title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: The Amtrac on the right manoeuvred itself off the road into a little depression and as it did so, disembarked the Marines inside—including one wounded, Private Horacio Tello—out of view. This encouraged the Royal Marines to think that Gibbs had scored a direct hit on the passenger compartment of the APC. According to Santillán, this vehicle took 97 rounds and another lost its tracks.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Trollope, with No. 2 Section, describes the action: "Six Armoured Personnel Carriers began advancing at speed down the Airport Road. The first APC was engaged at a range of about 200 to 250 metres. The first three missiles, two 84 mm and one 66 mm, missed. Subsequently one 66 mm fired by Marine [Mark] Gibbs hit the passenger compartment and one 84 mm Marines [George] Brown and [Danny] Betts hit the front. Both rounds exploded and no fire was received from that vehicle. The remaining five APCs which were about 600 to 700 metres away deployed their troops and opened fire. We engaged them with GPMG, SLR and sniper rifle [Sergeant Ernie Shepherd] for about a minute before we threw a white phosphorus smoke grenade and leap-frogged back to the cover of gardens. Incoming fire at that stage was fairly heavy, but mostly inaccurate."


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: According to Governor Hunt in his memoirs, Marines Brown and Betts brought the leading Amtrac to a screeching halt with a direct hit in one of the forward tracks while Marine Gibbs scored another hit in the passenger compartment: "About this time, we received the heartening news that the section led by Mike's second-in-command, Bill Trollope, had knocked out the first APC. They put an 84mm rocket into the tracks and a 66mm rocket into the passenger compartment. They stood ready to shoot anybody who got out, but nobody did."


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Trollope and his men withdrew along Davis Street, running behind the houses with Argentine Marines in hot pursuit, and went to ground firing up the road when it became obvious they could not reach Government House. Corporal Lou Armour, commanding '1 Section', was positioned at Hookers Point when the invasion began. Shortly after the attack on Moody Brook, he was ordered to withdraw to Government House, meeting up with Corporal David Carr's section along the way. "The marines, now numbering sixteen, decided to try and work their way around to the back of the ridge where the Argentinians were positioned, and then charge down to Government House, hopefully taking the enemy by surprise. But as they moved through the edges of the town they came under fire at every street corner and it was eventually so heavy they had to abandon their plan."


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: As both sections headed off to find Trollope's men, Armour decided to have one more try at getting into Government House. Using fire and manoeuvre to cross a football pitch they then crawled along the hedgerow leading to the gardens where they experienced friendly fire. According to Armour: "I had a running battle with a bunch of Argentines in armored vehicles who were chasing me and my section back toward Stanley. When we eventually got to government house, we were taking fire from three directions: the Argentines who were attacking the house, both behind and in front, and our own guys, who were in the house and thought we were another Argentine snatch squad trying to get in. So that was a bit hairy. An Argentine was killed that day and a few more wounded."


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: They eventually made it to safety via the kitchen door. Again according to Armour: "One Section pepper-potted down the road towards the wood where we knew Government House to be. Movement was slow as we had to crawl and monkey run until we reached the hospital. It was now broad daylight. From there the section fired and manoeuvred behind the nurses' home and across the football pitch until we reached a hedgegrow. I informed Marine Parker to call out, 'Royal Marines!' as we approached the house. We were eventually heard by Corporal Pares, who told us where the enemy were. The section, under cover from Corporal Pares, then dashed into the house where we were deployed upstairs by Major Noott."


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: In the meantime, Corporal Stefan York and his section had been patiently manning their hiding place on the western end of Navy Point. As Argentine landing craft were reported approaching Stanley Harbour, Marine Rick Overall fired a Carl Gustav anti-tank round which the British, in an interview with military historian Martin Middlebrook, claimed to have penetrated the side of an Argentine Marine Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel, killing all on board. According to Lieutenant-Commander Hugo Jorge Santillán, an Amtrack Amphibious Recovery Vehicle around this time had entered Stanley Harbour after the capture of Government House, to carry out emergency repairs on the two amphibious armoured personnel carriers that had been damaged in the earlier gun-battle near the Ionospheric Research Station.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Major Mike Norman wrote in his book about the Navy Point defenders: "All well and good, but if an enemy landing craft had been sunk in the Narrows, by Corporal York's 4 Section, I would certainly have heard about it – they were in constant radio contact with my HQ. No such incident was ever mentioned."


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Lying on a small hillock south of Government House, Lieutenant-Commander Pedro Giachino faced the difficulty of capturing this tactically important objective with no radio and with a force of only sixteen men. He split his force into small groups, placing one on either side of the house and one at the rear. Unknown to them, the governor's residence was the main concentration point of the Royal Marines, who outnumbered the commandos by over two to one.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: The first attack against this building came at 6.30 a.m., barely an hour before the Yorke Bay amphibious landing, when one of Giachino's squads, led by Lieutenant Gustavo Adolfo Lugo, started to exchange fire with the British troops inside the house. At the same time, Giachino himself, with four of his subordinates, entered the servants' annex, believing it to be the rear entrance to the residence. Four Royal Marines, Corporals Mick Sellen and Colin Jones and Marines Harry Dorey and Murray Paterson, who were placed to cover the annex, beat off the first attack. Giachino was hit instantly as he burst through the door, while Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga was shot in the arm. The remaining three retreated to the maid's quarters.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Giachino was not dead, but very badly wounded. An Argentine combat medic, Corporal Ernesto Urbina, attempted to get to Giachino but was wounded by a grenade. Giachino, seeing what had happened, pulled the pin from a hand grenade and threatened to use it. The Royal Marines then attempted to persuade the officer to get rid of the grenade so that they could give him medical treatment, but he refused, preventing them from reaching his position. After the surrender of the British forces at Government House, some three hours later, Lieutenant-Commander Giachino was taken to Stanley Hospital but died from loss of blood.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: At the governor's office, Major Norman received a radio report from Corporal York's section, which was positioned at Camber Peninsula, observing any possible Argentine ship entering Stanley Harbour. The corporal proceeded to report on three potential targets in sight and ask which he should engage first. "What are the targets?" the major enquired. "Target number one is an aircraft carrier, target number two is a cruiser", at which point the line went dead.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: After firing a rocket at an amphibious vehicle heading to Yorke Bay, York decided to withdraw his section and proceeded to booby trap their Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle, before paddling their Gemini assault boat north across Port William. As he did so, York said they were chased and fired upon by an Argentine destroyer (either the corvette ARA "Drummond" or "Granville"). His initiative led to the Gemini reaching an anchored Polish fishing vessel and hiding the small assault boat under her shadow. They patiently waited for a chance, before moving to the shore and landing on a small beach. Argentine sources say the "Drummond" laid down suppressing fire on a cove north of Port William where unidentified personnel had been spotted, in support of "Cabo San Antonio", whose crew had reported a "missile falling short to starboard", apparently launched from the area. Other Argentine navy's reports claim that the action at Port Williams was carried out by .


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Back at Government House, the Argentine commandos' pressure continued. There is some evidence that their use of stun grenades, mistaken as high-explosive rifle-grenades and/or mortars, and their continuous shift of firing positions during the battle led the Royal Marines inside to believe they were facing a large company of marines and were hopelessly outnumbered. Actually, after the failure of Giachino's small platoon to break into the residence, the British were surrounded by only a dozen amphibious commandos. These men were under Lieutenant Lugo, Giachino's second-in-command. The Land Rovers used by the Royal Marines were disabled by automatic gunfire from the commandos.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Governor Hunt called Patrick Watts—at the radio station, Radio Stanley—by telephone and said he believed the assaulting force to be the equivalent of a reinforced company: "We're staying put here, but we are pinned down. We can't move.(...) They must have 200 around us now. They've been throwing rifle grenades at us; I think there may be mortars, I don't know. They came along very quickly and very close, and then they retreated. Maybe they are waiting until the APCs [Amtracs] come along and they think they'll lose less casualties that way."


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Corporals Geordie Gill and Terry Pares, both snipers, also claimed to have shot several Argentines through the chest and head as they attempted to scatter along the hillside overlooking Government House: "We dropped a number of Argentinians as they approached and I had a couple in my sights and made sure they were taken out of the game. It was initially estimated that we had killed five and injured seventeen, but we only counted the bodies that we saw drop in front of us." Major Norman's estimate is that Corporals Pares and Gills killed or wounded some four or five Argentine special forces: "Corporals Pares and Gill, were doing an excellent job. Gill would look through his sniper scope and tell Pares where the enemy were and Pares would fire ten rounds rapid, and as soon as that got them on the move, Gill would take them out with the sniper rifle. They took out four or five this way and all the time they were giving the rest of us a running commentary."


