title: Black Lightning

text: In 1995, a new "Black Lightning" series began with art by Eddy Newell and again written by Tony Isabella, who was fired after the eighth issue and replaced with Australian writer Dave de Vries. The series was canceled five issues after Isabella left the title, the decision having been made before these issues had seen print. Isabella said he believes the editor replaced him with a newer writer to consolidate his position in the company.


title: Black Lightning

text: A "Black Lightning: Year One" six-issue limited series, written by Jen Van Meter and illustrated by Cully Hamner saw a bi-weekly release in 2009, and was nominated for two Glyph Awards in 2010.


title: Black Lightning

text: As part of the New 52, a revamped version of Black Lightning appeared in "DC Universe Presents" that was paired with the Blue Devil.


title: Black Lightning

text: A gold medal-winning Olympic decathlete, Jefferson Pierce returned to his old neighborhood in the Southside (Suicide Slum) section of the city of Metropolis with his wife Lynn Stewart and his daughter Anissa to become the principal of Garfield High School. Southside, as it was once known, was where his father—renowned journalist Alvin Pierce—had been murdered. Guilt over this event was a factor in his decision to leave the city of Metropolis. Suicide Slum was being torn apart by a local organized criminal gang called the 100, shady corporations, and crooked local politicians like Tobias Whale. A family friend and tailor, Peter Gambi, had taught a much younger Jefferson how to suppress his inborn metahuman abilities so that he would not accidentally hurt any of the people he cared about. Upon his return, Gambi suggested to Jefferson that he should use his powers to help the neighborhood, and refers him to a plaque with the paraphrased Milo Sweetman quote "Justice, like lightning, should ever appear to some men hope, to other men fear". (the original text of which was "Justice, like lightning, ever should appear to few men's ruin, but to all men's fear. Of mortal justice if thou scorn the rod, believe and tremble, thou art judged of God".) Appalled by the public murder of Earl Clifford, one of his more promising students, Pierce tried to intervene on behalf of the schoolchildren but quickly learned that the 100 objected violently to any interference. Pierce adopts the costumed identity "Black Lightning" where he had the costume, mask, and wig made by his tailor Peter Gambi.


title: Black Lightning

text: Years later, he would tell fellow African-American superhero Mister Terrific that he chose the name "Black" Lightning because he "was the only one of us around" at the time, and he "wanted to make sure everyone knew who they were dealing with."


title: Black Lightning

text: After his own series was cancelled, Black Lightning lost his electrical powers, but continued fighting without them. The loss eventually turned out to be psychosomatic, a symptom of a crisis of confidence resulting from the accidental death of a female bystander named Trina Shelton during an altercation between Black Lightning and some gun-wielding thugs. Batman, wanting to recruit him to rescue Lucius Fox in Markovia, helped him regain his powers; this eventually led him to join Batman's team, the Outsiders. During his time with the Outsiders, a group of villains called the Masters of Disaster captured Black Lightning at the behest of the parents of Trina Shelton to avenge the death of their daughter; however, upon learning that he still regretted what happened and was willing to be executed by them, they risked their lives to save him. During the "Invasion!" crossover event, the Dominators detonated a Gene-Bomb that wreaked havoc with anyone possessing the metagene by making them lose control of their powers. After the breakup of the Outsiders, Black Lightning moved to Brick City to continue his solo career.


title: Black Lightning

text: When Lex Luthor was elected President of the United States in 2000, he appointed Jefferson Pierce as Secretary of Education, with Pierce accepting as he concluded that he could do more good working within the system than outside it. He resigned amidst controversy over his "worst-kept secret in Washington" identity as Black Lightning and his alleged inadvertent killing of a criminally-minded corporate CEO, for which President Pete Ross (who had since succeeded Luthor) then pardoned him.


title: Black Lightning

text: Making frequent guest appearances in several DC series, Pierce has appeared in "Green Arrow" (who had a one-night stand with his niece, a successful attorney named Joanna Pierce). Pierce helped the Green Arrow track down Dr. Light in the "Green Arrow" "Heading into the Light" story arc. He also appeared in the new "Outsiders", of which his daughter, Anissa (using the alias Thunder), is a member. He came to fight the new Sabbac and help his daughter alongside Captain Marvel Jr. and the Outsiders. He had on an outfit that mixed his second outfit with the colors of the first. After teaming up with the Outsiders, incoming President Pete Ross asked him to resign as Secretary of Education. which he did.


title: Black Lightning

text: At some point prior to his resignation, Pierce used his pull in Washington to deny the powerful metahuman gangster known as Holocaust a permit to build a casino on Paris Island in Dakota. This would come back to haunt Pierce sometime later when the enraged Holocaust attacked him while he was giving the graduation speech at Ernest Hemingway High School.


title: Black Lightning

text: In issue #5 of the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, it was shown that Black Lightning was one of the eight people Batman had considered to aid him in destroying the Brother Eye satellite, which controlled the OMACs. Booster Gold, who was not on the list of eight, but knew about the candidates from his knowledge of the future, contacted Lightning before Batman did, as historical data from the future had shown who had aided Batman. Lightning accepted, arriving at the Batcave to await orders. He then forged an uneasy yet effective alliance with Mister Terrific, combining their powers of electrical manipulation and invisibility technology to strike at the villainous AI from the inside.


title: Black Lightning

text: After the third Secret Society of Super Villains was formed, Black Lightning (as a member of Brad Meltzer's new Justice League) began using his status as Lex Luthor's former Secretary of Education to gain information from supervillains.


title: Black Lightning

text: In "Outsiders" vol. 3 #45, it was revealed that three years have passed since Jefferson's niece Joanna Pierce was murdered and that, upon initially learning of her death, Jefferson went after the corrupt businessman Martin Somers, the man who was responsible. He had intended to wound Somers with his lightning shot, but apparently ended up killing him. Jefferson turned himself in to the authorities. However, it is revealed that Deathstroke was responsible for Somers' death by firing a dart of toxin to Somers moments before Jefferson shot his lightning. Hence, he was dead before he hit the ground. Jason Todd discovered the truth while eavesdropping on the assassin's conversation with Lex Luthor (who was really Alexander Luthor, Jr. in disguise) and contacted Nightwing with this information. When Nightwing and Anissa told Jefferson of this in prison, he disbelieved it and intended to pay for Somers' death. Anissa herself intended to break her father out of Iron Heights Prison. Upon learning from Todd that other inmates were about to carry out a contract hit on Pierce (whose identity as an inmate had leaked to unknown parties), the Outsiders resolved to assist her. They freed him from jail and, with the audio recording of Deathstroke's conversation, cleared his name.


title: Black Lightning

text: Years ago, the Green Arrow brought Black Lightning to the attention of the Justice League of America, who extended an offer of membership to the protector of Suicide Slum. He turned down the offer, preferring to work as a loner and focus on street-level crime, though he did offer to become a reservist. Years later, when all of the JLA reservists were called in to fight a newly revived Amazo, Black Lighting was one of the heroes called, confirming that the League had accepted his offer. Most recently, however, Black Lightning has joined the JLA, once again appearing with a modified costume. He appears to be primarily based in Washington, D.C. again. Black Lightning assists the JLA with intelligence gathered from the criminal community. Many supervillains still believe he is 'in' with Lex Luthor and are thus willing to cooperate with him. Jefferson also helps the team in a battle against Amazo. He was the first member of the League to respond to the recent attacks made by the Amazons of Themyscira, and he also saved the President of the United States in this event.


title: Black Lightning

text: Black Lightning was the focus of the one-shot issue "Final Crisis: Submit", in which he helped the new Tattooed Man and his family escape at the cost of his own freedom. He is subsequently shown in issue #4 of "Final Crisis" under Darkseid's thrall.


title: Black Lightning

text: Recently, Black Lightning was recruited by Alfred Pennyworth to join a new version of the Outsiders following an attack by Doctor Hurt which left Thunder comatose. Unlike previous iterations of the team, these Outsiders must live "off the grid" and stay out of contact with friends and family for months at a time. It is confirmed that, due to this new commitment, Black Lightning has left the Justice League.


title: Black Lightning

text: In DC's 2011 reboot of its continuity, "The New 52", Black Lightning comes into conflict with Blue Devil over their confrontation of Tobias Whale's crime wave. He later made an appearance as a possible recruit for the Justice League.


title: Black Lightning

text: Black Lightning appeared in "DC Rebirth" in Detective Comics, and from there spun out into the series "Batman & the Outsiders". Tony Isabella, the creator of Black Lightning, rebooted the character in a new six-part series that began in November 2017. The series, which takes place in Cleveland, "forgets" much of the previous history of the character. Tony Isabella says that this will not be an "origin" story, but one may follow.


title: Black Lightning

text: Originally, he was described as having no innate powers, using a belt that allowed him to generate a force field and project electrical bolts. This power was later revealed to exist as a result of the metagene, according to "Invasion!" #3.


title: Black Lightning

text: Jefferson has had two daughters by his ex-wife Lynn Stewart, both of whom have followed in his footsteps and become superheroes. His oldest daughter, Anissa Pierce, has taken on the code name "Thunder" and served on an incarnation of his team the Outsiders. His 16-year-old, younger daughter Jennifer Pierce, was recently recruited by the Justice Society of America under the code name "Lightning". A version of Lightning first appeared in "Kingdom Come", a 1996 miniseries published by DC Comics.


