title: Katharine Viner

text: In the summer of 2014, Viner moved to New York City and became the new head of "The Guardian"s American website in succession to Janine Gibson while remaining deputy editor of Guardian News & Media. While based in New York, Viner expanded "GuardianUS"s coverage from a limited range of subjects, into areas such as the arts and sport; she also increased US staffing.


title: Katharine Viner

text: In March 2015, Viner won a majority in the ballot of "Guardian" and "Observer" editorial staff as the favoured successor of Alan Rusbridger as "The Guardian"s editor-in-chief. Viner received 53% of first-choice votes from the 964 staff who participated, and was thus shortlisted for selection. Former deputy editor and rival, Ian Katz (editor of the BBC's "Newsnight" television programme 2013-2017), was also on the final short list of two.


title: Katharine Viner

text: Viner was appointed editor-in-chief on 20 March 2015, the first woman to be the editor of "The Guardian" in its 194-year history, and assumed her new post on June 1, 2015. She intends to make the "media organisation" a "home for the most ambitious journalism, ideas and events" which is able to reach "out to readers all around the world."


title: Katharine Viner

text: It has been suggested by author and former "Guardian" columnist Michael Wolff that another of Viner's rivals to succeed Rusbridger, Janine Gibson, suffered because of internal disquiet over the internal impact on "The Guardian" of the Edward Snowden revelations which Gibson edited in New York. Wolff said Gibson aligned herself with Snowden, promising more of the same, while Viner "pitched decidedly against Gibson and, in a sense, against Snowden". Peter Wilby, writing in the "New Statesman", preferred a different explanation: "Viner is a more charming, more inclusive and less threatening figure than Janine Gibson, who started as the bookies’ and Rusbridger's favourite."


title: Katharine Viner

text: In March 2016, Viner and Guardian News and Media chief executive David Pemsel announced cost-cutting measures, leading to the projected loss of 250 jobs, to reduce unsustainable losses in order to break even within three years. The following month, "The Times" reported internal tensions within the organisation as Rusbridger prepared to become Chairman of the Scott Trust, the ultimate overseer to ensure "The Guardian" survives "in perpetuity". Rusbridger's expansion of the company's operations was reportedly seen by staff as responsible for the decisions which Viner and Pemsel have made. Viner and David Pemsel successfully opposed Rusbridger becoming Chair of the Scott Trust Ltd and he dropped plans to take up the post.


title: Katharine Viner

text: Appeals to readers for donations have been successful. "We now get about the same amount of money from membership and paying readers as we do from advertising", Viner told the "Financial Times" in May 2017. By the time "The Guardian" and sister title "The Observer" relaunched as a tabloid in January 2018, part of the cost-cutting exercise, revenue from readers exceeded advertising and the group expects to break even in 2018/19, for the first time since the 1980s, rather than continue to sustain heavy losses. As of 2018 this approach was considered successful, having brought more than 1 million subscriptions or donations, with the paper hoping to break even by April 2019. Industry specialists consulted by the "Financial Times" have continued to doubt whether the donation and membership model is financially viable in the long term.


title: Katharine Viner

text: In May 2021 "The Daily Telegraph" reported that there was serious conflict between Viner and chief executive of the Guardian Media Group Annette Thomas about finances and the direction the newspaper should take. The previous year "The Guardian" announced 180 job cuts. Thomas had earlier said at a media industry conference "we have quality content in spades ... the job at hand is to now go further by strengthening the growing elements of our business". Viner wanted renewed investment after better than feared financial results in 2020. On 9 June 2021 it was announced that Thomas would leave the Guardian Media Group at the end of the month.


title: Katharine Viner

text: Outside journalism Viner is known for "My Name Is Rachel Corrie", a play she co-edited with actor Alan Rickman from the writings and emails of Rachel Corrie, an American activist who was killed by a bulldozer operated by the Israeli Army in Rafah, Gaza in 2003. The play was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 2005. After Rickman died of cancer in January 2016, Viner wrote that their collaboration had been initially difficult, but "on the opening night we each admitted that we couldn’t have done justice to Rachel’s words without the other".


title: Katharine Viner

text: Viner was a judge in the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2004 and was on the board of the Royal Court Theatre for 13 years.


title: Katharine Viner

text: In 2002, Viner criticised the planned invasion of Iraq and wrote that George W. Bush "bombed Afghanistan to liberate the women from their burkas (or, as he would have it, to free the "women of cover"), and sent out his wife Laura to tell how Afghans are tortured for wearing nail varnish".


title: Katharine Viner

text: Viner opposed Brexit. In 2016, she wrote: "At the end of a campaign that dominated the news for months, it was suddenly obvious that the winning side had no plan for how or when the UK would leave the EU – while the deceptive claims that carried the leave campaign to victory suddenly crumbled."


title: Katharine Viner

text: Viner married broadcaster, documentary maker and writer Adrian Chiles in 2022. Chiles, speaking on BBC Radio 4, "Saturday Live" revealed 150 guests attended their wedding ceremony.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem (), is a major city in Salem district, located on the banks of Thirumanimutharu river in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Salem is the sixth largest urban agglomeration and metropolitan city in the state by population next to Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli and Tiruppur and the sixth largest city in Tamil Nadu by area covering .


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: During the third century BCE, there was period of Bogar – a notable Tamil Siddhar and at that time Jainism and Buddhism arrived. Around the beginning of the common era, the existence of a culturally and economically advanced society in Salem two thousand years ago is evident from the discovery of silver coins of the Roman Emperor Tiberices Claudices Nero (37–68 CE) in Koneripatti of Salem in 1987. Later Pandya dynasty started ruling the region around Salem. Later Pallava dynasty rises in Salem. After that Mahendra Varma Pallava came to Salem and Saivite principles rise. After Mahednra Varma Pallava, Narasimha Varma Pallava came. Soon Pandya dynasty came to Salem. The Hoysala rule established in Salem and parts of few Salem remained under Pandya dynasty.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: The city has been a part of Chola Dynasty. A mosque in the city is believed to be built by Tipu Sultan the ruler of Mysore Kingdom in the present day of Karnataka. The town and the surrounding hilly regions were part of the Chola dynasty and was part of the trade route with the Roman empire. It was later governed by Poligars, who built temples and forts in and around the city. It was part of the Vijayanagara empire before being captured by Hyder Ali during the early 18th century, after the Mysore-Madurai war. It was ceded to the British in 1768 and the area became part of the struggle between Kongu Nadu led by Dheeran Chinnamalai and the British.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem became part of Salem district since independence in 1947. Salem district was the first district to be formed in India on 4 April 1792 that spread over 7,530 sq km comprising the present-day Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri. Alexander Reed was the collector of the Salem district from 1792 to 1799.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem is located at , at an average elevation of 278 m (912 ft.). The city is surrounded by hills: Nagaramalai on the north, Jarugumalai on the south, Kanjamalai on the west, Godumalai on the east and the Shevaroy Hills on the northeast. Kariyaperumal Hill is in southwestern Salem. The Thirumanimutharu River flows through the city, dividing it in two. The fort area is the oldest part of Salem.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem lies in the foothills of Shevaroy hills which houses the famous hill Station 'Yercaud'. It is located about northwest of Tiruchirappalli, northeast of Coimbatore, southeast of Bangalore and about southwest of the state capital, Chennai.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification "Aw"). January and February are generally pleasant; the hot summer begins in March, with the year's highest temperatures during April. Pre-monsoon thunderstorms occur during April and May. The Southwest monsoon season lasts from June to September. The northeast monsoon occurs from October to December.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem is the headquarters of Salem district. The town was constituted as a municipality in 1867, and was upgraded to a special-grade municipality in 1979 and to a municipal corporation on 1 April 1994. The Salem municipal corporation has 72 wards, each with an elected councillor. The functions of the municipal corporation are divided into six departments: general administration and personnel, engineering, revenue, public health, city planning and information technology (IT). All six departments are governed by a municipal commissioner. Legislative power is vested in the 60-member council, headed by an elected chairperson and assisted by a deputy chairperson.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: In 2008, the constituencies of Salem were redrawn as Salem North, Salem South and Salem West. The city elects the three members to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years. Present MLAs are R. Rajendhran (Salem North) from Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam, Arul Ramadoss (Salem West) from Paattali Makkal Katchi and Balasubramanian (Salem South) from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: The city is part of the Salem Lok Sabha constituency. The current Member of Parliament from the constituency is S. R. Parthiban from the DMK.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Law and order is maintained by the Salem city subdivision of the Tamil Nadu Police, headed by a Police commissioner. Special units include prohibition enforcement, district crime, social justice and human rights, district crime records and a district-level special branch headed by a superintendent of police.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem district have central prison at Hastampatti . It's one of the oldest jail and can able to host 1431 in house prisoners.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem is a major textile centre in Tamil Nadu, with more than 125 spinning mills, weaving units and garment units. Until the 1960s, it had fewer spinning mills. Private handloom weaving began to increase in the region after the 1960s and during the 1980s, the textile industry expanded with major spinning mills and dyeing units established supporting the industry.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: The area also houses a number of sago factories for the production starch. In Salem district, of land are devoted to cassava and 650 industrial units are engaged in tapioca processing. In 1981, the Salem Starch and Sago Manufacturers Service Industrial Co-operative Society (SAGOSERVE) was established to promote the sago industry and nearly 80 percent of the national demand for sago and starch is met by SAGOSERVE. In and around Salem cassava yields are 25–30 tons per hectare, one of the highest in the world; the national average is 19 tons per hectare, and the world average is 10 tons.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: The Salem Steel Plant, a unit of the Steel Authority of India, produces cold-rolled stainless steel and a hot-rolled stainless-carbon steel alloy. The plant is being expanded and modernized, with plans for steel-melting and continuous-casting facilities. The Southern Iron and Steel Company (part of JSW Steel) have their first integrated steel plant in Salem for the production of TMT corrosion-resistant bars and alloy steels. The Salem region is rich in mineral ores, with some of the largest magnesite and bauxite deposits in India. Public and private magnesite factories include Burn Standard and Company, Dalmia Magnesites and Tata Refractories.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem Mango belt contributes the economy in large scale by exporting mangoes to foreign countries and supplying mangoes all over India. The Leigh Bazaar is the region's largest market for agricultural products. The Tamil Nadu government and the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu are planning a IT park in the city. The Steel Authority of India is planning a steel special economic zone in its Salem plant, and an electrical and electronics industrial estate is in the Suramangalam area of the city.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem is also famous for its silver jewelry. Shevapet, Sivathapuram and Panangadu are the areas where the Silver Products are made in cottage industries. Salem produces World Class Artistic Silver Anklets, Toe Rings, Neck Chains, Pendents and Silverware. Salem has the presence of Multi-National Corporations, including Capgemini, First American (India) Financial Corporation (FAI), Whirlpool Warehouse, Vee Technologies, and SourceHOV LLC. The Tamil Nadu government is trying to get Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on board to set up a manufacturing unit at Salem as the state has been chosen for establishing the center's ambitious defense corridor project with Salem being one of the nodes.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem had a population of 826,267 in the 2011 census. There were 987 females for every 1,000 males, significantly higher than the national average of 929. The main language spoken is Tamil. Kannada is spoken among Devayanga community. A total of 79,067 were under age six: 40,570 males and 38,497 females. The city's literacy rate was 76.37 percent, higher than the national average of 72.99 percent. Salem had 215,747 households and a total of 332,147 workers: 1,599 farmers, 3,040 agricultural laborers, 32,597 in household industries, 278,892 other workers, 16,019 part-time workers, 165 part-time farmers, 544 part-time agricultural workers, 1,937 part-time workers in household industries and 13,373 other part-time workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Salem had 89.79% Hindus, 7.48% Muslims, 2.36% Christians, 0.11% Jains, 0.02% Sikhs, 0.01% Buddhists, 0.2% following other religions and 0.02% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem has several Hindu temples. The Kottai Mariamman Temple, dedicated to the goddess Mariamman, has an annual five-day festival during the Tamizh month of Aadi (mid-July to mid-August). The temple's gopuram is made up of seven tiers. Sugavaneshwarar Temple is dedicated to Shiva, and according to mythology the sage Sugha Brahmarishi is worshiped there. Arunagirinadhar sang a song about Muruga in the temple, which was built during the 13th century by Mamannan Sundara Pandiyan. Kottai Perumal Temple, Skandhashram,