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: In the official history of both sides, Argentine casualties are listed as one killed and three badly wounded outside Government House. Another three Argentine Marines (Private Horacio Tello, Padre Ángel Maffezini and Lieutenant-Commander Hugo Santillán) were injured taking cover in the skirmishes in and around Port Stanley. During the gun-battle, Kenneth Clarke was one of four British correspondents covering the events from the home of the Governor's Secretary as the Argentine Marine Special Forces sheltering behind hedges and rocks attacked Government House less than 100 metres away. Clarke could hear the gunfire and feel the explosions. As dawn broke a bullet from an Argentine sniper came through a bedroom window and parted his hair.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Around 7.30 a.m., the local police commander Ronnie Lamb, had to order two Royal Falkland Islands Police officers to nearby Government House, in order to rescue a civilian, Henry Halliday, as he blissfully headed off to work, despite the fierce gun-battle taking place all around him. Eventually, Hunt decided to enter talks with Argentine commanders around 8:30 a.m., after Major Norman warned him "that our defence would be determined, unrelenting—but would be relatively short-lived". The liaison was Vice-Commodore Hector Gilobert, the head in the islands of LADE, the Argentine government's airline company. Gilobert and a governor's deputy went to the Argentine headquarters displaying a white flag. A de facto ceasefire was put in place at that time which was occasionally breached by small arms fire.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: The governor's envoys found the Argentine command post at Stanley's town hall. The Argentine commander accepted the British offer of a face to face meeting with Hunt in his battered office. While the negotiations were still going on, another incident occurred inside the residence. Three Argentine amphibious commandos who survived the first skirmish along the compound inadvertently alerted Major Noott to their presence, while they had been preparing to leave their hiding place. The Major fired his Sterling submachine gun into the ceiling of the maid's room. According to British reports, the stunned commandos tumbled down the stairs, laying their weapons on the ground. They became the first Argentine prisoners of war of the Falklands War, although by then Governor Hunt had already been in contact with Argentine officials negotiating the terms of surrender.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: The version of Lieutenant Commander Cufré, who was then at Stanley airport, is that the three Amphibious Commandos supporting Giachino's party kept their positions right to the end of the hostilities. Admiral Carlos Büsser, commander in chief of the operation, states that a ceasefire was already in place when the three commandos, after realising that the battle was coming to a close and that any loss of life at the time would be futile, laid down their arms to the marines in order to assist the wounded. Just a few minutes after this event, Government House capitulated.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Meanwhile, the Royal Marines in the house saw the approaching Amtracs that had been engaged earlier by Lieutenant Trollope and his section. The Amtracs were Rex Hunt's biggest problem, because they could take up positions outside the range of the Royal Marines and blast Government House to pieces. The vehicles pushed on toward Moody Brook to link up with Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots. His amphibious commandos were plodding slowly along the road to reinforce their colleagues besieging Government House after taking some prisoners near the racecourse. The majority of the FIDF soldiers were captured inside Drill Hall, where they had barricaded themselves a few hours earlier with one section captured near Government House and escorted back to the hall to join their fellow reservists. Two other sections were captured with the fall of Government House and ordered to lie face down with the Royal Marines. In the meantime, the naval detachment from HMS "Endurance" at Government House began to shred official documents.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Major Norman had earlier advised Governor Hunt that the Royal Marines and the governor could break out to the countryside and set up a 'seat of government' elsewhere, but when he finally met the commander of the Argentine seaborne forces, Admiral Büsser, he agreed to surrender his troops to the now overwhelming Argentine forces at 9:30 a.m. It was a hard decision for Governor Hunt to make: ""With a heavy heart, I turned to Mike and told him to give the order to lay down arms. I could not bring myself to use the word 'Surrender'. Mike's face was a mixture of relief and anguish: it was not part of his training to surrender, but his good sense told him that there was no real alternative. As Gary accompanied Busser to tend the wounded round Government House, Mike told his radio operator to instruct all sections to down arms and wait to be collected.""


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: While Major Noott accompanied Busser outside Government House, the British officer applied morphine and the tourniquet on the Argentine wounded that would staunch the heavy bleeding and, Lieutenant Diego García Quiroga would later say Noott saved his life. He was rushed to Stanley Hospital where two doctors operated on him after cutting through his heavy clothing using scissors. Corporal Ernesto Urbina was given plasma in Stanley Hospital which saved his life.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Before Hunt's capitulation, Sánchez-Sabarots had to order a section of his men to release the Argentine nationals that Vice-Commodore Gilobert reported were being held under guard inside Town Hall. But, before they could arrive Commander Alfredo Raúl Weinstabl and his adjutant, Lieutenant Juan Carlos Martinelli and several marines from his tactical headquarters secured the Town Hall and Stanley Police Station buildings. According to Weinstabl: ""The town was silent. Arriving at the place we had chosen as the Battalion Command Post, we found abandoned weapons and packs. I ordered Lieutenant Martinelli to recce the building and within a short while he returned with about thirty men and women who came out of it smiling. They were Argentines who had been locked in that place the night before. Almost opposite was the Police Station. Inside were six or seven policemen with their Chief and a group of sailors from an oceanographic research ship. I ordered the Police Chief to send the constables home and to tell them not to come out until they were told.""


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Hunt would later state in mid-April that the defenders fired 6,000 rounds in the fighting at Government House and elsewhere. The Falklands Governor disputed Argentine claims that the seaborne assault resulted in only one Argentine dead and two wounded, telling "Time Magazine" reporters Briton Hadden and Henry Robinson Luce in their 12 April 1982 article that at least five and possibly 15 invaders were killed and 17 were wounded in the invasion. Major Norman, in 2007, confirmed the defending British marines and Royal Navy sailors fired 6,450 small-arms rounds and 12 rockets in the fighting on 2 April 1982.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Fearing that British had established an observation post on Tussock Island, Major Mario Castagneto's 601st Commando Company was sent to clear the island of enemy special forces, but returned empty handed and completely covered in black soot due to another Pucara napalm bombing on 1 May. Nevertheless, several Falkland Islanders maintain the belief that the napalm attacks were part of a cover-up to hide the Argentine losses suffered during the initial fighting codenamed "Rosario".


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: After the surrender, the Royal Marines and two rifle sections under Corporals Gerald Cheek and Pat Peck from the FIDF were then herded onto the playing fields. Photographs were taken by British journalist Simon Winchester of "The Sunday Times", showing the British prisoners arranged face-down on the ground and were smuggled out by Rex Hunt's son Tony. The images galvanised the British public when they were broadcast on television and increased public opposition to the invasion. Corporal Armour's section had fought on the second floor at Government House and was taken prisoner: ""There were three casualties lying in the garden of Government House. You think: What sort of mood are they going to be in when their oppos are shot up? When we were actually lying down I felt a bit humiliated but I also felt apprehensive about what was going to happen next. One of the Argentine officers came along and actually struck one of the guards and told us to stand up. We stood up and he shook my hand and a few other guys' hands and said that we shouldn't lie down, that we should be proud of what we'd done.""


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: The Royal Marines had fought with bravery and skill for they had killed one of his best officers—Lieutenant-Commander Giachino, 2IC of the 1st Marine Battalion—Carlos Busser said. Now they could lay down their arms with their military honour intact. The appeal succeeded in that the governor decided he had no choice but to accept the inevitable. The Royal Marines were allowed, 10 at a time, to return to Moody Brook Barracks under armed guard and once inside were given ten minutes to pack their personal belongings.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: In a final act of defiance, Rex Hunt donned his ceremonial uniform, complete with ostrich plumes and sword, for the drive to Stanley Airport in his staff car before they boarded their plane. "We feel as though we are deserting everyone, but what can we do?" Hunt's tearful wife, Mavis, told British journalist Kenneth Clarke.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Soon afterward, the Royal Marines were moved to a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, which would take them to Comodoro Rivadavia, where they were to be picked up by another airliner to Uruguay and on to the United Kingdom. Members of the FIDF were not taken to Argentina along with members of NP 8901; instead they were disarmed and returned to their homes.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: The 77 British marines and Royal Navy sailors were treated to a heroes' welcome when they landed on 5 April, at RAF Brize Norton in Britain and in the press conference that followed, Rex Hunt (in the presence of Majors Noot and Norman) informed the world press that the Port Stanley defenders had killed at least five Argentine soldiers, wounded 17 others and captured three attackers, destroying an armored personnel carrier in the process along with 10 more soldiers inside "who never resurfaced". In his final report from Port Stanley that was published on 5 April, Kenneth Clarke from the Daily Telegraph confirmed the tribute that the Argentine Marine Corps commander had paid to the Royal Marine defenders and denied that he and the other British journalists had been subjected to intimidation, as reported by one British newspaper.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: Corporal York's section remained at large. On 4 April, they reached Long Island Farm owned by a Mrs Watson. York had no radio, and due to worries about possible civilian deaths, chose to surrender to Argentine forces. They gave their position to the Argentine Army using a local islander's radio, and York subsequently ordered his men to destroy and then bury their weapons. Major Patricio Dowling and a platoon from the 181 military police company platoon were helicoptered forward and after roughly handling Yorke's men and posing for pictures, locked up the Royal Marines men in Stanley Police Station. Yorke's section would then be held in Comodoro Rivadavia along with Lieutenant Keith Mill's 22-man platoon and supporting 13-man British Antarctic Survey detachment under Steve Martin captured in South Georgia.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: The police commander, Ronnie Lamb, was deported soon after the occupation and the other full-time officer left soon afterwards on her own accord, leaving a squad of Special Constables who had been recruited hastily on the eve of the invasion but that had left the service—with the exception of 19-year constable Anton Livermore—in the week that followed rather than be seen as cooperating with the enemy.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: On 3 April 1982, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 502 demanding an immediate withdrawal of all Argentine forces from the islands and calling on the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom to seek a diplomatic solution to the situation and to refrain from further military action.


title: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands

text: At 16:30 local time on 2 April 1982, the last telex conversation between the operator in the Falklands and an operative in London announced that the islands were under Argentine control.