title: Black Lightning

text: Pierce claims that people frequently ask him if he is the father of Static, much to his chagrin. It is later revealed that Static is in fact a fan of Black Lightning and has a poster of the hero in his room in Titans Tower. In "Young Justice", after meeting and fighting alongside Static, Black Lightning offers to become Static's mentor.


title: Black Lightning

text: IGN listed Black Lightning as the 85th greatest comic book hero of all time, describing him as a "true hero and a born badass who has earned his spot on the Justice League".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), the contest was held at the Telenor Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 25 and 27 May, and a final on 29 May 2010, tying with the 1999 edition for the contest hosted the latest. The three live shows were presented by Norwegian television presenters Erik Solbakken and Nadia Hasnaoui and singer Haddy N'jie.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: Thirty-nine countries took part in the contest, with Georgia returning after its one-year absence. Meanwhile, Andorra, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Montenegro all decided against participation, mainly for reasons related to the 2007–2008 financial crisis. Lithuania originally announced its non-participation, but was later among the participants confirmed by the EBU.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The winner was Germany with the song "Satellite", performed by Lena and written by Julie Frost and John Gordon. This was Germany's second victory in the contest, following their win in , and their first win as a unified country. It was also the first win for one of the "Big Four" countries since the rule's introduction in . Turkey, Romania, Denmark and Azerbaijan rounded out the top five. Romania, finishing third, equalled their best result from , while further down the table, Georgia achieved their best result to date, finishing ninth. For the first time since the introduction of semi-finals in , Sweden failed to qualify for the final. The last time Sweden was absent from a Eurovision final was in .


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The global financial crisis at the time affected how the event was run; the host broadcaster NRK was forced to sell its broadcast rights for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to TV 2 and Viasat in order to finance the event.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: Prior to the contest, the EBU announced that the voting system used in the semi-finals would change from previous years to balance jury voting with televoting. A return of accompaniment by orchestra was also proposed, but ultimately did not occur.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: Norwegian kroner (€17 million) was originally the venue budget agreed upon by Trond Giske and Hans-Tore Bjerkaas, respectively the Norwegian Minister for Culture and the head of Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK).


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: At a press conference in Oslo on 27 May 2009, it was announced that the show was to be held in the Oslo metropolitan area. NRK argued that Oslo was the only city with the required capacity, venues, and infrastructure to hold the show. On 3 July 2009, it was decided that the venue would be the newly constructed Telenor Arena, in the municipality of Bærum neighbouring Oslo. The Oslo Spektrum (host venue in ) was ruled out to host the contest due to its smaller size and capacity, as was Vallhall Arena in Oslo and the Hamar Vikingskipet. NRK had decided they wanted to take the contest back to the basics and after the contest in 2009, where LEDs were widely used, they used none. The 2010 was also produced on a considerably lower budget than the year before.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: NRK announced the theme art, slogan and design for the contest on 4 December 2009, during the Host City Insignia Exchange between the Mayors of Moscow, Oslo and Bærum, marking the official kick-off of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 season. The theme art, a series of intersecting circles, was selected to "represent gathering people and the diversity of emotions surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest." In addition to the base colour of white, the logo was created in black, gold, and pink. A preview of the stage design was released on 6 May 2010, featuring no LED screens, opting instead for various other lighting techniques.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: Unlike the 2009 and the 2008 postcards, the 2010 postcards were based in simplicity but also included an innovative idea, they are shown like they could be seen right in the venue, over the crowd's heads.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The basic synopsis of the postcards is a numerous group of little golden balls (the theme of the ESC 2010) forms the shape of each country. Then, they move and form a screen where we can see a pre-recorded video of a little crowd from in a city of the country (usually the capital) about to perform supporting and cheering their act. After that, a few seconds of the performer of the country getting ready in the stage are shown; and then, the balls form the flag of the country supported.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: In the part of the shape of the country, there were little discrepancies: some countries' shapes, such as those for Serbia, Israel, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, were not completely shown, due to territorial or border disputes in those areas.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: NRK announced the hosts of the contest on 10 March 2010. Those chosen were Erik Solbakken, Haddy Jatou N'jie, and Nadia Hasnaoui. Solbakken and N'jie opened the three shows, introduced the artists, and reported from the green room during the voting, with Hasnaoui presenting the voting section and scoreboard announcements. This was the second Eurovision Family of Events that Hasnaoui had co-hosted, after doing so at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004, in Lillehammer. The trio guided the audience and viewers through the night in English, French, and Norwegian. This was the second time that more than two hosts were presenting the shows, after the 1999 contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: On 11 October 2009, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that the format of the semi-finals was to be changed so that the results would be determined by a combination of 50% national jury and 50% televoting, making it more consistent with the final. Each country's votes were determined by combining the jury votes and the televoting results; the countries with the top ten highest points in each semi-final then qualify to participate in the final of the contest. This replaces the semi-final format used in the 2008 and 2009 contests in which the countries with the top nine highest points from the televoting results in each semi-final qualified for the final. The tenth semi-final place was then given to the country with the highest number of points from the jury's votes which had not already qualified for the final from the televoting results. On 26 October 2009, the EBU announced that the voting would be open throughout the competition and would conclude 15 minutes after the end of the very last song.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: A number of fans began a campaign on social networking site Facebook for the return of an orchestra to the contest in Oslo, for the first time since 1998. An orchestra, which had been used since the first contest in 1956, was dropped after the 1998 contest due to rapid developments in music technology, which made backing tracks more useful. Jan Fredrik Heyerdahl of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra said that they were interested in participating in the 2010 contest if the EBU and NRK approved the return of an orchestra. However, no such change to the contest had been approved.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The interval act involved a number of live public outdoor dance events from across Europe, which were planned for promotional purposes, but done in the style of a series of spontaneous flashmobs. The outdoor footage was intercut with webcam footage from individual private households. Peter Svaar, Head of Press for the contest on behalf of broadcaster NRK, said: "We want to share the Eurovision Song Contest, rather than just broadcast it." The seven and a half minute long song, called "Glow", was produced and co-written by the Element team and performed and co-written by Madcon.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: On Sunday 7 February 2010, the draw to decide which countries were to appear in either the first or second semi-final took place. The participating countries excluding the automatic finalists (France, Germany, Norway, Spain & the United Kingdom) were split into six pots, based upon how those countries had been voting. From these pots, half (or as close to half as is possible) competed in the first Semi Final on 25 May 2010. The other half in that particular pot will compete in the second Semi Final on 27 May 2010. This draw also doubled up as an approximate running order, in order for the delegations from the countries to know when their rehearsals commenced. The draw also determined in which Semi Final the automatic finalists voted in. The draw for the running order of the semi-finals, finals, and the order of voting, took place on 23 March 2010.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: A total of 39 countries confirmed their participation for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, including Georgia, which returned to the contest after its absence in 2009.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: Lithuania's broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) initially announced its non-participation after failing to achieve the necessary funds of 300,000 litas (€90,000) for participation. It was later confirmed by the EBU that Lithuania would indeed participate in Oslo. Funding was eventually given by Lithuanian company Teo LT, which allowed Lithuania to participate in the contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: Thirty-four countries participated in the semi-finals of the contest. The semi-final allocation draw took place on 7 February 2010, while the draw for the running order was held on 23 March 2010.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: To keep tension high, the qualifiers were announced in random order, and scores were published online only after the final took place.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The first semi-final took place in Oslo on 25 May 2010. The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to a combination of televotes and jury votes from each voting country, qualified for the final. France, Germany and Spain voted in this semi-final.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The second semi-final took place in Oslo on 27 May 2010. The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to a combination of televotes and jury votes from each voting country, qualified for the final. Norway and the United Kingdom voted in this semi-final.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The final took place on 29 May 2010 at 21:00 CEST in Telenor Arena, Bærum, Akershus, Greater Oslo, Norway. The "Big Four" and the host country, Norway, qualified directly for the final. From the two semi-finals on 25 and 27 May 2010, twenty countries qualified for the final. A total of twenty-five countries competed in the final. The voting system used was similar to that used in the 2009 contest (with a combination of televotes and jury votes), but viewers were able to vote during the performances; the voting window ended 15 minutes after the conclusion of the songs.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The split jury/televoting results were announced by the EBU in June 2010. Only the split totals received by each country were given, not the full breakdown.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: In the first semifinal, one unknown country had only a jury because the votes of the country did not meet the EBU threshold.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The EBU announced that they would work harder to bring back Austria, Italy, and Monaco to the 2010 contest. In September 2009 the EBU's director Bjørn Erichsen stated during an EBU press conference that "Austria will be back", and that the EBU "has reasons to believe that Luxembourg and Monaco" were also to participate and that "now we are only missing Italy". In late October 2009, the 2010 contest project manager Jon Ola Sand has stated that "countries such as Monaco and Luxembourg have indicated that they wish to participate in next year's competition in Norway".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: However, the representatives of broadcasters of Austria, Monaco and Luxembourg denied participation in the 2010 contest. Wolfgang Lorenz, the programme director of the Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), informed Austria would not take part stating that the contest has been "ruined by the regulations".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: Télé Monte Carlo (TMC) has also declared that Monaco would not be returning for the 2010 edition, mainly due to a lack of finances to send a Monegasque entry. The RTL Group had announced that they were having serious discussions regarding a possible comeback for Luxembourg for the first time since 1993, but later confirmed that the country would not be present for the 2010 contest either. San Marino also considered returning in 2010. However, after deliberations with Italian artists, including Italian sister duo Paola & Chiara, Sammarinnese broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) was informed to withhold returning after failing to receive funding from the Sammarinnese parliament or sponsors.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: EBU had talks to Liechtenstein's only broadcaster 1FLTV ("1 Fürstentum Liechtenstein Television") for them to join the EBU, and become a part of the Eurovision Song Contest. 1FLTV's programme director Peter Kolbel had confirmed interest in Liechtenstein's participation as soon as full EBU membership is granted, which may have happened in December 2009. Thus they were getting ready to debut in 2010, considering a national final concept similar to the German version of the Idol series – "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" (DSDS). In November 1FLTV decided against applying for EBU membership in December for financial reasons, ruling out a debut at the 2010 contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: In 2009, Jillian Evans, a representative of the European Parliament from Wales, stated her interest in securing Wales a place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Norway, but in the end it was decided they would not participate. Their debut was rejected because Wales is not a sovereign state and the BBC has the exclusive right to represent the United Kingdom. Wales could be represented by either BBC Cymru Wales, ITV Cymru Wales or S4C.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: From July to December 2009, five countries who participated in the 2009 contest announced their non-participation in 2010. The Czech Republic declared that it would not participate due to a lack of interest from Czech viewers after three successive semi-final failures since their debut in 2007.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: Andorra's broadcaster Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA) announced a 10% reduction in its spending budget for 2010. RTVA had submitted a preliminary application to take part in the contest. However, being unable to secure extra funds by 11 December 2009, it decided to withdraw from the 2010 contest. Following this announcement, many former Andorran Eurovision Song Contest contestants expressed their disappointment in RTVA's decision, and the lack of publicity the country will now receive by not being contestants. Hungary did not enter into the 2010 contest, due to financial difficulties of the national broadcaster Magyar Televízió (MTV). Montenegro and Montenegrin broadcaster Radiotelevizija Crne Gore (RTCG) also refused participation because of financial problems, in a way to reach financial consolidation after three years as an independent state.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: Most countries sent commentators to Oslo or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, provide voting information.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The official Eurovision Song Contest website provided a live stream without commentary via the peer-to-peer medium Octoshape. Eurovision 2010 was also broadcast worldwide through European streams such as BVN, RTS SAT, HRT SAT, RTP Internacional, TVE Internacional, TVP Polonia, TRT Avaz, BNT Sat, ERT World and SVT World, among others. Some radio stations such as those in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Radio Tirana in Albania broadcast live through their internet websites as well as on their satellite channels.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: For the fourth time, the contest was broadcast in high-definition. Some countries, through their high-definition channel, allowed their country to watch the contest in HD:


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The performance of Daniel Diges representing Spain was disrupted by Catalan pitch invader Jaume Marquet i Cot, also known as Jimmy Jump. The performance continued as Marquet, wearing a barretina, joined in with the choreographed routine, but he ran off when security personnel appeared on the stage. Spain was subsequently allowed to perform their song a second time after Denmark's entry - the 25th and final song - had been performed.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: In addition to the main winner's trophy, the Marcel Bezençon Awards and the Barbara Dex Award were contested during the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. The OGAE, "General Organisation of Eurovision Fans" voting poll also took place before the contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The Marcel Bezençon Awards, organised since 2002 by Sweden's then-Head of Delegation and 1992 representative Christer Björkman, and 1984 winner Richard Herrey, honours songs in the contest's final. The awards are divided into three categories: Artistic Award, Composers Award, and Press Award. This is the first and to date the only occasion in which an entry managed to win in all categories.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: OGAE, an organisation of over forty Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, conducts an annual voting poll first held in 2002 as the Marcel Bezençon Fan Award. After all votes were cast, the top-ranked entry in the 2010 poll was Denmark's "In a Moment like This" performed by Chanée and N'evergreen; the top five results are shown below.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: The Barbara Dex Award is a humorous fan award given to the worst dressed artist each year. Named after Belgium's representative who came last in the 1993 contest, wearing her self-designed dress, the award was handed by the fansite House of Eurovision from 1997 to 2016 and is being carried out by the fansite songfestival.be since 2017.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2010

text: Eurovision Song Contest: Oslo 2010 was the official compilation album of the 2010 contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by EMI Records and CMC International on 17 May 2010.The album featured all 39 songs that entered in the 2010 contest, including the semi-finalists that failed to qualify into the grand final.


title: Sissi (film)

text: Sissi is a 1955 Austrian film directed by Ernst Marischka and starring Romy Schneider, Karlheinz Böhm, Magda Schneider, Uta Franz, Gustav Knuth, Vilma Degischer and Josef Meinrad. "Sissi" is the first installment in the trilogy of films about Empress Elisabeth of Austria, who was known to her family as "Sisi". It was followed by "The Young Empress" and "Fateful Years of an Empress".


title: Sissi (film)

text: Princess Elisabeth, nicknamed "Sissi", is the second oldest daughter of Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. She is a carefree, impulsive and nature-loving child. She is raised with her seven siblings at the family seat Possenhofen Castle on the shores of Lake Starnberg in Bavaria. She has a happy childhood free of constraints associated with her royal status.


title: Sissi (film)

text: With her mother and her demure older sister Helene (called "Néné"), 16-year-old Sissi travels from Possenhofen to the spa town of Bad Ischl in Upper Austria. Ludovika's sister, Archduchess Sophie, is the mother of the young emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. Helene is called by Archduchess Sophie to meet the young emperor Franz Joseph in the imperial villa so that the two might be immediately engaged. Sissi is unaware of the real reason for the journey and is forbidden by her aunt to participate in any social events due to her girlishly impetuous ways.


title: Sissi (film)

text: Sissi spends her time fishing in the forest where by chance she meets Franz Josef. The emperor is unaware that the girl is his cousin Sissi. He takes a liking to her and invites her for an afternoon hunting trip in the Alps. They meet as arranged in the mountains where they talk and become acquainted. Sissi falls in love with him but does not reveal her true identity. During their trip, Sissi learns of the planned marriage between Franz Joseph with her sister. The Emperor confesses that he envies the man who will marry Sissi and confesses that he feels no connection to Néné. Upon hearing his indirect declaration of love, Sissi becomes distraught due to her loyalty to Néné. She runs away from Franz Joseph without any explanation.


title: Sissi (film)

text: When Sissi returns to their residence, Néné reveals the reason for the trip to Bad Ischl: to become engaged with Franz Joseph. Unexpectedly, a new guest, the Prince of Lippe, arrives and Sissi is invited by the Archduchess to act as his partner at the Emperor's birthday celebration.


title: Sissi (film)

text: At his birthday party, Franz Joseph is suddenly confronted by Sissi's appearance there with her mother and sister. He realises who Sissi is and tries to talk to her, openly confessing his love and asking her to marry him. Sissi rejects Franz Joseph in order not to betray her sister. He defies his mother's reservations and Sissi's resistance and announces, to the surprise of his guests, his betrothal to Sissi. Néné is heartbroken and leaves the party crying. Sissi, in a state of shock, is forced to obey the Emperor's wishes.


title: Sissi (film)

text: In Possenhofen, preparations for the wedding have started. Sissi is not excited about her impending marriage, as the hurt Néné has left for an indefinite period. For her sister's sake, Sissi attempts to break her engagement, however, Néné returns with a new suitor, Maximilian Anton, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis. The sisters reunite and Néné gives her blessing to Sissi for her marriage.


title: Sissi (film)

text: For the wedding ceremony, Sissi travels with her family on the steamboat "Franz Joseph" down the Danube to Vienna. People line the banks, waving flags and cheering their future Empress. As part of a grand procession, Sissi enters the city in a gilded carriage. The wedding takes place in the Augustinian Church on April 24, 1854.


title: Sissi (film)

text: "Sissi" was filmed in some original places the Empress visited, including Schönbrunn Palace and the Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl. The scenes of her youth on Lake Starnberg, however, were actually filmed at Schloss Fuschl at Lake Fuschl in the Salzkammergut region because Possenhofen Castle was in a poor condition at the time. The wedding celebration was filmed at St. Michael's Church, Vienna.


title: Sissi (film)

text: An early movie about the life of the empress was "The King Steps Out", a 1936 American light comedy film directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Grace Moore. Since the rights to the original play "Sissys Brautfahrt" by Ernst Décsey and Robert Weil aka Gustav Holm were bought from Marischka by Columbia Pictures, he bought instead the novel "Sissi" from Marie Blank-Eisman, published in 1952. Marischka then adapted the script based on the novel.


title: Sissi (film)

text: "Sissi" was viewed by 20 to 25 million people in cinemas. It is one of the most successful German-language movies. The movie was followed by "The Young Empress" in 1956 and "Fateful Years of an Empress" in 1957. In 1962, a condensed version of the trilogy was released in English under the title "Forever My Love". The trilogy is a popular Christmas television special, and is shown on channels in German-speaking countries, Hungary and Italy. The Empress' date of birth on Christmas Eve 1837 adds to the appeal of the film as a Christmas special.


title: Sissi (film)

text: The success of the movie marked Empress Elisabeth's entrance to popular culture which made the historical figure even more legendary. The popularity of the films attracted tourists to places which were associated with the Empress, specifically those in Austria. The popularity also led to the creation of the 1992 musical "Elisabeth", which became the most successful German-language musical of all time. The trilogy was parodied in the 2007 animated film "Lissi".