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Jamia Masjid is Salem's oldest mosque and lies on the southern bank of the Thirumanimutharu River in the heart of the city. It was reportedly built by the Kingdom of Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, who is said to have prayed here. The "Masjid Inam" granted to the mosque in 1862 was confirmed by the British with a special resolution in 1880.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Christ Church is located on Fort Road and the church was consecrated in 1875. The other popular churches in and around the city include the Lechler Memorial Church, which is the oldest church in Salem, was built in 1856 by a German missionary in Fort Salem.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem's traditional shopping areas are in the Town area, with major retailers in Bazaar Street, Car Street, First Agraharam and Chinna Kadai Street. Shevapet and the Fort area are noted for hardware and furniture, and Leigh Bazaar in Shevapet is the main wholesale market.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Reliance Shopping Mall, the city's largest shopping complex is situated near Five Roads. Other malls in the city are Nirmal Skywin mall and Kandaswarna Mega mall.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Kurumbapatti Zoological Park and Anna Park are government-run parks. Paravasa Ulagam and Dream Land are amusement parks in the city. Mookaneri (Kannankurichi) within the city limits is a popular tourist place and bird watching destination.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Yercaud, a major hill station in Tamil Nadu is about from Salem City. The ghat road starts at the end of the Salem City limits. The ghat road is a picturesque spot and attracts a lot of early morning walkers and joggers. Yercaud is also a famous weekend getaway for the people of Salem and nearby districts and states.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Thattu vadai Set (or simply called as settu) is a savory snack and popular street food, which originated in Salem and is now available in other cities in Tamil Nadu like Chennai. It is a very famous street snack available at almost every small stall set up on the streets of Salem. The sandwich consists of two crunchy thattai discs with fillings such as crispy beetroot, carrot and other vegetables smeared with green and red chutneys. Norukkal Mix, another popular snack is smashed murukku mixed with chutney, groundnut, coconut, sliced tomatoes and Chillipowder (Molagapodi). Egg Settu, Murukku Settu and Maanga Settu are the different varieties of Thattu vadai Set .


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem has six arterial roads: Omalur Road, Cherry Road, Saradha College Road, Junction Main Road, Trichy Road and Attur Road. Three National Highways originate from or pass through Salem: NH 44 (Srinagar via Madurai and Tirunelveli Kanyakumari), NH 544 (Salem – Kochi via Erode and Coimbatore and Tiruppur )and NH 79 (Salem – Ulundurpet).


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem is the headquarters of the Salem division of TNSTC. The city has two major bus stations: the MGR Integrated Bus Terminus in Meyyanoor and the Town Bus Station (Old Bus Stand) in the town area. Intercity and interstate routes and private buses originate at the Central Bus Stand (New Bus Stand), and local buses originate at the Old Bus Stand. The Anna Flyover is the oldest in the city, and the Trumpet Interchange was built in the realignment of NH 544 to ease traffic towards Coimbatore. A new double-decker flyover runs within main city centres like New bus stand, 5 roads, saratha college road, 4 roads to ease congestion on these roads. It is the longest double-decker flyover in Tamil Nadu covering a length of 7.87 km.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: The Town Bus terminus is being upgraded into a double decker bus terminus, the first of this kind in the state under the smart City scheme


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: A new bus port has also been proposed for the city at Jagirammapalayam near IT park with an area of about 61 acres. This includes a bypass road to connect the Ayothiapattinam area of the city with the bus port.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Other bus stands include the Omalur bus station and Attayampatti bus station in the outskirts of the city.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem Junction is an A-1 category ISO-14001 certified railway junction located in Suramangalam area, west of the city. In 2005, the Railway Board approved the creation of a Salem railway division from Palakkad and Tiruchirapalli divisions. It is the fourth-largest of the six Southern Railway zone divisions. Salem Railway Junction has been rated as the cleanest station among the divisional headquarters railway stations and also the ninth cleanest railway station in the entire country, according to a survey report published in June 2017. Other major railway stations catering to the city include Salem Town, Salem Market, Omalur Junction, Karuppur railway station and Ayothiapattinam railway station.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem Airport (IATA "SXV", ICAO "VOSM") is located on the Salem-Bengaluru Highway (NH44) in Kaamalapuram about from the city. Airports Authority of India (AAI) opened the airport in 1993 for commercial operations. Kingfisher Airlines flew from Chennai but ended its service in October 2011 due to low occupancy. Trujet started services to Chennai in March 2018 as a part of the Udaan scheme by Government of India as well as Air Odisha gives connectivity to Bengaluru and Pondicherry from June 2018. The nearest major airports are Tiruchirappalli (152 km) and Coimbatore (148 km).


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Gandhi Stadium, built originally for cricket, also hosts athletic meets, football, Volleyball and basketball. Salem District Cricket Association (SDCA) has 47 teams in league cricket. The city has 2 international standard turf grounds. The Green Valley Sports club Cricket ground is on the outskirts of Salem city. The state chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami inaugurated the Salem Cricket Foundation Stadium with international standards on 10 February 2020 in the presence of former cricketer Rahul Dravid and former ICC and BCCI president N. Srinivasan built at a cost of in Karivepilapatti near Vazhapadi. This newly inaugurated ground is the home ground for Salem Spartans, a TNPL team and also the second home ground for the Indian Premier League team of Chennai Super Kings.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: T. Natarajan, who hails from Salem, made his international debut for the India cricket team in December 2020 He plays in the Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad and is nicknamed as "Yorker King" for his accurate Yorkers at death overs in T20 games. In the 2020 IPL season, delivered a whopping 96 yorkers in 16 IPL matches this year. He played a major role for India to win the Dettol T20 Series 2020 in Australia.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Mariyappan Thangavelu from Salem is an Indian Paralympic high jumper. He represented India in the 2016 Summer Paralympic games held in Rio de Janeiro in the men's high jump T-42 category, winning the gold medal in the finals.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: Salem has several educational institutions with Arts and Science colleges affiliated to Periyar University founded in 1997.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: As of 2014, there was talk of reviving the now-stagnant Sister City project launched in 1964 with Salem in Oregon, USA.


title: Salem, Tamil Nadu

text: The Salem city was formed on 1 November 1866. Salem City Municipal Council celebrated its Centenary in 1966. Fittingly the Municipality was upgraded into a special grade Municipality on 1 April 1979. The Centurion Municipality was declared as the Salem City Municipal Corporation The date of formation of Salem city is recognised as Salem day and it is celebrated by the people all over the city. Salem city celebrates its birthday every year on the first of November.


title: Kathy Kiera Clarke

text: Kathy Kiera Clarke (possibly Keira) is a Northern Irish actress. She is best known for her role as Aunt Sarah in "Derry Girls".


title: Kathy Kiera Clarke

text: Clarke's first television role was as Bernadette Brennan in "Head over Heels" in 1993. In 1995, she appeared in an episode of "Chandler & Co" as Poppy Farquhar. She appeared as Rosemary in the 1996 film "Eskimo Day."


title: Kathy Kiera Clarke

text: In 2000, she played Rosie in the film "The Most Fertile Man in Ireland" and a production assistant in the film "Wild About Harry". She also played Anna Le Page in the television series, "Take a Girl Like You". In 2002, Clarke played Frances in "Bloody Sunday". In 2003, she played Nicola Blyth in the film "Solid Air".


title: Kathy Kiera Clarke

text: In 2004, Clarke appeared as Una in the comedy series "Pulling Moves". She played Elizabeth Gibson in the film "Omagh" and played Jenifer Gaghan in two episodes of "Silent Witness". In 2005, she played Sinead in four episodes of "Proof". In 2006, she played Agnes in the film "Small Engine Repair". In 2009, she played Emma in the film "Cherrybomb".