title: Cobalt Blue (film)

text: Cobalt Blue is an Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Sachin Kundalkar starring Prateik Babbar, Dr.Neelay Mehendale and Anjali Sivaraman. It is adapted from the novel of the same name which follows a story of a brother and sister who fall in love with the same man; ensuing events shatter a traditional Marathi family. The film was slated to release on Netflix on 3 December 2021 but was postponed and released on 2 April 2022.


title: Cobalt Blue (film)

text: When an aspiring author and his free-spirited sister both fall for the enigmatic paying guest at their home, ensuing events rock their traditional family. It's a movie that depicts the loneliness and fear around same-sex love.


title: Cobalt Blue (film)

text: In November 2018, it was announced that the Cobalt Blue novel would be adapted into a feature film for Netflix. It has been written and directed by Kundalkar and was scheduled for streaming on the platform starting December 3, 2021 but it was then postponed.Later, It was released on 2 April 2022.


title: Cobalt Blue (film)

text: Nandini Ramnath from "Scroll.in" gave a positive review to the film writing, "Neelay Mehendale's delicate characterisation of Tanay and Pr3ateik Babbar's overt hunkiness create the film's most memorable moments, which have the vividness of primary colours and the erotic flush of first love." "Deccan Herald" gave the film 3/5 stars and wrote,"The movie has heartwarming Hindi poetry catering to various shades of emotions. The entire movie is a slow, lyrical and heartbreaking journey blended with literature, poetry, music and art. Primary hues have been effectively used to bring out emotions.


title: President of Belarus

text: The president of the Republic of Belarus (; ) is the head of state and head of government of Belarus. The office was created in 1994 with the passing of the Constitution of Belarus by the Supreme Soviet. This replaced the office of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet as the head of state. The tasks of the president include executing foreign and domestic policy, defending the rights and general welfare of citizens and residents, and upholding the Constitution. The president is mandated by the Constitution to serve as a leader in the social affairs of the country and to act as its main representative abroad. The duties, responsibilities and other transitional clauses dealing with the presidency are listed in Chapter Three, Articles 79 through 89, of the Constitution.


title: President of Belarus

text: The term for the president is five years, but due to a 1996 referendum, the election that was supposed to occur in 1999 was pushed back to 2001. Under the 1994 constitution, the president could only serve for two terms as president, but due to a change in the constitution, term limits were eliminated. In the 2022 constitutional referendum, a limit of two terms was reimposed, though only on "newly elected presidents". During the course of the office, elections were held in 1994, 2001, 2006, 2010, 2015 and 2020. Alexander Lukashenko is the only person to serve as president since the 1994 elections. The presidential office is located in the Palace of the Republic in Minsk, while the presidential residence is located in Zaslawye (Заслаўе), Minsk District.


title: President of Belarus

text: Belarus first declared independence in early 1918 as the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Its head of state was the president of a provisional supreme governing body, the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. In 1919, the Soviet Red Army forced the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic into exile where the Rada still exists, now led by President Ivonka Survilla. Under Soviet rule, the de facto leader of the Byelorussian SSR was the first secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia, the only legal party in Soviet Belarus.


title: President of Belarus

text: The Republic of Belarus was formed in 1991 shortly after declaring itself independent of the Soviet Union. From independence until passage of the Constitution in 1994, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet was the head of state and the prime minister as the head of government. When the office of the presidency was created, the role of the prime minister was reduced to assisting the president and resulted in the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet, along with its chairman, in 1996.


title: President of Belarus

text: In the first set of elections for the office of president, the prime minister of Belarus, Vyacheslav Kebich, was defeated in a runoff vote by Alexander Lukashenko, resulting in Lukashenko becoming the first president. In elections of 2001 and 2006, which were contested by international observers, Western powers and internal opposition parties due for failing to meet democratic and fair standards, the incumbent Lukashenko defeated the other candidates within the first ballot. , he is the only person to have served as President of Belarus.


title: President of Belarus

text: Article 79 of the Constitution of Belarus gives the status of head of state to the president of the Republic of Belarus. They are also considered the guardian of the Constitution and the rights and freedoms of those who claim Belarusian citizenship or residency. The president is the personification of unification of the Belarusian state when conducting foreign or internal affairs and shall be the main representative when dealing with other nations or international organizations. The president is also entrusted with the safety, prosperity and stability of the country and acts as an intermediary between the bodies of the national government.


title: President of Belarus

text: In order to be able to run for office, a candidate must be a Belarusian citizen by birth that is over thirty-five years old. The candidate must also reside within the republic for ten years and able to cast a ballot legally. The provisions are set down in Article 80 of the Constitution.


title: President of Belarus

text: Elections for president occur every five years by a national vote. To be registered as a candidate for the presidency the prospective candidate is first required to have an initiative group of citizens containing no fewer than 100 persons. The initiative group must be registered with the Central Elections Commission no later than 85 days before the election. If successfully registered, the nominated candidate is tasked with collecting at least 100,000 valid signatures from eligible voters. If the Central Elections Commissions find that this threshold has been reached, the candidate is officially certified to run for the presidency.


title: President of Belarus

text: In the voting, the secret ballots are collected directly from eligible voters. The election is valid only if more than 50 % of registered voters cast a ballot. During the first round of voting, if a candidate earns fifty percent plus one of the votes, they are declared the President-elect. If no one has achieved that number during the first round, then a run-off election will occur between two candidates who won the most votes. The person who wins the most votes in the run-off is declared the president-elect.


title: President of Belarus

text: In the event the office is vacant, the election to replace the president must occur between thirty and seventy days after the vacancy occurred. During normal election cycles, the elections must occur before the last two months of the current president. In either situation, the government body that calls for elections is the House of Representatives. The last round of presidential elections occurred in 2015. President Lukashenko, when addressing the press in February 2007, stated his health will determine if he will run in 2011 or step down at that time.


title: President of Belarus

text: Articles 84 and 85 states the official political, social and national defense duties that are rested with the president. Other than the enumerated powers, Number 30 allows the president to use other powers granted to them either from national law or from other sections of the Constitution.


title: President of Belarus

text: Part of the prerogative of the president is the right to call referendums, and to call regular and extraordinary elections to the House of Representatives, the Council of the Republic and local representative bodies. They can also dissolve both chambers of the Parliament, as the Constitution permits. It is their duty to appoint the prime minister of the Republic of Belarus, and to decide the structure of the Government of the Republic of Belarus. The president signs bills, and has the right to veto and return it, fully or in parts, with objections to the House of Representatives. They also appoint – and can dismiss – the deputy Prime ministers, the ministers and the other members of the Government, and they decide in cases of resignation of the Government, or any of its members.


title: President of Belarus

text: The president appoints the chairperson of the Supreme Court, and can dismiss this chairperson and other judges. The president is supposed to deliver annual messages to the Parliament, and has the right to participate in the sessions of Parliament and its bodies. In instances of strike, the president has the right, in instances specified in the law, to defer or suspend a strike for a period not exceeding three months. In international affairs, it is the president's duty to conduct negotiations and sign international treaties, and to appoint and recall diplomatic representatives of the Republic.


title: President of Belarus

text: Not only the president is the head of government, they are the social leader of Belarus. The president delivers messages to the citizens several times a year and can issue decrees to establish red letter days and national holidays. The president is the main authority for the granting of Belarusian citizen and can present state decorations to honored individuals. The president also has the ability to determine the status of asylum seekers and grant pardons to convicted citizens.


title: President of Belarus

text: As the supreme commander-in-chief of the Belarusian Armed Forces, the president has the duty to protect the Belarusian territory from internal and external forces. The president can call for a state of emergency in the following cases: natural disasters, a catastrophe, or unrest involving violence or the threat of violence. Regardless if the declaration affects the entire country or sections of it, the Council of the Republic must be notified by the president and must seek their approval within three days of notification. The same rules applies if the president issues a state of martial law in the event of a possible military action against Belarus. The president has to form and head the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus, and can appoint and dismiss the state secretary of the Security Council and the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces.


title: President of Belarus

text: Before any person can assume the office officially, an oath must be sworn within two months of the election results being finalized. The text of the oath is as follows:


title: President of Belarus

text: During the inauguration ceremony, members of both houses of the National Assembly, government ministers, officials and judges from the Constitutional, Supreme and Economic Court must be present. Upon reading of the oath, any powers held by a previous president will be transferred to the president-elect. The text of the oath can be found in Article 83 of the Constitution.


title: President of Belarus

text: Articles 87 through 89 of the Constitution deal with how the presidency can change hands in-between election cycles. The president has the ability to resign from office at any time under Article 87. The letter of resignation is sent to the House of Representatives and is accepted by them. The president has the ability to be removed from office if their physical or mental health is impaired under Article 88. In order for this to happen, a two-thirds majority must be reached in the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic on the resolution to remove the president.


title: President of Belarus

text: An ad hoc committee is formed and must make the determination about the state of health before any motion can begin. If the president has committed a grave crime, such as treason, one-third of the House must bring charges against the president formally. The investigation of the charges will be conducted by the Council of the Republic. In order to evict the president from office, a two-thirds majority is needed to vote in favor of conviction. The criminal case is further sent to the Supreme Court for review. The actions of either option must occur one month after the resolution is passed or the action will be considered void by the Constitution.


