completion" as programmers fought last-minute bugs, artists lacked time to finalize designs, and consequently, playtest versions were not ready until late in the development cycle.


title: Saints Row 2

text: The game's soundtrack features about 170 licensed tracks accessible across twelve in-game radio stations while driving or at home. Station genres include pop, rock, hip-hop, R&B, funk, soul, alternative, indie, metal, easy listening, world, classical, reggae, and electronic with artists such as As I Lay Dying, Opeth, Duran Duran, Lamb of God, The Used, My Chemical Romance, Avenged Sevenfold, Paramore, Panic! at the Disco and Run-D.M.C. The player can create a custom playlist of the licensed tracks to play on a separate station. Lead audio designer Frank Petreikis's budget for licensed music was double that of the previous game so as to secure more prominent tracks.


title: Saints Row 2

text: Volition extended the game's over-the-top atmosphere and humor into the radio stations via commercials. For example, commercials that promoted Ultor Corporation products served to enhance the player's sense of the corporation's omnipresence in Stilwater. The radio commercials were recorded with voice actors in the same room, rather than apart, so as to maximize their group dynamism. Many of the in-game commercials went through several drafts and the developers found this writing process to be challenging.


title: Saints Row 2

text: Prior to its release, "Saints Row 2" was heavily marketed and promoted through Internet and television trailers. Volition also ran several fat contests with series-related paraphernalia as prizes. The game's original release date was delayed for marketing considerations. The game's first trailer, in March 2008, was presented as a tourism promotion about the Ultor Corporation's role in rebuilding Stilwater. A full marketing campaign featuring American film actor Gary Busey began the next month. The "Street Lessons with Uncle Gary" video series demonstrated particular aspects of gameplay. Subsequent trailers over the next several months also highlighted gameplay elements, but one made light of "Grand Theft Auto IV"'s lack of replay value, and another demonstrated the cooperative mode using characters modeled on the candidates from the 2008 United States presidential election. A redesigned official website and community network was launched in July 2008, and American pornographic actress Tera Patrick was featured in her own marketing campaign for the game.


title: Saints Row 2

text: Promotional contests throughout mid-2008 included "Pimp Your Crib" and "Summer of Bling". Another competition from THQ and "WorthPlaying" gave the winner a trip to a San Francisco "Saints Row 2" multiplayer event and published their thoughts online. British fashion label Joystick Junkies ran a T-shirt design competition in September 2008, and the top entry was featured in the game's first downloadable content pack. Another round of "Summer of Bling" awarded the shirts as prizes. The "Trick Your Pack" tool launched in September let the player create their own game box art. There were also other promotions and give-aways. At conventions, "Saints Row 2" appeared at the 2008 E3, THQ Gamer's Day, Comic Con, PAX, GameStop Expo, and Leipzig Games Conventions. The game also promoted itself in the Myspace Music Tour and November 2008, an Australian fundraiser for men's health. In November, THQ signed a deal with Massive Incorporated to include in-game advertisements on their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 products. In-game and online, players can also find movie posters throughout the city that promote upcoming releases.


title: Saints Row 2

text: The game was originally scheduled for release in North America on August 26, 2008, but was delayed to October 14 both to add final touches and to launch in a more advantageous release window. The game released in three different "Collectors Editions", each with a copy of the game, a poster, a limited edition art book, and several extras. The "Saints Row 2" "Initiation Pack", exclusive to Australia and New Zealand, included promotional items such as a pizza box and bullet-shaped USB memory stick. The Russia-exclusive "Gift - Buka Edition" also included the bullet-shaped USB stick, and the "Gun Pack" included a gun-shaped USB stick. A month before the game's release, "Saints Row 2" producer Dan Sutton stated in an interview that they "definitely" planned to make downloadable content.


title: Saints Row 2

text: In June 2008, THQ confirmed that a Microsoft Windows port of the game was in development. It was developed by the localization team at CD Projekt, the CD Projekt Localisation Centre. The studio later became known as Porting House, and has been referred to by Volition as "CD Projekt Black" (in parallel to CD Projekt Red). The port was released in North America on January 5, 2009, in Europe on January 23, and in Australia on February 5. In April 2016, Volition released a Linux port of the Windows version.


title: Saints Row 2

text: In the aftermath of the auctioning of THQ's assets following its bankruptcy in 2013, the source code for the PC port of "Saints Row 2" was believed to be lost. In the interim, the game has become highly unplayable, with no multiplayer support following the shutdown of the GameSpy service. In October 2019, Volition announced it had found the source code and that it would begin work to rebuild the game for modern systems, including replacing GameSpy with Steam matchmaking support, along with allowing for user mods. Additionally, when the update is released it will contain the two DLCs, "Ultor Exposed" and "Corporate Warfare" which had not been previously released for personal computers. The community manager that had led the effort, Mike Watson (also known as "IdolNinja"), died from cancer on August 5, 2021, but he was aware his condition had been deteriorating in the prior year and ensured that the work was moved to a small team with Volition's and Deep Silver's support to continue on without his lead.


title: Saints Row 2

text: "Saints Row 2" received several downloadable content (DLC) releases, including two episodic expansion packs: "Ultor Exposed" and "Corporate Warfare".


title: Saints Row 2

text: "Ultor Exposed" adds character customization and vehicle options, including ""-themed content. The Saints attempt to destroy Ultor and they get help from an Ultor worker, Tera, to expose Ultor's darker side. It also adds multiplayer content, including four online multiplayer maps and a cooperative mode metagame wherein players compete for a cash bonus during story missions by accumulating points from special kill bonuses and property damage. The pack's missions feature American pornographic actress Tera Patrick, who plays a whistleblower and former microbiologist for the Ultor Corporation. Originally slated for release on April 16, 2009, the pack was delayed a week to April 23 so it could be released alongside the demo for Volition-developed game "Red Faction: Guerrilla". It was released on April 23, 2009. IGN praised the game's new co-op metagame but criticized its relatively short missions. "Eurogamer" gave a negative review and criticized its value proposition.


title: Saints Row 2

text: "Corporate Warfare" focuses on the struggle between the 3rd Street Saints and the Ultor Corporation. The pack adds character costume, facial hair, and vehicle options. It also includes three multiplayer maps and another cooperative mode metagame wherein players compete in ranking by performing vehicle stunts. "Corporate Warfare" was released via digital download on May 28, 2009.


title: Saints Row 2

text: The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases of the game received "generally favorable" reviews, according to video game review score aggregator Metacritic, and the Windows release received "mixed or average" reviews.


title: Saints Row 2

text: Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of "The Escapist" "Zero Punctuation" named "Saints Row 2" his 2008 game of the year. It was a runner up for GameShark's overall and Xbox 360 games of the year. "Game Developer" named Volition in their top 50 developers of the year for their work on the game, and THQ in their top 20 publishers.


title: Saints Row 2

text: The console version of "Saints Row 2" garnered generally positive reviews. The PC version was relatively less well received due to frame rate issues and visual pop-in. 1UP.com gave the game a B, stating that it "relishes the hedonistic aspects of the open-world genre", that it has "plenty of innovation" and that the "excellence in the presentation makes the world of Saints [Row] 2 a great introduction for newcomers to open world games".


title: Saints Row 2

text: Eurogamer gave the game a 9/10, stating that it "is one of the most ridiculous and enjoyable games of the year". "Game Informer" gave the game an 8.75/10, stating that "in its own silly, b-movie way, it's a damn fun game" and a "profately good time". GameSpot gave the game an 8.0/10, stating that "from beginning to end, this is one of the most fun urban chaos games out there" and that it will "keep you happily creating havoc for a long time". GameSpy gave the game four and a half stars out of five, stating that it "offers up a shooting and driving experience that is plenty of fun" and that it is "self-consciously funny in its irreverence" and "will definitely appeal to much of its audience".


title: Saints Row 2

text: IGN U.S. gave the game an 8.2/10, stating that "the core gameplay experience is extremely enjoyable". IGN AU gave the game an 8/10, stating that it is "big, dumb fun". IGN UK gave the game a 7.5/10, stating that it "demonstrates that there is still plenty of mileage to be eked out of open-world games" and that "there's certainly enough here to keep any fans of sandbox violence entertained".


title: Saints Row 2

text: Among positive acclaim, some publishers gave the game generally negative reviews. UK magazine "Edge" gave the game a 5/10, stating that "few of the game's details will stick in your mind for long, and its pranky focus means it rarely gives you anything interesting to do with the toys on offer".


title: Saints Row 2

text: "Entertainment Weekly" flagged the game as "racist, misogynistic, crude, cynical, humorless and stupid" and labelled it the worst game of 2008, despite previously giving the game a B and calling it "a larcenous good time".


title: Saints Row 2

text: The game did not gain a favourable response from New York City officials and police. City spokespersons requested that the game be pulled from shelves upon its release; NYPD union boss Patrick Lynch criticized the game, stating that "these horrible and violent video games desensitize young people to violence while encouraging depravity, immorality while glorifying criminal behavior".