title: Kathy Kiera Clarke

text: In 2013, she played Marlene Riley in "The Ice Cream Girls". In 2017, she played Varvara in the film "Bitter Harvest". Since 2018, Clarke has played the role of Aunt Sarah in the Channel 4 sitcom "Derry Girls" written by Lisa McGee.


title: Kathy Kiera Clarke

text: In 2020, Clarke played the role of Sybil Stamfordis in the BBC One miniseries, "The Pale Horse". Ann Donahue, writing for "IndieWire", said that Clark's "portrayal of witch Sybil is a fun triple-take-inducing switch from her work as the ditzy aunt on "Derry Girls"."


title: Kathy Kiera Clarke

text: Clarke has also appeared on stage and has appeared in shows such as "Brilliant Traces", "Low Level Panic", "The Coronation Voyage", "Woman and Scarecrow", "Scarborough", "God of Carnage", "Macbeth", "Primecut, The Recruiting Office", "Heartbreak House", "Hamlet", "Pentecost", "Spokesong", "The Bonefire", "Dream of Autumn", "Attempts on her Life", "Don Carlos", "Roberto Zucco", "Shining City", "Faith Healer", "Lagan", "Borders of Paradise", "Torquato Tasso", "Once a Catholic", "The Factory Girls", "Jekyll and Hyde", "Riders to the Sea", "Damaged Goods", "Summit Conference", "Medea, Stormont: a Farce" and "An Oak Tree".


title: Kathy Kiera Clarke

text: Clarke lives near Hampstead Heath, Primrose Hill and Regent's Park. She is a fan of the Buddhist teacher Tara Brach.


title: Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution

text: The Twenty-sixth Amendment (Amendment XXVI) to the United States Constitution prohibits the states and the federal government from using age as a reason for denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States who are at least eighteen years old. It was proposed by Congress on March 23, 1971, and three-fourths of the states ratified it by July 1, 1971.


text: Various public officials had supported lowering the voting age during the mid-20th century, but were unable to gain the legislative momentum necessary for passing a constitutional amendment.


text: The drive to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 grew across the country during the 1960s, driven in part by the military draft held during the Vietnam War. The draft conscripted young men between the ages of 18 and 21 into the armed forces, primarily the U.S. Army, to serve in or support military combat operations in Vietnam. A common slogan of proponents of lowering the voting age was "old enough to fight, old enough to vote".


text: Determined to get around inaction on the issue, congressional allies included a provision for the 18-year-old vote in a 1970 bill that extended the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court subsequently held in the case of "Oregon v. Mitchell" that Congress could not lower the voting age for state and local elections. Recognizing the confusion and costs that would be involved in maintaining separate voting rolls and elections for federal and state contests, Congress quickly proposed and the states ratified the Twenty-sixth Amendment.


text: Senator Harley Kilgore began advocating for a lowered voting age in 1941 in the 77th Congress. Despite the support of fellow senators, representatives, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Congress failed to pass any national change. However, public interest in lowering the voting age became a topic of interest at the local level. In 1943 and 1955 respectively, the Georgia and Kentucky legislatures approved measures to lower the voting age to 18.


text: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his 1954 State of the Union address, became the first president to publicly support prohibiting age-based denials of suffrage for those 18 and older. During the 1960s, both Congress and the state legislatures came under increasing pressure to lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. This was in large part due to the Vietnam War, in which many young men who were ineligible to vote were conscripted to fight in the war, thus lacking any means to influence the people sending them off to risk their lives. "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote" was a common slogan used by proponents of lowering the voting age. The slogan traced its roots to World War II, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt lowered the military draft age to 18.


text: In 1963, the President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation, in its report to President Johnson, encouraged lowering the voting age. Johnson proposed an immediate national grant of the right to vote to 18-year-olds on May 29, 1968. Historian Thomas H. Neale argues that the move to lower the voting age followed a historical pattern similar to other extensions of the franchise; with the escalation of the war in Vietnam, constituents were mobilized and eventually a constitutional amendment passed.


text: Those advocating for a lower voting age drew on a range of arguments to promote their cause, and scholarship increasingly links the rise of support for a lower voting age to young people's role in the civil rights movement and other movements for social and political change of the 1950s and 1960s. Increasing high-school graduation rates and young people's access to political information through new technologies also influenced more positive views of their preparation for the most important right of citizenship.


text: Between 1942, when public debates about a lower voting age began in earnest, and the early 1970s, ideas about youth agency increasingly challenged the caretaking model that had previously dominated the nation's approaches to young people's rights. Characteristics traditionally associated with youth—idealism, lack of "vested interests," and openness to new ideas—came to be seen as positive qualities for a political system that seemed to be in crisis.


text: In 1970, Senator Ted Kennedy proposed amending the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to lower the voting age nationally. On June 22, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required the voting age to be 18 in all federal, state, and local elections. In his statement on signing the extension, Nixon said:


text: Subsequently, Oregon and Texas challenged the law in court, and the case came before the Supreme Court in 1970 as "Oregon v. Mitchell". By this time, four states had a minimum voting age below 21: Georgia, Kentucky, Alaska and Hawaii.


text: During debate of the 1970 extension of the Voting Rights Act, Senator Ted Kennedy argued that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment allowed Congress to pass national legislation lowering the voting age. In "Katzenbach v. Morgan" (1966), the Supreme Court had ruled that if Congress acts to enforce the 14th Amendment by passing a law declaring that a type of state law discriminates against a certain class of persons, the Supreme Court will let the law stand if the justices can "perceive a basis" for Congress's actions.


text: President Nixon disagreed with Kennedy in a letter to the Speaker of the House and the House minority and majority leaders, asserting that the issue is not whether the voting age should be lowered, but how. In his own interpretation of "Katzenbach", Nixon argued that to include age as something discriminatory would be too big of a stretch and voiced concerns that the damage of a Supreme Court decision to overturn the Voting Rights Act could be disastrous.


text: In "Oregon v. Mitchell" (1970), the Supreme Court considered whether the voting-age provisions Congress added to the Voting Rights Act in 1970 were constitutional. The Court struck down the provisions that established 18 as the voting age in state and local elections. However, the Court upheld the provision establishing the voting age as 18 in federal elections. The Court was deeply divided in this case, and a majority of justices did not agree on a rationale for the holding.


text: The decision resulted in states being able to maintain 21 as the voting age in state and local elections, but being required to establish separate voter rolls so that voters between 18 and 21 years old could vote in federal elections.


text: Although the Twenty-sixth Amendment passed faster than any other constitutional amendment, about 17 states refused to pass measures to lower their minimum voting ages after Nixon signed the 1970 extension to the Voting Rights Act. Opponents to extending the vote to youths questioned the maturity and responsibility of people at the age of 18. Representative Emanuel Celler, one of the most vocal opponents of a lower voting age from the 1940s through 1970 (and Chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee for much of that period), insisted that youth lacked "the good judgment" essential to good citizenship and that the qualities that made youth good soldiers did not also make them good voters. Professor William G. Carleton wondered why the vote was proposed for youth at a time when the period of adolescence had grown so substantially rather than in the past when people had more responsibilities at earlier ages. Carleton further criticized the move to lower the voting age citing American preoccupations with youth in general, exaggerated reliance on higher education, and equating technological savvy with responsibility and intelligence. He denounced the military service argument as well, calling it a "cliche". Considering the ages of soldiers in the Civil War, he asserted that literacy and education were not the grounds for limiting voting; rather, common sense and the capacity to understand the political system grounded voting age restrictions.


text: James J. Kilpatrick, a political columnist, asserted that the states were "extorted" into ratifying the Twenty-sixth Amendment. In his article, he claims that by passing the 1970 extension to the Voting Rights Act, Congress effectively forced the States to ratify the amendment lest they be forced to financially and bureaucratically cope with maintaining two voting registers. George Gallup also mentions the cost of registration in his article showing percentages favoring or opposing the amendment, and he draws particular attention to the lower rates of support among adults aged 30–49 and over 50 (57% and 52% respectively) as opposed to those aged 18–20 and 21–29 (84% and 73% respectively).


text: Senator Birch Bayh's subcommittee on constitutional amendments began hearings on extending voting rights to 18 year-olds in 1968.


text: After "Oregon v. Mitchell", Bayh surveyed election officials in 47 states and found that registering an estimated 10million young people in a separate system for federal elections would cost approximately $20million. Bayh concluded that most states could not change their state constitutions in time for the 1972 election, mandating national action to avoid "chaos and confusion" at the polls.


text: On March 2, 1971, Bayh's subcommittee and the House Judiciary Committee approved the proposed constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to 18 for all elections.


text: On March 10, 1971, the Senate voted 94–0 in favor of proposing a constitutional amendment to guarantee the minimum voting age could not be higher than 18. On March 23, 1971, the House of Representatives voted 401–19 in favor of the proposed amendment.


text: Having been passed by the 92nd United States Congress, the proposed Twenty-sixth Amendment was sent to the state legislatures for their consideration. Ratification was completed on July 1, 1971, after the amendment had been ratified by the following thirty-eight states:


text: Having been ratified by three-fourths of the States (38), the Twenty-sixth Amendment became part of the Constitution. On July 5, 1971, the Administrator of General Services, Robert Kunzig, certified its adoption. President Nixon and Julianne Jones, Joseph W. Loyd Jr., and Paul S. Larimer of the "Young Americans in Concert" also signed the certificate as witnesses. During the signing ceremony, held in the East Room of the White House, Nixon talked about his confidence in the youth of America:


text: The amendment was subsequently ratified by the following states, bringing the total number of ratifying states to forty-three:


text: No action has been taken on the amendment by the states of Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, or Utah.


title: Detoxification

text: Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of drug withdrawal during which an organism returns to homeostasis after long-term use of an addictive substance. In medicine, detoxification can be achieved by decontamination of poison ingestion and the use of antidotes as well as techniques such as dialysis and (in a limited number of cases) chelation therapy.