title: President of Belarus

text: Under Article 79 of the Constitution, the president is immune from arrest, with exception to the treason/grave crimes clauses listed in Article 88 in the same document. Also under Article 79, the honor and dignity of the president will be protected by national law. Information, either printed in the news or reported on television, that is considered defamation against the president is illegal under Article 5 of the Belarusian Law on Press.


title: President of Belarus

text: The Presidential Palace (, ) is a Stalinist Empire style building located on October Square in Minsk surrounded by the streets of Marx, Engels, Kirov and Komsomol. Like the American White House, the streets close to the official residence are closed off to vehicular traffic and are patrolled by police forces. Having been used since 1994, it formerly housed the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia. The president also has use of the Independence Palace in Minsk.


title: President of Belarus

text: Officially, the only symbol denoting the presence of the president is the flag of the president of Belarus (Штандар Прэзідэнта Рэспублікі Беларусь). The standard, which has been in use since March 27, 1997, was adopted by a decree called "Concerning the Standard of the President of Republic of Belarus." signed into law by President Lukashenko.


title: President of Belarus

text: The standard's design is an exact copy of the national flag, with the addition of the Belarusian national emblem in gold. The standard's ratio of 5:6 differs from that of the national flag, making the standard almost square. The standard is bordered by a golden fringe. There are several copies of the standard; the original is kept in the office of the president while other copies are used on buildings, residences and vehicles to denote their presence.


title: Bollard

text: A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. It now also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent automotive vehicles from colliding or crashing into pedestrians and structures, whether intentional from ram-raids and vehicle-ramming attacks, or unintentional losses of control.


title: Bollard

text: The term is probably related to bole, meaning a tree trunk. The earliest citation given by the "Oxford English Dictionary" (referring to a maritime bollard) dates from 1844, although a reference in the "Caledonian Mercury" in 1817 describes bollards as huge posts.


title: Bollard

text: Wooden posts were used for basic traffic management from at least the beginning of the 18th century. An early well-documented case is that of the "two oak-posts" set up next to the medieval Eleanor cross at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, in 1721, at the expense of the Society of Antiquaries of London, "to secure Waltham Cross from injury by Carriages".


title: Bollard

text: In the maritime contexts in which the term originates, a bollard is either a wooden or iron post found as a deck-fitting on a ship or boat, and used to secure ropes for towing, mooring and other purposes; or its counterpart on land, a short wooden, iron, or stone post on a quayside to which craft can be moored. The "Sailor's Word-Book" of 1867 defines a bollard in a more specific context as "a thick piece of wood on the head of a whale-boat, round which the harpooner gives the line a turn, in order to veer it steadily, and check the animal's velocity". Bollards on ships, when arranged in pairs, may also be referred to as "bitts".


title: Bollard

text: Bollards can be used either to control traffic intake size by limiting movements, or to control traffic speed by narrowing the available space. Israel's Transportation Research Institute found that putting bollards at highway exits to control traffic also reduced accidents.


title: Bollard

text: Permanent bollards can be used for traffic-control or guarding against vehicle-ramming attacks. They may be mounted near enough to each other that they block ordinary cars/trucks, for instance, but spaced widely enough to permit special-purpose vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians to pass through. Bollards may also be used to enclose car-free zones. Bollards and other street furniture can also be used to control overspill parking onto sidewalks and verges.


title: Bollard

text: Traffic bollards are used to highlight traffic islands. They are primarily used at intersections within the splitter islands (a raised or painted area on the approach of a roundabout used to separate entering from exiting traffic, deflect and slow entering traffic, and provide a stopping place for pedestrians crossing the road in two stages).


title: Bollard

text: Illuminated bollards are also used to supplement street signs and street lighting to provide a visual cue to approaching drivers that an obstacle exists ahead during hours of darkness and during periods of low visibility:


title: Bollard

text: Internally illuminated traffic bollards have been in existence throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland since the 1930s, although the term "bollard" only seems to have been in common use since the late 1940s. An illuminated bollard has a recessed base light unit in the foundation to illuminate the traffic bollard from all angles. The main components are housed below the road or pedestrian surface (typically a concrete surface). Therefore, if a vehicle strikes the traffic bollard, the units below the surface are not damaged. In addition, most new modern traffic bollards installed along UK roadways today are made of materials that make them completely collapsible. When struck by a vehicle at low or high speed, the traffic bollard shell reverts to its original position with minimal to no damage to the unit.


title: Bollard

text: Reflective bollards may also be used; they need no power or maintenance, and can be built to recover to their normal position after being struck.


title: Bollard

text: A bell bollard is a style of bollard designed to deflect vehicle tires. The wheel mounts the lower part of the bollard and is deflected by its increasing slope. Such bollards are effective against heavy goods vehicles that may damage or destroy conventional bollards or other types of street furniture.


title: Bollard

text: Manually retractable bollards (lowered by a key mechanism) are found useful in some cases because they require less infrastructure.


title: Bollard

text: The term "robotic bollards" has been applied to traffic barricades capable of moving themselves into position on a roadway.


title: Bollard

text: Self-righting or self-recovering bollards can take a nudge from a vehicle and return to the upright position without causing damage to the bollard or vehicle. They are popular in car park buildings and other areas of high vehicle usage.


title: Bollard

text: Flexible bollards are bollards designed to bend when struck by vehicles. They are typically made from synthetic plastic or rubber that is stiff on its own, but pliable under the weight of a car or truck. When struck, flexible bollards give way to some extent, reducing damage to vehicles and surrounding surfaces, and return to their original, upright position. Some flexible bollards do not provide physical protection from vehicles; rather they offer clear visual guidance for drivers. Other flexible bollards have been designed to provide physical protection as well as reduced damage by incorporating strong elastic materials. These can be all plastic or plastic/steel hybrids but combine varying degrees of stopping power and flexibility.


title: Bollard

text: Bollards are used by government agencies and private businesses to protect buildings, public spaces, and the people in them from car ramming attacks.


title: Bollard

text: These bollards protect utilities, electronics, machinery, buildings, or pedestrians from accidental or intentional collisions with vehicles. As collisions also cause damage to vehicles, operators, or the bollards themselves, new bollards have been developed that absorb some of the impact energy, lessening the violence of the collision. Some are made of forgiving plastics while others are made of steel but fitted with an elastomer to absorb the impact energy.


title: Bollard

text: Bollards are widely used to contribute to safety and security. The American Bar Association (ABA) states that bollards are used to contribute to homeland security. The American National Institute of Building Sciences site—the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG)—recommends in its Design Guidance that open spaces surrounding and contiguous to buildings be included as integral parts of a security design.


title: Bollard

text: According to the National Institute of Building Sciences, non-crash-resistant bollards are "perceived impediments to access" and address the actions of two groups:


title: Bollard

text: High security bollards are impact-tested in accordance with one or more of three major crash test ratings for vehicle barriers. These are PAS 68 (UK), IWA-14 (International) and ASTM (US).


title: Bollard

text: Bollard sleeves in various alloys or finishes are designed to cover security bollards to enhance their visual attractiveness.


title: Bollard

text: U-shaped bollards are typically used for the protection of equipment and are common in areas that need coverage over a wider area than of a normal bollard, such as fuel stations and bike lanes.


title: Bollard

text: Bollards have become common use for reserving parking spots from unauthorized vehicles. Parking bollards are typically situated in the centre of a parking bay as a physical obstruction. They then fold either manually or automatically to admit authorized users. These bollards are often used in smaller parking lots such as visitor parking or corporate parking lots, as an alternative to boom gates. They can be powered by a wide variety of means, with the most common being battery-powered or electric-powered.


title: Bollard

text: The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF), managed by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), cited three dozen applications of bollards.


title: Bollard

text: According to the International Fire Code (IFC-2009) and the American National Fire Protection Association Fire Code 1 (NFPA-1) all new buildings or renovated buildings must have fire access roadways to accommodate fire apparatus and crews and other first responders. Thus the choice of bollard styles must apply to the NFPA's Code 1710. Bollards are now designed in terms of how long it takes to remove or collapse them to allow first responders entry to the access roadway.


title: Bollard

text: In Geelong, Victoria, Australia, decorative bollards, sculpted and painted by Jan Mitchell, are placed around the city to enhance the landscape as a form of outdoor public sculpture. Usually they are made of timber, minimally modified from the traditionally cylindrical, wooden, maritime bollard shape, but brightly painted to resemble human figures. Such figures – which may be historical or contemporary, particular or generic – are sited singly or in clusters along the waterfront and in other areas where people gather. Decorative bollards have become a well-known feature of the city of Geelong and reflect its history as a major Australian port.


title: Bollard

text: In Antwerp, Belgium, artist Eddy Gabriel transformed a bollard to look like a toadstool in 1993. This example was followed by other artists, turning the quayside of the river Scheldt into a street art gallery.


title: Bollard

text: In Norwich, England, a set of 21 bollards was installed in 2008 in the Lanes area north of City Hall, designed by artist Oliver Creed and commissioned by the City Council as part of a regeneration programme. They are coloured "madder red", in reference to the red dye extracted from the madder plant and used for dying cloth, one of the city's major industries during the 16th century; and they bear bronze finials also alluding to local history. 10 of these depict the madder plant, while the other 11 have unique designs, usually relevant to the specific location in which the bollard is placed, including a scene of sheep-shearing, a Green Man, a swan's head in Swan Lane, and so on.


