title: De Havilland Canada

text: The DHC-4 Caribou was a rugged STOL design like the Beaver and Otter, but it had two engines and was conceived primarily as a military transport, designed in response to a US Army requirement for a tactical airlifter to supply the battlefront with troops and supplies and evacuate casualties on the return journey. The DHC-4 first flew on 30 July 1958. The US Army ordered five for evaluation and went on to become the largest Caribou operator, taking delivery of 159, initially as the AC-1 and later as the CV-2. These aircraft were transferred to the USAF in 1967 and redesignated as the C-7, seeing extensive service during the Vietnam War, where some were captured by North Vietnamese forces and operated until the late 1970s. Other notable military operators included Canada, Australia, Malaysia, India, and Spain. The type's ruggedness and STOL capabilities also appealed to some commercial users and US certification was awarded on 23 December 1960. Other Caribou entered commercial service after being retired by the military, and some civil Caribou have been fitted with turboprop engines.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: Known originally as the Caribou II, the DHC-5 Buffalo was basically an enlarged DHC-4 with turboprop engines and a T-tail, developed to meet a US Army requirement for a STOL tactical airlifter with greater load-carrying ability than the DHC-4. The Buffalo made its maiden flight on 9 April 1964, but the US Army soon transferred heavy fixed-wing aircraft operations to the USAF, which had little interest in the Buffalo; only four evaluation aircraft were delivered to the US military, two of which were later transferred to NASA for research. The improved DHC-5A transport was acquired by Canadian Armed Forces (as the CC-115), the Brazilian Air Force and the Peruvian Air Force, and the production line was then shut down, but it was reopened after the enhanced DHC-5D was introduced in response to interest by other military users. In the early 1980s, de Havilland Canada attempted to market the Buffalo for civil use as the "Transporter", but the demonstration aircraft crashed at the 1984 Farnborough Airshow and the project was abandoned.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: One of Canada's most successful commercial aircraft designs with more than 800 built, the Twin Otter remains popular for its rugged construction and STOL capabilities. Development dates back to January 1964, when DHC commenced work on a twin turboprop variant of the DHC-3 Otter as a STOL commuter airliner and utility transport. The wings were lengthened, the rear fuselage, tail, and nose were redesigned, and seating capacity was increased to 18. Design features included double-slotted trailing-edge flaps and flaperons (ailerons that act in unison with the flaps) to boost STOL performance. The type's first flight on 20 May 1965. After receiving certification in mid-1966, the first Twin Otter variant, the Series 100, entered service with the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests. The Series 200, introduced in April 1968, had an extended nose and reconfigured rear cabin storage compartment, greatly increasing cargo space. The Series 300, introduced in 1969, had more powerful engines, allowing a 450-kg (1,000-lb) increase in takeoff weight and a 20-seat interior. All models can be fitted with skis or floats. DHC production ceased in late 1988, but in 2010, Viking Air restarted Twin Otter production with the introduction of the Series 400. Production was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic; in July 2022, the company announced that it was reviewing the programme and supply chain, with a decision on when to resume production expected "in the near future".


title: De Havilland Canada

text: The four-engined DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, was designed as a STOL 50-seat regional airliner capable of operating from strips as short as in length. It was meant to serve small city airports, where noise abatement requirements were particularly strict, and featured four slow-turning propellers to cut noise. To enhance its STOL performance, the Dash 7 employs many aerodynamic devices, such as double-slotted wing flaps that span about 75% of the trailing edge of the wing and four spoilers per wing; on landing, the flaps partially retract and the spoilers fully deploy to maximize braking. Financial backing from the Canadian government allowed the launch of the DHC-7 program in the early 1970s, resulting in the maiden flight on 27 March 1975. The type was certificated on 2 May 1977 and entered service with Rocky Mountain Airways on 3 February 1978. Offered in passenger, freighter, and combi aircraft configurations, production of the Dash 7 ended in 1988 following Boeing's takeover of DHC.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: De Havilland Canada began development of the Dash 8 in the late 1970s in response to high anticipated demand for regional airliners. Like the Dash 7, the Dash 8 features a high-mounted wing and T-tail, an advanced flight control system, and large full-length trailing-edge flaps, but power is supplied by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW120 turboprops, emphasizing operating economy over STOL performance—a major departure for DHC that proved very successful. The first flight took place on 20 June 1983, Canadian certification was awarded on 28 September 1984, and the first customer delivery was to NorOntair on 23 October 1984. When the Dash 8 was introduced, many older regional airliners were becoming obsolescent and expensive to operate but few modern aircraft were immediately available to replace them, leading to substantial Dash 8 sales; to date, over 1,000 have been delivered. The Dash 8 has been offered in several lengths and operating weights, but in 2008, Bombardier announced the discontinuation of the shorter and less powerful variants, leaving the Q400 as the only Dash 8 still in production.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: In 2022, de Havilland Canada announced that an improved version of the Canadair CL-415 amphibious aerial firefighting aircraft will be produced at a new assembly line in Calgary, Alberta, as the DHC-515 Firefighter.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: The de Havilland Canada company produced a large number of aircraft under licence, mostly versions of designs from its original parent company, British de Havilland Aircraft.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: Fox Moths were produced in Canada after the Second World War mainly to keep the plant in production, but also to satisfy the increasing need for new bush aircraft. All the Canadian modifications made to the Tiger Moth were also applied to the Fox Moth. de Havilland designed a special stretcher for the Fox Moth, so it could operate as an air ambulance. Of the 53 produced, 39 remained in Canada, most of which were operated in float/ski configuration and gave years of satisfactory service.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: The Fox Moth, though efficient, was a bit of an anachronism. For example, a modern, moulded plexiglas sliding cockpit hood was attached to what was essentially a 1932 aircraft. Communication between the passenger cabin in the fuselage and the cockpit to the rear was through a hole in the instrument panel.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: Before the end of the Second World War, de Havilland Canada built 1,134 Mosquitos, of which 444 were on strength with the RCAF in models Bomber Mk VII through Trainer Mk 29 from 1 June 1943 to 28 September 1951.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: In 1954, the Royal Canadian Navy decided to replace its fleet of obsolescent Grumman TBM Avenger antisubmarine warfare (ASW) aircraft with domestically produced, licence-built versions of the new Grumman S2F Tracker. The contract for the CS2F was worth , at the time, the largest post-Second World War Canadian defence contract. Subassemblies of the aircraft would be produced by various Canadian companies and shipped to de Havilland Canada facilities, where de Havilland would build the forward fuselage and crew compartment, assemble the aircraft, oversee installation of the ASW electronics, and prepare the aircraft for delivery.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: The first Canadian-built Tracker flew on 31 May 1956. A total of 99 Trackers was produced for RCN service starting in the same year. A few of these aircraft would serve with the Canadian military until the 1990s.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: A few ex-CF Trackers were sold to Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario) (and later resold to Conair) for forest firefighting duties.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: HMCS "Bras d'Or" (FHE 400) was a hydrofoil built from 1960 to 1967 for the Royal Canadian Navy. It served from 1968 to 1971 as a testing platform for antisubmarine warfare technology on an ocean-going hydrofoil. During sea trials in 1969, the vessel exceeded 63 knots (117 km/h; 72 mph), making her possibly the fastest warship in the world. The vessel was constructed at Marine Industries Limited of Sorel, Quebec, with de Havilland Canada the prime contractor.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: Retired by the navy, the hydrofoil now is displayed at the Musée maritime du Québec in L'Islet-sur-Mer, Quebec.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: In the 1980s, the government of Canada privatized DHC and in 1986 sold the aircraft company to then Seattle-based Boeing. The government claimed to have guarantees from Boeing not to discontinue any product lines, but shortly thereafter, Boeing discontinued both the successful Twin Otter and the Dash 7. The jigs and specialised equipment for their manufacture were destroyed.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: Boeing was in heavy competition with Airbus Industrie for a series of new airliners for Air Canada, at that time a Canadian crown corporation. Boeing used the DHC purchase to further strengthen its commitment to shared production contracts. The contract was particularly contentious. When Air Canada announced that Airbus had won the contract in 1988, amid claims of bribery, Boeing immediately put DHC up for sale, placing the company in jeopardy.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: DHC was eventually acquired by Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace in 1992. DHC was eventually incorporated into the Bombardier group of companies and the Dash 8 remained in production, with a particular emphasis being placed on its quiet operation in comparison to other aircraft of a similar size. This product line was expanded to four models, and the largest is labelled Q400.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: On 24 February 2006, Viking Air of Victoria purchased the type certificates from Bombardier Aerospace for all the original de Havilland designs, including:


title: De Havilland Canada

text: The ownership of the certificates gives Viking the exclusive right to manufacture new aircraft; previously, Viking had purchased in May 2005 the right to manufacture spares and distribute the de Havilland heritage aircraft product line.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: Despite the transfer of its light aircraft certificates to a new owner, de Havilland Canada has left a legacy of innovative and unique aerospace designs and its products are still flying in considerable numbers worldwide, and it has become a productive member of the Bombardier Aerospace stable. The Downsview plant still turns out civilian propeller aircraft, and the facility maintains thousands of employees.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: In November 2018, Viking Air parent Longview Aviation Capital Corporation acquired the Bombardier Dash 8 programme and the de Havilland brand from Bombardier, in a deal that was expected to close by the second half of 2019. In January 2019, Longview announced that it would establish a new company in Ontario, to be called de Havilland Aircraft Co. of Canada, to continue production of the Q400 model and support the Dash 8 range. The deal closed on 3 June 2019; the newly formed company inherited an order book of 51 Q400s. Longview did not intend to merge Viking Air and De Havilland. Some 1200 Bombardier staff transferred to the new De Havilland company, which intended to continue Dash 8-400 production at Downsview until a lease expires in 2023 and hopes to negotiate an extension to that date. Other Dash 8 variants are also under consideration, in particular to target the North American 50-seater market.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: In February 2022, Longview consolidated its activities, with Viking Air, Longview Aviation, Pacific Sky Training and De Havilland Canada all being rebranded as De Havilland Aircraft of Canada.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: In June 2022, after a celebration with 10 DHC types present, from a 1942 Tiger Moth to a 2019 DHC-8-400, the last DHC aircraft left the Downsview site.