title: Detoxification

text: Many alternative medicine practitioners promote various types of detoxification such as detoxification diets. Scientists have described these as a "waste of time and money". Sense About Science, a UK-based charitable trust, determined that most such dietary "detox" claims lack any supporting evidence.


title: Detoxification

text: The liver and kidney are naturally capable of detox, as are intracellular (specifically, inner membrane of mitochondria or in the endoplasmic reticulum of cells) proteins such as CYP enzymes. In cases of kidney failure, the action of the kidneys is mimicked by dialysis; kidney and liver transplants are also used for kidney and liver failure, respectively.


title: Detoxification

text: Alcohol detoxification is a process by which a heavy drinker's system is brought back to normal after being habituated to having alcohol in the body continuously for an extended period of substance abuse. Serious alcohol addiction results in a downregulation of GABA neurotransmitter receptors. Precipitous withdrawal from long-term alcohol addiction without medical management can cause severe health problems and can be fatal. Alcohol detox is not a treatment for alcoholism. After detoxification, other treatments must be undergone to deal with the underlying addiction that caused alcohol use.


title: Detoxification

text: Clinicians use drug detoxification to reduce or relieve withdrawal symptoms while helping an addicted individual adjust to living without drug use; drug detoxification does not aim to treat addiction but rather represents an early step within long-term treatment. Detoxification may be achieved drug-free or may use medications as an aspect of treatment. Often drug detoxification and treatment will occur in a community program that lasts several months and takes place in a residential setting rather than in a medical center.


title: Detoxification

text: Drug detoxification varies depending on the location of treatment, but most detox centers provide treatment to avoid the symptoms of physical withdrawal from alcohol and from other drugs. Most also incorporate counseling and therapy during detox to help with the consequences of withdrawal.


title: Detoxification

text: An animal's metabolism can produce harmful substances which it can then make less toxic through reduction, oxidation (collectively known as redox reactions), conjugation and excretion of molecules from cells or tissues. This is called xenobiotic metabolism. Enzymes that are important in detoxification metabolism include cytochrome P450 oxidases, UDP-glucuronosyltransferases, and glutathione "S"-transferases. These processes are particularly well-studied as part of drug metabolism, as they influence the pharmacokinetics of a drug in the body.


title: Detoxification

text: Certain approaches in alternative medicine claim to remove "toxins" from the body through herbal, electrical or electromagnetic treatments. These toxins are undefined and have no scientific basis, making the validity of such techniques questionable. There is little evidence for toxic accumulation in these cases, as the liver and kidneys automatically detoxify and excrete many toxic materials including metabolic wastes. Under this theory, if toxins are too rapidly released without being safely eliminated (such as when metabolizing fat that stores toxins), they can damage the body and cause malaise. Therapies include contrast showers, detoxification foot pads, oil pulling, Gerson therapy, snake-stones, body cleansing, Scientology's Purification Rundown, water fasting, and metabolic therapy.


title: Playmaker

text: In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativity and passing ability.


title: Playmaker

text: In English football, the term overlaps somewhat with an attacking midfielder, but the two types of midfielders are not necessarily the same, as playmakers are not necessarily constrained to a single position. Several playmakers can also operate on the wings or as a creative, supporting striker; some can also function in a more central midfield role, alternating between playing in more offensive roles and participating in the build-up plays in the midfield. Other players still function as deep-lying playmakers, in a free role, behind the midfield line. Playmakers are not usually known for their defensive capabilities, which is why they are often supported by a defensive midfielder. As many midfielders and forwards have the aforementioned creative and technical attributes, they tend to be the playmakers of a team.


title: Playmaker

text: The most complete and versatile playmakers are often known as advanced playmakers, or free-role playmakers, as they can operate both in central, attacking midfield positions, and in wider positions on the wings. The attacking playmakers are sometimes called the "number 10" of the team, as they often wear the number 10 jersey. The attacking midfield playmaker will sit in a free role between the midfield and the forwards, either in the centre of the pitch or on either flank. These offensive playmakers will often make incisive passes to the wingers or forwards, seeing them through on goal or to deliver killer crosses, as well as scoring goals themselves. They are also usually quick, agile, and highly technical players with good vision, shooting, passing, crossing and dribbling ability; they are known for scoring goals as well as providing assists, through-balls, and initiating attacking plays. In Italian football, as creative, technical, advanced playmakers are known not to be reserved to a single position, they are often described as the "fantasista" or "trequartista". In Brazil, the offensive playmaker is known as the "meia atacante", whereas in Argentina, it is known as the "enganche". In the English language, this position is sometimes colloquially referred to as playing "in the hole", as these playmakers often link the midfield and attack by essentially operating in the gap between the opposition's midfield and defence. Diego Maradona, Zico, Michel Platini, Marta, Pelé, Zinedine Zidane, Jay-Jay Okocha, Roberto Baggio, Rui Costa, Michael Laudrup, Gheorghe Hagi, and Francesco Totti are some examples of footballers who have been fielded as advanced midfield playmakers throughout their career.


title: Playmaker

text: Deep-lying playmakers, who often wear jersey numbers 8, 6 or 5 (particularly in South American football), operate from a deep position, in or even behind the main midfield line in a seemingly central or defensive midfield role, where they can use space and time on the ball to dictate the tempo of their team's play and orchestrate the moves of the whole team, not just attacks on goal. Deep-lying playmakers are often known for their vision, technique and passing. Many are also known for their ability to switch the play or provide long passes that pick out players making attacking runs, as well as their striking ability from distance. Although several deep-lying playmakers are not known for their tackling, work-rate, or defensive skills, it has become more common for a box-to-box midfielder with good passing, technique, vision and ball-winning ability, such as Yaya Touré, to play in this role, since it is in a similar position to that of a defensive midfielder, and the role allows them to break down plays and subsequently create scoring opportunities themselves after winning back possession. In a 2013 article for "The Guardian", writer Jonathan Wilson described this unique creative holding midfield role as that of a "creator," citing Xabi Alonso as a typical example of player who operated in this position, noting that: "Xabi Alonso, although capable of making tackles, focused on keeping the ball moving, occasionally raking long passes out to the flanks to change the angle of attack like an old-style "regista"."


title: Playmaker

text: In Italy, the deep-lying playmaker is known as a "regista", whereas in Brazil, it is known as a "meia-armador". In Italy, the role of the "regista" developed from the centre half-back or "centromediano metodista" position in Vittorio Pozzo's "metodo" system (a precursor of the central or holding midfield position in the 2–3–2–3 formation), as the "metodista"'s responsibilities were not entirely defensive but also creative; as such, the "metodista" was not solely tasked with breaking down possession, but also with starting attacking plays after winning back the ball. Xavi, Andrea Pirlo, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Miralem Pjanić, Jorginho, and Pep Guardiola are some more examples of players, who operated as deep-lying playmakers throughout their careers.


title: Playmaker

text: Playmakers are not necessarily constrained to a single position; many attacking playmakers in modern football play a combination of these different attacking roles, often operating in a free position. Some playmakers can also function in a more central midfield role, or can even be given the freedom to alternate between playing in more offensive creative roles and participating in the build-up plays and controlling the team's tempo in a deeper midfield position, such as Zinedine Zidane, Nécib, or Juan Román Riquelme. Creativity, skill, vision, technique, tactical awareness and good passing ability are the true requirements of a good playmaker. With the increasing physical and athletic demands of modern football, it has also become increasingly common for midfield playmakers, in particular those who are known for their dynamism, ability to read the game, and work-rate off the ball, to play in deeper roles and be given more defensive responsibilities, in addition to their creative duties: midfielders such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, and Paul Pogba often play in the centre of the pitch and occupy multiple roles, functioning both as box-to-box midfielders and creators, usually dropping back and helping to press opponents and win back possession, and then subsequently either carrying the ball forward, or dictating play and starting an attack with their vision, technique, and passing.


title: Playmaker

text: According to Jonathan Wilson, Luka Modrić is another example of a midfielder who occupies multiple roles on the pitch; although he initially started out as an attacking midfielder at Dinamo Zagreb, he was moved into a deeper central midfield playmaking role during his time with Tottenham, which enabled him to conduct the attack and create chances for teammates. He continued to play in a deeper midfield role in Real Madrid's 4–2–3–1 system. However, Wilson has noted that, although Modrić seemingly plays as a holding midfielder, he is "neither entirely destructive or creative", but a "carrier" who is "capable of making late runs or carrying the ball at his feet", but in his case "with a hint of "regista"".


title: Playmaker

text: Advanced playmakers can also operate on the wings, in more of a wide offensive position, as a half-winger, inverted winger, or also as an outside forward, in a 4–3–3 or a 4–2–3–1 formation. This position has become more common for offensive playmakers to carry out in recent years, as formations that employ a purely attacking playmaker, such as the 4–3–1–2/4–1–2–1–2, can often cause teams defensive problems when possession is lost, as attacking midfielders are not usually renowned for their defensive contribution, although modern playmakers are often more tactically responsible in this respect than classical playmakers. This position also allows players to take on defenders in one on one situations along the flank, cut inside to the centre of the pitch with the ball, and either shoot on goal with their stronger foot, or provide in-swinging lobbed passes or crosses. Lionel Messi, for example, who is naturally left-footed, was initially deployed in this position on the right under his former Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard, alongside the right-footed Ronaldinho on the left side of the pitch. Some playmakers, such as David Beckham, even operate as a wide midfielder in a 4–4–2, using their vision to find teammates making runs, to whom they can then deliver long passes and curling crosses, although this position of a "pure winger" has become less common in modern formations.


title: Playmaker

text: There are also other similar variants upon the advanced playmaking role. Other advanced playmakers seemingly operate as a free, creative second striker, or inside-forward, often playing on the wing, alongside a main striker, or even down the centre of the pitch, and then falling back into a deeper role to link up the midfield and the attack. Attacking midfielder/playmaker Michel Platini would describe this more advanced creative role (exemplified by Roberto Baggio) as a nine and a half ("nove e mezzo", in Italian), as it was halfway between the role of a goalscoring forward (shirt number 9) and a playmaking attacking midfielder (shirt number 10).