title: Saints Row 2

text: Jack Thompson, a former lawyer and longtime critic of violent video games, called "Saints Row 2" a ""Grand Theft Auto" ripoff", and said that "as is true with pornography, as is true with violence, the subsequent products tend to push the envelope even more". On Tuesday, October 14, 2008, the game's US release date, candidate Leslie Crocker Snyder and others spoke out against the game, surrounded by police union members who support her bid.


title: Saints Row 2

text: Governor David Paterson signed a bill in July 2008 requiring prominent display of age ratings on video games and mandating parental control on game consoles by 2010.


title: Saints Row 2

text: "Saints Row 2" sold approximately 365,000 copies in its first month, outselling "Dead Space", which was released the same day. The Xbox 360 version comprised the majority of these sales. The game shipped over two million units by the end of 2008. Still, analyst Doug Creutz reported that the game's sales to this point were well below expectations. Following "Saints Row 2"'s January 2009 Windows release, the game had shipped over 2.6 million copies by the next month. In May 2009, THQ reported a $431 million loss in revenue, but "Saints Row 2" sales totaled 2.8 million. Combined with the original release, the series had worldwide sales in excess of six million, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises.


title: Saints Row 2

text: As of September 2010, "Saints Row 2" has sold over 3.4 million units worldwide. The game's success led THQ to shift its focus to large franchises.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: Arsen Sergeyevich Pavlov (; 2 February 1983 – 16 October 2016), known by his Motorola (Моторо́ла), was a Russian militant known for murdering and torturing Ukrainian POWs, who led the Sparta Battalion up until his death in a blast on his apartment in Donetsk.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: A Russian citizen, Pavlov was born in Ukhta, Komi ASSR. His father came from Tver Oblast, his mother was a native of the Komi ASSR. He lived in Rostov-on-Don and spent some time in the Russian marines. According to a newspaper report by "Georgian Journal" he had serious problems with Rostov's police while working there at a car wash, since he allegedly went on a drunken joyride in a car stolen from there.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: In an interview, Pavlov states that he had abandoned a wife and 5-year-old son in Russia before going to Ukraine, where he then remarried to 21-year-old Olena Kolenkina in Slovyansk.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: According to Pavlov, he got his nickname "Motorola" after working with Motorola-manufactured equipment while serving for four years as a wireman in the military or due to his role as the chief radioman for the commanding officer in the marine infantry.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: On 16 March 2014, he participated in "anti-Maidan" protests in Kharkiv, Ukraine that called for Russia's intervention. He was caught on camera in video footage of the events by the city's internet news publisher. Calling himself 'Motorola', he became the leader of the Sparta Battalion, a pro-Russian armed group fighting in the war in Donbas against the Ukrainian government. He declared the region to be "the Land of Russians".


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: Pavlov led his battalion in both the Battle of Ilovaisk and the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport. The government of Ukraine placed him on its wanted list for the creation of illegal paramilitary and military formations (Article 260, part 5). In February 2015, the European Union added him to its list of sanctioned individuals.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: On 2 October 2014, Pavlov threatened to go to Poland after the plane of Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu was not allowed to fly over Polish airspace on 29 August 2014.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: On 24 June 2016, an assassination attempt was made on him in Donetsk after he left a traumatological center when a car bomb exploded. A few cars were damaged in the area, but no casualties or wounds were reported.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: In April 2015, the "Kyiv Post" released a recording in which Pavlov discussed killing fifteen Ukrainian prisoners of war. Pavlov and his battalion have also been accused of torturing captured Ukrainian soldiers. After Ukrainian soldier Ihor Branovytsky was captured near Donetsk and was in custody of Pavlov's group, Pavlov deliberately killed the prisoner on 21 January 2015 with two headshots.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: He publicly married Olena Kolenkina on 11 July 2014, in a wedding amid the war. The wedding was attended by Igor Girkin and Pavel Gubarev. In a June 2014 interview to Russian newspaper "Zavtra", Pavlov stated that he was already married and had a five-year-old son. He and his bride were featured in a caricature by Donetsk artist Serhiy Zakharov, who was subsequently held prisoner and tortured for several months by pro-Russian separatists. He rented an apartment in Donetsk for ₴2,500 per month and owned a Lada Niva given as a gift by Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: Arsen Pavlov was killed on 16 October 2016 by an IED explosion in his apartment's elevator in Donetsk. Pavlov's bodyguard was also killed in the blast. Donetsk People's Republic officials accused of the killing a previously unkown "Misanthropic Division", an alleged Ukrainian Neo-Nazi group that was possibly fabricated by Russian FSB agents Ukrainian officials denied the allegations, stating that Arsen Pavlov was "lucky" to be killed so he would not have to face justice for his crimes, further suggesting the rebel leader was likely assassinated by Russia's special forces as part of a wider purge against the early leaders of the rebel movement, pointing to the fact that about half dozen rebel commanders have been assassinated. DPR authorities declared a three-day mourning commemorating "DPR hero, Colonel Arseny Pavlov".


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: Following his death, the Ukrainian hacking group Cyber Junta disclosed information from Pavlov's phone, including personal photos and videos, legal documents, and correspondence. In the weeks leading up to his assassination, Pavlov expressed worry over a conflict with Russian officers, and believed he had become expendable. On 15 October, Pavlov instructed his wife to not trust Russian FSB agents. Shaun Walker, the Moscow correspondent of "The Guardian" reported that Pavlov was extremely paranoid about his security, and that it is likely that such an attack would require aid from someone within his inner circle.


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: The assassination of Arsen Pavlov was part of a range of high-profile deaths within the ranks of Ukraine's separatists, starting with the assassination of Alexander Bednov, the leader of the "Batman Battalion" and Aleksey Mozgovoy, the leader of the "Prizrak Brigade" in May 2015. The death of Arsen Pavlov came within a month of the death of Yevgeny Zhilin, the founder of "Oplot Battalion", which would later form into the "Oplot Brigade".


title: Arsen Pavlov

text: Ukrainian officials have stated that Arsen Pavlov was assassinated by Russia's special forces as part of a drive to purge early separatist leaders that took part in the original insurgency of 2014, who may be charismatic but are often unpredictable. Moreover, most of the separatist leaders assassinated headed their own units, which would often engage in infighting over territory or control of the black market, suspecting that the assassinations are part of a drive to form a more uniform chain of command. Another theory behind the assassination has been that there is a drive to get rid of the first generation of rebels who were implicated in war crimes, therefore giving the separatist forces a more acceptable public face. Indeed, Amnesty International has called for an investigation into Arsen Pavlov executing 15 unarmed Ukrainian prisoners. Moreover, Arsen Pavlov's alleged war crimes have been one of the sticking points of the implementations of the Minsk II agreement, with Ukrainian authorities stating that he would not be granted amnesty. Furthermore, Arsen Pavlov was not a Ukrainian citizen, being born and raised in Russia, and serving in the Russian military during the Chechen conflict. Thus, his involvement as the leader of a Ukrainian separatist movement was pointed to as an example of Russian interference in the conflict. Ukrainian member of Parliament, Maksym Burbak claimed that the assassination may have been a ploy to replace Russian born separatist leaders with Ukrainian born ones, making the war in Donbas look more like an internal affair. Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko suggested the assassination could be used as cover for Russian separatists to carry out terrorist attacks within Ukraine.


title: Nanny (film)

text: Nanny is a 2022 American horror film written and directed by Nikyatu Jusu, in her feature directorial debut. It stars Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls, Morgan Spector, Rose Decker, and Leslie Uggams. Jason Blum serves as an executive producer through his Blumhouse banner.


title: Nanny (film)

text: The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2022, where it won the Grand Jury Prize, making it the first horror film to ever win this award at Sundance. The film was given a limited theatrical release on November 23, 2022, by Amazon Studios, prior to streaming on Prime Video on December 16, 2022.


title: Nanny (film)

text: Aisha, an undocumented Senegalese immigrant living in New York City, is hired as a nanny to care for the daughter of a wealthy Upper East Side couple. Aisha is chasing the American Dream, and she is hoping to bring her son that she left behind in Senegal to live with her in the United States. As the story moves forward, she is forced to confront a concealed truth that threatens to shatter her precarious American Dream.


title: Nanny (film)

text: On April 13, 2021, it was announced that Nikyatu Jusu would make her directorial debut with "Nanny", a film that she wrote and is part of the 2020 The Black List of screenplays that would not be released in theaters during that calendar year. In June 2021, Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls, Morgan Spector, Zephani Idoko and Phylicia Rashad joined the cast of the film. Phylicia Rashad was replaced by Leslie Uggams before production began.


title: Nanny (film)

text: "Nanny" had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2022. In March 2022, Amazon Studios and Blumhouse Productions acquired distribution rights to the film in a deal around $7 million, winning them in a competitive situation that also included Sony Pictures Classics and Neon. Jason Blum, who joined the film as an executive producer post-acquisition, remarked: "We're proud to have writer/director Nikyatu Jusu's "Nanny" as part of our slate for Amazon. It's a gem of a horror film that combines impressive filmmaking and powerful storytelling, and is worthy of the Grand Jury Prize it was awarded at Sundance." The studios plan to release the film both theatrically and on Prime Video. A special presentation of the film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022, followed by one at the 2022 AFI Fest on November 3, 2022. "Nanny" was given a limited theatrical release on November 23, 2022, by Amazon Studios, prior to streaming on Prime Video starting December 16, 2022.