title: De Havilland Canada

text: In September 2022, De Havilland Canada announced that Wheatland County, Alberta, was to be the location of its new production site, to be known as De Havilland Field. The facility will initially manufacture the DHC-515 fire-fighting aircraft; the DHC-6 Twin Otter and the Dash 8-400 will also be assembled at De Havilland Field once production resumes.


title: Adam Hills

text: Adam Christopher Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show "Spicks and Specks" from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show "Adam Hills Tonight" from 2011 to 2013. In the United Kingdom, he has hosted the talk show "The Last Leg" since 2012. He has been nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award, the Gold Logie Award and numerous BAFTA TV Awards.


title: Adam Hills

text: Born in Loftus, Sydney, he began performing as a stand-up comedian in 1989 at the age of 19 and, since 1997, has produced ten solo shows which have toured internationally. He has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Montreal Just for Laughs festival, earning three consecutive Edinburgh Award nominations for his Edinburgh shows in 2001, 2002 and 2003.


title: Adam Hills

text: In 2002, he scored a minor hit in Australia with his single "Working Class Anthem", in which he sang the lyrics of the Australian National Anthem to the tune of "Working Class Man", a song by Scottish-born Australian rocker Jimmy Barnes.


title: Adam Hills

text: Hills first appearance in comedy scene was in 1989 at the Sydney Comedy Store. He did breakfast radio on SAFM in Adelaide, as well as stand-up gigs and, by the mid-1990s, he decided to focus on live comedy. His first solo show premiered in 1997 and was called "Stand Up and Deliver", taking its name from an Adam and the Ants song. He has travelled widely, performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Montreal Just For Laughs festival. He has been nominated for three consecutive Edinburgh Comedy Awards for his 2001, 2002 and 2003 solo shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.


title: Adam Hills

text: The title of his 2001 show, "Go You Big Red Fire Engine", was coined during a 1999 performance in Melbourne. Hills asked an audience member to yell his name to the audience and for the audience to yell it back, but instead the man yelled "Go you big red fire engine!" The phrase quickly became an audience chant, and Hills promised he would make it the name of his next show because, he says, "it was such an uplifting and genuinely silly moment." "Go You Big Red Fire Engine" later became the name of a second stand-up show and a comedy album. It also appeared in a Detroit newspaper, on a Swedish website, and was yelled by Senator Natasha Stott Despoja in the Australian Parliament.


title: Adam Hills

text: Hills' artificial right foot is commonly used as a source of humour in his shows and the comedian has been known to remove it and pass it around. However, he had been performing live comedy for over a decade before he made reference to his prosthesis on stage, and it was only after "Go You Big Red Fire Engine" was nominated for a Perrier Award in 2001 that he began incorporating it into his act. Hills says he felt he could too easily have become a novelty act and that he "didn't want to be known as the one-legged comedian ... I wanted to prove myself as a comic before talking about this".


title: Adam Hills

text: At his festival shows, Hills regularly performs alongside Leanne Beer, an Auslan sign interpreter, a move sparked by a performance he did in Adelaide at a disability art conference. An interpreter had been provided at the show, and Hills found that it not only allowed the deaf audience members to enjoy his material but was also an entertaining and fascinating experience for the hearing audience members. "Now I have hearing people who will only book [for sign interpreted shows]", he says.


title: Adam Hills

text: His influences are Chris Addison, Greg Fleet, Rich Hall, Daniel Kitson, Ross Noble and David O'Doherty.


title: Adam Hills

text: Hills hosted the music trivia show "Spicks and Specks" from its premiere in 2005. In late-2007, he joined the show on a national live tour dubbed the "Spicks and Speck-tacular", with appearances in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle and Perth. In late 2011 and early 2012, the show hit the road again for "Spicks and Speck-tacular – The Finale", appearing in Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Wollongong, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne. He has also made appearances on Australian shows: "Rove Live", "The Glass House" and "The Fat", as well as the UK shows: "Never Mind the Buzzcocks", "Mock the Week," "QI" and "Ask Rhod Gilbert". Additionally he appeared on the first TV edition of BBC Northern Ireland's "Great Unanswered Questions". He conducted backstage interviews at Australia's 2005 and 2006 Logie Awards and was one of three presenters at the 2007 awards.


title: Adam Hills

text: Hills presented his own weekly talk show, "Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight", on the ABC from early-2011. In 2012 it was renamed "Adam Hills Tonight" and ended with its third-season finale on 31 July 2013.


title: Adam Hills

text: In 2012, he was part of the UK Channel 4 TV commentary team for the London 2012 Summer Paralympics, and hosted a daily alternative review of each day's events, "The Last Leg with Adam Hills", with Alex Brooker and comedian Josh Widdicombe. The show was renamed "The Last Leg", and was renewed for seven episodes in 2013, then extended to nine episodes, beginning on 25 January 2013. The 200th edition aired on 6 December 2019. Hills hosted the panel game "Monumental" for BBC Northern Ireland in 2013.


title: Adam Hills

text: In August 2013, it was announced that Hills would present a special one-off revival episode of Channel 4's quiz show, "Fifteen to One". This was broadcast on 20 September 2013, as part of the channel's 1980s-themed "Back to the Future" weekend of programmes. He was credited under the name "Adam C. Hills" in a tribute to the original presenter, William G. Stewart. In 2014, Hills returned to present four more celebrity specials; a full daytime series was hosted by Danish-born comedian Sandi Toksvig.


title: Adam Hills

text: In 2014, Hills co-starred in Die On Your Feet, an Australian TV series starring several real-life comedians as fictional comics at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.


title: Adam Hills

text: In 2002, Hills released a single titled "Working Class Anthem", in which he sang the lyrics of the Australian National Anthem, "Advance Australia Fair", to the tune of "Working Class Man", a famous song by iconic Australian rocker Jimmy Barnes. Around 40 comedians contributed to the song, which made the independent top 10 in Australia. All proceeds went to the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, an organisation supported by Barnes and Jon Bon Jovi that supports firefighters. Hills has performed the song several times on television, including a performance honouring Barnes' guest appearance on "Spicks and Specks".


title: Adam Hills

text: Hills published a memoir, "Best Foot Forward", in 2018. His first book for children, "Rock Star Detectives", was published in February 2022. A second book in the series, titled "Murder at the Movies", is expected to be released in February 2023.


title: Adam Hills

text: In 2019, "Adam Hills: Take His Legs" was released, a sports documentary that follows the birth of the Warrington Wolves physical disability rugby league team from its creation, to the first PDRL World Club Challenge.


title: Adam Hills

text: The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.


title: Adam Hills

text: Hills was born in the southern Sydney suburb of Loftus. Hills was born without a right foot and wears a prosthesis, which has become a frequent source of comedy in his act. He studied for a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) at Macquarie University, graduating in 1991.


title: Adam Hills

text: In December 2009, Hills married opera soprano Ali McGregor. They have two daughters and lived in London until just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, when McGregor and their daughters moved back to her hometown of Melbourne, with Hills staying in London during filming periods of The Last Leg.


title: Adam Hills

text: When researching his ancestry for the SBS television show "Who Do You Think You Are?", broadcast on 2 April 2013, Hills found that several generations of his ancestors had been German burghers in what was then in Austrian Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic), with his great-grandfather naturalising as an Australian citizen shortly after the start of World War I. He also found that another ancestor who died in 1511 had been a notary in Aragonese-Sicilian Malta and had funded corsairs (pirates).


title: Adam Hills

text: In 2017, Hills helped set up the Warrington Wolves Physical Disability rugby league team. In August 2018, he played in their World Club Challenge vs the South Sydney Rabbitohs, winning 34–12. Hills was also a member of Australia's team for the inaugural PDRL World Cup, as well as a spokesperson for the event.


title: Adam Hills

text: In February 2020, Hills became Ambassador for The Children's Trust, a British charity for children with brain injury and neurodisability. He first became involved with The Children's Trust when he visited the charity in 2014 to meet Seb, a nine-year-old boy who had a severe brain injury and leg amputation following a road traffic collision. He has also supported five annual comedy shows at The Comedy Store for the charity.


title: Adam Hills

text: In April 2020, Australia Post released a set of stamps recognising Australian Legends of Comedy, with Hills appearing on one of the stamps.


title: Adam Hills

text: Hills was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to Paralympic sport and disability awareness.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Jonathan Haggerty (born 18 February 1997) is a British Muay Thai fighter currently signed with ONE Championship. He is a former ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Haggerty grew up in Walworth Road, London, with a younger brother and two younger sisters. He learned Muay Thai from his father at the age of 7, and he started competing as an amateur at the age of 12.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Haggerty made his professional debut in 2014, against Anthony Edwards, winning the fight by a fourth round TKO. He would win his next four fights by stoppage, before fighting Gery Bavetta at Muaythai Mayhem for the ISKA World Super-Featherweight Muay Thai title. He defeated Bavetta by a third round knockout.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: In his next two fights, Haggerty defeated Geo Marchese and James O'Connell by a first round stoppage. He suffered his first professional loss during Yokkao 28, losing a decision to Ja Kiatphontip. He rebounded with a second round knockout of Keith McLachlan at Yokkao 29. He was scheduled to fight Liam Harrison at Yokkao 31, but the fight would later fall through. Harrison was replaced by Superlek Kiatmuu9, with Superlek winning by TKO. Before appearing at Yokkao 31, Haggerty won the WBC Muaythai Super Featherweight International title with a TKO of Isaac Araya.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Haggerty made his ONE Championship debut in January 2019 and defeated Joseph Lasiri via unanimous decision.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: On 4 May 2019 he defeated the legendary Sam-A Gaiyanghadao at to claim the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Immediately after receiving the belt he called out Thai boxing phenom Rodtang Jitmuangnon against whom he would make his first title defence. The bout took place on 2 August 2019, with Haggerty losing the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship to Jitmuangnon at .