title: Sissi (film)

text: Romy Schneider's role as Elisabeth is considered her acting breakthrough. She became synonymous with her role in the film, even as she progressed in her acting career. Schneider reprised the role of Elisabeth in Luchino Visconti's 1972 film "Ludwig", this time portraying the Empress as a mature yet cynical woman.


title: Sissi (film)

text: The films have been dubbed in languages including French, Italian, English, Spanish, Japanese and Hungarian. "Sissi" was very popular when it aired on Mainland Chinese television in the 1980s.


title: Single-sex education

text: Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of single-sex schooling was common before the 20th century, particularly in secondary and higher education. Single-sex education is practiced in many parts of the world based on tradition and religion; recently, there has been a surge of interest and the establishment of single-sex schools due to educational research. Single-sex education is most popular in English-speaking countries (regions) such as Singapore, Malaysia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, South Africa and Australia; also in Chile, Israel, South Korea and in many Muslim majority countries. In the Western world, single-sex education is primarily associated with the private sector, with the public (state) sector being overwhelmingly mixed sex; while in the Muslim world public schools and private schools are sex-segregated. Motivations for single-sex education range from religious ideas of sex segregation to beliefs that the sexes learn and behave differently. As such, they thrive in a single-sex environment. In the 19th century, in Western countries, single-sex girls' finishing schools, and women's colleges offered women a chance of education at a time when they were denied access to mainstream educational institutions. The former was especially common in Switzerland, the latter in the U.S. and the U.K., pioneers in women's education.


title: Single-sex education

text: In Western Europe before the 19th century, the most common way for girls to access education was at home, through private tutoring, and not at school, due to the strong resistance to women's involvement in schools. This attitude began to change in the 17th and 18th centuries, when girls' schools were established in both Catholic Europe, where they were managed by nuns, as well as in Protestant Europe, where they were managed by governesses, philanthropists, and private entrepreneurs. The development was similar in the U.S., where early feminists also successfully established women's educational institutions. These were different from and considered inferior to men's institutions. However, they created some of the first opportunities to formalized higher education for women in the Western world. The Seven Sisters colleges offered unprecedented emancipation for women. The pioneer Salem College of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was founded in 1772, originally as a primary school, later becoming an academy (high school) and finally a college. The New England Female Medical College (1848) and the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (1850) were the first medical institutions in the world established to train women in medicine and offer them the M.D. degree.


title: Single-sex education

text: During the 19th century, ideas about education started to change: modern ideas that defined education as a right, rather than as a privilege available only to a small elite, started to gain support in North America and Europe. Mass elementary education was introduced, and more and more coeducational schools opened. Together with mass education, coeducation became standard in many places. Increased secularization in the 20th century also contributed to the acceptance of mixed sex education. In 1917 coeducation was mandated in the Soviet Union. According to Cornelius Riordan, "By the end of the nineteenth century, coeducation was all but universal in American elementary and secondary public schools (see Kolesnick, 1969; Bureau of Education, 1883; Butler, 1910; Riordan, 1990). Furthermore, by the end of the 20th century, this was largely true across the world. In the U.K., Australia, and Ireland, the tradition of single-sex education remained quite strong until the 1960s. The 1960s and 1970s were a period of intense social changes. Many anti-discrimination laws were passed during that era, such as the 1972 Title IX. Wiseman (2008) shows that by 2003, only a few countries globally have greater than one or two percent single-sex schools. But there are exceptions where the percent of single-sex schools exceeds 10 percent: Belgium, Chile, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Israel, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and most Muslim nations. Recently, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in single-sex schools in modern societies across the globe, both in the public and private sector (Riordan, 2002)."


title: Single-sex education

text: The topic of single-sex education is controversial. Advocates argue that it aids student outcomes such as test scores, graduation rates, and solutions to behavioral difficulties. Opponents, however, argue that evidence for such effects is inflated or non-existent and instead argue that such segregation can increase sexism and impairs the development of interpersonal skills.


title: Single-sex education

text: Advocates of single-sex education believe that there are persistent gender differences in how boys and girls learn and behave in educational settings and that such differences merit educating them separately. One version of this argument holds that male-female brain differences favor implementing gender-specific teaching methods, but such claims have not held up to rigorous scrutiny. In addition, supporters of single-sex education argue that by segregating the genders, students do not become distracted by the other gender's actions in the classrooms. Supporters of single-sex education also argue that the culture of coeducational settings causes some students to focus more on socialization, rather than prioritizing academics. Single-sex education supporters blame this focus on socialization for causing problems in student participation, attendance levels, and disciplinary problems.


title: Single-sex education

text: A systematic review published in 2005 covering 2221 studies was commissioned by the United States Department of Education entitled "Single-sex versus coeducational schooling: A systematic review". The review, which had statistical controls for socio-economic status of the students and resources of the schools, etc., found that in the study on the effects of single-sex schooling:


title: Single-sex education

text: In general, most studies reported positive effects for single-sex schools on all-subject achievement tests, and the preponderance of studies in areas such as academic accomplishment (both concurrent and long term) and adaptation or socioemotional development (both concurrent and long term) yields results lending support to single-sex schooling.


title: Single-sex education

text: The quantitative data itself "finds positive results are three to four times more likely to be found for single-sex schools than for coeducational schools in the same study for both academic achievement and socio-emotional development," said Cornelius Riordan, one of the directors of the research.


title: Single-sex education

text: In 2008, the U.S. government sponsored another study, "Early Implementation of Public Single-Sex Schools: Perceptions and Characteristics", which listed the benefits of single-sex schools: (1) Decreases distractions in learning, (2) Reduces student behavior problems, (3) Provides more leadership opportunities, (4) Promotes a sense of community among students and staff, (5) Improves student self-esteem, (6) Addresses unique learning styles and interests of boys or girls, (7) Decreases sex bias in teacher-student interactions, (8) Improves student achievement, (9) Decreases the academic problems of low achieving students, (10) Reduces sexual harassment among students, (11) Provides more positive student role models, (12) Allows for more opportunities to provide social and moral guidance, (13) Provides choice in public education.


title: Single-sex education

text: Australian researchers reported in 2009 that high school students' interpersonal relationships were positively associated with both academic and nonacademic achievement, although the interaction between boys and girls in a majority of cases resulted in less homework done, less enjoyment of school, and lower reading and math scores.


title: Single-sex education

text: A UCLA report commissioned by the National Coalition of Girls' Schools used data from an extensive national survey of U.S. college freshmen and found stronger academic orientations among women who had attended all-girls, compared to coeducational high schools, but the effects were minor, and the authors concluded "that the marginal benefits do not justify the potential threats to gender equity brought on by academic sex segregation".


title: Single-sex education

text: In September 2011, the journal "Science" published a study deeply critical of gender-segregated schooling, arguing that the movement towards single-sex education "is deeply misguided, and often justified by weak, cherry-picked, or misconstrued scientific claims rather than by valid scientific evidence". The study goes on to conclude that "there is no well-designed research showing that single-sex (SS) education improves students' academic performance, but there is evidence that sex segregation increases gender stereotyping and legitimizes institutional sexism."


title: Single-sex education

text: Leonard Sax, the President of National Association for Single-sex Public Education or NASSPE, countered the "Science" article by saying that "ALL the studies cited in the SCIENCE article regarding 'negative impacts' were in fact studies involving a small number of PRE-SCHOOL students attending a COED pre-kindergarten" (capitalized letters in the original). He further said that "these authors provide no evidence for their substantive claim that 'gender divisions are made even more salient in SS settings.' In fact, this conjecture has been tested, and proven false, in multiple studies." Sax cited a study which said that "girls in the all-girls classroom were less aware of 'being a girl' and less aware of gender stereotypes regarding science, compared to girls who were randomly assigned to the coed classroom."


title: Single-sex education

text: In January 2012, a study of the University of Pennsylvania, involving a randomized experiment, considered the experiment with the highest level of scientific evidence. The data comes from schools in South Korea, where a law was passed randomly assigning students to schools in their district. The study by Park, Berhman, and Choi titled "Causal Effects of Single-Sex Schools on College Entrance Exams and College Attendance: Random Assignment in Seoul High Schools" concluded that "Attending all-boys schools or all-girls schools rather than attending coeducational schools is significantly associated with higher average scores."


title: Single-sex education

text: In 2014, E. Pahlke, J. S. Hyde, and C. M. Allison published a meta-analysis in "Psychological Bulletin" comparing achievement and attitudes in single-sex versus coeducational schools that included 1.6 million students in grades K-12. The study concluded that "there is little evidence of an advantage of SS schooling for girls or boys for any of the outcomes." In a 2015 review of this study, however Cornelius Riordan observed that the authors "employ a 0.2 effect-size threshold in drawing these conclusions about there being no advantage to single-sex schooling. Despite the above conclusion, the research found that, in a separate analysis of just the best studies (well controlled) conducted in America, the effect size in mathematics was 0.14 for both boys and girls. The verbal performance was 0.22 for girls and 0.13 for boys... Educational research has shown that a standard effect size of 0.10 on gains from sophomore to senior year of high school is equivalent to one full year of learning by the average public school student in the United States." Thus, he says, that "Applying this standard, a difference of 0.10 (or greater) between students in single-sex and in coeducational schools would be substantially important." The analysis of the 21 other countries yielded much smaller effects, such as a 0.10 effect on mathematics for girls and a 0.06 effect for boys and science (0.06 for girls and 0.04 for boys). Most of the international effects, then, would fall within Riordan's stricter criterion for statistical significance.