title: Nanny (film)

text: At the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, "Nanny" won the Grand Jury Prize in the US Dramatic Competition, which made the film the first horror film, and Jusu the second Black female filmmaker, to ever win the top prize.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: Mukhtar Ansari (born 30 June 1963) is an Indian gangster and politician from Uttar Pradesh. He has been elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Mau constituency five times, including twice as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: Mukhtar Ansari is the grandson of Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, an early president of the Indian National Congress.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: In the early 1970s, the government commissioned several development projects in the backward Poorvanchal area. This resulted in the rise of organised gangs that competed with each other to grab the contracts for these projects. Mukhtar Ansari was originally an alleged member of the Makhanu Singh gang. In the 1980s, this gang clashed with another gang led by Sahib Singh, over a plot of land in Saidpur, resulting in a series of violent incidents. Brijesh Singh, an alleged member of Sahib Singh's gang, later formed his own gang and took over Ghazipur's contract work mafia in the 1990s. Ansari's gang competed with him for the control of the 100 crore contract business, which spanned areas such as coal mining, railway construction, scrap disposal, public works, and liquor business. The gangs were also allegedly involved in running protection ("goonda tax") and extortion rackets, besides other criminal activities such as kidnapping.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: By the early 1990s, Mukhtar Ansari was well known for his alleged criminal activities, especially in the districts of Mau, Ghazipur, Varanasi and Jaunpur. He entered politics around 1995 through student union in Banaras Hindu University, became an MLA in 1996, and started challenging Brijesh Singh's dominance. The two became the main gang rivals in the Poorvanchal region. In 2002, Singh allegedly ambushed Ansari's convoy. Three of Ansari's men were killed in the resulting shootout. Brijesh Singh was critically injured and presumed dead. Ansari became the undisputed gang leader in Poorvanchal. However, Brijesh Singh was later found to be alive, and the feud resumed. To counter Ansari's political influence, Singh supported the election campaign of the BJP leader Krishnanand Rai. Rai defeated Mukhtar Ansari's brother and five-time MLA Afzal Ansari from the Mohammadabad in the 2002 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Mukhtar Ansari later claimed that Rai used his political office to award all the contracts to Brijesh singh's gang, and the two planned to eliminate him.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: Ansari used the Muslim votebank to ensure his victory during the elections in the Ghazipur-Mau area. The mix of crime, politics, and religion led to several instances of communal violence in the region. After one such riot, Mukhtar Ansari was arrested on the charge of inciting people towards violence. However he was acquitted by the Court in this matter.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: While Ansari was lodged in the jail, Krishnanand Rai was shot dead in public along with his six aides. The attackers fired over 400 bullets from six AK-47 rifles; 67 bullets were recovered from the seven bodies with the help of Ramashrey Giri. Shashikant Rai, an important witness in the case, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in 2006. He had identified Ansari and Bajrangi's shooters Angad Rai and Gora Rai as the two of the gunmen who attacked Rai's convoy. The police dismissed his death as a suicide. Ansari's rival Brijesh Singh escaped from the Ghazipur-Mau area after Rai's murder. He was later arrested in 2008, in Orissa, and later entered politics as a member of the Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: In 2008, Ansari was booked for ordering an attack on Dharmendra Singh, a witness in a murder case. However, later, the victim submitted an affidavit requesting the proceedings against Ansari to be dropped. On 27 September 2017, Ansari was acquitted of murder.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: Mukhtar Ansari and his brother Afzal joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 2007. The party allowed them in, after they claimed that they had been falsely framed in criminal cases for fighting against the "feudal system", and promised to refrain from participating in any crimes. The BSP chief Mayawati portrayed Mukhtar Ansari as Robin Hood and called him "a messiah of the poor". Ansari fought the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi on a BSP ticket, while still lodged in the jail. He lost to BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi by a margin of 17,211 votes; he received 27.94% of the votes, compared to Joshi's 30.52%.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: Mukhtar Ansari and two other persons were charge-sheeted for the murder of Kapil Dev Singh in April 2009. The police also found that he had ordered the murder of a contractor Ajay Prakash Singh in August 2009. In 2010, Ansari was booked for the murder of Ram Singh Maurya. Maurya was a witness to the murder of Mannat Singh, a local contractor allegedly killed by Ansari's gang in 2009.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: The two brothers were expelled by BSP in 2010 after the party realized that they were still involved in criminal activities. A raid in Ghazipur jail, where he was lodged, had revealed that Mukhtar was living a luxurious life: items like air coolers and cooking equipment were found from his cell. He was shifted to the Mathura prison soon after the raid.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: After being expelled from BSP and being rejected by other political parties, the three Ansari brothers (Mukhtar, Afzal, and Sibkatillah) formed their own political party called the Quami Ekta Dal (QED), in 2010. Earlier, Mukhtar had launched an outfit called the Hindu Muslim Ekta Party, which was merged with QED. In 2012, he was charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act for being a member of an organised crime syndicate.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: In March 2014, Ansari announced that he will contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections against Narendra Modi from Varanasi and lost there with huge difference, besides contesting from Ghosi. However, in April, he withdrew his candidature stating that he wanted to prevent division of "secular votes".


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: On 26 January 2016, Ansari rejoined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), before the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative elections. There was widespread speculation about the Ansari brothers joining Samajwadi party a couple of months ago. BSP chief Mayawati defended his entry into the party, stating that the criminal charges against Ansari had not been proven, and that the party gives people a chance to reform themselves.


title: Mukhtar Ansari

text: Eventually, Ansari merged his Quami Ekta Dal with BSP in 2017, and won the state elections as a BSP candidate from the Mau assembly seat. He defeated his nearest rival Mahendra Rajbhar of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (a BJP ally) by 6464 votes.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: The Hong Kong national football team () represents Hong Kong in international football and is controlled by the Hong Kong Football Association, the governing body for football in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was the first in Asia to hold the AFC Asian Cup in 1956 and won third place, and was also semi-finalist in 1964. Hong Kong did not qualify for another AFC tournament until 2023. They had never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and its biggest celebrated victory was the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) where Hong Kong produced a 2–1 upset win against China which resulted in Hong Kong qualifying for the second rounds of qualification. Hong Kong has qualified for the EAFF E-1 Football Championship six times in 1995, 1998, 2003, 2010, 2019 and 2022.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: Before Hong Kong became a member of FIFA in 1954, Hong Kong began playing in the Hong Kong–Macau Interport tournament in 1937, which was one of the oldest competitions co-held by Hong Kong as well as continuously played. There were other interport tournaments in the past, such as the Shanghai-Hong Kong Interport which was first held in 1908. At that time the team was composed of ethnic Chinese as well as western expatriates, as in the 1935 and 1937 edition of Shanghai-Hong Kong Interport. There was another Interport tournament against Saigon. The aforementioned Macau, Shanghai and Saigon were not a member of FIFA nor a sovereign nation at that time, with Hong Kong and Macau only having joined FIFA in 1954 and 1978 respectively. The China national football team that participated in 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics, were mainly composed of ethnic Chinese players from Hong Kong, most famously Lee Wai Tong.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: After WWII, a number of Shanghai-based players began representing Hong Kong, such as Chang King Hai and Hsu King Shing. Hong Kong played its first international match after World War II in 1949, against South Korea. Its first victory came in 1953, a 4–0 win against South Korea.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: the Hong Kong FA became a member of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation since 1954. Since then Hong Kong played their first FIFA-recognized international match against other countries. HKFA also sent a scratch team for 1957 Merdeka Tournament, which was composed of players from Eastern due to their proximity, plus few players from other clubs. The club was having a pre-season tour in South Asia, thus the HKFA invited the club to represent Hong Kong. However, some of the players were in fact ineligible to play for Hong Kong, as they were ROC (Taiwan) international players.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: Hong Kong qualified for three of the first four editions of the Asian Cup, including a third-place finish in the 1956 edition as host. At that time, most Hong Kong players represented Republic of China (Taiwan); they finished third in the Asian Cup in the 1960 edition, leaving more inferior players to the proper Hong Kong team.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: Hong Kong has never qualified for the World Cup. However, its most celebrated victory happened during 1986 World Cup qualifying. On 19 May 1985, in Beijing, Hong Kong faced China in the final match of the first qualifying round, where Hong Kong needed a win to advance while China needed only a draw. Hong Kong, led by coach Kwok Ka Ming, produced a 2–1 upset win, with goals from Cheung Chi Tak and Ku Kam Fai, thereby winning the group and advancing to the knockout stage where it subsequently lost to Japan.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: The 1998 World Cup Asian qualifiers was considered one of Hong Kong's darkest moments as it was hit by a match-fixing scandal that involved former Sing Tao attacker Chan Tsz-Kong who was found guilty and jailed for a year after he bribed players to throw and lose a match against Thailand. Others who were involved include goalkeeper Kevin Lok Kar-Win, defenders Chan Chi-Keung and Lau Chi Yuen and striker Wai Kwan-Lung.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: The year 2009 was a turning point in the diminishing football standards of Hong Kong. On 12 December, Hong Kong defeated Japan and took their first East Asian Games football gold medal, the first major competition Hong Kong have won. This result raised the belief that the Hong Kong football team could perform in major competition. The Hong Kong football team also won the 2010 Long Teng Cup and 2011 Long Teng Cup.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: A short football fever appeared during 2018 World Cup qualifying in Hong Kong, as Hong Kong had drawn into the same group with their fierce rival, China. Due to the tensions built up from Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict, many local citizens became interested in this year's campaign; all four home matches were recorded as a sellout. Hong Kong ended the campaign with 4 victories against Bhutan and Maldives, 2 scoreless draws against China, and 2 losses against Qatar.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: In late 2018, under the guidance of English-born coach Gary White, Hong Kong qualified for their third appearance at the E-1 EAFF East Asia Cup finals. Shortly afterwards, White departed from the role.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: In April 2019, the Hong Kong Football Association appointed Finnish-born Mixu Paatelainen as the new head coach of the national football team in time for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and the E-1 EAFF East Asia Cup finals. However, after a poor run of performances, Mixu's contract was not renewed.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: On 13 December, Norwegian Jorn Andersen who formerly guided the North Korea national football team was named as the new head coach succeeding Mixu Paatelainen of the national football team in preparation for the third round of qualification of the 2023 Asian Cup finals.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: Hong Kong qualified for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup by beating Afghanistan and Cambodia, reaching the final tournament after a 55-year absence.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: The national team's home kit has always been a red shirt, red shorts, and red or white socks. The away colours are white shirts, white shorts and red or white socks.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: The crest of the Hong kong national football team has a Chinese dragon from the crest of the HKFA, which were logo has been always used as the team emblem.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: Nevertheless, the HKFA emblem was not used on jerseys until 31 May 2011, HKFA debuted current emblem for the national team.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: For some of the friendly matches and the minor qualification matches, the Hong Kong team plays most often at the Mong Kok Stadium in Kowloon, which was re-opened in 2011 after a renovation. Moreover, the 2018 edition of the Lunar New Year Cup was held in Mong Kok. The cup was a local tradition to celebrate Chinese New Year, which was held in Government Stadium in the past.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: The Jockey Club HKFA Football Training Centre is currently the main training ground for the Hong Kong national and youth teams.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: Hong Kong maintains a specific rivalry with China. The rivalry began in 1978 and for the first decades before the return of Hong Kong to China, Hong Kong produced a shock 2–1 upset in Beijing, and this led to unrest by Chinese supporters. Since then, China never lost to Hong Kong, and has achieved more successes, but the rivalry continues to have some influence on Hong Kong society.


