title: Frank Leboeuf

text: Leboeuf is married to actress Chrislaure Nollet and has two children, Jade and Hugo, from his first marriage to Beatrice. His amateur sporting hobbies include tennis, swimming and boxing.


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: Shirlie Kemp (née Holliman) (born 18 April 1962) is an English singer, who found fame in the 1980s with Wham! and as part of the duo Pepsi & Shirlie.


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: Shirlie Holliman was child four of five born to Arthur and Margaret Holliman and raised on a council estate in Bushey, near Watford, Hertfordshire. Holliman intended to train as a horse riding instructor, but after she developed hay fever at age 18 and with nothing else to do, her then boyfriend Andrew Ridgeley suggested she come and dance while he and his friend George Michael's band played a local gig.


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: Holliman was never a band member of what became Wham! but, like her friend Dee C. Lee, was paid on a per performance basis as a backing singer, and continued to live with her parents. After Lee left to join the Style Council and later marry its lead singer Paul Weller, she was replaced by "Pepsi" DeMacque, and this duo performed on all the Wham! songs and concerts. As George Michael desired to create music targeted to a more sophisticated audience than Wham!'s primarily teenage fan base, the announcement of Wham!'s break-up was made in the spring of 1986, with a grand finale concert at Wembley Stadium on 28 June 1986, called 'The Final'.


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: During their Wham! career, Holliman and DeMacque decided to form their own act, named Pepsi & Shirlie. Created immediately after the Wembley concert with an upbeat and more pop genre sound, they had two UK top 10 hits: "Heartache", which was produced by Phil Fearon and Tambi Fernando, reaching #2 on the UK Singles Chart behind the #1 hit of George Michael and Aretha Franklin's "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", and "Goodbye Stranger", produced by Tambi Fernando and Pete Hammond, which reached #9.


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: The duo with DeMacque went on hiatus in 1989, but briefly returned in 2000 to record backing vocals on the UK number one Geri Halliwell hit "Bag It Up". The duo also re-united to perform for the 'Here and Now 10th Anniversary tour' which began on 24 June 2011.


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: On 29 November 2002, Holliman was a back-up vocalist in the Concert for George, a concert celebrating the music of the late George Harrison.


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: In November 2019, Holliman and her husband released their first album together as Martin & Shirlie, titled "In the Swing of It" via Sony Music. The album contains duet covers of classic jazz standards plus two original songs written by their daughter Harleymoon Kemp.


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: Holliman married Spandau Ballet bassist and singer Martin Kemp, and retired from steady performing after the birth of her daughter. Holliman had met Kemp through mutual friend George Michael, and the pair married in St. Lucia in 1988. They went on to have two children: daughter Harley Moon Kemp (born August 1989), and son Roman Kemp (born January 1993). Holliman and daughter Harley had brief roles together in the music video for the Spice Girls' "Mama".


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: After Holliman took time out from work to care for her husband through his illness with brain tumours, she was declared bankrupt in September 1996, and the family moved from Hampstead Heath to Muswell Hill to allow Kemp to recover. Holliman then went to work managing Aegean, a business associated with music and entertainment production.


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: In October 2020, Holliman with her husband published "Shirlie and Martin Kemp: It's a Love Story", an autobiography-come-relationship advice book. The Kemps said the book was published in response to "growing media interest" in the couple's longlasting relationship.


title: Shirlie Holliman

text: In 2021, Holliman appeared with her son in the documentary "Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency" in which Kemp revealed that he came close to attempting suicide after battling with depression for 13 years.


title: 13 May incident

text: The 13 May incident refers to an episode of Sino-Malay sectarian violence that took place in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, on 13 May 1969. The riot occurred in the aftermath of the 1969 Malaysian general election when opposition parties such as the Democratic Action Party and Gerakan made gains at the expense of the ruling coalition, the Alliance Party.


title: 13 May incident

text: Official reports by the government placed the number of deaths due to the riots at 196, although international diplomatic sources and observers at the time suggested a toll of close to 600 while others suggested much higher figures, with most of the victims being ethnic Chinese. The racial riots led to a declaration of a state of national emergency by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King), resulting in the suspension of Parliament. A National Operations Council (NOC) was established as a caretaker government to temporarily govern the country between 1969 and 1971.


title: 13 May incident

text: This event was significant in Malaysian politics as it forced the first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman to step down from office and hand over the reins to Tun Abdul Razak. Razak's government shifted their domestic policies to favour Malays with the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP), and the Malay party UMNO restructured the political system to advance Malay dominance in accordance with the ideology of "Ketuanan Melayu" ( "Malay Supremacy").