title: Single-sex education

text: In 2017, Christian Dustmann, Hyejin Ku, Do Won Kwak explained that "While teenage boys may be more likely to be distracted than girls by a mixed-gender school environment (Coleman 1961, Hill 2015), girls may suffer more because of, for instance, an increase in disruptive behaviour (as discussed by Figlio 2007), or a diversion of the teacher’s attention to weaker students (as suggested by Lavy et al. 2012).


title: Single-sex education

text: In Australia, most single sex schools are fee paying independent or Catholic schools. There are a small number of single sex government schools, while within the independent sector the proportion of pupils attending single sex schools has dropped from 31% in 1985 to 24% in 1995. Nevertheless, single sex education in Australia is much more popular than in the US.


title: Single-sex education

text: In 2001, after six years of study of more than 270,000 students in 53 academic subjects, the Australian Council for Educational Research showed that boys and girls from single-sex classrooms "scored on average 15 to 22 percentile ranks higher than did boys and girls in coeducational settings. The report also documented that boys and girls in single-sex schools were more likely to be better behaved and to find learning more enjoyable and the curriculum more relevant."


title: Single-sex education

text: In Bangladesh, a large number of government and non-government schools and colleges are single-sex institutions except for the universities. Notable all Cantonment schools (non-residential schools run directly by Military), Zilla Schools (run directly by Government [First starting in early colonial ages]), Cadet colleges (residential schools run directly by Military) are single-sex schools.


title: Single-sex education

text: Conservative parents in Bangladesh tend to send their children to single-sex educational institutions.


title: Single-sex education

text: Many single-sex schools exist in Canada, particularly Roman Catholic separate schools. Examples in the City of Toronto include: Notre Dame High School, Neil McNeil High School, Chaminade College School, St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School, Madonna Catholic Secondary School, Brebeuf College School, St. Joseph's College School, Michael Power High School, St. Joseph's High School, Islington, St. Michael's College School and De La Salle College School, Oaklands, Royal St. George's College.


title: Single-sex education

text: As was customary in Catholic countries in Europe, girls were educated in convent schools for girls operated by nuns, such as Abbaye de Penthemont in Paris. A rare exception was Maison royale de Saint-Louis, founded by Madame de Maintenon in 1684. After the French Revolution, it became more common with girls' schools, often operated by governesses, a famous pioneer school being Jeanne-Louise-Henriette Campan.


title: Single-sex education

text: France formally included girls in the state elementary education school system in 1836, but girls and boys were only integrated into the lower levels, while the secondary education of girls was entrusted to girls' schools managed by either nuns or governesses, both of whom lacked the necessary qualifications. When women were formally allowed to attend university in France in 1861, it was hard for them to qualify because of the bad quality of the secondary education. When the problem of unqualified female teachers in the girls' secondary education was addressed by a state teacher's seminary for women and state secondary education for girls, both of these were still gender-segregated. The French school system was not desegregated on the middle secondary education level until the 20th century.


title: Single-sex education

text: Germany was a pioneer in the education of girls. Beginning in the 17th-century, schools for girls opened in both Catholic Southern Germany and Protestant Northern Germany. In Catholic Germany, the Catholic Ursuline and Elisabeth sisters established first elementary education schools for poor children and orphans and eventually (before 1750), also a type of secondary education girls' schools for wealthy girls called "daughters institutes", which were essentially finishing schools. In Protestant Germany, the great Pietist school innovator August Hermann Francke of Halle founded Gynaeceum, the first girls school or 'Mädchenschule' in 1698.


title: Single-sex education

text: The Gynaeceum was followed by many Pietist girls' schools in Germany, notably the Magdalenenstift in Altenburg and Johann Julius Hecker's Royal Elisabeth School in Berlin in 1747.


title: Single-sex education

text: In the 18th-century, it became common with so-called "Töchterschule " ('daughter school') in German cities, supported by the merchant class who wished for their daughters to be given elementary schooling, as well as girls schools known as "Mädchenpensionat", essentially finishing schools for upper-class daughters. In the early 19th-century, secondary education girls schools known as "höhere Töchterschule" ('Higher Daughter school') became common: these schools were given government support and became public in many German cities in the second half of the 19th-century and their education adjusted to become equivalents of the secondary education boys' schools. In 1908, women were allowed to attend university, and in the 20th-century, the public secondary education system was integrated.


title: Single-sex education

text: Figures indicate that, as of 2002, 53% of girls in the Indian population actually attend schools. Some conservative parents may decide to withdraw their daughters at puberty onset because of fear of distraction. It is also believed that by having single-sex classrooms, the students will be able to focus more on their education, as they will not have the distraction of the other sex. The study argues that coeducation schools provide opportunities for students to interact with their peers, which de-stresses students and creates a friendlier, more relaxed environment.


title: Single-sex education

text: Ireland has significantly more pupils studying in single-sex schools than other western countries: more than one-third of second-level schools are single-sex. Single-sex education is less common at the primary level than at the secondary level: 17% of primary school children attend single-sex schools.


title: Single-sex education

text: In the Middle East, public schools in several countries are all gender-segregated. In some countries, there are single-sex private schools as well. In Iran, single-sex public and private schools have been in place since the Islamic Revolution. Universities are mostly coeducational in Iran. University of Kosar (Bojnourd, Iran) and Narjes Rafsanjan University (Rafsanjan, Iran) are two examples of female-only universities.


title: Single-sex education

text: Private schools are primarily coeducational in the United Arab Emirates, while public schools are segregated.


title: Single-sex education

text: In Syria, private schools are coeducational, while public schools are mostly, but not exclusively, segregated. Universities are all coeducational.


title: Single-sex education

text: In Israel, secular public schools are coeducational. Many, but not all, Orthodox public schools are single-sex; the private ultra-Orthodox schools are almost always gender-segregated, usually starting in elementary school.


title: Single-sex education

text: In New Zealand, almost all primary schools are coeducational (1,935 co-ed, 7 boys-only, 4 girls-only), while there are more examples of single-sex secondary schools. There are 45 boys-only secondary schools, 53 girls-only secondary schools and 274 mixed secondary schools .


title: Single-sex education

text: During the mid-20th century, several state coeducational secondary schools split into two single-sex schools, with one school moving to a new site, to alleviate overcrowding. These included Hamilton (1955), Gisborne (1956), Hastings (1956), Tauranga (1958), Rotorua (1959), Westlake (1962), Kelston (1963), and Marlborough (1963).


title: Single-sex education

text: In Nigeria, public opinion regarding sexes in schools is influenced most by religious and cultural beliefs rather than the idea that students learn better separated into sexes. Because of this, the attitude towards the separation/integration of sexes varies depending on the ethnic makeup of the region. People in northern Nigeria are primarily Muslim and, as a result, are more inclined to choose single-sex education over coeducation in line with their religious beliefs. However, country-wide, coeducation schools are more common than single-sex schools.


title: Single-sex education

text: In contrast to the predominance of coeducation schools, many prestigious educational institutions only accept one sex; notable examples include King's College and Queen's College situated in Lagos. Although the sexes are not separated in the classroom at the university level, it is common practice to employ a single-sex housing policy on university campuses, e.g., Covenant University.


title: Single-sex education

text: The education system in Pakistan is generally divided into six levels: preschool (for the age from 3 to 5 years), primary (grades one through five), middle (grades six through eight), high (grades nine and ten, leading to the Secondary School Certificate or SSC), intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a Higher Secondary School Certificate or HSSC), and university programs leading to undergraduate and graduate degrees. Most of the private schools in major cities like Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Islamabad and Rawalpindi have co-education systems but all public schools adhere single-sex education. In some cities, single-sex education is preferred, like Peshawar and Quetta, where many schools are single-sex educational. However, there are also schools in the urban areas which are coeducational. Most colleges are also single-sex education institutions till graduation, but many private and public sector universities have coeducation systems. There are some women's universities in Peshawar and Rawalpindi as well. However, most of the higher education in Pakistan is coeducation.


title: Single-sex education

text: Around 1800, girls' middle-secondary schools begun to appear, and become more common during the 19th century. By the mid 1970s, most of them had been scrapped and replaced with coeducation.


title: Single-sex education

text: By law from the 1570s (Swedish Church Ordinance 1571), girls, as well as boys, were expected to be given elementary schooling. The establishment for girls' schools was left to each city's authorities, and no school for girls was founded until the Rudbeckii flickskola in 1632, and that school was an isolated example. However, schools for boys did accept female students at the lowest levels and occasionally even at high levels: Ursula Agricola and Maria Jonae Palmgren were accepted at Visingsö Gymnasium in 1644 and 1645 respectively, and Aurora Liljenroth graduated from the same school in 1788.


title: Single-sex education

text: During the 18th century, many girls' schools were established, referred to as ('Mamsell school') or ('French pension'). These schools could normally be classified as finishing schools, with only a shallow education of polite conversation in French, embroidery, piano playing, and other accomplishments, and the purpose was only to give the students a proper minimum education to be a lady, a wife, and a mother.