title: Hong Kong national football team

text: The following 25 players have been called up for the friendly vs held on 21 September 2022 and 24 September 2022.


title: Titanfall

text: Titanfall is a series of video games that mainly feature first-person shooter games. The series was created by Respawn Entertainment and debuted on Xbox and Microsoft Windows; it has expanded to other consoles and platforms.


title: Titanfall

text: In "Titanfall", players control "Pilots" and their mech-style Titans, and fight in six-on-six matches set in the war-torn outer space colonies of the Frontier. The game is optimized for fast-paced, continual action, aided by wall-running abilities and populations of computer-controlled soldiers. Other titles in the series includes unique characters who are able to use special abilities.


title: Titanfall

text: "Titanfall", the first game in the series, was released for Xbox One and Microsoft Windows on March 11, 2014. On April 8, 2014 it released for Xbox 360. The game was mainly multiplayer focused with no real single-player campaign included. Instead, there was a single-player tutorial included that served as a way for the player to learn the mechanics of the game.


title: Titanfall

text: "Titanfall 2" was released on October 28, 2016 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows. This time, the game included a single-player campaign with a full-fledged story. Many of the mechanics from "Titanfall" returned, including maps in multiplayer. The game received several free updates after its launch, including a returning multiplayer mode known as Frontier Defense. The level "Effect and Cause" in particular was well-received.


title: Titanfall

text: "Titanfall: Assault" was a top-down real-time strategy game for mobile platforms in the style of "Clash Royale". It was developed by Particle City and Respawn Entertainment, published by Nexon, and released for iOS and Android in August 2017. All servers for "Titanfall: Assault" were shut down on July 30, 2018. On July 31, 2018, "Titanfall: Assault" was removed from Google Play shortly after the servers were shut down.


title: Titanfall

text: "Apex Legends" is a battle royale game that features hero shooter mechanics and the first major platform spin-off for the series. While the game is not directly tied to "Titanfall", many of its assets and gameplay features were based on "Titanfall 2". Although "Apex Legends" takes place in the "Titanfall" universe, the games do not run parallel to each other. The game was released in 2019 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows, and in 2021 for Nintendo Switch as a free-to-play game. The game was met with positive critical reception. The game holds the record for the most players signed up in 1 week at 25 million. The game currently has a playerbase of 100 million people. The mobile game version called "Apex Legends Mobile" was released on May 17, 2022


title: Titanfall

text: "Titanfall: Frontline" was a collectible card game that was played in real-time. The player collects and places Pilot, Titan, and burn cards to damage and defeat their opponent. Pilot and Titan cards can combine to perform extra damage. In January 2017, "Titanfall: Frontline" was cancelled.


title: Titanfall

text: In 2016, EA had announced that it was partnering with Nexon to create an Asian market specific version of "Titanfall" called "Titanfall Online", similar to "Counter-Strike Online" and "Call of Duty Online". This version was based on the first "Titanfall" rather than its sequel, with some slight differences like four main pilots in the game, the introduction of a new titan, and a new map. "Titanfall Online" had a closed beta in 2017. "Titanfall Online" was cancelled on July 9, 2018, primarily due to poor reception during testing and a changing market.


title: Titanfall

text: "Titanfall" is the first game developed by Respawn Entertainment, a developer founded by Jason West and Vince Zampella. As ex-employees of Infinity Ward, they helped create the "Call of Duty" franchise. The two were fired after contract disputes.


title: Neurological disorder

text: A neurological disorder is any disorder of the nervous system. Structural, biochemical or electrical abnormalities in the brain, spinal cord or other nerves can result in a range of symptoms. Examples of symptoms include paralysis, muscle weakness, poor coordination, loss of sensation, seizures, confusion, pain and altered levels of consciousness. There are many recognized neurological disorders, some relatively common, but many rare. They may be assessed by neurological examination, and studied and treated within the specialities of neurology and clinical neuropsychology.


title: Neurological disorder

text: Interventions for neurological disorders include preventive measures, lifestyle changes, physiotherapy or other therapy, neurorehabilitation, pain management, medication, operations performed by neurosurgeons or a specific diet. The World Health Organization estimated in 2006 that neurological disorders and their sequelae (direct consequences) affect as many as one billion people worldwide, and identified health inequalities and social stigma/discrimination as major factors contributing to the associated disability and their impact.


title: Neurological disorder

text: Although the brain and spinal cord are surrounded by tough membranes, enclosed in the bones of the skull and spinal vertebrae, and chemically isolated by the blood–brain barrier, they are very susceptible if compromised. Nerves tend to lie deep under the skin but can still become exposed to damage. Individual neurons, the neural circuits, and nerves into which they form are susceptible to electrochemical and structural disruption. Neuroregeneration may occur in the peripheral nervous system and thus overcome or work around injuries to some extents, but it is thought to be rare in the brain and spinal cord.


title: Neurological disorder

text: The specific causes of neurological problems vary, but can include genetic disorders, congenital abnormalities or disorders, infections, lifestyle or environmental health problems including malnutrition, brain damage, spinal cord injury, nerve injury or gluten sensitivity (with or without intestinal damage or digestive symptoms). Metal poisoning, where metals accumulate in the human body and disrupt biological processes, has been reported to induce neurological problems, at least in the case of lead. The neurological problem may start in another body system that interacts with the nervous system. For example, cerebrovascular disease involves brain injury due to problems with the blood vessels (cardiovascular system) supplying the brain; autoimmune disorders involve damage caused by the body's own immune system; lysosomal storage diseases such as Niemann–Pick disease can lead to neurological deterioration. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends considering the evaluation of an underlying coeliac disease in people with unexplained neurological symptoms, particularly peripheral neuropathy or ataxia.


title: Neurological disorder

text: In a substantial minority of cases of neurological symptoms, no neural cause can be identified using current testing procedures, and such "idiopathic" conditions can invite different theories about what is occurring. Generally speaking, a substantial number of neurological disorders may have originated from a previous clinically not recognized viral infection. For example, it is thought that infection with the Hepatitis E virus, which is often initially asymptomatic may provoke neurological disorders, but there are many other examples as well.


title: Neurological disorder

text: Numerous examples have been described of neurological disorders that are associated with mutated DNA repair genes (for reviews see). Inadequate repair of DNA damages can lead directly to cell death and neuron depletion as well as disruptions in the pattern of epigenetic alterations required for normal neuronal function.


title: Neurological disorder

text: Neurological disorders can be categorized according to the primary location affected, the primary type of dysfunction involved, or the primary type of cause. The broadest division is between central nervous system disorders and peripheral nervous system disorders. The Merck Manual lists brain, spinal cord and nerve disorders in the following overlapping categories:


title: Neurological disorder

text: Many of the diseases and disorders listed above have neurosurgical treatments available (e.g. Tourette's syndrome, Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and obsessive compulsive disorder).