title: Playmaker

text: This free position allowed these mobile, creative, and technical players, who were also often gifted with an eye for goal as well as good vision, acceleration, and ball skills, the freedom to burst forward suddenly and make dribbling runs, drop deep to lose their markers and pick up the ball, link-up with teammates, and score many goals themselves as well as assisting them. Unlike a pure number ten playmaker, however, the nine and a half/supporting forward does not usually participate in the build-up play as much as an attacking midfielder would. Their role is primarily that of an assist-provider, who can play one-twos as well as hold up and lay-off the ball for more offensive teammates. As the supporting forward initially originated from free-role attacking midfielders adapting to a more advanced position in the tactically rigorous 4–4–2 formations of the 1990s, in which they were often paired up with a more physically gifted out-and-out striker, their defensive contribution is also usually higher than that of a pure number ten playmaker.


title: Playmaker

text: In Italy, this role is known as a "rifinitore" or "seconda punta", whereas in Brazil, it is known as a "segundo atacante" or "ponta-de-lança."


title: Playmaker

text: A variation upon the deep-lying forward, more commonly known as a "false 9" also shares some similarities with the attacking midfielder role, although the false-9 player appears to be playing as a centre forward rather than as an attacking midfielder. A false-9 is often a quick, nimble, diminutive, creative, and technical player, with good vision, movement, positioning, and passing ability, as well as a penchant for scoring goals. The false-9, seemingly playing as a lone striker, will drop deep into the midfield number 10 role, drawing defenders with them, and creating space for other teammates to make attacking runs. This allows the false-9 space to dribble with the ball and score, or to provide other players running into the space they created with assists. Examples of false-9s are Harry Kane, Lionel Messi under Pep Guardiola, Tito Vilanova and Gerardo Martino at Barcelona, Cesc Fàbregas with Spain under Vicente del Bosque, Francesco Totti at Roma under Luciano Spalletti and Rudi Garcia, and Roberto Firmino under Jurgen Klopp. This position is most common in a 4–6–0 formation disguised as a 4–3–3 or 4–2–3–1 formation. In Italian football jargon, this role is known as the "centravanti di manovra" (which literally translates to "manoeuvring centre-forward").


title: Playmaker

text: In addition to their creative responsibilities while in possession, in the modern game, advanced playmakers are also given more duties off the ball than in the past, and are also required to have a higher defensive work-rate; as such, the role of the number 10 has changed in recent years, and formations that utilise a traditional advanced playmaker have become less common. In formations that still do employ an attacking midfielder, however, the number 10 role has instead been described as the "false 10" role (or sometimes it is even described as that of a "central winger"). The false-10 also shares similar attributes to a false-9, and is often used in a 4–2–3–1 formation. A false-10 is also usually a quick, offensive, technical and creative player, who is apparently playing in deeper role than a false-9 however, usually starting in the attacking midfielder position behind the striker, or occasionally as a winger, as the role is often interpreted by players who naturally play in these positions. As such, the false-10 is often a more dynamic rather than static player, who is tasked with pulling opponents out of position with their movement; indeed, the false-10 will often surprise defenders by moving out of position, drifting out wide, onto the wing, creating space for other players, in particular the full-backs and midfielders, to make attacking runs, either by overloading the flanks, or by drawing opponents out of position. The false 10 will then advance along the flank and provide deliveries into the box for teammates, or pass the ball to a free teammate who is exploiting the newly created space, either on the wing or in the centre. Defensively, they will often participate in their team's pressing game in order to help win back possession; they may also be tasked with finding gaps in the opposing defence and making late runs into the penalty box themselves.


title: Playmaker

text: The false-10 can also function alongside a false-9 on occasion, in a 4–3–3 (4–6–0) formation, or in a 4–2–3–1 formation. When other forwards or false-9s draw defenders away from the false-10s, creating space in the middle of the pitch, the false-10 will then also surprise defenders by moving out of position once again, often undertaking offensive dribbling runs forward, or running on to passes from false-9s, leading to goals and assists. This role was effectively demonstrated by Wesley Sneijder and Mesut Özil during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.


title: Playmaker

text: The false-10 (or false attacking midfielder) description has also been used in a slightly different manner in Italian football. The false attacking-midfielder is therefore usually a technical, mobile, and creative player with good vision, positioning, ball control and long passing ability, as well as being a player with respectable defensive attributes, and good long distance shooting ability. The false-10 performs in a similar manner to the false-9, although seemingly playing in the number 10 role, but still drawing opposition players back into the midfield. The false-10 will eventually sit in a central midfield role and function as a deep-lying playmaker, creating space for other players to make attacking runs and receive long passes from the midfield playmakers. In addition to their creative duties, the false attacking midfielder is also often tasked with dropping deep into midfield to assist their team defensively and help retrieved possession.<ref name="Horncastle: Riccardo Montolivo straddles both sides of the Germany/Italy divide"></ref>


title: Playmaker

text: The "false winger" or "seven–and–a–half" is instead a label which has been used to describe a creative type of player who normally plays centrally, but who instead is deployed out wide on paper; during the course of a match, however, they will move inside and operate in the centre of the pitch, in order to drag defenders out of position, congest the midfield and give their team a numerical advantage in this area, so that they can dictate play with their passing, dominate possession in the middle of the pitch, and create chances for their attacking teammates; this position also leaves space for full-backs to make overlapping attacking runs up the flank. Samir Nasri, who has been deployed in this role, once described it as that of a "non-axial playmaker."


title: Playmaker

text: It is also possible for a sweeper (or "libero", in Italian) to operate as a team's secondary playmaker; this position is often associated with former central defenders, such as Franz Beckenbauer, Franco Baresi, Ronald Koeman, Fernando Hierro, Aldair and Gaetano Scirea, who possessed good ball skills, vision, and long passing ability. Although this position has become largely obsolete in modern football formations, due to the use of zonal marking, players such as Daniele De Rossi, Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels, Leonardo Bonucci, and David Luiz have played a similar role as a ball-playing centre-back in a three-man back-line. Their technique and ball-playing ability allow them to advance into midfield and function as a secondary playmaker for the team, in order to create goal-scoring chances when their team's primary deep-lying midfield playmaker is being heavily marked by the opposition.


title: Playmaker

text: To some limited extent, it is also possible for goalkeepers with good ball skills, vision, passing, long-throwing, and kicking ability to launch counter-attacks and create scoring opportunities; goalkeepers such as René Higuita, Fabien Barthez, Edwin van der Sar and most recently Manuel Neuer, Claudio Bravo, and Ederson Moraes for example, among others, are known for their adeptness with the ball at their feet, and their long passing accuracy from goal kicks; their playing style has led several pundits to dub them as "sweeper-keepers" or playmakers.


title: Playmaker

text: Perhaps the most important quality of a playmaker is the vision and ability to read the game, and to get into good positions making for effective reception and distribution of the ball. Intuition and creativity are other key elements of a playmaker's game, as they need to know where different players are at different times, without taking too long to dwell on the ball. A good playmaker possesses good ball control, balance, technical ability, and dribbling skills, and will often hold possession, allowing other team members to make attacking runs. The ostensible role of the playmaker is to then provide or facilitate the final pass which leads to a goal. In football terminology, this is often known as a "killer ball" or the "final ball", and is officially recorded as an assist.


title: Playmaker

text: Advanced playmakers are often known for their ability to score goals as well as their technical skills, passing, and chance creation ability. They are often – but not always – quick, agile, and mobile players, with good tactical intelligence; their movement off the ball is just as important as their movement on the ball, as they must create space for further attacking plays. Many playmakers are also free-kick, penalty, and dead-ball specialists, who are also capable of curling the ball into the box from set pieces, providing further deliveries for teammates, although this is not necessarily a trait that is required to be a playmaker.


title: Playmaker

text: Classical number 10 and deep-lying playmakers are not often renowned for their tackling or defensive capabilities, hence English commentators have often seen them as a luxury in a football team, but they retain their places due to their ability to change games. Because of this, it became common in the past for box-to-box midfielders with good vision, tackling, tactical intelligence, passing and technical ability to play in the playmaker role in England, as shown by various coaches employing players such as Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Yaya Touré and Xabi Alonso in this position. In a 4–4–2 formation, a playmaker will usually play alongside a defensive midfield player to ensure that the team is not vulnerable to attack. With different formations, however, a team may play with multiple playmakers. Most English teams usually use only one playmaker to minimize defensive frailties and also because using more than one may inhibit each playmaker's playing style. The downside to this approach is that a team lacks the necessary creativity when faced with a defensive opponent. Some contemporary teams using formations such as 4–2–3–1, 4–4–1–1, 4–5–1, and 4–1–2–1–2/4–3–1–2, have multiple playmakers. Some examples of the few notable English players in this position are Paul Gascoigne and Glenn Hoddle, while most playmakers have tended to be foreigners in the Premier League.


title: Playmaker

text: Carlo Mazzone and Carlo Ancelotti were known for having been able to adopt their formations to allow them to implement various playmakers into their starting formation. At Brescia, Mazzone moved Andrea Pirlo, originally an attacking midfielder, into the deep-lying role behind the midfield, whilst Roberto Baggio played the attacking midfielder role. For Milan, Ancelotti made a similar move, also employing Pirlo as a deep-lying playmaker, allowing Rivaldo or Rui Costa, and later Kaká, to play as an attacking midfielder, whilst Clarence Seedorf and either Gennaro Gattuso or Massimo Ambrosini protected them defensively in Ancelotti's 4–4–2 midfield diamond formation. Due to the strength of Milan's midfield during his tenure with the club, Ancelotti was able to win several domestic and international titles. Marcello Lippi also utilised two playmakers during Italy's victorious 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign, fielding Francesco Totti in the advanced creative role behind the forwards, and Pirlo in the deep-lying playmaking role. The two playmakers were supported defensively by box-to-box midfielders, such as Daniele De Rossi, Gennaro Gattuso and Simone Perrotta; both Pirlo and Totti finished as two of the joint top-assist providers of the tournament.