title: Single-sex education

text: In the first half of the 19th century, growing discontent over the shallow education of women eventually resulted in the finishing schools being gradually replaced by girls' schools with a higher level of academic secondary education, called "Higher Girl Schools", in the mid-19th century. At the time of the introduction of the compulsory elementary school for both sexes in Sweden in 1842, only five schools in Sweden provided academic secondary education to females: the Societetsskolan (1786), Fruntimmersföreningens flickskola (1815) and Kjellbergska flickskolan (1833) in Gothenburg, Askersunds flickskola (1812) in Askersund, and Wallinska skolan (1831) in Stockholm.


title: Single-sex education

text: During the second half of the 19th century, secondary education girl schools were in most Swedish cities. All of these were private, except the women's college "Högre lärarinneseminariet" in Stockholm from 1861, and its adjacent girls' school "Statens normalskola för flickor". The Girls' School Committee of 1866 organized the regulation of girls' schools and female education in Sweden: from 1870, some girls' schools were given the right to offer the gymnasium (school) level to their students, and from 1874, those girls' schools which met the demands were given governmental support, and some were given the right to administer the school-leaving exam. This was necessary to make it possible for women to enroll at the universities, which had been opened to women in 1870, as female students were not accepted in the same middle schools as male students.


title: Single-sex education

text: Between 1904 and 1909, girls were integrated with state boys' schools on the secondary levels, making it possible for girls to complete their elementary- and middle-level education in a state school instead of going to an expensive private girls' school. Finally, in 1927, all state secondary schools for boys were integrated, and the private girls' schools started to be transformed into coeducational schools, a process which was completed by 1970.


title: Single-sex education

text: While England has a very strong tradition of single-sex education, Scottish education was largely mixed, and Wales introduced dual schools (a girls' side and a boys' side under one roof) in 1889. In England, most secondary education was single-sex until the 1970s.


title: Single-sex education

text: Single-sex schooling was traditionally the norm for secondary schools in most parts of the United Kingdom, especially for private, grammar and secondary modern schools, but most UK schools are now coeducational. In the state sector of the U.K. education system very few single sex schools remain. The number of single-sex state schools has fallen from nearly 2,500 to just over 400 in 40 years. According to Alan Smithers, Professor of Education at Buckingham University, there was no evidence that single-sex schools were consistently superior. A major longitudinal study of over 17,000 individuals examined whether single-sex schooling made a difference for a wide range of outcomes, including academic attainment, earnings, marriage, childbearing and divorce. The authors found that girls fared better in examinations at age 16 at single-sex schools, while boys achieved similar results at single-sex or co-educational schools. Girls rated their abilities in maths and sciences higher if they went to a girls' school, and boys rated their abilities in English higher if they went to a boys' school, i.e. gender stereotyping was weaker in the single-sex sector. Later in life, women who had been to single-sex schools went on to earn higher wages than women who had been to co-educational schools.


title: Single-sex education

text: Until the 19th century, single-sex education was the norm in the United States, although this varied by region. In New England, there was more mixed-sex education than in the South, and girls in New England had more access to education in general. Mixed-sex education started to spread rapidly with the generalization of elementary education in the 19th century. According to Cornelius Riordan, "By the end of the nineteenth century, coeducation was all but universal in American elementary and secondary public schools (see Kolesnick, 1969; Bureau of Education, 1883; Butler, 1910; Riordan, 1990). However, higher education was usually single-sex, and men's colleges and women's colleges were common well into the 20th century. A form of education strongly associated with sex-segregation is Catholic schools, although many Catholic schools today are coeducational. The idea of educating students differently by sex, formally or informally, was common until the 1970s.


title: Single-sex education

text: A controversy regarding single-sex education in the United States is its association with racist ideologies in the 1950s in the American South. After the "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) ruled racial segregation in education unconstitutional, therefore paving the way to educating together black and white children, many conservatives reacted very negatively to the idea of black boys and white girls socializing together, potentially leading to interracial romantic couples. As such, segregation by sex in schools became quite common during that era across the Southern US, with many single-sex educational institutions being established.


title: Single-sex education

text: A major event that affected single-sex schooling in the US was when the Title IX amendments of the Education Amendments of 1972 were passed. The Encyclopedia of Women and Gender explains Title IX as being "Founded on the premises of equal opportunity, equal access, and full integration, it focused on providing complete access to participation in all functions of schooling, regardless of gender" (Sex Segregation In Education, 2001). Many feminists fought for the passage of this law. The goal was to ban all sex discrimination in any education program which received financial aid from the government. It was stated specifically on the Department of Education website as, "No person in the US, on the basis of sex, can be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance".


title: Single-sex education

text: The leading cause which led to the start of more public schools having single-sex classes or entire schools was when the reforms to the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 were passed in 2006. Initially, Title IX had allowed the separation of males and females in certain areas in school before the new changes. For example, they were allowed to have single-gender classes for physical education when contact sports were involved and sex-education classes. Kasic (2008) indicates that the new regulations allow nonvocational public schools to receive funding if they offer single-sex classes or entire single-sex schools, but to start these programs, they have to have a governmental or educational objective. These programs must also be voluntary, so public schools cannot be required to offer these single-sex programs. If they do, they cannot force students to participate in them. Diana Schemo explains in a New York Times article, "Until now, public school districts that offered a school to one sex generally had to provide a comparable school for students of the other sex. However, the new rules say districts can offer such students the option to attend comparable coeducational schools" (Schemo, 2006, p. 2). Since these regulations were approved, the number of public schools offering single-sex programs has been steadily increasing because the rules are more flexible.


title: Single-sex education

text: In the United States, the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of single-sex public education in the 1996 case of "United States v. Virginia". This ruling, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, concluded that single-sex education in the public sector is constitutional only if comparable courses, services, and facilities are made available to both sexes. The No Child Left Behind Act contains provisions (sections 5131.a.23. and 5131c, 20 U.S.C. section 7215(a)(23), and section 7215(c)) designed by their authors—senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)—to facilitate single-sex education in public schools. These provisions led to the publication of new federal rules in October 2006 to allow districts to create single-sex schools and classes provided that 1) enrollment is voluntary and 2) comparable courses, services, and facilities are available to both sexes. The number of public schools offering single-sex classrooms rose from 4 in 1998 to 540 in 2010, according to the web site of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education.


title: Single-sex education

text: Education Next and the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University sponsored a nationwide survey conducted by Knowledge Networks in early 2008. According to the survey, "more than one-third of Americans feel parents should have the option of sending their child to a single-sex school".


title: Single-sex education

text: In the United States, gender segregation in schools was initially a product of an era when traditional gender roles categorically determined scholastic, professional, and social opportunities based on sex. For instance, leading experts supported gender segregation in higher education because they considered it "to be dangerous and inappropriate for women. Experts claimed that scientific evidence established that women were physically and temperamentally not suited to the rigors of the academy . ... Separate education for men and women paralleled the separate spheres that each was expected to occupy." Furthermore, colleges and universities did not consider female applicants until the second half of the nineteenth century, when the women's rights movement began advocating for gender equality. In response to social progression, "at the turn of the twentieth century, educators, particularly those in the South, fiercely resisted coeducation in elite all-male colleges, and most of the Ivy League institutions would drag their feet well into the twentieth century before becoming coeducational."


title: Single-sex education

text: Girls and boys segregation in schools is definitive of a sex-based classification, and, thus, it must be supported by an "exceedingly persuasive justification" to pass constitutional muster. In light of this requisite standard, the legality of single-sex educational institutions depends on the accuracy of underlying assumptions and support. Accordingly, it is important to be aware that most research used to advocate the benefits of single-sex education is cloaked in uncertainty. Specifically, proponents "who want to build a case for single-sex education usually draw on ... uncontrolled studies, small samples, and anecdotal evidence; the positive findings are repeated but are not analyzed". Alternatively, opponents of single-sex education can gather tangible support from observable patterns of pervasive gender inequality in other social contexts.


title: Single-sex education

text: The diversity of opinions that concurrently support gender segregation in education creates a complex and fragmented dynamic. The miscellany of proponents includes: conservatives emphasizing innate gender differences, traditionalists favoring rigid gender roles, democrats striving to remedy past discrimination, progressives promoting diversity in academic choices, and feminists championing exclusively female support systems. Because the coalition of proponents consists of parties with different interests, the body of "educational research regarding the efficacy of single-sex schools is mixed at best". Moreover, advocates tend to bolster their respective positions by emphasizing specific aspects of educational research without addressing the remaining "array of evidence regarding institutions, structures, and processes that construct views on gender and equality". Although educational research supporting gender segregation in schools is rife with ambiguity, "the social research is absolutely clear that separation on the basis of identity characteristics creates feelings of individual inadequacy and instills beliefs about group hierarchy".


title: Single-sex education

text: Studies used to make policy or legal arguments in the current debate over single-sex education narrowly "look only at the slice of the social picture that schooling represents". An informed assessment regarding the appropriate role of gender segregation in contemporary and future education developments requires contemplation of potential implications beyond the direct, internal, and immediate influences that single-sex schools stand to exert on students. It is undeniable that gender inequality exists, consciously or not, in contemporary social, professional, and domestic hierarchies or relationships. Indeed, "[g]ender separatism is so pervasive that it is almost invisible. It is woven into the fabric of our daily social routines." Vestiges of past gender segregation and its connotations throughout American history validate questions concerning the likely effects of contemporary institutions of single-sex education on prevailing gender.