title: Neurological disorder

text: A neurological examination can, to some extent, assess the impact of neurological damage and disease on brain function in terms of behavior, memory or cognition. Behavioral neurology specializes in this area. In addition, clinical neuropsychology uses neuropsychological assessment to precisely identify and track problems in mental functioning, usually after some sort of brain injury or neurological impairment.


title: Neurological disorder

text: Alternatively, a condition might first be detected through the presence of abnormalities in mental functioning, and further assessment may indicate an underlying neurological disorder. There are sometimes unclear boundaries in the distinction between disorders treated within neurology, and mental disorders treated within the other medical specialty of psychiatry, or other mental health professions such as clinical psychology. In practice, cases may present as one type but be assessed as more appropriate to the other. Neuropsychiatry deals with mental disorders arising from specific identified diseases of the nervous system.


title: Neurological disorder

text: One area that can be contested is in cases of idiopathic neurological symptoms - conditions where the cause cannot be established. It can be decided in some cases, perhaps by exclusion of any accepted diagnosis, that higher-level brain/mental activity is causing symptoms, rather than the symptoms originating in the area of the nervous system from which they may appear to originate. Classic examples are "functional" seizures, sensory numbness, "functional" limb weakness and functional neurological deficit ("functional" in this context is usually contrasted with the old term "organic disease"). Such cases may be contentiously interpreted as being "psychological" rather than "neurological". Some cases may be classified as mental disorders, for example as conversion disorder, if the symptoms appear to be causally linked to emotional states or responses to social stress or social contexts.


title: Neurological disorder

text: On the other hand, dissociation refers to partial or complete disruption of the integration of a person's conscious functioning, such that a person may feel detached from one's emotions, body and/or immediate surroundings. At one extreme this may be diagnosed as depersonalization disorder. There are also conditions viewed as neurological where a person appears to consciously register neurological stimuli that cannot possibly be coming from the part of the nervous system to which they would normally be attributed, such as phantom pain or synesthesia, or where limbs act without conscious direction, as in alien hand syndrome. Theories and assumptions about consciousness, free will, moral responsibility and social stigma can play a part in this, whether from the perspective of the clinician or the patient.


title: Neurological disorder

text: Conditions that are classed as mental disorders, or learning disabilities and forms of intellectual disability, are not themselves usually dealt with as neurological disorders. Biological psychiatry seeks to understand mental disorders in terms of their basis in the nervous system, however. In clinical practice, mental disorders are usually indicated by a mental state examination, or other type of structured interview or questionnaire process. At the present time, neuroimaging (brain scans) alone cannot accurately diagnose a mental disorder or tell the risk of developing one; however, it can be used to rule out other medical conditions such as a brain tumor. In research, neuroimaging and other neurological tests can show correlations between reported and observed mental difficulties and certain aspects of neural function or differences in brain structure. In general, numerous fields intersect to try to understand the basic processes involved in mental functioning, many of which are brought together in cognitive science. The distinction between neurological and mental disorders can be a matter of some debate, either in regard to specific facts about the cause of a condition or in regard to the general understanding of brain and mind.


title: Neurological disorder

text: Moreover, the definition of disorder in medicine or psychology is sometimes contested in terms of what is considered abnormal, dysfunctional, harmful or unnatural in neurological, evolutionary, psychometric or social terms.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: The Battle of Sumy was a military engagement which began on 24 February 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, as part of the Northeastern Ukraine offensive, and ended on 4 April 2022 when Russia withdrew all of its forces from Sumy Oblast.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: On 24 February 2022, the Russian army nearly captured Sumy, located near the Russia–Ukraine border, with little initial resistance. Ukrainian soldiers and militia began engaging the Russian forces within the city, resulting in heavy urban fighting.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: On 4 April 2022, Governor of Sumy Oblast Dmytro Zhyvytskyi stated that Russian troops no longer occupied any towns or villages in Sumy Oblast and had mostly withdrawn, while Ukrainian troops were working to push out the remaining units.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: Russian tanks and units began to move into Sumy on 24 February 2022, and fighting began on the outskirts at 03:00. There was an extensive amount of urban warfare between the Ukrainian defenders and Russian forces. A church in Sumy was burned down as a result of the battle.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: The fighting between the two forces continued at about 22:30 on 24 February near the Sumy State University, where the Ukrainian 27th Artillery Brigade was stationed. At 01:39 on 25 February, reports said that the Russian forces had retreated from the city.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: On 26 February, fighting again broke out on the streets of Sumy. Russian forces were able to capture half of the city. By the end of the day, Ukrainian forces had recaptured the entire city. Ukrainian forces also allegedly destroyed a convoy of Russian fuel trucks. Mayor Oleksandr Lysenko reported three civilian deaths on 26 February, including one killed when Russian BM-21 Grad vehicles fired missiles into Veretenivka, a residential area in the eastern part of Sumy.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: On the morning of 27 February, a column of Russian vehicles advanced into Sumy from the east. A civilian car was shot at, resulting in civilian casualties. Russian forces reportedly ran out of supplies and began attempting to loot markets.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: On 28 February, Ukrainian forces claimed that Ukrainian Baykar Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles destroyed many Russian vehicles, including 96 tanks, 20 BM-21 Grad vehicles, and 8 fuel carriers.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: On 3 March, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, governor of Sumy Oblast, stated that five people were injured from shelling on buildings of the 27th Artillery Brigade and the military department at Sumy State University. More than 500 international students were trapped since roads and bridges out of the city had been destroyed and fighting was reported in the streets of Sumy.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: Zhyvytskyi stated on 8 March that 22 civilians and four soldiers were killed overnight due to a Russian airstrike hitting a residential area. An evacuation of civilians from the city began during the day under an agreement for a humanitarian corridor reached with Russia. Zhyvytskyi later stated that about 5,000 people were evacuated during the day.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: On 21 March, an airstrike damaged a fertilizer factory in Sumy, leaking out ammonia and contaminating the surrounding ground. Russia denied that it was responsible and instead suggested the incident was a false flag operation by Ukraine.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: On 4 April 2022, Governor Zhyvytskyi declared that Russian troops no longer occupied any towns or villages in Sumy Oblast and had mostly withdrawn. According to Zhyvytskyi, Ukrainian troops were working to push out the remaining units. On 8 April 2022, he stated that all Russians troops had left Sumy Oblast, but it was still unsafe due to rigged explosives and other ammunition Russian troops had left behind.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: Despite Russian forces withdrawing fully from Sumy Oblast by early April, airstrikes continued throughout April and May.


title: Battle of Sumy

text: In mid-May, Russian troops made numerous attempted border crossings in the Sumy area. On 17 May, 5 civilians were wounded by Russian shelling in Sumy Oblast.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The 1966 Palomares B-52 crash, also called the Palomares incident, occurred on 17 January 1966, when a B-52G bomber of the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refueling at over the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain. The KC-135 was destroyed when its fuel load ignited, killing all four crew members. The B-52G broke apart, killing three of the seven crew members aboard.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: At the time of the accident, the B-52G was carrying four B28FI Mod 2 Y1 thermonuclear (hydrogen) bombs, all of which fell to the surface. Three were found on land near the small fishing village of Palomares in the municipality of Cuevas del Almanzora, Almería, Spain. The non-nuclear explosives in two of the weapons detonated upon impact with the ground, resulting in the contamination of a area with radioactive plutonium. The fourth, which fell into the Mediterranean Sea, was recovered intact after a search lasting two and a half months.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The B-52G began its mission from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, carrying four B28FI Mod 2 Y1 thermonuclear bombs on a Cold War airborne alert mission named Operation Chrome Dome. The flight plan took the aircraft east across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea towards the European borders of the Soviet Union before returning home. The lengthy flight required two mid-air refuelings over Spain.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: At about 10:30 am on 17 January 1966, while flying at , the bomber commenced its second aerial refueling with a KC-135 out of Morón Air Base in southern Spain. The B-52 pilot, Major Larry G. Messinger, later recalled,


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The planes collided, with the nozzle of the refueling boom striking the top of the B-52 fuselage, breaking a longeron and snapping off the left wing, which resulted in an explosion that was witnessed by a second B-52 about a mile () away. All four men on the KC-135 and three of the seven men on the bomber were killed.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: Those killed in the tanker were boom operator Master Sergeant Lloyd Potolicchio, pilot Major Emil J. Chapla, co-pilot Captain Paul R. Lane, and navigator Captain Leo E. Simmons.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: On board the bomber, navigator First Lieutenant Steven G. Montanus, electronic warfare officer First Lieutenant George J. Glessner, and gunner Technical Sergeant Ronald P. Snyder were killed. Montanus was seated on the lower deck of the main cockpit and was able to eject from the plane, but his parachute never opened. Glessner and Snyder were on the upper deck, near the point where the refueling boom struck the fuselage, and were not able to eject.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: Four of the seven crew members of the bomber managed to parachute to safety: in addition to pilot Major Messinger, aircraft commander Captain Charles F. Wendorf, copilot First Lieutenant Michael J. Rooney, and radar-navigator Captain Ivens Buchanan successfully bailed out. Buchanan received burns from the explosion and was unable to separate himself from his ejection seat, but he was nevertheless able to open his parachute, and he survived the impact with the ground. The other three surviving crew members landed safely several miles out to sea.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The Palomares residents carried Buchanan to a local clinic, while Wendorf and Rooney were picked up at sea by the fishing boat "Dorita". The last to be rescued was Messinger, who spent 45 minutes in the water before he was brought aboard the fishing boat "Agustin y Rosa" by Fernando Simó. All three men who landed in the sea were taken to a hospital in Águilas.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The letters FI indicated B28 bombs configured in the full fuzing internal configuration. A full fuzing capability means the weapons could be delivered via all bomb delivery options, including free-fall airburst, retarded airburst, freefall groundburst and laydown groundburst delivery. In this configuration, the W28 warhead was fitted between a Mk28 Mod 3F shock-absorbing nose and a Mk28 Mod 0 FISC rear end containing a parachute. The shock-absorbing nose enabled the weapon to survive laydown delivery, while the parachute slowed the weapon down in retarded airburst and laydown delivery.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The Mod 2 nomenclature indicates the hardened version of the weapon designed to survive laydown delivery; earlier Mod 0 and Mod 1 weapons could not survive the forces involved. The Y1 nomenclature indicates a W28 warhead with a yield of .