title: Playmaker

text: Former Italy manager Ferruccio Valcareggi, however, devised a different strategy altogether, which allowed him to use two playmakers during his run to the 1970 World Cup final, where Italy was ultimately heavily defeated by Brazil. Due to his focus on defensive stability, as well as the presence of two pure, prolific goalscoring strikers, Gigi Riva and Roberto Boninsegna, Valcareggi felt that it would not be possible to field Italy's two most revered advanced playmakers at the time, Gianni Rivera, and Sandro Mazzola, alongside each other. He believed the two creative players to be incompatible with each other, due to the rivalry between their respective clubs, and as he felt that deploying both players alongside the forwards would offset the balance within the starting line-up, in particular as Rivera, unlike Mazzola, was not renowned for his athleticism or defensive work-rate. He therefore conceived the infamous "staffetta" (relay) game-plan, which essentially consisted of Mazzola playing the first half of each match, whilst Rivera would play the second half; during Valcareggi's eight-year tenure with Italy, the national side only lost six matches. Despite Italy's victory at UEFA Euro 1968 and their second-place finish at the 1970 World Cup, the tactic was widely criticised by the media, in particular due to Italy's poor performance during the group-stage and in the final, despite demonstrating their ability to successfully apply a more offensive, exciting style of play with Rivera in the semi-final against West Germany. During the 1998 World Cup, Italy manager Cesare Maldini underwent similar widespread media criticism for employing a strategy reminiscent of the 1970 "staffetta" between Roberto Baggio and Alessandro Del Piero, who alternated occupying the creative second striker role, alongside an out-and-out striker or centre-forward (usually Christian Vieri or occasionally Filippo Inzaghi) in a 4–4–2 formation; manager Giovanni Trapattoni was also initially criticised for not fielding playmakers Francesco Totti and Del Piero alongside each other during the 2002 World Cup.


title: Playmaker

text: During his run to the Euro 2012 final and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-finals, the former Italy coach Cesare Prandelli also used several playmakers in his squad; he often deployed either Riccardo Montolivo, Alberto Aquilani, Daniele De Rossi, Antonio Nocerino or Thiago Motta in the false 10 playmaking role, as well as in other midfield positions, in his 4–3–1–2 formation; this formation was devoid of an authentic attacking midfielder, and was centred on the midfielders constantly switching positions. Prandelli's midfield was focussed on the creative playmaking of Andrea Pirlo and Montolivo in their deep-lying playmaker and false attacking midfield roles, with Pirlo seemingly being deployed as a defensive midfielder in front of the defense, in order to be left with more time on the ball, in an "inverted" midfield diamond (4–1–3–2). Pirlo was supported defensively by dynamic box-to-box midfielders, such as Claudio Marchisio and De Rossi, due to his lack of pace or notable defensive ability. The space created by the movement of Montolivo as the false 10 allowed quicker, more offensive minded midfielders, such as Marchisio, to make attacking runs in order to receive Pirlo and Montolivo's long passes from the midfield, whilst the second striker Antonio Cassano would drop out wide onto the wing or into the attacking midfielder position to link up the play between the attack and midfield. As well as functioning as a playmaker, and creating space, in the false 10 role, Montolivo was also able to alleviate the pressure placed upon Pirlo in the deep lying playmaker role, by supporting him defensively and providing Pirlo and the team with a secondary creative option.


title: Playmaker

text: Although Helenio Herrera's famous catenaccio tactics during the years of "La Grande Inter" in the 1960s were primarily thought to be associated with defensive yet effective football, creative playmakers played a fundamental part in Inter Milan's success during this period. Herrera and former Grande Inter players, including Mazzola and Facchetti, would state that they felt the Grande Inter side to be more offensive than it was often made out to be, and that imitators of Herrera's catenaccio tactics had often replicated his pragmatic style of football imperfectly. Luis Suárez (formerly an offensive playmaker who had first flourished under Herrera's more fluid, offensive tactics at Barcelona) was the primary creative force of Herrera's Inter side, functioning as a deep-lying playmaker, due to his ball skills, vision and passing range. Sandro Mazzola, in the role of a winger, attacking midfielder, inside-right or supporting striker, and Armando Picchi in the Libero or sweeper position, would also function as secondary playmakers at times, as well as left-winger Mario Corso. Aside from the strength of the almost impenetrable defence, some of the key elements of Herrera's Inter side were the use of vertical football and very quick, efficient and spectacular counter-attacks, which would lead to goals being scored with very few touches and passes. This was made possible due to Herrera's use of very quick, energetic, offensive, two-way full-backs to launch counter-attacks, such as Giacinto Facchetti, and Tarcisio Burgnich.


title: Playmaker

text: The quick, energetic technical wingers (Jair da Costa and Mario Corso) and offensive midfielder/supporting striker (Mazzola), would also occasionally move into deeper positions to support the midfield creatively and defensively, leaving the fullbacks with space to attack, which frequently caught the opposing teams by surprise. In Herrera's flexible 5–3–2 formation at Inter, four man-marking defenders were tightly assigned to each opposing attacker while an extra sweeper would recover loose balls and double mark when necessary. Under Herrera, most frequently during away matches in Europe, the highly organised and disciplined Inter players would usually defend by sitting patiently behind the ball, often leading to very closely contested victories. Upon winning back possession, Picchi, usually a traditional and defensive minded sweeper, would often advance into the midfield, and occasionally play long balls to the forwards, or, more frequently, carry the ball and play it towards Luis Suárez, whose playmaking ability played a crucial role in Inter's adeptness at counter-attacking football. Due to Suárez's outstanding vision and passing ability, he could quickly launch the forwards or full-backs on counter-attacks with quick long passes once he had received the ball, usually allowing the fullbacks to advance towards goal and score, or to help create goal-scoring chances. Under Herrera, Inter won three Serie A titles (two of them won consecutively), two consecutive European Cups and two consecutive Intercontinental Cups, and he was given the nickname ""Il Mago"" due to his success and tactical prowess.


title: Playmaker

text: During his highly successful spell as the head coach of Barcelona, Pep Guardiola was able to incorporate several skillful players with playmaker qualities into his team, such as Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fàbregas and Lionel Messi, through the use of his personal variation on "tiki-taka" tactics, allowing the team to move the ball around, switch positions, create space by making attacking runs, and retain possession. His use of heavy pressing in his 4–3–3 formation gave each player defensive responsibilities when possession was lost. Guardiola also frequently deployed Messi in the false-9 role, which was particularly effective due to the frequency of attacking runs made by the Barcelona players, as well as their disciplined positioning, team-work, vision, technical skills, creativity, and passing ability, which allowed Messi to create and score several goals.


title: Playmaker

text: Vicente del Bosque also incorporated similar tactics (such as the use of "tiki-taka", heavy pressing and the false-9 in a 4–3–3 or 4–6–0 formation) during his successful run of reaching three consecutive international finals as Spain's manager, between 2010 and 2013, winning the 2010 World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012. His tactics allowed several playmaking midfielders, such as Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, David Silva, Juan Mata and Cesc Fàbregas, to function together effectively.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: Shootout at Lokhandwala is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and co-written by Apoorva Lakhia and co-written and co-produced by Sanjay Gupta, with Ekta Kapoor serving as producer and Suresh Nair serving as writer. Based on the 1991 Lokhandwala Complex shootout, a real-life gun battle between gangsters and the Bombay Police, it stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Vivek Oberoi, Tusshar Kapoor, Arbaaz Khan, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Rohit Roy, Amrita Singh and Dia Mirza in pivotal roles.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: Aftab Ahmed "A. A." Khan, head of the ATS, attacked the Lokhandwala Complex on 16 November 1991, with a force of around 400 armed policemen. Dreaded gangster Maya Dolas was hiding in the complex. The leading protagonists in the film have slightly different names than their real-life counterparts, and the film caption is "based on true rumours."


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: The film opens with shots of brooms and dustpans cleaning dried blood, and cartridge casings in and around the Swati building at the Lokhandwala Complex. TVN reporter Meeta Matu (Dia Mirza) reports that some 3000 rounds of ammunition were discharged by a large police squad at a previously peaceful residential area.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: The film moves to the office of former chief justice turned private prosecutor Dhingra (Amitabh Bachchan), who interviews the three leading members of the Bombay Encounter Squad: Additional Commissioner of Police Shamsher S. Khan (referring to A. A. Khan, played by Sanjay Dutt), Inspector Kaviraj Patil (Sunil Shetty) and Constable Javed Sheikh (Arbaaz Khan). The main film timeline is the extended interview of the three officers by Dhingra; as the officers answer Dhingra's questions, the film flashes back to show the incidents.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: Dhingra asks about the Encounter Squad. Khan explains that he hand-picked 27 of Bombay police's best-enlisted men and officers. He borrowed the concept from the LAPD SWAT team to help combat crime. The film flashes back to show Khan selecting his men and putting them through intensive physical and mental training to be "fast, efficient and deadly." Dhingra is hardly impressed: he points out that if Khan "shoots to kill," he is no different from the gangsters he seeks to destroy.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: Dhingra asks why Khan felt he had to do this. Khan explains that following Operation Blue Star in 1984, several Sikh terrorists fled to Bombay and began establishing a base in the city. They engaged in violence, extortion, and other subversive tactics to grow their operations. The film flashes back to show Sub-Inspector Mhatre (Abhishek Bachchan), a very brave officer and disciple of Khan, pursuing and subsequently getting shot down by a group of Sikh terrorists. Khan is deeply frustrated when the Bombay police, mired in internal bureaucracy and corruption, fail to act. He obtains clearance from police commissioner Krishnamurthy (played by the real A. A. Khan) and sets out after the militants. Khan asks Meeta (Diya Mirza) to cover the incident so as to deter future terrorists. True to Khan's words, he successfully "encounters" (it indicates summarily gunning down criminals; extrajudicial killings is the term accepted internationally) the terrorists who shot PSI Mhatre. (As per A. A. Khan, the encounter with Khalistani extremists was more dangerous and tough than the Lokhandwala Complex shootout.)