title: Bollard

text: On the forecourt of Cambridge University Library, England, a line of 14 bronze bollards made to resemble piles of books was installed in 2009. This work, "Ex Libris", was created by sculptor Harry Gray. The ten outer bollards are static, but the "books" making up the four central bollards can be swivelled, so that the lettering on their spines aligns to form the Latin phrase "Ex Libris" ("from/out of the books"), commonly used on bookplates.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Arm wrestling (also spelled armwrestling) is a sport with two opponents who face each other with their bent elbows placed on a table and hands firmly gripped, who then attempt to force the opponent's hand down to the table top ("pin" them). The sport is often casually used to demonstrate the stronger person between two or more people.


title: Arm wrestling

text: In the early years other names were used to describe the same sport, including arm turning, arm twisting, twisting wrists, wrist turning and wrist wrestling.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Current knowledge of the history of arm wrestling is based on written and pictorial evidentiary sources, and arm wrestling may have existed in any number of ancient or medieval cultures that did not record it. Popular claims that it was practiced in ancient Egypt or ancient Greece, while not necessarily implausible, are founded on misinterpretation of sources (confusing references to wrestling with the arms or images of wrestling with the hands or of dancing for arm wrestling).


title: Arm wrestling

text: Arm wrestling (; formerly known as "wrist wrestling" in this context in English, the literal translation of the Japanese) is known to have been widely practiced by the Edo period of Japan, depicted in art from as early as the 1700s, and recorded in writing as early as the eighth century in the "Kojiki". Illustrations unambiguously demonstrate this was the same as modern arm wrestling. It is likely that the modern popularity of arm wrestling comes from the Japanese treatment of the sport.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Arm wrestling was also practiced by Spaniards and Cubans in the nineteenth century, possibly via the influence of Japanese contact; these arm-wrestlers would place a piece of money under each elbow.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Arm wrestling in the United States was formerly also called "Indian arm wrestling"; some sources suggest the practice originated amongst American Indian peoples such as the Lenape. A similar sport, "Indian hand wrestling", attested from the early 20th century and commonly ascribed Native American origins, was conducted standing upright. Both "Indian arm wrestling" (or simply "arm wrestling") and "Indian hand wrestling" were popular among Boy Scouts and other American youth in the early to mid 20th century.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Organized arm wrestling tournaments arose in the 1950s, while the World’s Wristwrestling Championship, Inc. (WWC) was the first armwrestling organization, organized the first World’s Wrist-wrestling Championship - held in Hermann Sons Hall, the second largest auditorium in Petaluma, California in 1962; later those (WWC's) World championships were known as Petaluma World’s Wrist-wrestling Championships.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Casual arm wrestling is common between individuals simply as a game or casual contest of strength. Casual arm wrestling is usually performed seated on any available surface (commonly a standard table or chair) and lacks the technical rigor, specially designed table, and regulation of competitive arm wrestling. Injuries are more common in casual settings than in competition due to a general lack of conditioning and proper technique. Additionally, participants in casual matches are less likely to be close in strength, and such strength disparities often result in dangerous positions which increase the likelihood of injury.


title: Arm wrestling

text: In "competitive arm wrestling", a match is conducted with both competitors standing up with arms placed on a "tournament arm wrestling table". Competitions are usually conducted in either tournament or supermatch form. A tournament usually involves successive rounds of a single match (or "pull") between any two opponents and a large number of total participants. A "supermatch" usually involves anywhere from 3 to 6 matches between two specific athletes, with short rest periods between consecutive matches. The supermatch format is usually reserved for more experienced and high-level pullers, and is analogous to a traditional bout in other combat sports.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Tables used for organized armwrestling competitions include elbow pads, which indicate the area within which a competitor's elbow must remain throughout the match, pin pads, which indicate the height an opponent's hand much reach before being considered pinned, and hand pegs, which must be gripped with the non-wrestling arm and are used for additional leverage. These tables vary slightly in their dimensions based on the governing body of the competition, but are always symmetrical with predefined distances between the elbow pads and pin pads.


title: Arm wrestling

text: As with other combat sports in which body weight is recognized to play a significant role in victory, arm wrestling tournaments are usually divided along weight classes as well as left and right-handed divisions. Because most humans and therefore most pullers are right-handed, right-handed competitions are both more common and more prestigious than equivalent left-handed competitions.


title: Arm wrestling

text: There are also rules governing fouls and imposition of penalties, such as when a competitor's elbow leaves a mat where the elbow is meant to remain at all times, when a false start occurs, and attempting to escape arm pinning by breaking the grip ("slipping") with the opponent which may result in a loss. Paraphrasing USAF rules, arm wrestlers must straighten their wrists with less than a one-minute time lapse during competition.


title: Arm wrestling

text: There are many styles and moves in arm wrestling, each with their own relative balance of hand and arm pressures. The three most common general moves are the hook, toproll and press.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Many force vectors, or "pressures", contribute to the overall success of an armwrestler. Generally speaking, these pressures can be classified into hand pressures and arm pressures.


title: Arm wrestling

text: The primary hand pressure is "cupping", or wrist flexion. The flexing of the wrist by the forearm muscles bends back the opponent's wrist, and dramatically decreases their accessible leverage during the match.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Secondary hand pressures include supination (as in a hook), pronation (as in a toproll) and "rising", or wrist abduction. Each of these can be used to get an opponent into an uncomfortable or disadvantageous position, from which the initiator can more easily pin.


title: Arm wrestling

text: The three major arm pressures in armwrestling include side pressure, back pressure, and "posting" or upward pressure.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Side pressure involves contraction of the pectoral muscles and whole body movement in order to generate force against the opponent perpendicular to the plane of the palm. This pressure is most directly associated with movement of the hands toward the pin pad, and as such is often the main or only pressure instinctively utilized by novices trying to pin their opponent.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Back pressure involves contraction of the muscles of the back (primarily the lats) in order to adduct the upper arm and generate force toward the self and away from the opponent. If successful, the application of back pressure increases the elbow angle of the opponent and therefore limits their leverage.


title: Arm wrestling

text: "Posting", or upward pressure, involves contraction of the biceps in order to flex the elbow. If successful, the application of upward pressure decreases the elbow angle of the initiator, therefore increasing their leverage against their opponent.


title: Arm wrestling

text: The "hook" or "hooking" is any move classified within the "inside" style of arm wrestling. The defining characteristic of a hook is supination of the hand and forearm, which results in a match centered on pressure applied through the wrist. Generally, a successful hook is more dependent on raw arm strength (centered on the biceps) than hand control and technique compared to a toproll.


title: Arm wrestling

text: The "top roll" or "top rolling" is any move classified within the "outside" style of arm wrestling. The defining characteristic of a toproll is pronation of the hand and forearm, in which the thumb becomes the point in which pressure is applied as you rotate into the opponents hand. Generally, a successful toproll is highly dependent on technique and the strength of the hand and forearm, moreso than a hook or press.


title: Arm wrestling

text: The "triceps press", "shoulder pressing", or "shoulder rolling" is often described as the third primary move or style of arm wrestling. The defining characteristic of a press is the rotation of the competitor's torso in order to position their shoulder behind their hand. This position allows the athlete to better utilize their triceps strength and body weight, and is usually only attempted in neutral or advantageous positions in order to finish an opponent. A press can be accessed from either a hook or toproll.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Various factors can play a part in one's success in arm wrestling, technique and overall arm strength being the two greatest contributing factors. Other considerations such as the length of an arm wrestler's arm, muscle and arm mass/density, hand grip size, wrist endurance and flexibility, reaction time, and other traits can lend advantages of one arm wrestler over another.


title: Arm wrestling

text: The World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) has been the universally recognized global governing body for professional arm wrestling and comprises 82 member countries.


title: Arm wrestling

text: The rules and regulations for arm wrestling are designed to create an even playing field and to prevent broken bones. Below are some of the general arm wrestling regulations:


title: Arm wrestling

text: Improvement at armwrestling is most driven by two factors: strength development/conditioning, and experience.


title: Arm wrestling

text: While there is no consensus among top athletes as to whether table training or weight training is most effective for developing armwrestling strength, it is generally accepted that both are important. Common lifts for armwrestling include bicep curls, wrist curls, and rows, all of which develop overall pulling strength and greater pressures against the opponent. In addition to standard dumbbells and barbells, serious pullers often make use of bands and cable systems with specialized handles in order to more closely replicate the angles and tensions of real armwrestling during weight training.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Table training often involves pulling many casual or semi-serious matches from various starting positions, and developing one's strategy and techniques against a large variety of opponents and styles.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Arm wrestling puts substantial torque/torsion stress on the upper arm's humerus bone, to a degree seen in few other physical activities. Generally speaking, the bones and connective tissue involved in arm wrestling are not prepared to accommodate the stresses imposed by the sport, and severe injuries can occur without proper training and conditioning. An arm bone may fail in a diagonal break at or below the shoulder and elbow midpoint. This is significantly more likely when one of the pullers rotates their shoulder inward (as in a press) without first getting behind their hand, a position known as the 'break arm' position. It is for this reason that a common safety cue for beginners is to maintain eye contact with their own hand. This helps prevent rotation of the shoulders away from the arm, and therefore limits the likelihood that the puller will reach the 'break arm' position.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Common injuries include humeral shaft fractures, shoulder trauma, muscle strain, golfers' elbow, and less commonly pectoralis major/biceps rupture.