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Jonathan Haggerty eventually faced Rodtang in a rematch for the ONE Muay Thai title at on 10 January 2020. He was knocked down in the opening round and was dominated for the remainder of the fight, losing by TKO in the third round after being knocked down three times in the round.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Haggerty's next fight was against the Japanese opponent Taiki Naito at . He won the fight by unanimous decision, scoring a knockdown in both the first and the second round.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Haggerty was scheduled to face former ONE Flyweight Kickboxing world title challenger Elias Mahmoudi at ONE on TNT 4 on 28 April 2021. Their fight was cancelled due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and Haggerty was unable to make it to the bout.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Haggery faced Arthur Meyer for the ISKA Muay Thai Lightweight World title at Siam Warriors Superfights on 20 November 2021. He won the fight by a second-round knockout.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Haggerty faced Mongkolpetch Petchyindee Academy at on 11 February 2022. He won the bout via unanimous decision and was awarded a Performance of the Night bonus.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Haggerty was booked to face Walter Goncalves in the quarterfinals of the ONE Muay Thai Flyweight Grand Prix at on 20 May 2022. However, close to the fight Haggerty pulled out of the fight citing health reasons and was replaced by Josue Cruz.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Haggerty was expected to face Amir Naseri in a ONE Muay Thai Flyweight Grand Prix alternate bout at ONE on Prime Video 1 on August 27, 2022. He withdrew from the fight due to a non-COVID related illness on August 24.


title: Jonathan Haggerty

text: Haggerty faced Vladimir Kuzmin on November 19, 2022, at ONE on Prime Video 4. At weigh-ins, Haggerty weigh in at 148 lbs, 3 pounds over the limit. The bout continued at a catchweight and Haggerty being fined 20% of his purse, which went to his opponent Kuzmin. He won the fight via majority decision.


title: Bad Wolf (production company)

text: Bad Wolf is a British television production company founded by Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter in 2015, with its headquarters in Cardiff, Wales. The company is responsible for the television series "The Night Of", "Beddgelert", "A Discovery of Witches", "His Dark Materials" and the upcoming era of "Doctor Who".


title: Bad Wolf (production company)

text: The company was founded in 2015 by former BBC executives Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter after leaving BBC Worldwide. During their time at the BBC, they worked with Russell T Davies on the 2005 relaunch of "Doctor Who," which was made in Wales. The company name is a homage to the "Bad Wolf" storyline from the relaunched series. In 2015, it signed a first look deal with HBO.


title: Bad Wolf (production company)

text: In 2017, the company opened a new film and television studio in Cardiff, named Wolf Studios Wales. That same year, Bad Wolf's first production, "The Night Of", was nominated for thirteen Emmys, of which it won five. Later that year, they also received investment from European media conglomerate Sky Group and American network HBO in return for minority stakes in the company.


title: Bad Wolf (production company)

text: The first episode of the company's "His Dark Materials", which began an adaptation of the book series of the same name, was watched by approximately seven million people. This made the premiere the biggest new British series debut in over five years.


title: Bad Wolf (production company)

text: In April 2020, Bad Wolf announced that had commenced work on "I Hate Suzie" starring Billie Piper, whom Gardner and Tranter's associate Russell T Davies had cast in the major role of Rose Tyler on "Doctor Who".


title: Bad Wolf (production company)

text: On 24 September 2021, BBC Studios announced that Bad Wolf would become co-producer of "Doctor Who" itself starting in 2023, following the scheduled departure of the series' current showrunner, Chris Chibnall, who occupied the role from 2017 to 2022. Davies will return to his old role as showrunner, which he had occupied from 2005 to 2010, with Gardner returning as executive producer and Tranter joining also.


title: Bad Wolf (production company)

text: In October 2021, it was announced that Sony Pictures Television would acquire a majority of Bad Wolf, acquiring the remaining shares from HBO and Sky plc in December of that year. The deal brought in a new member, Natasha Hale, along with a long-term partnership to produce future productions and boost Cardiff's standing in the entertainment industry.


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: Sebastian Carmine Ingrosso (; born 20 April 1983) is a Swedish DJ and record producer. He is also a member of the Swedish House Mafia, together with friends Axwell and Steve Angello.


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: Sebastian Ingrosso entered the music industry in 1999 releasing his first remix through Mega Records. Since then, he continued to release many remixes and singles. In 2003 Sebastian Ingrosso founded his own record label – Refune Music. In later years Ingrosso found himself collaborating mostly with fellow Swedish DJs Axwell, Steve Angello, and Eric Prydz – these four to be dubbed the "Swedish House Mafia".


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: In late 2008, Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, and Axwell formed the "Swedish House Mafia" with Eric Prydz not joining, saying he is a control freak and cannot abide with collaborations even with close friends. Around this time Swedish House Mafia released two songs, "Get Dumb" and "Leave the World Behind", however these weren't credited under the group name. Ingrosso himself collaborated with David Guetta on the songs "Everytime We Touch" and "How Soon is Now" for Guetta's albums "Pop Life" and "One Love" respectively. In 2009 Ingrosso made his debut on the DJ Mag top 100 DJs, charting at number 25, the highest new entry that year. In 2010, he released his debut album with Swedish House Mafia named "Until One". This followed the release of two success single "One (Your Name)" (featuring Pharrell Williams) and "Miami 2 Ibiza" (featuring Tinie Tempah). The album also contained solo work by Sebastian Ingrosso such as the songs "Kidos" and "Meich", plus his remix of "Silvia" by Miike Snow. In addition, Ingrosso made his Tomorrowland debut with Swedish House Mafia and achieved his peaked positions on the DJ Mag poll at number 10 while Swedish House Mafia debuted at number 23.


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: In May 2011, Sebastian Ingrosso began work on his second album with Swedish House Mafia with the release of the single "Save the World" featuring vocals from Swedish singer John Martin. In the summer Swedish House Mafia again performed at Tomorrowland and released two more songs in the winter named "Antidote" and "Greyhound". In early 2012 Ingrosso released one of his most notable solo tracks with Swedish DJ Alesso (who at the time had recently signed to Ingrosso's record label) and OneRepublic front man Ryan Tedder. The song named "Calling (Lose My Mind)" became a commercial success certifying 2× Platinum in Sweden. In July, Swedish House Mafia performed at Tomorrowland for the third consecutive year, this time heading the event and opening Night 2. In September following a successful summer of live performances, Swedish House Mafia released their most commercially successful track "Don't You Worry Child", again featuring the vocal of John Martin which reach number 1 in Sweden, Australia, and the UK and was a multiplatinum song in many countries. The same month Sebastian Ingrosso released his collaboration with Tommy Trash entitled "Reload", this along with "Calling (Lose My Mind)" would feature on Swedish House Mafia's second studio/compilation album "Until Now".


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: In November 2012, Swedish House Mafia kicked off their "One Last Tour" after its announcement in June of that year. The supergroup stated that the final leg of this tour would be their last and the group would split up after its conclusion at


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: Ultra Music Festival Miami 2013. At one of their last performances of the tour, at "Madison Square Garden" Ingrosso famously broke the sound barrier as he was drumming so quickly with his drumpad. Following the break up Ingrosso returned to his solo music and the song "Reload", adding in the vocals of favourite collaborator John Martin and renaming the song to "Reload (Take My Hand)". This allowed the song to become a commercial success certifying in Sweden and the UK and becoming a chart hit in many countries. In July, Sebastian Ingrosso made his Tomorrowland debut as a solo artist, performing the main stage on Night 1. Despite the break up of the Swedish House Mafia, Ingrosso collaborated with Axwell on "Roar" for the "Monsters University Soundtrack" in early 2013. In October, Ingrosso made a new peak on the DJ Mag top 100 DJs achieving number 18.


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: Sebastian Ingrosso joined forces with Axwell, debuting their new collective at the 2014 Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City – their new group named Axwell Λ Ingrosso, this followed the release of their debut EP "X4". One of the songs from this EP, "We Come, We Rave, We Love", was the final version of a song started by Swedish House Mafia and was played frequently during their One Last Tour. A single, "Something New" was released from the EP in November of that year.


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: In the early months of 2015 Ingrosso released his second and third single under the Axwell Λ Ingrosso collaboration entitled "On My Way" and "Can't Hold Us Down" respectively. In June, the duo released their fourth single named "Sun Is Shining". This song became number 1 in Sweden and was Ingrosso's (and Axwell's) first number 1 since "Don't You Worry Child". In July the duo headlined Tomorrowland closing Night Two.


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: In November 2015 "This Time" was released under Axwell Λ Ingrosso and "Dream Bigger" on New Year's Eve. 2016 saw Sebastian Ingrosso's first releases as an individual since "Roar", releasing two songs, "FLAGS!" and "Dark River". The latter of the two would feature on Axwell Λ Ingrosso's debut album "More Than You Know". Under Axwell Λ Ingrosso, new music saw vocals from Pharrell Williams added to "Dream Bigger" and the release of "Thinking About You". In February 2017 the duo released "I Love You" featuring Kid Ink.


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: In early May 2017, Ingrosso released the first single from his second EP with Axwell under their collective entitled "Renegade" with the EP and its title song, "More Than You Know" being released in the latter parts of that month. The song was a commercial success, becoming a chart hit gaining certifications in many countries. In July, Sebastian Ingrosso perform at Tomorrowland both as a solo artist (on the Refune stage) and under Axwell Λ Ingrosso (on the main stage) who was a headliner for the event. On 8 December 2017, the duo's debut album, "More Than You Know", was released. The album contained all of their previously released music and their new single "Dreamer".