title: 13 May incident

text: On 31 August 1957, Malaya gained its independence from colonial rule. The country however suffered from a sharp division of wealth between the Chinese who dominated most urban areas and were perceived to be in control of a large portion of the country's economy, and the Malays, who were generally poorer and lived in more rural areas. The special privileged position of Malay political power however is guaranteed under Article 153 of the Constitution written during Malayan independence.


title: 13 May incident

text: There were heated debates between Malay groups wanting radical measures to institutionalise Malay Supremacy ("Ketuanan Melayu"), while Chinese groups called for their 'racial' interest to be protected, and non-Malay opposition party members argued for a 'Malaysian Malaysia' rather than Malay privilege. Amid an undercurrent of racial tensions, in 1963, Malaysia was formed as a federation that incorporated Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia), Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak.


title: 13 May incident

text: There had been several incidents of racial conflict between Malays and Chinese before the 1969 riots. For example, in Penang, hostility between the races turned into violence during the centenary celebration of George Town in 1957 which resulted in several days of fighting and a number of deaths, and there were further disturbances in 1959 and 1964, as well as a riot in 1967 which originated as a protest against currency devaluation but turned into racial killings. In Singapore, the antagonism between the races led to the 1964 Race Riots which contributed to the separation of Singapore from Malaysia on 9 August 1965.


title: 13 May incident

text: In the 1969 election, the governing coalition the Alliance Party faced a strong challenge from the opposition parties, in particular the two newly formed and mainly Chinese parties Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Gerakan. The election was preceded by outbreaks of racial incidents that contributed to a tense atmosphere. A Malay political worker was killed by a Chinese gang in Penang, while a Chinese Labour Party activist was shot and killed in a clash with police in Kuala Lumpur. Radical opponents called for the boycott of the election and threatened violence, but the funeral procession of the shot activist which drew large crowd was held before the election day passed peacefully with a series of nonfatal incidents.


title: 13 May incident

text: The general election was held on 10 May 1969, the election day itself passed without any incidents. The result showed that the Alliance had won less than half of the popular vote, a large setback for the ruling coalition. On the national level, the Alliance had gained a majority in the number of seats in the Parliament, albeit a significantly reduced one. The number of seats won by the Chinese component of the Alliance, the Malaysian Chinese Association, had been reduced by half. On the state level, the Alliance had only gained the majority in Selangor by co-operating with the sole independent candidate as the Opposition had tied with the Alliance for control of the Selangor state legislature (although at that time immediately after the election it was unclear that the Alliance would still have control). The Alliance lost control of Kelantan (to PAS) and Perak, and the opposition Gerakan won control of the state government in Penang.


title: 13 May incident

text: On the night of 11 and 12 May, the Opposition parties DAP and Gerakan celebrated their success in the election with permission sought by Dr. Tan Chee Khoon from the police. In particular, a large Gerakan procession welcomed the Gerakan leader V. David. The parades by the opposition parties passed through Malay communities such as Kampung Baru were alleged to be highly provocative, with non-Malays taunting Malays while bearing slogans such as: "" (Finish off all the Malays), "" (Kuala Lumpur now belongs to the Chinese). Some supporters of the opposition were said to have driven past the residence of the Selangor chief minister and demanded that he abandon the residence in favour of a Chinese.


title: 13 May incident

text: The celebrations by the opposition parties were seen as an attack on Malay political power. Although the election results still favoured the Malays despite losses, the Malay newspaper "Utusan Melayu" suggested in an editorial that the results had jeopardised the future of Malay rule, and that prompt action was required to shore it up. On 12 May members of UMNO Youth indicated to Selangor Menteri Besar Dato' Harun Haji Idris that they wanted to hold a victory parade.


title: 13 May incident

text: UMNO then announced a procession, which would start from the Harun bin Idris's residence. Tunku Abdul Rahman would later call the retaliatory parade "inevitable, as otherwise the party members would be demoralised after the show of strength by the Opposition and the insults that had been thrown at them". Malays were brought from the rural areas into Kuala Lumpur, which was then a predominantly Chinese city. Thousands of Malays, some of them armed, arrived to join the parade.