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: The film segues into the life of Maya (referring to Bombay gangster Mahindra Dolas though the film never mentions Dolas specifically; played by Vivek Oberoi). Maya is the second-in-command of the "big boss" in Dubai (a clear reference to Dawood Ibrahim though the film does not mention his name) and runs his criminal activities in Bombay. Maya recruits Bhua (referring to Dilip Buwa, played by Tusshar Kapoor) after successfully hatching a plot to eliminate Bhua's old gang led by Ashok Joshi. At this point, Maya and Bhua are at the top of Bombay's underworld, reporting directly to the big boss in Dubai.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: Things heat up when Khan recognizes, through his network of spies and informers, that Maya is responsible for several criminal and possibly terrorist activities. Around this time, Maya's ambitions, fuelled by his mother's (Amrita Singh) insistence, grow to the point where he wishes to assert his independence from Dubai and take over Bombay himself.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: Khan's ATS now focuses on eliminating Maya and Bhua, and begins a dangerous cat-and-mouse game where neither side shows any overt aggression but tries to disable the adversary by tactical maneuver. With the help of information provided by the informers, Kaviraj and Javed together kill Aslam Kasai who happens to be Maya's gang member. In order to force the gangsterd out of their hiding, Khan launches "visits" to the criminals' families to try to "persuade" them to counsel the criminals to surrender. In turn, Maya and his men return the "visit" by approaching the cops in social situations. Maya visits Khan at a restaurant where Khan is having dinner with his family. Maya quietly tells Khan that this is between his men and them and he should leave the families out of it. Khan retorts by saying that he did this to give him an opportunity to come clean but then it appears that any resolution hangs off the barrel of a gun.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: Maya's rage intensifies when he gets thrown out by prominent city builder Wadhwani (based on real-life builder and politician Gopal Rajwani, owner of the building that the movie was set in). Maya had demanded 4  million protection money; Wadhwani claimed to deal directly with Dubai. Maya kidnaps Wadhwani's sniveling, overweight kid. When Wadhwani complains, the big boss asks Maya to cut it out and return the child immediately. Maya quietly informs the boss that he has upped his demands and that he wants to reign supreme in Bombay.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: The film also explores the personal lives of the protagonists. Khan's wife Rohini, (played by Neha Dhupia) is unable to bear the constant neglect of his family life. She files for divorce. Patil's divorce is nearly upon him, too. In the enemy camp, Buwa has shacked up with a bar dancer Tanu (Aarti Chhabria), and is unable to spend any quality time with her. Fellow criminals Fatim a.k.a. Fatoo (Rohit Roy); who's estranged from his parents and RC (Shabbir Ahluwalia); the character is plagued by ghost-like visions of an innocent family he gunned down) have similar troubles. The only one who's out of any personal trouble is a gang member named Doubling (Aditya Lakhia).


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: It all comes to a head in November 1991. The five criminals, including Maya and Buwa, secure themselves while holding Wadhwani's kid, in a flat at Swati building in Lokhandwala. Khan is tipped off of the location by an informant. (In Dhingra's questioning, Khan allegedly also received a call from the big boss in Dubai. Khan vehemently denies this.) Khan assembles a large squad of cops and lays siege to the location. He announces over the bullhorn that residents are advised to stay indoors and bolt their windows.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: A long and devastating gun battle begins. The criminals launch rocket-propelled grenades from their flat and try to escape. But they are overwhelmed by police fire, and all five criminals are eventually slain. The battle lays waste to the building: Film shots show the staircases, hallways, and several civilian flats completely pulverized by gunfire. Reporter Meeta Matu covers the action live.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: Up to this point, Dhingra has been negative and denigrating of Khan and his efforts with the ATS. He cites press reports and civilian complaints that condemn Khan (and the ATS) of unilateral and unwarranted excessive force in a residential locality. Charges are brought against Khan and the ATS. But when Dhingra rises to defend them as their appointed counsel, he, in a surprising twist, presents an unconventional argument as a defence.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: Many scenes were shot on actual locations at the Lokhandwala Complex in Mumbai. There was a chase sequence with Sunil Shetty and Arbaaz Khan playing cops, and Ravi Gosain (Aslam Kesai) through Lokhandwala. It would have been difficult to shoot this sequence with the public around. Hidden cameras were used at five places, and the two actors ran 200 meters at the real location to can the scene.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: The film sparked much controversy regarding the fictionalised portrayal of the incident. Sikh groups complained about the wrongful portrayal of Sikhs as extremists. This led to Sikh groups wanting the film banned and "bitterly" opposing the film.


title: Shootout at Lokhandwala

text: Director Sanjay Gupta (Director) confirmed a sequel of the film. In early 2012, it was announced that the sequel "Shootout at Wadala" would star John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Tusshar Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayee and Sonu Sood. Abraham is featured as the lead protagonist gangster Manya Surve; Ranaut appears as his supportive girlfriend Vidhya Joshi, and Sood appears as Dawood Ibrahim.


title: Oban

text: Oban ( ; "" in Scottish Gaelic meaning "The Little Bay") is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, the town can have a temporary population of up to over 24,000 people. Oban occupies a setting in the Firth of Lorn. The bay forms a near perfect horseshoe, protected by the island of Kerrera; and beyond Kerrera, the Isle of Mull. To the north, is the long low island of Lismore and the mountains of Morvern and Ardgour.


title: Oban

text: Humans have used the site where Oban now stands since at least Mesolithic times, as evidenced by archaeological remains of cave dwellers found in the town. Just outside the town, stands Dunollie Castle, on a site that overlooks the main entrance to the bay and has been fortified since the Bronze Age.


title: Oban

text: Just to the north of Oban, at Dunstaffnage, excavations in 2010, by Argyll Archaeology, in advance of the development of the European Marine Science Park found evidence that people were also living in the area from the Neolithic to the Early Historic periods. The archaeologists discovered funerary pyres that were in use for several generations during the Late Iron Age and a farmstead in use sometime between the late 7th to 9th centuries AD.


title: Oban

text: Prior to the 19th century, the town itself supported very few households, sustaining only minor fishing, trading, shipbuilding and quarrying industries, and a few hardy tourists. The Renfrew trading company established a storehouse there around 1714, as a local outlet for its merchandise, but a custom-house was not deemed necessary until 1736, with "Oban being reckoned a proper place for clearing out vessels for the herring fishery".


title: Oban

text: The modern town of Oban grew up around the distillery, which was founded there in 1794. A royal charter raised the town to a burgh of barony in 1811. Sir Walter Scott visited the area in 1814, the year in which he published his poem "The Lord of the Isles"; interest in the poem brought many new visitors to the town. The town was made a Parliamentary Burgh in 1833. A rail link – the Callander and Oban Railway – was authorised in 1864 but took years to reach the town. The final stretch of track to Oban opened on 30 June 1880. This brought further prosperity, revitalising local industry and giving new energy to tourism. Also at this time work on the ill-fated Oban Hydro commenced; the enterprise was abandoned and left to fall into disrepair after 1882 when Dr Orr, the scheme's originator, realised he had grossly underestimated its cost. Work on McCaig's Tower, a prominent local landmark, started in 1895. Paid for by John Stewart McCaig (1824–1902) the construction aimed, in hard times, to give work for local stonemasons. However, its construction ceased in 1902 on the death of its benefactor.


title: Oban

text: Built in 1897 for James Gemmel Boutein, Glencruitten House was built on the site of an earlier estate. Now Category B Listed, the building is a Scottish-style castle, or Scots Baronial house, that was significantly altered in 1903. A library wing was added in 1927/1928. The original architect, Edward Appin, was also involved in the work completed in 1903. Robert Lorimer of the Lorimer & Matthew firm, guided the additions made in the 1920s for Alexander Mackay, the owner at that time. The House has been a B-listed property since 1971. The contents were to be sold off by auction in 2003, including some furniture designed by Lorimer. Reports at that time shed additional light on the previous owners of the House, indicating that the MacKay family "at the Argyll house" had owned the property for four generations, since 1917 when it was acquired by "the venture capitalist Alexander MacKay"; the original owner was listed as the Shelly-Bonteyn family. MacKay and his son Robert Ferrier Burns Mackay were said to be significant collectors of art, including works by "Sir David Young Cameron (1865–1945) and James McBey (1883–1959)". For some time prior to 2020, Glencruitten House was owned by a religious community who listed it for sale that year. The listing for sale provided additional specifics: the House contained "woodwork and panelling believed to be by Clow Bros and Louis Davis stained glass windows. Also within the library is an original grade A listed Ingram organ with Welte Philharmonic roleplay mechanism (not fully operational)". The listing also stated that "remedial work [was] recently undertaken by the current owner".


title: Oban

text: During World War II (1939–1945) Merchant and Royal Navy ships used Oban as an important base in the Battle of the Atlantic. The Royal Navy had a signal station near Ganavan, and an anti-submarine indicator loop station, which detected any surface or submarine vessels between Oban, Mull and Lismore. There was a controlled minefield in the Sound of Kerrera, which was operated from a building near the caravan site at Gallanach. A Royal Air Force flying-boat base operated at Ganavan and on Kerrera, and an airfield at North Connel – built by the Royal Air Force. A Sector Operations Room was built near the airfield; after the war, this was extended to become the Royal Observer Corps Group HQ.


title: Oban

text: Oban was also important during the Cold War because the first Transatlantic Telephone Cable (TAT-1) came ashore at Gallanach Bay. This carried the Hot Line between the US Presidents and USSR General Secretaries. At North Connel, next to the airfield/airport was the NRC (Nuclear Reporting Cell) of the Royal Observer Corps (29 October 1925 to 31 December 1995).


title: Oban

text: Since the 1950s, the principal industry has remained tourism, though the town is also an important ferry port, acting as the hub for Caledonian MacBrayne ferries to many of the islands of the Inner and Outer Hebrides.


title: Oban

text: As with the rest of the British Isles, Oban experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest official Met Office weather station for which online records are available is located at Dunstaffnage, about north-north-east of Oban town centre. Rainfall is high, but thanks to the Gulf Stream, the temperature seldom falls below .