title: Single-sex education

text: Assessing the current single-sex education debate through a broad lens realizes contextual factors that effectively constitute the crux of the issue. Most discussions regarding the potential effects of single-sex education characterize future students of such institutions as the sole beneficiaries of resulting impacts. However, an appropriate assessment considers contextual implications and realizes that female citizens as a class will be the true beneficiaries if single-sex education developments reach fruition.


title: Single-sex education

text: If the multitude of diverging interests that influence the single-sex education dispute was distilled, the core concern of the discussion asks whether single-sex education will help remedy past gender discrimination or not. In sum, [Gender] separatism originated in beliefs about innate differences between women and men in inclinations and abilities, sentiments that comported with 'widely held views about women's proper place.' The existence of segregated higher education was itself, for centuries, a critical factor in the limitation of women's professional opportunities. The implications of reviving single-sex education in America could further erode outdated sex stereotypes and, thereby, facilitate gender equality in other social contexts. Incorporating the national history of gender segregation allows all sides to balance the hypothetical benefits of future students against the potential regression of gender equality in America.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: Anjana Om Kashyap is an Indian news anchor working with Hindi news channel Aaj Tak as a Senior Executive Editor. Kashyap started her journalistic career by joining the public broadcaster Doordarshan before moving to Zee News. She then went to News 24 before settling into Aaj Tak.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: Kashyap was born in a middle class family to Omprakash Tiwari in Ranchi who originally came from Arrah, Bihar. Her father was a doctor on short-service-commission with the Indian Army, and served during the Bangladesh War of Liberation.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: She had her initial schooling at Loreto Convent, a local Catholic school and then from Delhi Public School, Ranchi. She went on to pursue an honours in Botany from the University of Delhi. Kashyap went on to appear for the All India Pre Medical Test but failed to pass. She was a prolific debater and exhibited strong leadership qualities since childhood, having become the head-girl in both the schools and the president of her college hostel.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: After a few years, she enrolled at the Delhi School of Social Work, for her post-graduation. Kashyap mentions that the curricula and field visits inculcated a spirit of public activism in her.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: Kashyap's first job was as a counselor at the Daewoo Motors;, however she resigned soon after an year. She then joined an NGO in the roles of a legal counselor.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: In the early 2000s, Kashyap opted for a diploma in journalism, from Jamia Millia Islamia. Upon graduation, she joined Doordarshan, where she was assigned to the news-desk of "Aankhon Dekhi", an investigative show but was also allotted infrequent reporting duties.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: Within a year, she moved to Zee News. Whilst she wanted to be an anchor all throughout; the channel found her lacking in speaking finesse and employed her in producing roles. In her later years at Zee, she successfully passed the auditions and were occasionally used as an anchor for special features.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: In 2007, she joined News 24, where she was, for the first time, assigned a mainstream role at anchoring in the form of moderating an evening debate show. She left the venture in early 2012 and moved to Star News; however, it was shut down months later. Kashyap thus became one of the several journalists, to follow her immediate ex-boss at News24 – Supriya Prasad from News 24 to Aaj Tak, around late 2012.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: Kashyap has been noted to be a strong voice against reservations in India for socially oppressed classes and likewise affirmative actions; in a media-panel discussion, she had once described the system to be infested by 'termites', which brought neither social mobility nor economic affluence for the target-populace. She mentions her Brahminical upbringing and the social tensions prevalent in the aftermath of enacting Mandal Commission recommendations, as contributing factors.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: A long-form piece over The Caravan (by Nikita Saxena), has been highly critical of Kashyap's journalism, noting the aggressive propagation of Hindutva centered ideologies and biased reporting in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party, across a variety of situations. Scroll.in has noted her to be an establishment friendly news anchor.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: Kashyap was one of the few reporters, who were allowed an interview by Narendra Modi, in the run-up to the 2019 National Elections. Saxena notes that Kashyap refused to pose any challenging question to him.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: Kashyap's reporting of the 2019 Supreme Court proceedings on Ayodhya title dispute toed a pro-Hindutva line with numerous debates and special shows, that spanned a vast avenue from seeking the reasons behind a routine deferment of the case (around 18 October) to inquiring about why the Muslims were unable to compromise with a "mere" 5 acre land, and the timeline of Ram Mandir construction, all along with provocative headlines and audience-polls; it ended with welcoming the final verdict in favour of the Hindus, as a sacred occasion.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: During a demolition drive by the BJP government in the Jahangirpuri area despite Supreme Court orders to stop the demolitions, Anjana climbed on a bulldozer herself.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: While reporting about the 2019 Bihar encephalitis outbreak, Kashyap entered the neonatal ICU at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital and started haranguing the on-duty pediatrician. She was widely criticised for her inappropriate behaviour. The Indian Medical Association subsequently filed a complaint against her, for endangering the lives of children, in an attempt to gain publicity.


title: Anjana Om Kashyap

text: Kashyap is married to Mangesh Kashyap, an officer of the 1995 Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service cadre. Anjana met Mangesh during her days at Delhi University. Mangesh was the erstwhile Addl. Deputy Commissioner of the Delhi Police and since 2016, has been the Chief Vigilance Officer of South Delhi Municipal Corporation. They have a son and a daughter.


title: Donbass Arena

text: Donbass Arena ( ; is a stadium with a natural grass pitch in Donetsk, Ukraine, that opened on 29 August 2009. The facility is located in the center of the city, in the Lenin Comsomol park. With a capacity of 52,187 spectators, the stadium used to host FC Shakhtar Donetsk matches and also hosted some matches of Euro 2012. The final cost of construction for Donbass Arena was $400M. The stadium has been unused and closed to the public since May 2014, due to the War in Donbas.


title: Donbass Arena

text: The name of the stadium represents the simplified and shortened name of the Donets Basinhuge industrial region of Donbas, henceDonbas (Ukrainian: "Донецький басейн" or "Донбас").


title: Donbass Arena

text: Construction began in 2006. The general contractor was a Turkish company ENKA. The Stadium was completed and opened in 2009. About 1,600 specialists, mainly Turkish, were involved in the construction.


title: Donbass Arena

text: Donbass Arena was designed by ArupSport. It was Project Managed by Arup Major Projects (Project Director Charles Goddard). Arup Sport also designed the City of Manchester Stadium (Manchester, England), Allianz Arena (Munich, Germany) and the Beijing National Stadium (Beijing, China). The soaring roof effect makes the Stadium resemble a flying saucer. The stadium has an oval shape and a glazed façade and is located near Regional Sport Complex Olimpiyskiy. The roof of the stadium slopes from north to south matching the landscape and contributing to the natural lighting and airing of the pitch. The external lighting makes the Stadium shine at night. A major design consideration was the ongoing protection of as much of the forest setting as possible (each tree having been planted in commemoration of deceased family members in the Great Patriotic War, and the exclusion zones to the neighbouring war memorials. A major geotechnical fault exists some 100m below the ground directly under the centre-spot. The building's foundations and piling was a major sub-project.


title: Donbass Arena

text: The Donbass Arena was completed ahead of schedule, but the grand opening was delayed until 29 August 2009 to coincide with the Ukrainian holiday of Miners Day, as well as Donetsk City day. Donetsk is in the Donbas region, a mining region, and the date was chosen for its symbolism. The primary tenant of the facility is the local professional football club Shakhtar Donetsk ("Donetsk Coal Miners").


title: Donbass Arena

text: American Pop/R&B singer-songwriter Beyoncé Knowles performed a show from her I Am... Tour on the opening night of the new stadium. It was Knowles' first performance in Ukraine. Beyoncé performed her famous hit Halo to honour the memory of Michael Jackson, who would have had his birthday on that day.


title: Donbass Arena

text: Many state officials attended the show designed by K-events Filmmaster Group. The opening ceremony was awarded as "Event of the Year" at the Stadium Business Awards on 18 June 2010 in Dublin.


title: Donbass Arena

text: Shakhtar Donetsk's first match at the stadium was a 4–0 victory in a 2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League fixture on 27 September 2009 against FC Obolon Kyiv. The first international game took place on 18 November 2009 against Greece, which Ukraine lost 0–1 failing to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.


title: Donbass Arena

text: Donbass Arena was included in the official bidding project submitted by Poland and Ukraine for hosting UEFA Euro 2012. The stadium was one of the venues for the UEFA Euro 2012. The stadium hosted group D stage games and one quarter-final and one semi-final game (with the other matches in that group played at Olimpiysky National Sports Complex). Unlike most new stadiums being built in Poland and Ukraine, Donbass Arena was not specifically built for the tournament.


title: Donbass Arena

text: The project of new stadium "Donbass Arena" was conceived long before Ukraine was named as co-host of Euro 2012. The owner considered the possibility of daily use of the arena. "Donbass Arena" includes three restaurants, a lounge-bar, a fan cafe, numerous fast-food outlets, retail outlets, a fitness center, corporate boxes and first aid rooms. The stadium also provides facilities for corporate events - presentations, press conferences, celebrations and concerts. Stadium tours are available which include an examination of the unique features of Donbass Arena, a visit to the footballers' rooms and FC Shakhtar Museum and a visit to the FC Shakhtar brand shop for souvenirs.


title: Donbass Arena

text: On 20 May 2014, the stadium hosted a small "Peace March" against the violence of the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.


title: Donbass Arena

text: On 22 August 2014, the stadium was damaged by what was reported to be artillery shelling, as the Ukrainian armed forces clashed with pro-Russian separatists for control of the town.