title: 13 May incident

text: The UMNO procession was planned for the evening at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 13 May. On the morning of 13 May, Malays began to gather at the residence of Selangor Menteri Besar Dato' Harun Haji Idris on Jalan Raja Muda on the edge of Kampung Baru, although some were already there as early as Sunday evening. The Malays came from various parts of Selangor such as Morib (Harun's constituency) and Banting, and some may have came from parts of Perak. According to the NOC official report, at around 6 pm, fist fights broke out in Setapak between a group of Malays from Gombak travelling to the rally and Chinese bystanders who taunted them, and this escalated into bottle and stone throwing. News of the fighting then reached the gathering crowd in Jalan Raja Muda, and shortly before 6.30 pm, many Malays broke off from the rallying point at the Chief Minister's house and headed through adjoining Chinese sections. The Malays, armed with "parangs" and kris, burned cars and shops, killed and looted in the Chinese areas; according to "Time", at least eight Chinese were killed in the initial attack. Once violence broke out, it spread rapidly and uncontrollably throughout the city within 45 minutes, to Jalan Campbell, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (Batu Road), Kampung Datuk Keramat, Kampung Pandan, Cheras and Kampung Kerinchi.


title: 13 May incident

text: According to John Slimming, who wrote an account of the riot in 1969, the Chinese were taken by surprise and did not retaliate for more than an hour. The NOC official report, however, suggested that Chinese secret society elements had prepared for trouble and were in action when the violence started in Kampung Baru. In Batu Road, Chinese and Indian shopkeepers began to form themselves into an improvised defence force, while a Malay mob attempting to storm the Chow Kit Road area were met with armed secret society gang members and ran. The Chinese attacked Malays who were found in Chinese areas, and Malay patrons in cinemas were singled out and killed. They also attempted to burn down the UMNO headquarters on Batu Road and besieged Salak South Police Station.


title: 13 May incident

text: Early in the evening the rioters were met by police, who used tear gas in an attempt to control them. A 24-hour curfew for Kuala Lumpur was announced on the radio at 7.35 pm and repeated on television at 8 pm. Later, between 8.30 and 9.00 pm, a shoot-to-kill order was given by Inspector General of Police Mohamed Salleh bin Ismael. This was followed by another shoot-to-kill order from the Chief of Armed Forces, General Tunku Osman Jiwa. The army was deployed and they entered the areas affected by rioting at around 10 pm. Many people who were unaware of the curfew order were shot. Some were also shot while standing in their own doorways and gardens. Foreign correspondents reported seeing members of the Royal Malay Regiment firing into Chinese shop-houses for no apparent reason.


title: 13 May incident

text: By 5 am the next morning, the authorities at Kuala Lumpur General Hospital reported that there were about 80 dead at the hospital. Members of the hospital staff also reported that the initial casualties between 7 and 8.30 pm had all been Chinese suffering from parang slashes and stab wounds, but that between 8.30 and 10.30 pm the victims were equally divided between Chinese and Malays. However, after about 10.30 pm the casualties were almost all Chinese, with nearly all of them suffering from gunshot wounds.


title: 13 May incident

text: The army gathered at crucial road junctions and patrolled the main streets, but even though a curfew had been announced, young men in areas such as Kampung Baru and Pudu ignored the order. Although most of the killings occurred on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the burning and looting of Chinese shops and houses by Malays continued with most incidents of serious arson occurring on Thursday night and Friday. Over 450 houses were burnt. People displaced by the riots, most of them Chinese, were sent to official refugee centres in different parts of town – the Malays to Stadium Negara, and the Chinese to Stadium Merdeka, Chinwoo Stadium, and Shaw Road School. By Sunday, the number of Chinese refugees had increased to 3,500 in Merdeka Stadium, 1,500 in Chinwoo Stadium, and 800 in Shaw Road School, while the Malays in Stadium Negara had decreased from 650 on Thursday to 250 on Sunday. Over a thousand refugees were still left in Merdeka Stadium a month after the riot.


title: 13 May incident

text: The curfew was relaxed briefly but quickly reimposed on Thursday morning. It was lifted again for three hours on Saturday morning. The curfew was gradually relaxed as the situation slowly returned to normal, but by the end of the month the curfew was still in force from 3 in the afternoon until 6.30 in the morning.


title: 13 May incident

text: The violence was concentrated in urban areas, and except for minor disturbances in Malacca, Perak, Penang and neighbouring Singapore, where the populations of Chinese people were similarly larger, the rest of the country remained calm.