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: On the final weekend of March 2018, Sebastian Ingrosso performed at Ultra Miami 2018 as Axwell Λ Ingrosso. The same festival also saw Ingrosso perform as Swedish House Mafia as the band reunited after a five-year hiatus on the festival's 20th anniversary. On 29 June, Axwell Λ Ingrosso released their first single since their debut studio album, "More Than You Know", featuring British singer RØMANS called "Dancing Alone". A month later the duo performed at Tomorrowland 2018, in which they paid tribute to the late DJ Avicii as part of their set. In August 2018, Axwell Λ Ingrosso announced that they would be going on hiatus in order to focus on the Swedish House Mafia reunion and 2019 tour. For currently unknown reasons, Ingrosso cancelled a performance at Wynn Nightclub in Las Vegas.


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: Born in Nacka, Ingrosso is of Italian, Tunisian, and Swedish descent and grew up in Stockholm, where he spent his teenage years in his choreographer father Vito Ingrosso's studio learning how to make music. He is a cousin of musician Benjamin Ingrosso and social influencer Bianca Ingrosso. In addition, he is a childhood friend of fellow Swedish House Mafia member Steve Angello, meeting at age six.


title: Sebastian Ingrosso

text: In 2011, Ingrosso married the singer and songwriter Kinnda. They have two daughters, Melina Ingrosso and Miranda Ingrosso.


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: Arunachalam is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Sundar C. and written by Crazy Mohan. The film stars Rajinikanth, Soundarya and Rambha, with Jaishankar, Ravichandran and Visu in supporting roles. The soundtrack and background score for the film was composed by Deva, while U. K. Senthil Kumar handled the cinematography. The film is loosely based on the 1902 novel "Brewster's Millions" by George Barr McCutcheon.


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: The film opened in April 1997 to highly positive reviews from film critics and went on to win three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, including an award for Best Film.


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: A village head Arunachalam (Rajinikanth) who has two brothers Saravanan (Raja), Shakthi, (Shakthi Kumar) and a sister Arundhati (Anju Aravind) and a happy family. Ammayappa (Ravichandran) and K. R. Vatsala are his parents. Vedavalli (Soundarya) is the daughter of Aathikesavan (Jaishankar) and (Vennira Aadai Nirmala). Nirmala is Ammayappa's sister and they all come to Ammayappa's home for Arunachalam's sister's wedding. That gives the opportunity for Vedavalli and Arunachalam to fight first, then fall in love with each other.


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: Arunachalam finds himself to be an orphan by interval. He goes out of the village. He goes to Madras where he meets Beeda Kathavarayan (Janakaraj), who gives him a job. By some magical situation Arunachalam discovers himself to be the son of India's richest (dead) billionaire Vedhachalam (Rajinikanth) through Rangachari (Visu). Rangachari is the guardian of Arunachalam's father's trust. If Arunachalam wants his inheritance, he has to follow certain rules. He can get an inheritance of 300 Crore Rupees if he can spend 30 crores in 30 days. The conditions are: no contributions to charities, not to own any assets at the end of 30 days and above all, no one else should know about this and receipts should be provide for all the expenses. If Arunachalam fails to spend the money according to the rules, all the money will go to his father's trust which is managed by Vishwanath (Raghuvaran), Prathap (Nizhalgal Ravi), Kurian (Kitty) and Kaliyaperumal (V. K. Ramasamy). These four form a team of "villains". They want to spoil Arunachalam's efforts and get all the money for the trust and kill Rangachari. Nandhini (Rambha) is Rangachari's daughter and she is appointed as the accountant for Arunachalam for 30 days.


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: Arunachalam tries hard to spend his money and many times, the money comes back. He spends on Horse races, lottery tickets, makes a movie with Arivazhagan (Senthil) as the hero and he even starts his own political party with Kathavarayan being the candidate. All these events are good opportunities for situation comedies. Does Arunachalam win this competition, does he get all the 300 Crore rupees for himself and live happily ever after is the rest of the story.


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: After the success of "Muthu" in 1995, Rajinikanth took a year out dabbling in politics and taking a sabbatical before announcing that his next film would be "Arunachalam" written by Crazy Mohan. It was announced that the film would be produced to help eight of his struggling film industry colleagues and it was incorrectly earlier reported that the film would be produced under his newly floated Rajini Arts banner. It was indicated that some of the people who the film would go on to cause benefits for included Kalakendra Govindharajan who introduced Rajinikanth in his production "Apoorva Raagangal" (1975), Kalaignyanam who featured Rajinikanth in the lead role for the first time with his production "Bairavi" (1978) and brothers Ramji and Babji who produced some of the actor's early hits, "Kaali" (1980) and "Garjanai" (1980). Furthermore, collections would also be shared between the family of Sathya Studio Padmanabhan, actress Pandari Bai, actor V. K. Ramasamy and producer Madurai Nagaraja. Initial reports had also titled the film as "Kuberan" and "Meshtri", but "Arunachalam" was eventually retained. The plot of the film was inspired by George Barr McCutcheon's 1902 novel "Brewster's Millions".


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: The Director Sundar C. has stated in an interview that he didn't like the story of Arunachalam and he did it because he didn't want to miss an opportunity to work with Rajinikanth. He also mentioned that Rajinikanth is the one who called and narrated him the story and asked him to direct.


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: Sundar C. also said if he didn't like the story Rajinikanth would simply change the director. Sundar C heard from a producer who's close to Rajini, that "Once Rajini takes a decision he doesn't go back, and he'll only work with people who work according to that vision." So Sundar C. accepted the story even though he didn't like it as he didn't want to miss working with the legend, Rajinikanth. As he knew Rajini would not change the story for working with Sundar, but he would change the director.


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: Initially the lead heroine of the film was expected to be Meena, who had featured in Rajinikanth's previous film, "Muthu" before Soundarya and Rambha were signed on as heroines. The initial cast list released to the media also had Jayaram in the cast of the film as well as Vignesh, who was later replaced by Raja. Manorama was also surprisingly added to the cast after causing controversy the previous year by lashing out at Rajinikanth's political motives.


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: Rajinikanth lost his sentimental Rudraksh bead during the shooting of the film and was shocked and upset to note that his Rudraksh was missing. He ordered a search at the shooting spot at midnight and with the help of the giant lights used for shooting, he later found the divine bead after a while.


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: The music was composed by Deva. The song "Nagumo" had two versions, Hariharan's version was included in soundtrack only, while another version with the vocals of Krishnaraj was included in the film only. Audio was released under the music label "Big B" of Amitabh Bachchan. The tune of Alli Alli Anarkali was lifted from the songs "Ladki Ladki" from "Shreemaan Aashique" (1993), which was composed by Nadeem–Shravan and "Tutak Tutak Tutiyan" from "Ghar Ka Chiraag" (1989), which was composed by Bappi Lahiri


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: Indolink.com said that "the saving grace of the film is Rajini himself. He has the exceptional ability to convincingly portray the same utopian role of anger and love, innocence and impetuousness...and whats more...he does it with remarkable freshness time and again". "The Hindu" wrote on 18 April 1997, ""Arunachalam" contains all the elements that provide escapist entertainment [...] humour, fairplay, love, feud occupy the frames". "New Straits Times" wrote, "Go with an open mind and you will enjoy this movie".


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: The film was declared a commercial success at the box office, although not as big as Rajinikanth's previous films "Baashha" and "Muthu" (both 1995).


title: Arunachalam (film)

text: "Arunachalam" went on to win three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, including an award for Best Film. Super Subbarayan and Gopi Kanth also respectively won awards for Best Stunt Coordinator and Best Art Director.


title: Stag beetle

text: Stag beetles are a family of about 1,200 species of beetles in the family Lucanidae, currently classified in four subfamilies. Some species grow to over , but most to about .


title: Stag beetle

text: The English name is derived from the large and distinctive mandibles found on the males of most species, which resemble the antlers of stags.


title: Stag beetle

text: A well-known species in much of Europe is "Lucanus cervus", referred to in some European countries (including the United Kingdom) as "the" stag beetle; it is the largest terrestrial insect in Europe. Pliny the Elder noted that Nigidius called the beetle "lucanus" after the Italian region of Lucania where they were used as amulets. The scientific name of "Lucanus cervus" adds "cervus", deer.


title: Stag beetle

text: Male stag beetles are known for their oversize mandibles used to wrestle each other for favoured mating sites in a way that parallels the way stags fight over females. Fights may also be over food, such as tree sap and decaying fruits. Despite their often fearsome appearance, they are not normally aggressive to humans. During a battle the main objective is to dislodge its opponent's tarsal claws with its mandible, thus disrupting their balance. Because its mandibles are capable of exceeding its own body size, stag beetles are generally inefficient runners, and typically fly from one location to another.


title: Stag beetle

text: Female stag beetles are usually smaller than the males, with smaller mandibles that are much more powerful than the males'. As larvae, females are distinguished by their cream-coloured, fat ovaries visible through the skin around two-thirds of the way down their back.


title: Stag beetle

text: The larvae feed for several years on rotting wood, growing through three larval stages until eventually pupating inside a pupal cell constructed from surrounding wood pieces and soil particles. In the final larval stage, "L3", the surviving grubs of larger species, such as "Prosopocoilus giraffa", may be the size of a human finger.


title: Stag beetle

text: In England’s New Forest, it was once believed that the stag beetle, dubbed the “devil’s imp,” was sent to do some evil to the corn crops. The superstition led to stoning the insects on sight, as observed by a writer in the Notes and Queries.


title: Stag beetle

text: The oldest known fossil of the group is "Juraesalus" from the late Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Daohugou Beds of Inner Mongolia, China. While initially interpreted as a member of Aesalinae, it was later interpreted to be a basal member of the family.


title: Stag beetle

text: The Lucanidae have (male-only) antlers. Their size often varies among individuals. Such variation is termed a scaling relationship or static allometry. Environmental conditions of development affect antler size, but genetic factors are active.