title: Arm wrestling

text: Injuries associated with armwrestling occur most commonly between novices or athletes of significant strength difference, when competitors are forced into unsafe positions out of inexperience or inability to maintain advantage. Matches or practices involving experienced pullers with the conditioning and knowledge to stay safe very rarely produce injuries.


title: Wax gourd

text: Benincasa hispida, the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, Chinese preserving melon Bhathua (भथुआ) in western Bihar as well as eastern Uttar Pradesh and (Alu) Puhul, is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature.


title: Wax gourd

text: It is the only member of the genus Benincasa. The fruit is covered in a fuzzy coating of fine hairs when young. The immature melon has thick white flesh that tastes sweet. By maturity, the fruit loses its hairs and develops a waxy coating, giving rise to the name "wax gourd". The wax coating helps to give the fruit a long shelf life of up to a year. The melon may grow as large as 80 cm in length. It has yellow flowers and broad leaves.


title: Wax gourd

text: It is native to South and Southeast Asia. The wax gourd is widely grown throughout Asia, including Java and Japan, the places where it is thought to have originated.


title: Wax gourd

text: One variety of the plant, called "chi qua" ("Benincasa hispida" var. "chieh-qua"), is commonly used in Asian cuisine.


title: Wax gourd

text: The name "winter melon" that is sometimes given to this plant is based on the Chinese name (); however, the character () can also mean “gourd” or “squash.” It is likely that the name “melon” is given because this gourd is sometimes candied or made into a sweet tea.


title: Wax gourd

text: It is grown in well-drained loam and sandy soils in warm, mild climates, and will not tolerate frosts. It is grown in riverbeds or furrows, and needs constant irrigation during the growing season.


title: Wax gourd

text: The wax gourd can be stored for many months, much like winter squash. Ash gourds of the Indian subcontinent have a white coating with a rough texture (hence the name ash gourd). Southeast Asian varieties have a smooth waxy texture. It is one of the few vegetables available during winter in areas of deciduous vegetation. In India, the wax gourd is recognized for its medicinal properties in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. It also has significance in spiritual traditions of India and Yoga, where it is identified as a great source of prana.


title: Wax gourd

text: In Cambodia, it is known as "tralach" (), and used in soup and stews in Cambodian cuisine. It is commonly used to make "samlor tralach", which is winter gourd and pork soup, or stuffed pork in the gourd.


title: Wax gourd

text: In Chinese cuisine, the gourds are used in stir fries or combined with pork or pork/beef bones to make winter gourd soup, often served in the scooped out gourd, carved by scraping off the waxy coating. It is also chopped and candied as wintermelon candy (dōng guā táng), commonly eaten at New Year festivals, or as filling for Sweetheart cake (lǎopó bǐng). It has also been used as the base filling in Chinese and Taiwanese mooncakes for the Moon Festival.


title: Wax gourd

text: In Vietnamese cuisine, it is called "bí đao", and is usually used to make soup or stew. When cooked with pork short ribs, the resulting soup is traditionally thought to help produce more milk for breastfeeding mothers.


title: Wax gourd

text: In the Philippines, it is candied (referred to plainly as "kundol") and is used as a pastry filling for hopia. It is also an ingredient in some savory soups ("sabaw") and stir-fries ("guisado").


title: Wax gourd

text: In Indian cuisine it is traditionally used to prepare a wide variety of dishes. In northern India it is used to prepare a candy called "petha". In South Indian cuisine, it is traditionally used to make a variety of curries, including a stew made with a yogurt base. The juice of the raw ash gourd (Maipawl or Khar) is used by the Mizo community and indigenous Assamese ethnicities of North-East India as a natural remedy to treat mild to severe dysentery. In north India, particularly in the middle Himalayas, it is paired with pulses such as moong which, when crushed, along with winter gourd, make a dish locally called "bori". When dried in sunlight it becomes somewhat hard and is used in curry dishes and eaten with rice or chapati. This practice is especially prevalent in the Himalayas due to the long shelf life of the resulting product.


title: Wax gourd

text: In Andhra Pradesh, it is called Boodida Gummadikaya (బూడిద గుమ్మడికాయ) (Telugu). It is used to make stews, stir fries and vadialu. Vadialu are made by chopping the gourd in small pieces and mixing with ground urad beans and spices, then sun-drying. To eat, vadialu are deep fried in oil and eaten as an accompaniment to rice and sambar or lentil stews.


title: Wax gourd

text: In Kerala, the plant is called Kumbalam (കുമ്പളം) and the fruit is called Kumbalanga (കുമ്പളങ്ങ) or Kooshmandam (കൂശ്മാണ്ടം). It is traditionally used to offer 'Guruthi' (ഗുരുതി) instead of 'Kuruti' (കുരുതി) among Malayali Brahmins. Thus, instead of offering someone's life in the pyre, an ash gourd is cut into two as a symbolic performance in lieu of human sacrifice.


title: Wax gourd

text: In Karnataka, the ash gourd is known as Boodu Kumbalakaayi (ಬೂದು ಕುಂಬಳಕಾಯಿ) (Kannada) and Boldu Kumbda in Tulu, and is used to prepare dishes like Kodel (Sambhar), Ale bajji, Kashi Halwa and chutney.


title: Wax gourd

text: In Maharashtra, the ash gourd is known as Kohalaa in Marathi language, Kohala is used to prepare a sweet dish called Kohalyachi Vadee (Burfi), it is also used to preparing (Sambhar).


title: Wax gourd

text: In Bengal, it is called "ChaalKumro" (চালকুমড়ো ). There are various dished made with it, viz., ChalKumro’r Bora, Chalkumro ghonto, Chalkumror dudh curry, with mung dal, etc.


title: Wax gourd

text: In Nepal, where it is called Kubhindo, it is cooked as a vegetable when young, but the ripe gourds are usually made into preserves or crystallized candy known as "murabba" or "petha".


title: Wax gourd

text: Occasionally, it is used to produce a fruit drink with a distinctive taste. It is usually sweetened with caramelized sugar. In Southeast Asia, the drink is marketed as wax gourd tea or wax gourd punch.


title: Wax gourd

text: The ash gourd is also used by Hindus as a sacrificial offering in lieu of animal sacrifice. The gourd is marked with vermillion and split in two with a sword.


title: Wax gourd

text: In summer of 2020, several states across the U.S. reported mysterious, unsolicited packages containing unknown and unidentified seeds of various kinds - the envelopes presented Chinese text in many cases. At least one person planted one type of these seeds, which grew and was analyzed before state officials destroyed the plant. This proved to be "Benincasa hispida".


title: Arraignment

text: Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, in some jurisdictions, the accused is expected to enter a plea, in other jurisdictions no plea is required. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisdictions, but they generally include "guilty", "not guilty", and the peremptory pleas, or pleas in bar, setting out reasons why a trial cannot proceed. Pleas of "nolo contendere" ("no contest") and the Alford plea are allowed in some circumstances.


title: Arraignment

text: In Australia, arraignment is the first of 11 stages in a criminal trial, and involves the clerk of the court reading out the indictment. The judge will testify during the indictment process.


title: Arraignment

text: In every province in Canada, except British Columbia, defendants are arraigned on the day of their trial. In British Columbia, arraignment takes place in one of the first few court appearances by the defendant or their lawyer. The defendant is asked whether they plead guilty or not guilty to each charge.


title: Arraignment

text: In France, the general rule is that one cannot remain in police custody for more than 24 hours from the time of the arrest. However, police custody can last another 24 hours in specific circumstances, especially if the offence is punishable by at least one year's imprisonment, or if the investigation is deemed to require the extra time, and can last up to 96 hours in certain cases involving terrorism, drug trafficking or organised crime. The police need to have the consent of the prosecutor, the "procureur". In the vast majority of cases, the prosecutor will consent.


title: Arraignment

text: In Germany, if one has been arrested and taken into custody by the police one must be brought before a judge as soon as possible and at the latest on the day after the arrest.


title: Arraignment

text: In New Zealand law, at the first appearance of the accused, they are read the charges and asked for a plea. The available pleas are: guilty, not guilty, and no plea. No plea allows the defendant to get legal advice on the plea, which must be made on the second appearance.


title: Arraignment

text: In South Africa, arraignment is defined as the calling upon the accused to appear, the informing of the accused of the crime charged against them, the demanding of the accused whether they plead guilty or not guilty, and the entering of their plea. Their plea having been entered, they are said to stand arraigned.


title: Arraignment

text: In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, arraignment is the first of 11 stages in a criminal trial, and involves the clerk of the court reading out the indictment.


title: Arraignment

text: In England and Wales, the police cannot legally detain anyone for more than 24 hours without charging them unless an officer with the rank of superintendent (or above) authorises detention for a further 12 hours (36 hours total), or a judge (who will be a magistrate) authorises detention by the police before charge for up to a maximum of 96 hours, but for terrorism-related offences people can be held by the police for up to 28 days before charge. If they are not released after being charged, they should be brought before a court as soon as practicable.


title: Arraignment

text: Under the United States Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, "arraignment shall [...] [consist of an] open [...] reading [of] the indictment [...] to the defendant [...] and call[] on [the defendant] to plead thereto. [T]he defendant shall be given a copy of the indictment [...] before being called upon to plead."