title: Donbass Arena

text: On 20 October 2014, the stadium was again damaged by what was reported to be artillery shelling. This time, the stadium sustained damage to the east and west sides and at least one large glass panel fell near a young girl.


title: Donbass Arena

text: Since July 2014, due to the danger of the ongoing conflict in Donetsk, Shakhtar used the Arena Lviv in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine (600 miles away from Donetsk) as their temporary home ground. In early 2017, the club moved their home games to the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv (183 miles to the north of Donetsk). Additionally, the club's administrative headquarters and player training sessions have been re-located to the capital city of Kyiv.


title: Donbass Arena

text: The stadium has remained unused and closed to the public since FC Shakhtar were forced to abandon it. However, despite the on-going conflict, the stadium is slowly being repaired. On 31 May 2018, the field turf was successfully restored.


title: Donbass Arena

text: In March 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Donbas Arena Football infrastructure continues to suffer from the war in Ukraine. The main stadium of Donetsk suffered some damage.


title: Livedo reticularis

text: Livedo reticularis is a common skin finding consisting of a mottled reticulated vascular pattern that appears as a lace-like purplish discoloration of the skin. The discoloration is caused by reduction in blood flow through the arterioles that supply the cutaneous capillaries, resulting in deoxygenated blood showing as blue discoloration. This can be a secondary effect of a condition that increases a person's risk of forming blood clots, including a wide array of pathological and nonpathological conditions. Examples include hyperlipidemia, microvascular hematological or anemia states, nutritional deficiencies, hyper- and autoimmune diseases, and drugs/toxins.


title: Livedo reticularis

text: The condition may be normal or related to more severe underlying pathology. Its differential diagnosis is broadly divided into possible blood diseases, autoimmune (rheumatologic) diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and endocrine disorders. It can usually (in 80% of cases) be diagnosed by biopsy.


title: Livedo reticularis

text: The condition's name derives from the Latin "livere" which means bluish, and "reticular" which refers to the net-like pattern.


title: Livedo reticularis

text: Livedo reticularis is diagnosed by its clinical appearance and history. No further test or examination confirms idiopathic livedo reticularis, however, further investigations may be undertaken where an underlying cause is suspected such as skin biopsies, or blood tests for antibodies associated with antiphospholipid syndrome or systemic lupus erythematosus.


title: Livedo reticularis

text: Other than identifying and treating any underlying conditions in secondary livedo, idiopathic livedo reticularis may improve with warming the area.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: The Beach is a 1996 novel by English author Alex Garland. Set in Thailand, it is the story of a young backpacker's search for a legendary, idyllic and isolated beach untouched by tourism, and his time there in its small, international community of backpackers.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: In 2000, it was adapted into a film directed by Danny Boyle and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's survey The Big Read.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: Richard, a British backpacker meets a mentally disturbed Scot going by the alias of Daffy Duck at a hotel in Bangkok. Daffy tells Richard about a beautiful island with a hidden lagoon and beach, located in the Gulf of Thailand, where he settled years prior. The beach is inaccessible to tourists and can only be located by a map, which Daffy leaves for Richard. Shortly thereafter, Richard discovers that Daffy has died by suicide. Wanting company in his search, Richard befriends a travelling French couple, Étienne and Françoise, and the trio sets out to find what they hope might be an untouched paradise.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: On their way to the island, Richard gives a copy of the map to Sammy and Zeph, two Americans he meets on Koh Samui. When the three finally reach the hidden beach — after bribing a local boat pilot, swimming from an adjacent island, discovering a cannabis plantation in the jungle, and avoiding its armed owners, and eventually jumping over a waterfall — they discover a group of approximately 30 backpackers who have largely shut off the outside world to live a slow-paced life of leisure under the "de facto" leadership of an American woman called Sal and her South African lover Bugs, who, along with Daffy, founded the community there in 1989. They reside in hand-built wooden huts and tents, located near a large, beautiful beach and lagoon that are encircled by cliffs and connected to the sea by underwater caves.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: When Richard, Étienne, and Françoise arrive, it is already 1995, six years after the founders came to the beach. The founders have chosen only a small number of friends and acquaintances to come to the island, and thus newcomers are not welcome, but they are not sent away because doing so would jeopardize the secrecy of the community. The residents fear that if word gets out, the beach will become overrun with tourists and ruined, like many of Thailand's other beauty spots. They are also mindful of upsetting the Thai cannabis farmers, with whom they originally agreed to keep to separate territories but who have more recently warned them not to bring anyone new to the island, as the farmers fear discovery by the police. After initial suspicion, the group accepts the trio when they explain about Daffy's map and his death back on the mainland.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: As the community aims to be self-sufficient, work is divided into rosters for gardening, fishing, cooking, and carpentry. Richard, Françoise, and Étienne become part of the fishing detail.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: For several months, Richard finds life on the island idyllic, fishing in the mornings and relaxing the rest of the time. He befriends a few other members of the community: Keaty, a fellow Englishman hooked on his Game Boy; Gregorio, a Spaniard on his fishing detail; Unhygienix, the Italian head chef obsessed with soap, as he handles fish every day; Jesse and Cassie, two lovers; Ella, who works second-in-command to Unhygienix; and finally, Jed, the loner of the group whose mysterious job involves going alone into the jungle. Richard later discovers that Sal has assigned Jed to be the island's guardian: He watches the sea and shores of the neighboring islands for any signs of people attempting to discover the beach. Jed also has a sideline of stealing some cannabis from the Thai farmers' side of the island.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: One day, Unhygienix informs everyone that their rice supply has been infected by a fungus, and Sal announces an emergency rice run — an occasional discreet trip to the mainland by boat to bulk-buy rice and other essentials. Due to the laborious nature of the task, no one volunteers for it except Jed, who, to the bewilderment of most others, always takes the job.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: Richard also volunteers, and so the two travel back to Koh Phangan for their supplies. It is during the rice run that Jed learns that Richard gave a copy of the map to Sammy and Zeph, when Jed coincidentally wanders past and overhears the two Americans relaying the urban legend of the beach to some Germans.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: The rice run goes without a hitch, but soon, accompanied by three Germans they met on the mainland, Zeph and Sammy make their way to the nearest island to the beach, which worries Richard, as he will be blamed if they successfully reach the community. Soon afterward, Sal reassigns Richard to the perimeter detail to partner with Jed and keep a close eye on the potential invaders.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: With a free spot in Gregorio's fishing detail, Keaty takes Richard's place. A few days later, he mistakenly catches a dead squid that gives severe food poisoning to most of the group. The few remaining healthy members struggle to nurse the sick residents back to health.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: Richard returns from his sentry duty to find that Bugs has punched Keaty in the face for his mistake. Richard, having never liked Bugs' arrogant nature, instigates a heated argument with him in front of the whole group, which leads to a division of the community into several cliques. On this day, only two of the fishing details are still in operation, and the best detail, comprising three Swedes — Christo, Sten, and Karl — who fish outside the safe lagoon area, is attacked by a shark.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: The camp only finds out about the shark attack upon the return of one of the three, Karl, in the early evening. Karl carries Sten on his back to the village, where Sten is discovered to have already bled to death. While Karl was not physically harmed by the shark, he suffers severe emotional trauma from having watched his friend die. He subsequently spends his time sitting in a dug-out hole on the beach and not talking to anyone, barely accepting food and water.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: Richard realizes that Christo is still missing and, at his own risk, retrieves him from partially submerged caves of the lagoon. Richard is praised for his heroic rescue of Christo, who at first seems fine but later collapses, owing to the internal bleeding from having been rammed by the shark. Due to Christo's grave wounds, he requires Jed's presence in the camp, because only Jed has the medical knowledge to tend to him. This leaves Richard to work the sentry detail alone.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: A few days later, a funeral is held for Sten near the jungle waterfall, and Sal gives a decisive speech that somewhat restores social harmony. She announces that it is 11 September, so they will thus be celebrating the Tet festival in three days' time.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: Spending long hours alone in the forest as he hikes between lookout spots, Richard begins to experience hallucinations in which Daffy appears: They converse and patrol together the part of the island that Richard refers to as the DMZ. Richard comes to appreciate that Daffy killed himself because he could neither endure the unravelling of his elitist vision of the beach as the group grew in size, nor bear the thought of a return to either backpacking or settled life, and notes that he is also falling prey to that way of thinking.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: Richard realizes the reason why Daffy gave him the map — as well as spread rumors of the island all over Thailand — so that many travelers would come looking for the beach, inevitably leading to its becoming a tourist destination. Daffy describes this act as "euthanizing" the community, and Richard was merely a pawn in Daffy's revenge plan.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: This comes to a head following the arrival of the American/German group by raft. Unlike Richard, Étienne, and Françoise, who managed to overcome all obstacles in getting to the beach, the newcomers never make it past the most dangerous hurdle: the cannabis farmers. Richard witnesses them being first beaten violently and then dragged away. The sound of gunshots implies that the farmers have murdered the intruders.


title: The Beach (novel)

text: Richard returns to the community campsite to immediately inform Sal and Jed of what happened. He then goes to the beach to visit Karl, who attacks Richard, provoking Richard to attack him before he gets free and runs off into the jungle. On the day of the Tet festival, Sal obliquely asks Richard to kill Karl because of the threat he poses to the group's now-fragile social integrity, complaining that she constantly has to lift morale in the wake of the poisoning incident and Sten's death.