title: Provinces of Sri Lanka

text: In Sri Lanka, provinces (; ) are the first level administrative division. They were first established by the British rulers of Ceylon in 1833. Over the next century most of the administrative functions were transferred to the districts, the second level administrative division. By the middle of the 20th century the provinces had become merely ceremonial. This changed in 1987 when, following several decades of increasing demand for a decentralization, the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Currently there are nine provinces.


title: Provinces of Sri Lanka

text: Administrative areas of the Kingdom of Anuradhapura. Rajarata was the personal domain of the King. It was further divided in to four districts (Desa): Dakkina, Pachhima, Uttara and Pacina Desa.


title: Provinces of Sri Lanka

text: After the British took control of the entire island of Ceylon in 1815 it was divided into three ethnic based administrative structures: Low Country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese and Tamil. In 1829 the British established the Colebrooke–Cameron Commission to review the colonial government of Ceylon, including its administrative structures. The Commission recommended that the existing three ethnic based administrations be unified into a single administration divided into five geographic provinces. Accordingly, on 1 October 1833 five provinces under one administration came into being:


title: Provinces of Sri Lanka

text: The number of provinces remained static until September 1988 when, in accordance with the Indo-Lanka Accord, President Jayewardene issued proclamations enabling the Northern and Eastern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one elected Council, creating the North Eastern Province. The proclamations were only meant to be a temporary measure until a referendum was held in the Eastern Province on a permanent merger between the two provinces. However, the referendum was never held and successive Sri Lankan presidents issued proclamations annually extending the life of the "temporary" entity. The merger was controversial and bitterly opposed by Sinhalese-speaking people, in particular. On 14 July 2006, after a long campaign against the merger, the JVP filed three separate petitions with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka requesting a separate Provincial Council for the East. On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null and void and had no legal effect. The North-East Province was formally de-merged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007.


title: Provinces of Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka currently has nine provinces, seven of which have had provincial councils from the start.Provinces and their famous tourist attractions.


title: Talentless Nana

text: In the near future, mysterious monsters known as the "Enemies of Humanity" begin to appear, and with it so do children with supernatural powers called the "Talented". To prepare them for the upcoming battle against these Enemies, all the Talented are sent to a school located on a deserted island, where they have all their daily needs provided for until they graduate and communication with the outside world is forbidden. One day, a new student named Nana Hiiragi arrives at the school. Her friendly and cheerful personality lets her quickly make friends with the class. In reality, however, Nana is a Talentless government assassin who has been dispatched to kill the Talented, whom the government deems to be the true Enemies of Humanity.


title: Talentless Nana

text: "Talentless Nana" is written by Looseboy and illustrated by Iori Furuya. The series began serialization in Square Enix's "shōnen" manga magazine "Monthly Shōnen Gangan" on May 12, 2016. As of October 2022, it has been collected in ten "tankōbon" volumes. The series is published digitally in North America by Crunchyroll.


title: Talentless Nana

text: An anime television series adaptation was announced on April 7, 2020. The series was animated by Bridge and directed by Shinji Ishihira, with Fumihiko Shimo handling series composition, Satohiko Sano designing the characters, and Yasuharu Takanashi composing the music at Nippon Columbia. The opening theme, "Broken Sky", is performed by Miyu Tomita, while the ending theme, , is performed by Chiai Fujikawa. The series aired from October 4 to December 27, 2020 on AT-X, Tokyo MX, SUN, and TVA. Muse Communication licensed the anime and they streamed it in Southeast Asia and South Asia.


title: Talentless Nana

text: Funimation acquired the series and streamed it on its website in North America and the British Isles. On November 20, 2021, Funimation announced the series would receive an English dub, which premiered the following day. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: 55 Days at Peking is a 1963 American epic historical war film dramatizing the siege of the foreign legations' compounds in Peking (now known as Beijing) during the Boxer Rebellion, which took place in China from 1899 to 1901. It was produced by Samuel Bronston for Allied Artists, with a screenplay by Philip Yordan and Bernard Gordon with uncredited contributions from Robert Hamer, Julian Halevy, and Ben Barzman. Noel Gerson wrote a screenplay novelization, under the pseudonym Samuel Edwards, in 1963.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: The film was directed primarily by Nicholas Ray, although Guy Green and Andrew Marton took over in the latter stages of filming after Ray had fallen ill. Both men were uncredited. It stars Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, and David Niven, with supporting roles by Flora Robson, John Ireland, Leo Genn, Robert Helpmann, Harry Andrews, and Kurt Kasznar. It also contains the first known screen appearance of future martial arts film star Yuen Siu Tien. Japanese film director Juzo Itami, credited in the film as ""Ichizo Itami", appears as Col. Goro Shiba.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: "55 Days at Peking" was released by Allied Artists on May 29, 1963 and received mixed reviews, mainly for its historical inaccuracies and lack of character development. However, the film was praised for its acting, direction, music, action sequences, and production design. In addition to its mixed critical reviews, the film grossed only $10 million at the box office against a budget of $10 million. Despite this, the film was nominated for two Academy Awards. It was director Ray's last film until "Lightning Over Water" (1980).


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: Starvation, widespread in China, is affecting more than 100 million peasants by the summer of 1900. Approximately a thousand foreigners from various western industrialized countries have exploited their positions inside Peking's legations, seeking control of the weakened nation. The Boxers oppose the westerners and the Christian religion and are planning to drive them out.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: The turmoil in China worsens as the Boxer secret societies gain tacit approval from the Dowager Empress Cixi. With 13 of China's 18 provinces forced into territorial concessions by those colonial powers, frustration over foreign encroachment boils over when the Empress encourages the Boxers to attack all foreigners in Peking and the rest of China. When the Empress condones the assassination of the German ambassador and "suggests" that the foreigners leave, a violent siege of Peking's foreign legations district erupts. Peking's foreign embassies are gripped by terror, as the Boxers, supported by Imperial troops, set about killing Christians in an anti-western nationalistic fever.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: The head of the US military garrison is US Marine Major Matt Lewis, loosely based on the real Major John Twiggs Myers, an experienced China hand who knows local conditions well. A love interest blossoms between him and Baroness Natasha Ivanova, a Russian aristocrat who, it is revealed, had an affair with a Chinese General, causing her Russian husband to commit suicide. The Russian Imperial Minister, who is Natasha's brother-in-law, has revoked her visa in an attempt to recover a valuable necklace. Although the Baroness tries leaving Peking as the siege begins, she is forced by events to return to Major Lewis and volunteers in the hospital, which is battered by the siege and is running out of supplies. To help the defenders, the Baroness exchanges her very valuable jeweled necklace for medical supplies and food, but she is wounded in the process and later dies.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: Lewis leads the small contingent of 400 multinational soldiers and American Marines defending the compound. As the siege worsens, Maj. Lewis forms an alliance with the senior officer at the British Embassy, Sir Arthur Robertson, pending the arrival of a British-led relief force. After hearing that the force has been repulsed by Chinese forces, Maj. Lewis and Sir Arthur succeed in their mission to blow up a sizable Chinese ammunition dump.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: As the foreign defenders conserve food and water, while trying to save hungry children, the Empress continues plotting with the Boxers by supplying aid from her Chinese troops. Eventually, a foreign relief force from the Eight-Nation Alliance arrives and puts down the Boxer's rebellion. The troops reach Peking on the 55th day and, following the Battle of Peking, lift the siege of the foreign legations. Foreshadowing the demise of the Qing dynasty, rulers of China for the previous two and a half centuries, the Dowager Empress Cixi, alone in her throne room, having gambled her empire and lost, declares repeatedly to herself, "The dynasty is finished".


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: When the soldiers of the Eight-Nation Alliance have taken control of the city, after routing the Boxers and the remnants of the Imperial Army, Maj. Lewis gathers up his men, having received new orders from his superiors to leave Peking. He stops and circles back to retrieve Teresa, the young, half-Chinese daughter of one of his Marine comrades who was killed during the 55 day siege. Aboard his horse, she and Maj. Lewis leave the city behind, followed by his column of marching Marines.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: On September 8, 1959, producer Jerry Wald announced he would be producing a film on the Boxer Rebellion tentatively titled "The Hell Raisers" for 20th Century Fox. He had hoped to star David Niven as a British officer and Stephen Boyd as a United States Marine commander while Hope Lange and France Nuyen were sought for supporting female roles. A few weeks later, on September 24, it was reported that Wald had signed Niven, Boyd, and Nuyen for their respective roles.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: Meanwhile, producer Samuel Bronston had enjoyed commercial success from making historical spectacles in Spain, particularly "King of Kings" (1961), directed by Nicholas Ray, and "El Cid" (1961), directed by Anthony Mann starring Charlton Heston. In Paris, screenwriters Philip Yordan and Bernard Gordon were brainstorming ideas for potential historical epics. During one story conference, Gordon suggested the Boxer Rebellion having recalled reading a theatrical play while working in the Story Department for Paramount Pictures during the 1940s. Yordan dismissed the idea, but later on having returned from a cruise in London, his wife located a book with a chapter titled "Fifty-five Days at Peking" inside a bookstore and showed it to him. Fascinated with the title alone, Yordan pitched the idea to Gordon, who noted that he had earlier pitched the Boxer Rebellion. In an interview with the "Los Angeles Times", Bronston stated he was attracted to the Boxer Rebellion because it showed "the unity of peoples, no matter what their beliefs, in the face of danger. This incident is what the UN symbolizes but has not yet achieved."