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The aircraft and weapons fell to earth near the fishing village of Palomares, part of the Cuevas del Almanzora municipality in Almeria province, Spain. Three of the weapons were located on land within 24 hours of the accident—the conventional explosives in two had exploded on impact, spreading radioactive contamination, while a third was found relatively intact in a riverbed. The fourth weapon could not be found despite an intensive search of the area—the only part that was recovered was the parachute tail plate, leading searchers to postulate that the weapon's parachute had deployed, and that the wind had carried it out to sea.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: On 22 January, the Air Force contacted the U.S. Navy for assistance. The Navy convened a Technical Advisory Group (TAG), chaired by Rear Admiral L. V. Swanson with Dr. John P. Craven and Captain Willard Franklyn Searle, to identify resources and skilled personnel that needed to be moved to Spain.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The search for the fourth bomb was carried out by means of a novel mathematical method, Bayesian search theory, led by Craven. This method assigns probabilities to individual map grid squares, then updates these as the search progresses. Initial probability input is required for the grid squares, and these probabilities made use of the fact that a local fisherman, Francisco Simó Orts, popularly known since as ("Bomb Paco" or "Bomb Frankie"), witnessed the bomb entering the water at a certain location. Simó Orts was hired by the U.S. Air Force to assist in the search operation.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The United States Navy assembled the following ships in response to the Air Force request for assistance:


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: Additionally, the aircraft carrier and various other units of the Sixth Fleet made a brief stopover at Palomares on the morning of 15 March 1966; Forrestal anchored at 09:03 and departed at 12:19.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The recovery operation was led by the Supervisor of Salvage, Captain Searle. "Hoist", "Petrel" and "Tringa" brought 150 qualified divers who searched to with compressed air, to with mixed gas, and to with hard-hat rigs; but the bomb lay in an uncharted area of the Rio Almanzora canyon on a 70-degree slope at a depth of . After a search that continued for 80 days following the crash, the bomb was located by the DSV "Alvin" on 17 March, but was dropped and temporarily lost when the Navy attempted to bring it to the surface. After the loss of the recovered bomb, the ship's positions were fixed by Decca HI-FIX position-locating equipment for subsequent recovery attempts.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: "Alvin" located the bomb again on 2 April, this time at a depth of . On 7 April, an unmanned torpedo recovery vehicle, CURV-I, became entangled in the weapon's parachute while attempting to attach a line to it. A decision was made to raise CURV and the weapon together to a depth of , where divers attached cables to both. The bomb was brought to the surface by . The was diverted from its Naples destination, stayed on scene until recovery, then took the bomb back to the United States.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: Once the bomb was located, Simó Orts appeared at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York with his lawyer, Herbert Brownell, formerly Attorney General of the United States under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, claiming salvage rights on the recovered thermonuclear bomb. According to Craven:


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The commander of the U.S. Air Force at Torrejón Air Base, Spain, Major General Delmar E. Wilson, immediately traveled to the scene of the accident with a


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: Disaster Control Team. Further Air Force personnel were dispatched later the same day, including nuclear experts from U.S. government laboratories.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The first weapon to be discovered was found nearly intact. However, the conventional explosives from the other two bombs that fell on land detonated without setting off a nuclear explosion (akin to a dirty bomb explosion). This ignited the pyrophoric plutonium, producing a cloud that was dispersed by a wind. A total of was contaminated with radioactive material. This included residential areas, farmland (especially tomato farms) and woods.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: To defuse public alarm over contamination, on 8 March Spanish minister for information and tourism Manuel Fraga Iribarne and United States ambassador Angier Biddle Duke swam on nearby beaches in front of the press. First the ambassador and some companions swam at Mojácar — a resort away — and then Duke and Fraga swam at the "Quitapellejos" beach in Palomares.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: Despite the cost and the number of personnel involved in the cleanup, traces of contamination remained forty years later. Snails were observed with unusual levels of radioactivity. Additional tracts of land were also appropriated for testing and further cleanup. However, no indication of health issues has been discovered among the local population in Palomares.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: President Lyndon B. Johnson was first apprised of the situation during his morning briefing on the day of the accident. He was told that the 16th Nuclear Disaster Team had been sent to investigate, per the standard procedures for this type of accident. News stories on the crash began appearing the following day, and it was on the front page of both the "New York Times" and "Washington Post" on 20 January. Reporters sent to the accident scene covered angry demonstrations by local residents. On 4 February, an underground Communist organization initiated a protest by 600 people in front of the U.S. Embassy in Spain. The Duchess of Medina Sidonia, Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo (known as the "Red Duchess" for her socialist activism), eventually received a 13-month prison sentence for leading an illegal protest.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: Four days after the accident, the Spanish government under Franco's dictatorship stated that "the Palomares incident was evidence of the dangers created by NATO's use of the Gibraltar airstrip", announcing that NATO aircraft would no longer be permitted to fly over Spanish territory to or from Gibraltar. On 25 January, as a diplomatic concession, the U.S. announced that it would no longer fly over Spain with nuclear weapons, and on 29 January the Spanish government formally banned U.S. flights over its territory that carried such weapons. This caused other nations hosting U.S. forces to review their policies, with Philippine Foreign Secretary Narciso Ramos calling for a new treaty to restrict the operation of U.S. military aircraft in Filipino airspace.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: Palomares, and the Thule Air Base B-52 crash involving nuclear weapons two years later in Greenland, made Operation Chrome Dome politically untenable, leading the U.S. Department of Defense to announce that it would be "re-examining the military need" for continuing the program.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: As of 2008, there was no museum or monument dedicated to the accident in the town of Palomares, which was noted only by a short street there named "17 January 1966".


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: During cleanup, soil with radioactive contamination levels above 1.2 MBq/m was placed in 250-litre (66 U.S. gallon) drums and shipped to the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina for burial. A total of was decontaminated this way, producing 6,000 barrels. of land with lower levels of contamination were mixed to a depth of by harrowing and plowing. On rocky slopes with contamination above 120 kBq/m, the soil was removed with hand tools and shipped to the U.S. in barrels.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In 2004, a study revealed that there was still some significant contamination present in certain areas, and the Spanish government subsequently expropriated some plots of land which would otherwise have been slated for agriculture use or housing construction.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: On 11 October 2006, Reuters reported that higher-than-normal levels of radiation were detected in snails and other wildlife in the region, indicating there may still be dangerous amounts of radioactive material underground. The discovery occurred during an investigation being carried out by Spain's energy research agency CIEMAT and the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. and Spain agreed to share the cost of the initial investigation.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In April 2008, CIEMAT announced they had found two trenches, totaling , where the U.S. Army stored contaminated earth during the 1966 operations. The American government agreed in 2004 to pay for the decontamination of the grounds, and the cost of the removal and transportation of the contaminated earth has been estimated at $2 million. The trenches were found near the cemetery, where one of the nuclear devices was retrieved in 1966, and they were probably dug at the last moment by American troops before leaving Palomares. CIEMAT said that they expected to find remains of plutonium and americium once an exhaustive analysis of the earth had been carried out.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In a conversation in December 2009, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos told the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that he feared Spanish public opinion might turn against the U.S. once results of the nuclear contamination study were revealed.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In August 2010, a Spanish government source revealed that the U.S. had stopped the annual payments it has made to Spain, as the bilateral agreement in force since the accident had expired the previous year.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: On 19 October 2015, Spain and the United States signed an agreement to further discuss the cleanup and removal of contaminated land. Under a statement of intent signed by Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the two countries were to negotiate a binding agreement to further restore and clear up the Palomares site and arrange for the disposal of the contaminated soil at an appropriate site in the U.S.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: While serving on the salvage ship during recovery operations, Navy diver Carl Brashear had his leg crushed in a deck accident and lost the lower part of his left leg. His story was the inspiration for the 2000 film "Men of Honor".