title: Arraignment

text: In federal courts, arraignment takes place in two stages. The first is called the "initial arraignment" and must take place within 48 hours of an individual's arrest, 72 hours if the individual was arrested on the weekend and not able to go before a judge until Monday. During this stage, the defendant is informed of the pending legal charges and is informed of his or her right to retain counsel. The presiding judge also decides at what amount, if any, to set bail. During the second stage, a post-indictment arraignment (PIA), the defendant is allowed to enter a plea.


title: Arraignment

text: In New York, a person arrested without a warrant and kept in custody must be brought before to a local criminal court for arraignment "without unnecessary delay." A delay of more than 24 hours is rebuttably presumed to be unnecessary.


title: Arraignment

text: In California, arraignments must be conducted without unnecessary delay and, in any event, within 48 hours of arrest, excluding weekends and holidays.


title: Arraignment

text: The wording of the arraignment varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. However, it generally conforms with the following principles:


title: Arraignment

text: Video arraignment is the act of conducting the arraignment process using some form of videoconferencing technology. Use of video arraignment system allows the court to conduct the requisite arraignment process without the need to transport the defendant to the courtroom by using an audio-visual link between the location where the defendant is being held and the courtroom.


title: Arraignment

text: Use of the video arraignment process addresses the problems associated with having to transport defendants. The transportation of defendants requires time, puts additional demands on the public safety organizations to provide for the safety of the public, court personnel and for the security of the population held in detention. It also addresses the rising costs of transportation.


title: Arraignment

text: If the defendant pleads guilty, an evidentiary hearing usually follows. The court is not required to accept a guilty plea. During the hearing, the judge assesses the offense, the mitigating factors, and the defendant's character, and passes sentence.


title: Arraignment

text: In the past, a defendant who refused to plead (or "stood mute") was subject to "peine forte et dure" (Law French for "strong and hard punishment"). Today, in common law jurisdictions, the court enters a plea of not guilty for a defendant who refuses to enter a plea. The rationale for this is the defendant's right to silence.


title: Arraignment

text: This is also often the stage at which arguments for or against pre-trial release and bail may be made, depending on the alleged crime and jurisdiction.


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance (or , "Luso-English Alliance") is the oldest alliance based on known history in the world that is still in force by politics. It was established by the Treaty of Windsor in 1386, between the Kingdom of England (since succeeded by the United Kingdom) and the Kingdom of Portugal (now the Portuguese Republic), though the countries were previously allied via the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373.


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: Historically, the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of England, and later the modern Portuguese Republic and United Kingdom, have never waged war against each other nor have they participated in wars on opposite sides as independent states since the signing of the Treaty of Windsor. While Portugal was subsumed under the Iberian Union, rebellious Portuguese factions and government in exile sought refuge and help in England. England spearheaded the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) on the side of the deposed Portuguese royal house.


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: The alliance has served both countries throughout their respective military histories, influencing the participation of the United Kingdom in the Peninsular War, the UK's major land contribution to the Napoleonic Wars and the establishment of an Anglo-American base in Portugal. Portugal aided England (and later the UK) in times of need, for example, in the First World War. Today, Portugal and the United Kingdom are both part of NATO, a larger intergovernmental military alliance between several North American and European states that accounts for over 70% of total global military spending.


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: English aid to the House of Aviz (which ruled Portugal from 1385 to 1580) set the stage for Portuguese cooperation with England that would become a cornerstone of Portugal's foreign policy for more than five hundred years. However, English aid to Portugal went back much further to the 1147 Siege of Lisbon, when English and other northern European crusaders – en route to the Holy Land to participate in the Second Crusade – stopped and helped Portuguese King Afonso Henriques to conquer the city from the Moors. In May 1386, the Treaty of Windsor sealed the alliance – first started in 1294, renewed in the Treaty of Tagilde in 1372 and the ensuing Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373 and confirmed at the Battle of Aljubarrota (1385) – with a pact of perpetual friendship between the two countries. The most important part of the treaty stated that:


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: In July 1386, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, son of the late king Edward III of England and father of the future King Henry IV of England, landed in Galicia with an expeditionary force to press his claim to the Crown of Castile with Portuguese aid. He failed to win the support of the Castilian nobility and returned to England with a cash compensation from the rival claimant.


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: John of Gaunt left behind his daughter, Philippa of Lancaster, to marry King John I of Portugal (February 1387) in order to seal the Anglo-Portuguese alliance. By this marriage, John I became the father of a generation of princes called by the poet Luís de Camões the "Illustrious Generation", which led Portugal into its golden age, during the period of the Discoveries.


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: Philippa brought to the court the Anglo-Norman tradition of an aristocratic upbringing and gave her children good educations. Her personal qualities were of the highest standard, and she reformed the court and imposed rigid standards of moral behaviour. On the other hand, the more tolerant Portuguese aristocracy saw her methods as too traditional or outdated.


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: Philippa provided royal patronage for English commercial interests that sought to meet the Portuguese desire for cod and cloth in return for wine, cork, salt, and oil shipped through the English warehouses at Porto. Her eldest son, Duarte, authored moral works and became king in 1433; Pedro, who travelled widely and had an interest in history, became regent (1439–1448) after Duarte died of the plague in 1438; Ferdinand the Saint Prince (1402–1443), who became a crusader, participated in the attack on Tangiers in 1437; and Henrique – also known as Prince Henry the Navigator (1394–1460) – became the master of the Order of Christ and the instigator and organiser of Portugal's early voyages of discovery.


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: The Iberian Union (1580–1640), a 60-year dynastic union between Portugal and Spain, interrupted the alliance. The struggle of Elizabeth I of England against Philip II of Spain in the sixteenth century meant that Portugal and England were on opposite sides of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Dutch–Portuguese War. Portuguese foreign policy became tied to Spanish hostility to England. England also captured the Portuguese garrison of Ormuz in Persia in 1622.


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: However, in 1640, England supported the Portuguese House of Braganza to take power in Portugal replacing the House of Habsburg, putting an end to a 60-year dynastic union between Portugal and Spain. England's support for Portugal during their Restoration War was confirmation of the renewal of the alliance. This was solidified further after the English Restoration and the marriage of Catherine of Braganza and Charles II of England. Portugal ceded Tangier and Bombay as part of the dowry. England in addition to military support on the ground would protect Portuguese shipments in the Mediterranean and the coasts of Lisbon and Porto. Following the defeat of Spain in the war, England mediated the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668 which saw the independence of Portugal and the recognition of Pedro II as King. The English alliance was decisive in the consolidation of the independence of Portugal, and in Pedro's leadership. In return Portugal promised to transfer to the English the majority of the places recovered from the Dutch, to share in half the commerce of cinnamon and to install English families with the same privileges as Portuguese families in Goa, Cochin, Diu, Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro.


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: The alliance was reconfirmed after the breakup of the Iberian Union, primarily due to both countries' respective rivalries with Spain, the Netherlands, and France, both in Europe and overseas. During this time, important episodes in the alliance were:


title: Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

text: On 13 June 2022, the prime minister of Portugal and the prime minister of the United Kingdom signed a new agreement between the two nations in London, known as the UK-Portugal Joint Declaration on Bilateral Cooperation, thereby reinforcing the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance and confirming its status as the longest-running alliance still in force. The Joint Declaration was also signed to celebrate the 650th anniversary of the Treaty of Tagilde. However, as both countries are members of NATO, their relations are now largely coordinated through that institution, rather than by the bilateral treaty.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Oscar Grant III was a 22-year-old African-American man who was killed in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009 by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California. Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit train returning from San Francisco, BART Police officers detained Grant and several other passengers on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station. BART officer Anthony Pirone kneed Grant in the head and forced Grant to lie face down on the platform. Mehserle drew his pistol and shot Grant. Grant was rushed to Highland Hospital in Oakland and pronounced dead later that day. The events were captured on multiple official and private digital video and privately owned cell phone cameras. Owners disseminated their footage to media outlets and to various websites where it went viral. Both peaceful and violent protests took place in the following days.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Some of the other passengers on the train, along with Grant's girlfriend Sophina, were able to break up the fight. Shortly afterward, the train conductor announced to the passengers that the police had been contacted and were on their way to the station at which they were stopped. As the passengers began to exit the train, Grant and his girlfriend saw the police walking towards them and split up. As they got closer to the train, police started to pick out people they believed to have been involved in the fight. Pirone walked up to two African-American men and ripped the jacket off one. Pirone threw three people against the wall and then turned to the train, yelling for everyone involved in the fight to exit the train and come to him. Everyone remained on the train, so Pirone walked into the train to see if there was anyone who looked as if they were involved in the fight. Pirone saw Grant and removed him.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: On January 30, 2010, Alameda County prosecutors charged Mehserle with second-degree murder in their indictment for the shooting. Mehserle resigned from his position and pleaded not guilty. The trial began on June 10, 2010. On July 8, 2010, Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of the murder charge and voluntary manslaughter.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Though initial protests on July 8, 2010, against the jury verdict were peacefully organized, after dark there were incidents of looting, arson, destruction of property, and small riots. Nearly 80 people were eventually arrested. On November 5, 2010, Mehserle was sentenced to two years, minus time served. He served his time in Los Angeles County Jail protective custody, held in a private cell for his safety. On June 13, 2011, Mehserle was released under parole after serving 11 months.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against BART on behalf of Grant's family. BART settled with Grant's daughter and mother for a total of $2.8 million in 2011. It also settled with several of Grant's friends who had sued for damages because of police brutality. A separate suit by Grant's father did not result in a jury award, as it was decided that due to his imprisonment he was not sufficiently involved in Grant's life.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: The killing, and the protests against it, were an important precursor to the Black Lives Matter movement, which began in 2013. The biographical drama film "Fruitvale Station" (2013), written and directed by Ryan Coogler, portrays the last 24 hours of Grant's life, his killing, and the immediate aftermath.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Oscar Juliuss Grant III (February 27, 1986 – January 1, 2009) lived in Hayward, California. He worked as a meat cutter at Farmer Joe's Marketplace in Oakland's Dimond District after jobs at several Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets. He had attended both San Lorenzo and Mount Eden high schools in San Lorenzo and Hayward, respectively, until the 10th grade and eventually earned his GED. Grant was on parole at the time of his death, having been released from prison following a sixteen-month sentence for gun possession.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Grant's funeral was held at the Palma Ceia Baptist Church in Hayward on January 7, 2009. Grant's mother, sister, daughter, and girlfriend (his daughter's mother) filed a wrongful death claim against BART following his death. It was settled in 2011.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Johannes Sebastian Mehserle (born 1982, in Germany) was raised in the Bay Area. Mehserle graduated from New Technology High School in Napa, California.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Mehserle joined the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police in March 2007. After the shooting, he was denounced by many witnesses, who reported to the media that he had shot Grant without any reason.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Oscar Grant had been celebrating with his friends at The Embarcadero in San Francisco on New Year's Eve. He and about eight friends returned to East Bay in the lead car of a BART train bound for Fruitvale, a station in Oakland. BART offered extended service and a special "Flash Pass" for the New Year's Eve holiday.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: At approximately 2:00 a.m. PST, BART Police responded to reports of a physical altercation involving up to 20 people on an incoming train from the West Oakland BART Station; the participants were described as "hammered and stoned".