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: In September 1961, Bronston announced he was planning a trilogy of historical epics in Spain, among them was "55 Days at Peking" and "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (1964). For "55 Days at Peking", Alec Guinness was being sought for a lead role while a British director was to be selected. Filming was slated to begin in spring 1962. That same month, Wald told "The New York Times" that he was unhappy with Bronston's plans as his project had long been in development, with a final script draft being written by Barre Lyndon; Wald had also wanted Guinness to star in his project. Furthermore, he stated that he had filed an infringement complaint with the Motion Picture Association of America because he had approached Yordan to write a script in 1956. In April 1962, Wald instead sold the project to NBC as a television film, but Wald's death three months later prevented its continuation.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: In September 1961, Heston was initially slated to star in "The Fall of the Roman Empire", but he expressed reluctance after having seen the script. In November 1961, Heston was presented with a treatment for "55 Days at Peking", and by this stage, Ray was attached to direct. "It might be an interesting period for a film," wrote Heston. "I'd like to work for Nick, too." However, Heston was still reluctant. In December 1961, following the Madrid premiere of "El Cid", during a flight trip back to Los Angeles, Yordan and Ray again pitched the idea to him. Heston agreed to star in the film writing in his journal, "I feel uneasy, but I'm now convinced I must go basically on what confidence I have in a director's talent." Subsequently, "Roman Empire" was placed on hold as the already-built sets were later demolished and replaced with the Forbidden City sets for "55 Days at Peking".


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: In March 1962, Bronston told columnist Hedda Hopper that he had hoped Katharine Hepburn would portray Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi. Also, Bronston wanted Ava Gardner for the female lead, although Heston did not want to work with Gardner and instead pushed for Jeanne Moreau. Meanwhile, the role had been offered to Melina Mercouri who turned it down wanting rewrites. On June 11, it was reported that Gardner and Hepburn had joined the cast. In the lobby of the Grand Hotel in Rome, Bronston offered David Niven a role in the film for a salary of $300,000, to which he accepted without seeing a script. On June 12, David Niven's casting was announced. By late June 1962, Flora Robson had replaced Hepburn to portray the Chinese empress while Robert Helpmann would play Prince Tuan.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: In 1977, Ray recalled, "The pressure was tremendous. On a $6 million production, I had no production manager, and a 21-year-old assistant director. No script. I had two artists in my office, one Chinese and one Spanish. I'd describe the scene to them, they'd draw it and then I'd give it to the so-called writers and say, "Write a scene around this?" Prior to filming, Gordon and Ray had worked on a draft in which the former struggled writing as he contracted "colds and the flu and constantly ran a low-grade fever." After four weeks of work, they presented pages of their draft to Yordan, who ordered them to "go back to square one and write the kind of clumsy, impersonal, fat historical opus" that the international distributors wanted." With filming nearly approaching, Yordan suggested hiring Arnaud d'Usseau to assist Gordon with writing some scenes, particularly those with Gardner. Gordon later recalled that d'Usseau worked meticulously slow and "simply couldn't find his way into our script." After a few weeks, d'Usseau left the project with none of his work being used. Shortly after this, blacklisted screenwriter Julian Halevy accepted Gordon's offer to rewrite some scenes, among of which were new scenes for the Empress Dowager.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: By May 1962, Gordon delivered a 140-page shooting script, but most of the scenes were merely summarized or sketched in. That same month, Heston received the script, but disapprovingly jotted in his journal that "[t]he love story is very arbitrary, I think; the dialogue primitive." Filming would proceed without a finished script and on-set rewrites were frequent. It had been suggested that a native British screenwriter should revise the dialogue for Niven's character for which Robert Hamer had been hired for the task. Ultimately, his services were later turned away as Hamer had sunken into alcoholism. Yordan then recruited Jon Manchip White to help rework the script, but it did not pan out. Four weeks later into production, Niven threatened to walk off set unless the script was rewritten. Yordan ordered Gordon to write "a "Hamlet" scene for him, and he'll shut up." Gordon then wrote four to five pages of monologue for Niven's character to self-reflect on his actions. The new scenes were sent to Niven in which he returned to finish filming.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: Principal photography began on July 2, 1962. The film was shot on location in Las Matas. Three thousand extras were required, including 1,500 Chinese. There were estimated to be 300 adult Chinese people in Spain so the rest were imported from all over Europe, particularly London, Rome, Marseilles, and Lisbon.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: As production continued, Gardner became difficult during the shoot, often turning up late, disliking the script, and drinking heavily. One day, she walked off set claiming an extra had taken a photograph of her. Ultimately, the idea to write Gardner out of the film came from screenwriter Ben Barzman, who had rewritten "El Cid". According to Heston, Yordan had written a death scene in which the Baroness dies of shrapnel wounds. By the time the scene was shot, Gardner struggled to remember her lines. Heston then suggested giving her lines to Paul Lukas, who was playing a physician.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: On September 11, 1962, Ray was hospitalized after having a heart attack. At this point, production had fallen six weeks behind schedule with Gardner's role being nearly complete, but significant scenes for Heston and Niven had yet to be shot. To replace him, Heston suggested Guy Green, who had previously directed him in "Diamond Head" (1963), to finish the remaining scenes between him and Gardner. Green subsequently left the production, and by October 1962, directorial duties were transferred to Andrew Marton, who was directing second unit. Marton reflected, "When I came onboard, I thought the picture was very shallow, just action, action, action and there was no meaning. I wrote a new beginning and a new ending and submitted them to management—who consisted of Bronston and Michael Wasynski ... Anyway, they said 'NO!' with a capital N, capital O. And I was very unhappy." Regardless, Marton invited director John Ford onto the set, who had advised him to shoot the sequences with no hesitation. Heston finished his scenes on October 20, 1962, for which he wrote in his journal, "What I have learned from this, I hope permanently, is never start a film without a good finished script." Principal photography ended on November 15, 1962.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: In May 1962, it was reported that Allied Artists, who had earlier distributed "El Cid", had signed to distribute "55 Days in Peking" in the United States. Bronston had raised the money by first pre-selling the film to distributors on the basis of the topic, and the involvement of Heston and Ray.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the film on DVD February 28, 2001. A UK Blu-ray from Anchor Bay Entertainment was released in April 2014.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" described the film as: Gene Arneel of "Variety" praised the production design and Jack Hildeyard's cinematography, but also felt the script "plays interestingly but somehow lacks appropriate power. The characterizations don't have the intensity of the struggle." Philip K. Scheuer, reviewing for the "Los Angeles Times", wrote that "For sheer color magnificence—photographed by Jack Hildeyard in Super Technirama 70—it is as breathtaking as "El Cid". Only this time, instead of medieval Spain, it is the China of 1900, complete with Forbidden City and surrounding legations. It should hold and fascinate spectators for its two-and-a-half hours of sheer, pell-mell movie making, even though characters are stereotypes whose melodramatics are as dated as the period itself."


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: "Time" magazine felt "Pictorially, the film is magnificent, and some of the handsomest scenes—an orange sun rising over the peaks of the Forbidden City, midnight pyrotechnics as the Imperial arsenal blows up, the gates of the great Tartar Wall being stormed by Boxers in scarlet turbans—are almost as good as the evocative paintings by Water-colorist Dong Kingman, which open and close the picture. It was doubtless ghastly to wait 55 days at Peking until a troop of international reinforcements arrived, and the moviegoer who goes through the whole siege in two hours and 30 minutes comes out feeling lucky." Awarding the film four complete stars, Dorothy Masters of the "New York Daily News" wrote: "A powerful drama of global interest, the film has integrity, a component frequently lost in the razzle-dazzle dangled by so many multi-million-dollar colossals."


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: At the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 58% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 5.43/10.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: "55 Days at Peking" was a commercial disaster in the United States. Produced on a then-enormous budget of $10 million, the film's domestic gross was $10 million, earning only $5 million in theatrical rentals. It was the 20th highest-grossing film of 1963. The figures quoted ignore foreign box office receipts where the film was much more successful than in the United States.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: Music from this film was responsible for two nominations at the 1964 Academy Awards. Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster were nominated for Best Original Song for "So Little Time", and Tiomkin was nominated for Best Music Score – Substantially Original.


title: 55 Days at Peking

text: "55 Days at Peking" contains the first known occurrence of the phrase "Let China sleep. For when she wakes, the world will tremble", which is often mistakenly attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte. While appearing in the film to a script by Bernard Gordon, the phrase did not appear in the subsequent books versions by Noel Gerson (written under the pseudonym "Samuel Edwards").


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Yusuf al-Qaradawi (; or "Yusuf al-Qardawi"; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. His influences included Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim, Sayyid Rashid Rida, Hassan al-Banna, Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi, Abul A'la Maududi and Naeem Siddiqui. He was best known for his programme الشريعة والحياة, "al-Sharīʿa wa al-Ḥayāh" ("Sharia and Life"), broadcast on Al Jazeera, which had an estimated audience of 40–60 million worldwide. He was also known for IslamOnline, a website he helped to found in 1997 and for which he served as chief religious scholar.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi published more than 120 books, including "The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam" and "Islam: The Future Civilization". He also received eight international prizes for his contributions to Islamic scholarship, and was considered one of the most influential Islamic scholars living. Al-Qaradawi had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian political organization, although he repeatedly stated that he was no longer a member and twice (in 1976 and 2004) turned down offers for the official role in the organization.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi was sometimes described as a "moderate Islamist". Some of his views, such as his condoning of Palestinian suicide bombings against Israelis, caused reactions from governments in the West: he was refused an entry visa to the United Kingdom in 2008, and barred from entering France in 2012.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi was born on 9 September 1926 in Saft Turab rural village in the Nile Delta, now in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt, into a poor family of devout Muslim peasants. He became an orphan at the age of two, when he lost his father. Following his father's death, he was raised by his mother and uncle. He read and memorized the entire Quran before he was ten years old.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: He then joined the Institute of Religious Studies at Tanta, and graduated after nine years of study. While in Tanta, Al-Qaradawi first encountered Hassan al Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, when al Banna gave a lecture at his school. Al-Qaradawi wrote of the lasting impact of this encounter, describing al Banna as "brilliantly radiating, as if his words were revelation or live coals from the light of prophecy."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: After graduating from the Institute of Religious Studies he moved on to study Islamic Theology at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, from which he graduated in 1953. He earned a diploma in Arabic Language and Literature in 1958 at the Advanced Arabic Studies Institute. He enrolled in the graduate program in the Department of Quran and Sunnah Sciences of the Faculty of Religion's Fundamentals (Usul al-Din), and graduated with a master's degree in Quranic Studies in 1960. In 1962, he was sent by Al-Azhar University to Qatar to head the Qatari Secondary Institute of Religious Studies. He completed his PhD thesis titled "Zakah and its effect on solving social problems" in 1973 with First Merit and was awarded his PhD degree from Al-Azhar.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: His connection with the Muslim Brotherhood led to imprisonment under King Farouq in 1949, then three more times during the term of President Gamal Abdul Nasser. He left Egypt for Qatar in 1961, and did not return until the overthrow of the military regime by the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In 1977, he laid the foundation for the Faculty of Shari'ah and Islamic Studies at the University of Qatar and became the faculty's dean. In the same year he founded the Centre of Seerah and Sunna Research. He also served at Egypt's Institute of Imams under the Ministry of Religious Endowments as supervisor before moving back to Doha as Dean of the Islamic Department at the Faculties of Shariah and Education in Qatar, where he continued until 1990. His next appointment was in Algeria as Chairman of the Scientific Council of Islamic University and Higher Institutions in 1990–91. He returned to Qatar once more as Director of the Seerah and Sunnah Center at Qatar University.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In 1997, Al-Qaradawi helped found the European Council for Fatwa and Research, a council of important and influential Muslim scholars dedicated to researching and writing fatwas in support of Western Muslim minority communities based in Ireland, and he served as its head. He also served as the chairman of International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS).