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In March 2009, "Time" magazine identified the Palomares accident as one of the world's "worst nuclear disasters".


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: Marked long-term occurrences of cancer and other health defects occurred among the surviving USAF personnel directed to the accident site in the days following the crash to clean up the contamination. Most of the afflicted personnel have had difficulty securing any type of compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs due to the secretive nature of the cleanup operation and the Air Force's refusal to acknowledge that adequate safety measures to protect first responders may not have been taken.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In June 2016, "The New York Times" published an article on the 50th anniversary lingering legacy of the Palomares accident.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In December 2017, one of the airmen involved in the clean-up, Victor Skaar, sued the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Skaar was appealing the Department's refusal of medical treatment for leukopenia that Skaar believes was caused by his exposure at Palomares. He also petitioned for the Court to certify a class of veterans "who were present at the 1966 cleanup of plutonium dust at Palomares, Spain[,] and whose application for service-connected disability comp based on exposure to ionizing radiation [VA] has denied or will deny." The certification of this class was granted by the Court in December 2019. This one of the first cases ever granted class-action status by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The empty casings of two of the bombs involved in this incident are now on display in the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, New Mexico.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: The incident inspired the light-hearted 1966 film "Finders Keepers", starring Cliff Richard and backed by his band The Shadows.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In November 1966, the plot of an episode of the espionage-themed American television series "I Spy" entitled "One of Our Bombs is Missing" was devoted to the search for an American Air Force plane carrying an atomic weapon which crashed over a remote Italian village.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: This incident was given the movie treatment in a semi-serious 1967 film, "The Day the Fish Came Out", which covers the story of a plane crash alongside a Greek (not Spanish) Island and the surreptitious attempts by plainclothes U.S. Navy personnel to find the missing bombs.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: It is also referenced in Terence Young's 1969 drama "The Christmas Tree", in which William Holden plays a rich industrialist, who, while traveling in Corsica with his son, learns the boy has been exposed to radiation from the explosion of a plane carrying a nuclear device; on the phone with a senior French official, he references the Palomares incident.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In Episode 12 of the fourth season of "Archer", the main protagonists race against time to recover a lost hydrogen bomb near the Bermuda Triangle, with references being made to how the U.S. Air Force settled for "at least $20 million" when they lost a previous hydrogen bomb in the late 1960s.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In 2000, the U.S. film "Men of Honor" focused on the life of the first black American master diver, Carl Brashear, in the U.S. Navy. The film begins and ends with the Palomares bomb recovery by U.S. Navy personnel.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In April 2015, the Palomares incident was mentioned in the Danish film "The Idealist", a film about a similar incident, the 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In August 2015, the incident was the subject of a two-minute animated film by Richard Neale that was a finalist in the BBC's WellDoneU competition for amateur filmmakers.


title: 1966 Palomares B-52 crash

text: In 2021, Spanish cable TV provider Movistar+ produced a four-part documentary series, ""Palomares: Dias de playa y plutonio"".


title: Mary Millar

text: Irene Mary Wetton (26 July 1936 – 10 November 1998), better known by her stage name Mary Millar, was an English actress and singer best remembered for her role as the second actress to play Rose in the successful BBC sitcom "Keeping Up Appearances" between 1991 and 1995.


title: Mary Millar

text: Irene Mary Wetton was born in Doncaster, England, on 26 July 1936 to Horace and Irene (née Mellor) Wetton, both music hall singers. She intended to become a stable hand, but later decided to pursue a stage career. She toured the country with her parents, who had an act called Sweethearts in Harmony.


title: Mary Millar

text: Millar made her first television appearance in 1953, aged 17, in "Those Were the Days". She also made appearances on "The Dick Emery Show" and "The Stanley Baxter Show". Millar gained acclaim for her part in "Keeping Up Appearances" as Rose, replacing Shirley Stelfox for Series 2 in 1991 as Stelfox had prior commitments to "Making Out". Millar remained with the programme through to its conclusion in 1995.


title: Mary Millar

text: In 1960, Millar travelled to New York to understudy Julie Andrews in "Camelot". She began her West End career in 1962 as Cloris in "Lock Up Your Daughters". In 1969, she played the title role in the musical "Ann Veronica", based on H. G. Wells' novel. In 1986, Millar originated the role of Madame Giry in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "The Phantom of the Opera". She played the role for four years and her voice appears on the original cast album.


title: Mary Millar

text: From 1997 to 1998, Millar played Mrs Potts in the London production of "Beauty and the Beast", and appeared on the cast album composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. In February 1998, Millar left the show because of deteriorating health.


title: Mary Millar

text: Millar had one daughter, Lucy (born 1972), by her marriage to Rafael D. Frame, in 1962. She was a practising Christian.


title: Mary Millar

text: In January 1998, Millar was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and underwent chemotherapy. She died on 10 November, at the age of 62, in Brockley, London, with her husband and daughter at her bedside. She was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. Three weeks before her death, when asked what she would do when she arrived at heaven's door, Millar said, "Rehearse for a part in the Angelic choir, darling." An episode of "Keeping Up Appearances" was broadcast on BBC One the following week and dedicated to her.


title: Mordechai Haim

text: Mordechai "Moti" Haim is a former Israeli footballer, musician and actor who played for Maccabi Jaffa and Maccabee Los Angeles.


title: Mordechai Haim

text: Haim was born in 1954. He grew up on Jerusalem Boulevard in Jaffa, Israel. He started playing for Maccabi Jaffa's youth team at the age of 10.


title: Mordechai Haim

text: Haim started playing for Maccabi Jaffa's senior team and became a regular player. Highlights of his career include playing in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1977.


title: Mordechai Haim

text: He completed military service with the Israel Defense Forces, where he was a drummer in an IDF band. He later joined the famous as a drummer, performing alongside Oshik Levi. After this, Haim moved to Maccabee Los Angeles, which was at that time a semi-professional team. After two years in LA, he returned to Israel and again played for Maccabi Jaffa.


title: Mordechai Haim

text: Haim was a member of a band, Rockinhaim, with his wife Donna and their three children. The couple later went into real estate together in Los Angeles.


title: Mordechai Haim

text: In 2021, he made his acting debut in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Licorice Pizza", where he played the father of Alana, played by his own daughter Alana Haim.


title: Mordechai Haim

text: He is the father of Este Haim (b. 1986), Danielle Haim (b. 1989), and Alana Haim (b. 1991), who went on to form the Los Angeles-based pop rock band Haim. His maternal family is of Bulgarian-Jewish descent.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: Kevin Andrew Bridges (born 13 November 1986) is a Scottish stand-up comedian. His 2012 television series "" was based on his stand-up routines.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: He has appeared on many television panel shows including "Would I Lie to You?", "Have I Got News for You" and has performed on "Live at the Apollo" and "Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow".


title: Kevin Bridges

text: Bridges began performing on stage when he left school shortly after turning 17, doing stand-up comedy gigs at The Stand Comedy Club in Glasgow and then throughout the UK. Bridges said he was inspired to try stand up after reading Frank Skinner's autobiography. At 18, he reached the final of Channel 5's "So You Think You're Funny" competition at the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2006, Bridges performed his first full-length solo show at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, to a sold-out audience and much critical acclaim. Moving into bigger venues every year, Bridges sold out his hometown festival in 2007, 2008 and 2009. He performed at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: Bridges appeared on "Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow" on the BBC, where he performed at the Edinburgh Playhouse. Bridges returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2009 with his show 'An Hour to Sing For Your Soul'. He was nominated for best newcomer in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: In 2010, Bridges took part in "Channel 4's Comedy Gala", a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London. Bridges won the breakthrough award at the 2010 Chortle Awards.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: His debut DVD, titled "Kevin Bridges: The Story So Far... Live in Glasgow", filmed at Glasgow's SECC, was released on 22 November 2010, and went on to sell over 350,000 copies.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: In 2012, Bridges embarked on his second stand-up tour of the UK, The Story Continues. The tour broke box office records, selling out the SECC five times and selling over 45,000 tickets on the first day. Bridges would perform 136 dates during the tour included ten sell out shows at the SECC in Glasgow. His second DVD, titled "The Story Continues..." was released on 12 November 2012.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: In 2015, Bridges embarked on his third stand-up tour of the UK, A Whole Different Story. The tour saw Bridges sell over 500,000 tickets across 145 dates including 16 sell out shows at The Hydro in his home city of Glasgow. During which he recorded his third DVD which went on to sell over 300,000 copies. Including 40,000 during its first week on sale outselling fellow comedians Michael McIntyre and John Bishop.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: Bridges became disillusioned with stand-up after his 145 night tour in 2015. After having a chat with his dad, he decided to take a break from performing. During his time in Spain, he cleared his head and was inspired by the freedom he had to return to stand-up. When Bridges returned from Spain, he did "three or four" unannounced work-in-progress gigs to test out his new material.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: After over a year away from stand-up, Bridges returned in 2018 with his Brand New Tour which included a record 19 sold out nights at The Hydro. Bridges was awarded the 'Gie it Laldy' award by the CEO of the Scottish Event Campus, in recognition for playing forty-six shows across the SEC Centre and The Hydro. He has also sold more tickets for the Scottish Event Campus than any other solo artist. His Brand New Tour was also voted the UK's Ticket of The Year in a poll conducted by Ticketmaster. Bridges is the first comedian to top the annual poll voted for by Ticketmaster customers.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: Bridges' television career started on Comedy Central UK, in April 2008, with a set on "The World Stands Up". Shortly thereafter, he appeared on "Comedy Store" (also on Comedy Central). His performances on these shows and on the comedy circuit and at festivals led to his being given his first mainstream TV break on 5 June 2009 on BBC One's "Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow". Bridges was critically commended for his performance. Over 5 million viewers saw his debut and his entire 25-night run at the Edinburgh festival sold out in hours, with extra shows being subsequently added and also selling out. Bridges went on to be nominated for the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly Perrier) in the best newcomer category.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: His TV work since then has included BBC One's "Live at the Apollo" and also a "Best of British Special" (Episode 7 of the 8th series) of "8 out of 10 Cats", in July 2009. He also appeared in BBC 2 Scotland's "" (episode 6). Bridges appeared in "Rab C Nesbitt" in the first episode of the new series in 2010, on "Mock the Week" in February 2010, and has appeared twice in "Would I Lie To You?". He was a guest on the BBC One show "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" on 28 May 2010. Since June 2010, Bridges is a regular performer on Channel 4's "Stand Up for the Week". His six-part BBC One series, "", began on 8 February 2012. Bridges was asked to appear in "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here", but turned it down.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: In 2014 BBC One commissioned three specials hosted by Bridges. "Live At The Commonwealth", filmed at the Glasgow's Theatre Royal to coincide with the city hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games, featured internationally renowned comedians from the Commonwealth. "Live At The Referendum", also filmed at the Theatre Royal, brought together four of the UK's top comedians to give their views on the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. In the third special, "Kevin Bridges: What's The Story – Referendum Special", Bridges took to the streets gathering grassroots opinions from across Scotland and beyond about the referendum.