title: Oban

text: The local culture is Gaelic. In 2011, 8.2% of the town's population over age 3 could speak Gaelic and 11.3% had some facility in the language. Oban is considered the home of the Royal National Mòd, since it was first held there in 1892, with ten competitors on a Saturday afternoon. The town hosted the centenary Mod in 1992 (the year it became Royal) and in 2003 the 100th Mod. These two events attracted thousands of competitors and visitors (the 100th Mod was later than the centenary because it was not held in the war years). The Mod is held in Oban roughly every 6–8 years, and has last been held in October 2015.


title: Oban

text: The Corran Halls theatre acts as a venue for community events, local and touring entertainers, and touring companies such as Scottish Opera.


title: Oban

text: The town had a two-screen cinema, which closed in early 2010. Thanks to a local community initiative supported by a number of famous names, it reopened in August 2012 as the Phoenix Cinema. Oban has itself been used as a backdrop to several films, including "Ring of Bright Water" and "Morvern Callar".


title: Oban

text: The Oban War and Peace Museum advances the education of present and future generations by collecting, maintaining, conserving and exhibiting items of historical and cultural interest relating to the Oban area in peacetime and during the war years. A museum also operates within Oban Distillery, just behind the main seafront. The distillation of whisky in Oban predates the town: whisky has been produced on the site since 1794. The Hope MacDougall collection is a unique record of the working and domestic lives of people in Scotland.


title: Oban

text: Music is central to Gaelic culture, and there is lively interest in the town. In the 2010 pipe band season, the local Oban High School Pipe Band, led by Angus MacColl, was successful in winning the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, the Cowal Games competition, and the Champion of Champions for the year in the novice-juvenile grade. The town also boasts a successful senior pipe band. The local Gaelic choir competes regularly and successfully in the Mod.


title: Oban

text: The most prominent attraction in Oban is McCaig's Tower which is visible from a great portion of the town. Construction of the tower began in 1897, funded by John Stuart McCaig as a way of providing work for local stonemasons and to serve as a lasting legacy for his family. McCaig died in 1902, and although construction was set to continue, with McCaig promising £1000 a year for its construction to continue, his family challenged this in court and won, stopping construction.


title: Oban

text: The area around Oban has a dramatic scenery of the coast and mountains, as well as historically valuable local castles and ancient religious sites. North of the town the natural rock formation of Fingal's Dogstone is connected in legend to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.


title: Oban

text: The Oban Visitor Information Centre, operated by VisitScotland, is located in the Columba Buildings on the North Pier. The "Oban & Lorn Tourism Alliance" also provides information about local attractions at the official web site.


title: Oban

text: Oban lies at the western end of the A85 road. A number of ScotRail trains run between Oban railway station and Glasgow Queen Street daily. The town is an important ferry port: it is Caledonian MacBrayne's busiest terminal. Oban is known as the "Gateway to the Isles", with ferries sailing to the islands of Lismore, Colonsay, Islay, Coll, Tiree, to Craignure on Mull, to Castlebay on Barra and to Lochboisdale on South Uist. In 2005, a new ferry terminal was opened, and in 2007 a second linkspan opened, allowing two vessels to load/unload at the same time.


title: Oban

text: Scottish Citylink run buses from Glasgow's Buchanan bus station several times a day; in summer, buses run from Dundee via Perth (route 973) and to Edinburgh via Stirling (route 978).


title: Oban

text: West Coast Motors operate many local services and also coach links as far south as Lochgilphead and as far north as Fort William.


title: Oban

text: Formerly, Oban also had direct passenger railway services to Edinburgh. The scenic line, which ran via Glen Dochart, Strathyre, Callander, Dunblane and Stirling, closed in 1965. Railway services north to Ballachulish on Loch Leven were withdrawn in 1966. (These services were withdrawn as a result of the Beeching cuts.)


title: Oban

text: Oban has an airport outside the village of North Connel, some NE of the town. The airport has regular connections to Islay, Collansy and Tiree, with flight-times of just half an hour. The code for Oban Airport is (OBN) and the only airline flying from the airport is Hebridean Air Services. The airport featured in a 2021 episode of Top Gear.


title: Oban

text: Oban has a primary school campus located in the south of the town along with Park Primary School at the north of the town, and a major high school, Oban High School. In 2019, £36 million was spent on a new building for the high school, replacing the original 1890 building which was subsequently demolished. Secondary school pupils are drawn from a wide surrounding catchment area, with some pupils having long commutes to and from school every day. Students who live on surrounding islands such as Coll or Mull stay at a local hostel during the school week. The school funds the hostel so that the families of the students don't have to pay themselves.


title: Oban

text: The building formerly used as Rockfield Primary School has now been taken over by the Community and is being extensively refurbished. It has also been used as a polling station for areas of the town.


title: Oban

text: Oban is served by Kilmore & Oban Parish Church of the Church of Scotland. There are two church buildings in the united parish, namely at Glencruitten Road as well as Kilmore Church. The minister (since 2007) is the Rev. Dugald Cameron, who formerly served at St. John's Renfield Church, Glasgow.


title: Oban

text: A third church, the former Corran Esplanade Church (opened in 1957 as Christ Church) at Corran Esplanade in the town, is now closed.


title: Oban

text: The mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Argyll and the Isles is St Columba's Cathedral at the north end of the Esplanade. During the 19th century, the Rector of the Pro-Cathedral was Father Allan MacDonald, a poet and Gaelic scholar. The present cathedral was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and constructed between 1932 and 1959.


title: Oban

text: The Scottish Episcopal Church is represented in Oban by the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine, situated in George Street. It is one of two cathedrals of the united Diocese of Argyll and the Isles, the other being the Cathedral of the Isles in Millport, Isle of Cumbrae.


title: Oban

text: There are several other churches in the town, including the Free Church of Scotland in Rockfield Road, the Baptist Church in Albany Street, Salvation Army in Stevenson Street, Elim Pentecostal Church in Soroba Road, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Lorn Christian Fellowship (Independent) both of whom meet at Oban High School and the Associated Presbyterian Church in Campbell Street. The Congregational Church in Tweedale Street was built in 1880.


title: Oban

text: Pennyfuir Cemetery, to the north of the town, contains several notable burials, including Frances Shand Kydd, the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales, and four casualties of the 1942 Dunbeath air crash which also killed Prince George, Duke of Kent.


title: Oban

text: Oban's proximity to the mountains and the sea means that a wide array of sports are available to visitors and locals, from scuba-diving to coasteering to sailing to mountain biking to winter mountaineering. Other activities of note in the town are:


title: Oban

text: The local amateur football team is Oban Saints with a small stadium situated in Mossfield. However, shinty is a more popular game locally, with two major teams, Oban Camanachd and Oban Celtic, in the town. The "Oban Times" runs a "Spot the Shinty Ball" competition each week. Oban Cricket Club was formed in 2003 and plays in nearby Taynuilt. Oban Lorne Rugby Football Club turned 50 years old in 2012, and competes in the RBS West region. The Highlanders were a World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling tag-team originally from Oban. Glencruitten Golf course was designed by professional golfer James Braid in the early 1900s, and offers a challenging 18 holes across difficult terrain.


title: Oban

text: The West Highland Tennis Championships are held annually in July and attract some of Scotland's best players to the town. Past champions include Colin Fleming and Judy Murray.


title: Oban

text: Oban also has a thriving martial arts scene, with karate, kick boxing, mixed martial arts, and boxing all available.


title: Oban

text: Watersports are an obvious activity in a seaport, and sailing is very popular. West Highland Week brings sailors from around the world to the town every year. A raft race regularly takes place in the bay which offers a chance for locals to win prizes and trophies. Scuba diving is also readily available. The wreck diving is spectacular, with the Sound of Mull offering some truly world-class dive sites. Although weather and visibility can be variable, the local geography means that a dive somewhere can always be achieved.


title: Oban

text: The initial agreement was between Scotland County, North Carolina, and Argyll & Bute District Council. Following reorganisation in 1995, the agreement was confirmed by Argyll & Bute Council in 1997. The local High School takes part in a yearly exchange with students from the Scotland High School. In 1997, Oban was also twinned with Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland.


title: S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)

text: S.W.A.T. is an American action/crime drama television series about the adventures of a Special Weapons And Tactics (S.W.A.T.) team operating in an unidentified Californian city, although filming was done in and around Los Angeles. A spin-off of "The Rookies", the series aired for two seasons on ABC from February 1975 to April 1976. Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg were executive producers. It was created by Robert Hamner and developed by Rick Husky.


title: S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)

text: "S.W.A.T." stars Steve Forrest as the unit's leader, Lt. "Hondo" Harrelson, Robert Urich as Officer Jim Street, Rod Perry as Sgt. David "Deacon" Kay, Mark Shera as Officer Dominic Luca, and James Coleman as Officer T.J. McCabe. The opening theme was composed by Barry De Vorzon.


title: S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)

text: The pilot for the series was a two-part episode of "The Rookies" titled "S.W.A.T." (February 17, 1975).


title: S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)

text: The series is known for its instrumental theme song composed by Barry De Vorzon which became a number-one hit single in 1976 for Rhythm Heritage. The title sequence that used that piece was also familiar with the principal characters responding to a muster signal, grabbing their weapons and running to their specially equipped transport van driven by "Sam", an uncredited, non-speaking role.


title: S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)

text: The show's setting was rarely, if ever, specified and the shoulder patch the team members wore on their uniforms said, "W.C.P.D." Richard Kelbaugh, a former member of the LAPD's S.W.A.T. team, was the technical advisor for the series. WCPD stood for Western California Police Department.


title: S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)

text: On October 1, 2011, "S.W.A.T." began airing on Antenna TV for a period of time and in Australia on 7mate in 2012. In May 2016, it began airing on getTV. In December 2021, it aired on Rewind TV.


title: S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series)

text: The first season of "S.W.A.T." was released on DVD on June 3, 2003 to tie in with the release of the feature film. Season Two's episode "Time Bomb" was actually produced for Season One and, as such, "Time Bomb" is Episode 8 on the Season One DVD set. The Season One DVD set has a total of 13 episodes.