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi was a principal shareholder and former Sharia adviser to Bank Al-Taqwa. On 2 August 2010, the bank was removed from a list of entities and individuals associated with Al Qaeda maintained by the United Nations Security Council.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi finished third in a 2008 poll on who was the world's leading public intellectual. The poll, Top 100 Public Intellectuals, was conducted among readers of "Prospect Magazine" (UK) and "Foreign Policy" (United States).


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: After the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Qaradawi made his first public appearance in Egypt after 1981. In Tahrir Square, he led Friday prayers on 18 February, addressing an audience estimated to exceed two million Egyptians. It began with an address of "O Muslims and Copts", referring to Egypt's Coptic Christian minority instead of the customary opening for Islamic Friday sermons "O Muslims". He was reported to have said, "Egyptian people are like the genie who came out of the lamp and who have been in prison for 30 years." He also demanded the release of political prisoners in Egyptian prisons, praised the Copts for protecting Muslims in their Friday prayer, and called for the new military rulers to quickly restore civilian rule. He referred to Hosni Mubarak as "the tyrannical pharaoh". In the sermon, Qaradawi called for the immediate release of political prisoners, the dissolution of the cabinet of Mubarak loyalists, and an end to the economic blockade of Gaza.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Brookings Institution member Shadi Hamid said that Qaradawi was in the mainstream of Egyptian society, and that he also had appeal among Egyptians who are not Islamist. He described the sermon as "nonsectarian" and "broadly political". In the "Jerusalem Post", Barry Rubin wrote that although he was seen as a moderate by some in the West, he supported the straight Islamist line. Qaradawi was seen as a danger by Rubin because he was a charismatic thinker who could easily mobilise the masses. The author was concerned that Qaradawi would take over Egypt and that this would have had negative consequences for Israel.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: On 21 February 2011, Qaradawi issued a fatwa, which is a religious ruling, permitting the killing of Muammar Gaddafi. This was in response to Gaddafi's plans to kill protesters in Libya. He also called on Libyan ambassadors around the world to distance themselves from Gaddafi's government.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi wrote on the danger of extremist groups of Islam, in his dissertation on the subject "Islamic Awakening between Rejection and Extremism". This dissertation discusses the phenomenon of religious extremism among Muslim youth. He discusses the reasons why young Muslims may resort to extremism, and argues that many of these reasons are due to the hypocrisy and self-contradictions of older Muslims. He advised that the only way to rectify the situation is for older Muslims to reform themselves and their societies according to the actual teachings of Islam.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In 2014, Qaradawi stated that the declaration of an Islamic caliphate by the militant Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) violates sharia law. Qaradawi said in a statement that the declaration "is void under sharia". This statement comes after ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called on Muslims with military, medical and managerial skills to flock to its newly-declared pan-Islamic state.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi was an avid caller to what he calls "Islamic Sufism", praising those who practice it as pious.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Qaradawi accused the Shi'ites of invading Sunni societies, and criticized some aspects of the Shi'i doctrine. He described them as "heretics" and said that Sunni leaders in the region have voiced concern about a Shiite resurgence.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Qaradawi's statements about the Shia sect of Islam have caused controversy and outrage among Shia leaders. His comments are seen as divisive and legitimising anti-Shia rhetoric. The reactions to his statements are politically motivated and could lead to a sectarian conflict.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: The Iranian reaction to Qaradawi was particularly intense, with some Iranian officials apologising for the personal attack by Iranian Mehr News Agency, in which before this they described Qaradawi as "a spokesman for international Freemasonry and rabbis". Qaradawi argues that he was moved by indications of growing Shi'itization in Egypt and by the lack of awareness on the part of Sunnis and their ulama of that danger.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In May 2013, al-Qaradawi verbally attacked the Alawite sect, which many describe as an offshoot of Shia Islam and of which President Bashar al-Assad is a member, as "more infidel than Christians and Jews" (أكفر من اليهود والنصارى).


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Qaradawi wrote that Islam does not prohibit Muslims from being kind and generous to people of other religions. However, Islam looks upon the People of the Book, that is, Jews and Christians, with special regard. He suggested that in having dialogue with the Jews and Christians, Muslims should avoid such approaches that may cause bitterness or arouse hostility.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: According to Qaradawi, the verses in the Quran that tell Muslims to break ties with Jews and Christians (Al-Maidah 5:54-55) refer to those people who were hostile to Islam and waged war against Muslims. This means that Muslims are not allowed to help or be friends with people who are hostile towards Islam, even if it means going against their own interests.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In his book titled "The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam", al-Qaradawi wrote, "Islam does not prohibit Muslims to be kind and generous to peoples of other religions, even if they are idolaters and polytheists, ... it looks upon the People of the Book, that is, Jews and Christians, with special regard, whether they reside in a Muslim society or outside it. The Qur'an never addresses them without saying, 'O People of the Book' or 'O You who have been given the Book', indicating that they were originally people of a revealed religion. For this reason there exists a relationship of mercy and spiritual kinship between them and the Muslims."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In August 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Dublin-based European Council for Fatwa and Research, of which al-Qaradawi was president, had used the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion in its theological deliberations. Al-Qaradawi's remarks were sharply criticized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which accused him of inciting violence against Jews.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In a 9 January 2009 sermon during the Gaza War, shown on Al-Jazeera, Qaradawi prayed for Allah to take revenge on the "enemies of Islam", specifically the Jews, whom he described as treacherous, aggressors who have spread much tyranny and corruption. He asked Allah to annihilate them completely, without sparing any of them.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In his Friday sermon broadcast on "Qatar TV" on 26 April 2013, Qaradawi announced that he would not participate in next year's interfaith dialogue if Jews were invited, stating that there should be no debate with those who have committed injustice. He cited a verse from the Quran which says that there should be no debate with the People of the Book except in a way that is best, and went on to say that the Jews have committed great injustice and that "their hands are soiled with blood".


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Qaradawi's statements were described as incitement to genocide in a "Jewish Political Studies Review" article, which connected his belief in Jewish conspiracies to the appeals to violence against them. Qaradawi asserted that Hitler meted out divinely sanctioned punishment to the Jews and called for Muslims to impose a similar punishment, calling openly for genocide. His appeals for genocide were coupled with paranoid conspiracy thinking that identifies the Jews as the greatest enemies of Islam; alleging a Jewish plot to take over the entire Middle East, including Mecca and Medina; blaming the Jews for the abolition of the Islamic Caliphate in 1924 and the spread of communism; and accusing the Jews of planning to tear down the al-Aqsa Mosque so as to build a Jewish Temple in its place.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi defended the mass murder of millions during the Holocaust as a "punishment." In a statement that aired on Al-Jazeera TV on 28 January 2009 during the Gaza War, al-Qaradawi said the following regarding Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust (as translated by MEMRI):