title: Kevin Bridges

text: On 6 March 2010, Bridges took part in the BBC 5 Live show "Fighting Talk", where he came second behind Greg Brady, becoming the youngest person ever to appear on the show at the time (a record since broken by fellow comedian Jack Whitehall). In November 2010, he was also a contestant on BBC Radio 4's "The Unbelievable Truth".


title: Kevin Bridges

text: Bridges is the son of Andy and Patricia Bridges and has a brother, John, who is ten years older. Kevin married his wife Kerry Monaghan in 2019. He grew up in the Hardgate area of Clydebank and attended St Mary's Primary and St Columba's High.


title: Flying ointment

text: Flying ointment is a hallucinogenic ointment said to have been used by witches in the practice of European witchcraft from at least as far back as the Early Modern period, when detailed recipes for such preparations were first recorded.


title: Flying ointment

text: The ointment is known by a wide variety of names, including witches' flying ointment, green ointment, magic salve, or lycanthropic ointment. In German it was () or (). Latin names included ), , () or ().


title: Flying ointment

text: Francis Bacon (attributed as "Lord Verulam") listed the ingredients of the witches ointment as "the fat of children digged out of their graves, of juices of smallage, wolfe-bane, and cinque foil, mingled with the meal of fine wheat."


title: Flying ointment

text: Unrelated to Francis' account, poisonous ingredients listed in works on ethnobotany include: belladonna, henbane bell, jimson weed, black henbane, mandrake, hemlock, and/or wolfsbane, most of which contain atropine, hyoscyamine, and/or Scopolamine. Scopolamine can cause psychotropic effects when absorbed transdermally. These tropane alkaloids are classified as deliriants in regards to their psychoactive effects.


title: Flying ointment

text: With the exception of "Potentilla reptans", the plants most frequently recorded as ingredients in Early Modern recipes for flying ointments are extremely toxic and have caused numerous fatalities when eaten, whether by confusion with edible species or in cases of criminal poisoning or suicide.


title: Flying ointment

text: The historian, occultist and theosophist Carl Kiesewetter of Meiningen, author of "Geschichte des Neueren Occultismus" in 1892 and "Die Geheimwissenschaften, eine Kulturgeschichte der Esoterik" in 1895, was one such casualty.


title: Flying ointment

text: It has been a subject of discussion between clergymen as to whether witches were able physically to fly to the Sabbath on their brooms with help of the ointment, or whether such 'flight' was explicable in other ways: a delusion created by the Devil in the minds of the witches; the souls of the witches leaving their bodies to fly in spirit to the Sabbath; or a hallucinatory 'trip' facilitated by the entheogenic effects of potent drugs absorbed through the skin. An early proponent of the last explanation was Renaissance scholar and scientist Giambattista della Porta, who not only interviewed users of the flying ointment, but witnessed its effects upon such users at first hand, comparing the deathlike trances he observed in his subjects with their subsequent accounts of the bacchanalian revelry they had 'enjoyed'.


title: Flying ointment

text: Dominican churchman Bartolommeo Spina of Pisa gives two accounts of the power of the flying ointment in his "Tractatus de strigibus sive maleficis" ('Treatise on witches or evildoers') of 1525.


title: Flying ointment

text: The first concerns an incident in the life of his acquaintance Augustus de Turre of Bergamo, a physician. While studying medicine in Pavia as a young man, Augustus returned late one night to his lodgings (without a key) to find no one awake to let him in. Climbing up to a balcony, he was able to enter through a window, and at once sought out the maidservant, who should have been awake to admit him. On checking her room, however, he found her lying unconscious - beyond rousing - on the floor. The following morning he tried to question her on the matter, but she would only reply that she had been 'on a journey'.


title: Flying ointment

text: Bartolommeo's second account is more suggestive and points toward another element in the witches' 'flights'. It concerns a certain notary of Lugano who, unable to find his wife one morning, searched for her all over their estate and finally discovered her lying deeply unconscious, naked and dirty with her vagina exposed, in a corner of the pigsty. The notary 'immediately understood that she was a witch' (!) and at first wanted to kill her on the spot, but, thinking better of such rashness, waited until she recovered from her stupor, in order to question her. Terrified by his wrath, the poor woman fell to her knees and confessed that during the night she had 'been on a journey'.


title: Flying ointment

text: Light is cast on the tale of the notary's wife by two accounts widely separated in time but revealing a persistent theme in European Witchcraft. The first is that of Regino of Prüm whose "De synodalibus causis et disciplinis ecclesiasticis libri duo" (circa 906 C.E.) speaks of women who 'seduced...by demons...insist that they ride at night "on certain beasts" [italics not original] together with Diana, goddess of the pagans, and a great multitude of women; that they cover great distances in the silence of the deepest night...' (See also Canon Episcopi).


title: Flying ointment

text: The second account dates from some 800 years later, coming from Norway in the early 18th century and is the testimony, at the age of thirteen, of one Siri Jørgensdatter. Siri claimed that when she was seven her grandmother had taken her to the witches' sabbath on the mountain meadow Blockula ('blue-hill'): her grandmother led her to a pigsty, where she smeared a sow with some ointment which she took from a horn, whereupon grandmother and granddaughter mounted the animal and, after a short ride through the air, arrived at a building on the Sabbath mountain.


title: Flying ointment

text: Some sources have claimed that such an ointment would best be absorbed through mucous membranes, and that the traditional image of a female witch astride a broomstick implies the application of flying ointment to the vulva. The passage from the trial for witchcraft in Ireland of Hiberno-Norman noblewoman Alice Kyteler in 1324 quoted above is, while not explicit, certainly open to interpretations both drug-related and sexual. It is also a very early account of such practices, pre-dating by some centuries witch trials in the early modern period. The testimony of Dame Kyteler's maidservant, Petronilla de Meath, while somewhat compromised by having been extracted under torture, contains references not only to her mistress's abilities in the preparation of 'magical' medicines, but also her sexual behaviour, including at least one instance of (alleged) intercourse with a demon.


title: Flying ointment

text: According to the inquisition ('in which were five knights and numerous nobles') set in motion by Richard de Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory, there was in the city of Kilkenny a band of heretical sorcerers, at the head of whom was Dame Alice Kyteler and against whom no fewer than seven charges relating to witchcraft were laid. The fifth charge is of particular interest in the context of the 'greased staffe' mentioned above:


title: Flying ointment

text: One possible key to how individuals dealt with the toxicity of the nightshades usually said to be part of flying ointments is through the supposed antidotal reaction some of the solanaceous alkaloids have with the alkaloids of "Papaver somniferum" (opium poppy). This is discussed by Alexander Kuklin in his brief book, "How Do Witches Fly?" (DNA Press, 1999). This antagonism was claimed to exist by the movement of Eclectic medicine. For instance, King's American Dispensatory states in the entry on belladonna: "Belladonna and opium appear to exert antagonistic influences, especially as regards their action on the brain, the spinal cord, and heart; they have consequently been recommended and employed as antidotes to each other in cases of poisoning" going on to make the extravagant claim that "this matter is now positively and satisfactorily settled; hence in all cases of poisoning by belladonna the great remedy is morphine, and its use may be guided by the degree of pupillary contraction it occasions." The use of opiates in the treatment of belladonna poisoning is, however, strongly contraindicated in modern medical practice [see below].