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: BART Officers Tony Pirone and Marysol Domenici were the first officers to arrive at the scene. The officers removed Grant and several other men suspected of fighting from the train and detained them on the platform. Pirone handcuffed Grant's friend, angering other riders. Pirone lined up Grant and two other men against the wall.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: When five other officers, including Johannes Mehserle and his partner Woffinden, arrived at the Fruitvale station, they found the situation "chaotic", according to their accounts.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: BART Officer Marysol Domenici was the first officer on the scene along with her partner, Tony Pirone. They tried to take control of passengers coming off the train. Domenici testified at the BART incident hearing that Grant and his friends swore at her and did not obey her orders. She is quoted as having testified that: "If they would've followed orders, this wouldn't have happened. They probably would've just been cited and released." A subsequent internal investigation conducted by an outside law firm retained by BART found that Pirone lied when he claimed to have confirmed with the train operator that the men the BART police detained on the platform were involved in the reported train fight. The train operator recalled informing Pirone that she was unsure whether those detained had been involved in the fight.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: A cell phone video broadcast on local television station KTVU on January 23 showed what appeared to be Pirone rushing towards one of the detained men and punching him in the face, multiple times, two minutes before the shooting. Grant's family alleges in their civil claim against BART that an officer threw Grant against a wall and kneed him in the face. Videos captured by bystanders contradicted Pirone's claims to investigators, showing Grant, a 22-year-old Hayward resident, never tried to punch or kick Pirone. To the contrary, the internal investigation report found that Pirone struck Grant in the head and kneed him, likely causing injuries documented in his autopsy, including head fractures and a hematoma. Until the report became public in May 2019, Pirone's attorney had maintained that Grant provoked Pirone by trying to knee the officer in the groin and by hitting Domenici's arm when she tried to handcuff one of Grant's friends.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Witnesses testified that Pirone was the aggressor during the incident. An attorney for Grant's family, John Burris, also disputed Pirone's account, saying that Grant and his friends were "peaceful" when the train stopped. Grant raised his hands while seated against the platform wall. Additional footage from a cell phone was presented in court showing Pirone standing over the prone Grant before the shooting and yelling: "Bitch-ass nigger, right?" Pirone and his attorney say he was repeating an insulting epithet that Grant had yelled at him.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: While dozens of people from the stopped train shouted and cursed at officers, Mehserle and Pirone positioned Grant face-down. According to Pirone, Grant was disobeying instructions and cursing at officers. Witnesses said that Grant pleaded with BART police not to shock him with a taser. Pirone knelt on Grant's neck and told him that he was under arrest for resisting an officer.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Mehserle tried to handcuff Grant but could not reach his hands. He stood up, unholstered his gun, a SIG Sauer P226, and fired a shot into Grant's back. Immediately after the shooting, Mehserle appeared surprised and raised his hands to his face. Several witnesses say Mehserle said "Oh my God!" several times after the shooting. The .40 caliber bullet from Mehserle's semi-automatic handgun entered Grant's back, exited through his front side and ricocheted off the concrete platform, puncturing his lung. According to one witness, Grant yelled, "You shot me! I got a four-year-old daughter!" Grant died seven hours later, at 9:13a.m., at Highland Hospital in Oakland.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Initially there were rumors that Grant was handcuffed before he was killed. But court filings by the district attorney's office say that Grant's hands were behind his back and that he was "restrained and unarmed" but do not say he was handcuffed. Mehserle said he feared that Grant was "going for his waistband" and a gun. The day after the shooting, BART spokesman Jim Allison said that Grant was not restrained when he was shot, and multiple witnesses testified that Grant refused to give up his hands for handcuffing prior to the shooting. The family's claim against BART stated that Grant was handcuffed only after he was shot.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Direct evidence of the shooting was documented by video cameras held by passengers on the train idling next to the platform, as police detained Grant and a number of other men suspected of being involved in the disturbance. Several witnesses testified during the preliminary hearing for Mehserle's trial that they began recording because they believed BART officers were acting too aggressively. They gave the videos to television news, which broadcast them; others posted videos on the internet.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Oakland attorney John Burris, who represented the family in their suit against BART over Grant's death, said BART confiscated numerous cell phone images that he believed contain additional evidence of the killing. Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff said video confiscated by BART was useful in bringing the murder charge against Mehserle. Witnesses at the scene said police attempted to confiscate cameras. These claims were never acknowledged by BART police.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Orloff, the district attorney, said that several passenger videos that had not been made public were "very helpful" in the investigation.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: On January 2, KTVU aired a video by an anonymous passenger who submitted a cell phone video of the shooting. On January 23, KTVU aired a cell-phone video which appeared to show a second officer punching Grant in the face prior to the shooting. In late February, KRON 4 aired a clip of a video showing a different angle of this altercation.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: BART spokesperson Linton Johnson described the surveillance footage from the Fruitvale platform cameras as "benign". He said the platform cameras had recorded some of the incident, but footage did not include the shooting.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Frank Borelli, a retired police officer and writer, said that the scene as shown in the video moments before the shooting would be as important to understanding what happened as the shooting itself. "The four officers have to be operating under a high level of stress given the relatively confined setting and the people on the BART train who are expressing, in a very loud vocal fashion, their displeasure with the officers' actions. Those officers, should things go bad for them, are vastly outnumbered by a group of people who have already voiced their unhappiness with the police."


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: After viewing the shooting from multiple angles, police use-of-force expert Roy Bedard, who initially said he thought the shooting was an accident, changed his mind. He said: "I hate to say this, it looks like an execution to me" and "It really looks bad for the officer." University of San Francisco law professor Robert Talbot said the videos could support a claim of an accidental shooting: "Nothing about his [Mehserle] body looks murderous."


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Video evidence of the incident were widely broadcast and streamed online. Several hundred thousand persons viewed the videos in the first few days after the shooting. One local television station video posted to its website was downloaded more than 500,000 times in four days, and one independent media video posted to the internet averaged more than 1,000 views per hour. Seeing direct evidence of the shooting resulted in public outrage and protests and fueled riots.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: After the 2009 shooting, Mehserle submitted to drug and alcohol testing per BART's standard operating procedure. The results showed no drugs or alcohol in his system. He retained a criminal defense attorney and refused to speak to the authorities, invoking the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (California Government Code section 3300–3313) and the Fifth Amendment, claiming potential self-incrimination.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: BART organized an internal investigation of the incident. On January 5, 2009, Mehserle's attorney postponed a scheduled meeting by BART investigators, seeking to defer it. BART Police administration and investigators commanded the officer to attend an investigative interview on January 7. Mehserle did not attend; instead his attorney and his BART Police Officers Association union representative came and submitted his letter of resignation.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Mehserle and his family received a number of death threats after videos of the shooting appeared, and he moved at least twice. His parents temporarily left their Napa home because of death threats to the family.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: Domenici testified at the investigation hearing. She was terminated by BART based on an accusation that she was untruthful in her statements to transit investigators. She appealed the firing. On December 18, 2010, it was reported that San Francisco labor arbitrator William Riker ordered the former officer re-instated with full back pay because there was no basis to find that Domenici was not telling the truth.


title: Killing of Oscar Grant

text: The shooting and the subsequent uprisings were covered in regional, national, and international news. Video images of the shooting were widely broadcast and streamed online in the days following Grant's death. Several hundred thousand viewed the videos in the first few days after the incident. Widespread dissemination of the direct evidence of the shooting led to public outrage, protests, and fueled riots.