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi said that apostasy in Islam – Muslims leaving Islam – is a grave danger to the Muslim community and that the duty of all Muslims "is to combat apostasy in all its forms and wherefrom it comes, giving it no chance to pervade in the Muslim world". In February 2013, Qaradawi stated on Egyptian television that the death penalty is a necessity for those who leave Islam, citing several speeches and writings by Muhammad and his followers. He explains that many hadiths state that any apostate should be killed, and that this is necessary to preserve Islam.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In 2011, Al-Qaradawi wrote that execution is a valid penalty for apostasy, but only in cases where the apostate has also committed another crime. He advocates giving apostates a chance to repent before carrying out the sentence, and says that hidden apostates should not be punished by the Muslim community, but left to the judgement of God.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi spoke in favor of democracy in the Muslim world, speaking of a need for reform of political climates in the Middle East specifically. On 22 February 2011, he held an exclusive interview with OnIslam.net, dismissing the allegation that he wanted a religious state established in Egypt: "On the contrary, my speech supported establishing a civil state with a religious background, I am totally against theocracy. We are not a state for mullahs."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: He denies that Palestinian suicide bombing attacks constitute terrorism, claiming, "when Palestinians face such unjust aggression, they tend to stem bloodletting and destruction and not to claim the lives of innocent civilians," but qualifies that with "I do agree with those who do not allow such martyr operations to be carried out outside the Palestinian territories."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi suggested the legitimate use of (defensive) suicide bombings against enemy combatants in modern times if the defending combatants have no other means of self-defense. The Oxford-based Malaysian Islamic Scholar, Dr. Afifi al-Akiti, rules that there is no Islamic legal precedent for this view and that female soldiers can only be killed in direct combat. With regards to suicide bombings he says that they are "breaching the scholarly consensus ... because to endanger one's life is one thing and to commit suicide during the attack is obviously another". With regards to male soldiers he states, "It goes without saying that they are considered combatants as soon as they arrive on the battlefield even if they are not in direct combat – provided of course that the remaining conventions of war have been observed throughout, and that all this is during a valid war when there is no ceasefire."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Western governments have met al-Qaradawi to request release of European civilians kidnapped in Iraq and have thanked him officially, praising his cooperation. The French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier wrote to al-Qaradawi: "With such a clear condemnation of the abduction of the French hostages you have sent a clear-cut message demonstrating respect for the tenets of Islam."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi supported suicide attacks on all Israelis, including women since he viewed the Israeli society as a "completely military" society that did not include any civilians. He also considered pregnant women and their unborn babies to be valid targets on the grounds that the babies could grow up to join the Israeli Army.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In an interview with the newspaper "Al Raya" in April 2001, al-Qaradawi declared that suicide (or "martyrdom") bombings conducted by Palestinians against Israelis "are not suicide operations. These are heroic martyrdom operations, and the heroes who carry them out don't embark on this action out of hopelessness and despair but are driven by an overwhelming desire to cast terror and fear into the hearts of the oppressors."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: On 8 May 2013, Qaradawi visited Gaza and gave a speech in support of Hamas. He asked all of the Palestinian people to work with other Arab people and Muslims around the world to destroy Israel, saying inflammatory things such as "Our wish should be that we carry out Jihad to death" and "We should seek to liberate Palestine, all of Palestine, inch by inch."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: An Anti-Defamation League report in 2011 said that al-Qaradawi had voiced his desire to see Jerusalem conquered in a fatwa in which he claimed that it was the Muslims' duty to "defend" Jerusalem with "their lives, their money and all they possess, or else they will be subject to Allah's punishment."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In 2004 the International Union of Muslim Scholars, an organization chaired by al-Qaradawi which counts a great number of prominent individuals affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood and/or Hamas among its members, ruled that "resisting occupation troops in Iraq is a 'duty' on able Muslims in and outside the war-torn country and that aiding the occupier is impermissible."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In an address aired on Qatar TV on 5 January 2007, al-Qaradawi questioned the trial of Saddam Hussein under American supervision in Iraq, but agreed to it if it were conducted by the Iraqi people "after liberating Iraq from American colonialism". He also suggested that the trial was "an act of vengeance by the Americans" for his missile attacks on Israel. He strongly criticized the way Saddam was hanged:


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In 2006, in response to Muslim scholar Abdullah Ibn Jibreen's fatwa declaring that it was forbidden for Muslims to support or pray for Hezbollah because they are Shia, al-Qaradawi said that supporting Hezbollah is a religious duty for all Muslims and that resistance, whether in Palestine or Lebanon, is the most noble act. He added "Shias agree with the Sunnis in the main principles of Islam while the differences are only over the branches" and also called upon the Sunnis and Shia of Iraq to end the civil war.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Seven years later, during the Syrian Civil War, Qaradawi urged all Sunnis to fight Hezbollah, attacking Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iran: "The leader of the Party of Satan comes to fight the Sunnis ... Now we know what the Iranians want ... They want continued massacres to kill Sunnis." Qaradawi also stated that he now regretted having advocated rapprochement between Sunnis and Shias and his 2006 defense of Hezbollah.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Qaradawi declared his support for the rebels led by the National Transitional Council in the 2011 Libyan civil war, urging Arab nations to recognize them and "to confront the tyranny of the regime in Tripoli". He suggested weapons be sent to the rebels to assist them, and said "Our Islamic nation should stand against injustice and corruption and I urge the Egyptian government to extend a helping hand to Libyan people and not to Gaddafi."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In response to the 2011 Bahrain protests, Qaradawi was reluctant to give support: "The protests in Bahrain are sectarian in nature. The Shias are revolting against the Sunnis." He claimed that Shia protesters attack Sunnis and occupied their mosques. He acknowledged that the Shia majority had legitimate concerns in regards to fairness with the Sunnis: "I want them to be real citizens of their country."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Qaradawi said that all Arabs should back up the protesters in the 2011 Syrian uprising, saying "Today the train of revolution has reached a station that it had to reach: The Syria station," and "It is not possible for Syria to be separated from the history of the Arab community." He declared his support for the protests against what he called Syria's "oppressive regime", claiming "atrocities" were committed by it. He called for victory against the ruling Ba'ath party and claimed the army would be the major factor in the revolt. He claimed that when he offered to mediate negotiations between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Syrian government, someone deliberately sabotaged it. Qaradawi also expressed his support for the No Fly zone put in place by western nations over Libya, saying "The operation in Libya is to protect the civilians from Gaddafi's tyranny" and slamming Arab League leader Amr Moussa for criticism of it.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi told "The Guardian" that wife beating was neither "obligatory nor desirable" but that he "accepts it as a method of last resort – though only "lightly"". He stated on Channel 4 News that it was justifiable in certain circumstances but the "ideal was for Muslim men never to beat their wives, and if husbands wrongly beat their wives, they have the right to fight back". The British newspaper "The Daily Telegraph" wrote that al-Qaradawi, in his book "The Lawful and Prohibited in Islam", stated that wife-beating is permissible after the failure of all other means of persuasion. In such circumstances, a husband may beat his wife "lightly with his hands, avoiding her face and other sensitive areas".


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Qaradawi said that female genital mutilation surgery is forbidden in Islam. He called for the termination and ban of "female circumcision" in some parts of the Muslim world, especially in rural Africa where most still practice it. His views were supported by Sheikhs in Al-Azhar.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: On 5 June 2006, on the Al Jazeera program "Sharia and Life", al-Qaradawi (a regular on the program) reiterated orthodox views on homosexuality. When asked about the punishment for people who "practise liwaat (sodomy) or sihaaq (lesbian activity)", al-Qaradawi replied: "The same punishment as any sexual pervert – the same as the fornicator." (MEMRI translation). The punishment for fornication is lashing.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In an interview with "Der Spiegel", Qaradawi said that his attitude towards homosexuality is the same as that found in Christianity. In the interview he stated, "One year ago, there was a demonstration against me in London because I spoke out against homosexuality. People seem to have forgotten that it wasn't me who came up with this mindset. It's part of God's order spoken of by Moses and even mentioned by Jesus."


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Rigorous scholarly debates among the Islamic School of Law (Fiqh) question whether LGBT people are defined by genetic disorders and that it may be permissible or not for those who're scientifically medically proven to be part of the LGBT category as with hermaphrodite denoting whether a person is inclined towards the naturality of female or male instinct. Same for Mukhannathun (transgender), in which there are many prophetic Hadith that allow males who have inclinations towards being female (effeminate) that occurred during the Islamic prophet Muhammad's time and that they were accepted as part of the larger community in Madinah having equal rights. Qaradawi was one of many leading Islamic scholars to weigh in on this ongoing debate.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi called "stoning" un-Islamic for it has nothing to do with Islam at all but laws made by the religion of Judaism; Jewish Religious Laws. He said there are more than dozens of verses in the Torah that support stoning for adulterers, fornicators, LGBT people, and for many other reasons.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi said that honor killing is a tradition that was carried out thousands of years ago by ancient civilization; the Romans, the Dark Ages, Chinese Emperors, etc. He said it has nothing to do with Islam; neither Qur'an nor Sunnah (Prophetic Hadith). He called on those who do it to be punished with death for their crime; a life for a life.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi fully supported and advocated Mawlid. He said that to use the birth date of Muhammad in remembrance of his life story is not bid'ah. In fact, it is encouraged in Islam to do good action (Man Sanna Sunnatun Hassanah) based on a Sahih Hadith. And that Allah (God) himself has said in Al-Qur'an, Chapter 21, Verse 107:


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi explained that Allah (God) is talking about Muhammad's miracle birth as the verse mentions "sent you". In other words, his presence, his birth, his coming. A "mercy" (rahmah) to the worlds. Means mercy to all mankind. It means everything; all of his creations (all creatures).


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: It's in this Sahih Hadith that Sheikh Prof. Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi emphasizes that "good innovative actions" are strongly encouraged as long as it doesn't go against the Sharia. What more involving religion itself than worldly good deeds like holding an old person's hand while crossing the road guiding him/her to safety and many more. It's encouraging for both. He said these are the true meaning and emphasis of Islam, to be the religion of mercy (rahmah) and to do more good than just good so that others may lead by our good examples and that they may successively follows them till the End of Time.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi said that niqab (veil) is not obligatory in Islam. He pointed out that a woman's face is not an awrah. He called those who don the niqabs as following tradition and culture before Islam came to Arabia. Those people, be it male or female at that time, had to cover their faces from the dusty desert and from inhaling dust especially during sandstorms. Al-Azhar's Grand Imam, also an Egyptian Grand Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, have also pointed out that niqab has nothing to do with Islam.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: At the same time Qaradawi issued a fatwa (edict) that organ transplantation from a living person to a living person is permissible in Islam but through donation as donation is considered charity. As for a dead person, only when the brain stops, the transplantation can then be carried out.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In April 2008, at a conference in Qatar titled "Mecca: the Center of the Earth, Theory and Practice", al-Qaradawi advocated the implementation of Mecca Time to replace the Greenwich Meridian as the basis of the world time zone system.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi called for a "Day of Anger" over the cartoons, but condemned violent actions in response to them.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi was one of the Ulama signatories of the Amman Message, which gives a broad foundation for defining Muslim orthodoxy.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Al-Qaradawi said, "Rushdie disgraced the honor of the Prophet and his family and defiled the values of Islam," but he never backed the fatwa calling for his death.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: In 1997, Qaradawi's affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood led to his expulsion from Egypt, where the organisation was prohibited at the time.


title: Yusuf al-Qaradawi

text: Qaradawi criticised reality television programs, saying that the aim of these is to 'mislead the [Muslim] nation'.