title: 13 May incident

text: According to police figures which are disputed, 196 people were killed in the riots. The official figures gave 143 of the dead as Chinese, 25 Malay, 13 Indian, and 15 others (undetermined), although unofficial figures suggested higher number of Chinese deaths. The police were authorised to bury any dead bodies found or disposed of them any way they could without inquests or inquiries, which made estimation of the number of deaths difficult as many of the dead were disposed of undocumented. Some were reported to have been thrown into the Klang River, and some were believed to have been disposed of in pools in tin mines. A mass burial of the victims was also captured on film at the Sungai Buloh leper colony near Kuala Lumpur. Western diplomatic sources at that time put the toll at close to 600, and John Slimming estimated the number of deaths to be around 800 in the first week by including hundreds who were officially missing, while other observers and correspondents suggested four-figure numbers.


title: 13 May incident

text: According to official figures 439 individuals were also recorded as injured. 753 cases of arson were logged and 211 vehicles were destroyed or severely damaged.


title: 13 May incident

text: Immediately after the riot, the government assumed emergency powers and suspended Parliament, which would reconvene again only in 1971. It also suspended the press and established a National Operations Council (NOC).


title: 13 May incident

text: The government ordered an immediate curfew throughout the state of Selangor. Security forces comprising some 2,000 Royal Malay Regiment soldiers and 3,600 police officers were deployed and took control of the situation. On 14 and 16 May, a state of emergency and accompanying curfew were declared throughout the country.


title: 13 May incident

text: On 15 May, the National Operations Council (NOC), also known as the "Majlis Gerakan Negara" (MAGERAN), headed by Tun Abdul Razak was established following a Proclamation of Emergency by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah. Parts of the constitution were also suspended. With Parliament suspended, the NOC became the supreme decision-making body for the next 18 months. State and District Operations Councils took over state and local governments. The NOC implemented security measures to restore law and order in the country, including the establishment of an unarmed Vigilante Corps, a territorial army, and police force battalions.


title: 13 May incident

text: Newspaper publications were suspended on 15 May, but resumed on 18 May, and censorship was then applied on 21 May. Foreign publications were banned, citizens found in possession of foreign news clippings were detained, and foreign reporters were criticised over allegations of racial bias by the army. The restoration of order in the country was gradually achieved. Curfews continued in most parts of the country, but were gradually scaled back. Peace was restored in the affected areas within two months. In February 1971 parliamentary rule was re-established. The Proclamation of Emergency and the act enacted (Emergency Ordinance 1969) however were never revoked.


title: 13 May incident

text: The NOC released a report on 9 October 1969, and it cited "racial politics" as the primary cause of the riots, but was reluctant to assign blame to the Malays.


title: 13 May incident

text: It also attributed the cause of the riots in part to both the Malayan Communist Party and secret societies:


title: 13 May incident

text: It however said that the "trouble turned out to be a communal clash between the Malays and the Chinese" rather than an instance of Communist insurgency. The report also denied rumours of lack of evenhandedness by the security forces in their handling of the crisis.


title: 13 May incident

text: Tunku Abdul Rahman, in a book released two weeks before the report, blamed the opposition parties for the violence, as well as the influence of the Communists, and thought that the incidents were sparked off by Chinese Communist youths. He absolved the majority of the Malays, Chinese and Indians of any responsibility, and considered the Malays who converged in Kuala Lumpur on May 14 to be merely responding to "intolerable provocations".


title: 13 May incident

text: The "Rukun Negara", the de facto Malaysian pledge of allegiance, was a reaction to the riot. The pledge was introduced on 31 August 1970 as a way to foster unity among Malaysians.


title: 13 May incident

text: The Malay nationalist politician Mahathir Mohamad, who was then little-known and lost his seat as an UMNO candidate in the 10 May election, blamed the riot on the government especially the then Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman for being "simple-minded" and not planning for a prosperous Malaysia where the Malays have a share of the economic stake. The Tunku in turn blamed "extremists" such as Mahathir for the racial clashes, which led to the expulsion of Mahathir from UMNO. It propelled Mahathir to write his seminal work "The Malay Dilemma", in which he posited a solution to Malaysia's racial tensions based on aiding the Malays economically through an affirmative action programme.


title: 13 May incident

text: The affirmative action policies included the New Economic Policy (NEP), and the creation of Kuala Lumpur as a Federal Territory out of Selangor state in 1974, five years later.


title: 13 May incident

text: After the riots, Tunku Abdul Rahman was forced into the background, with the day-to-day running of the country handed to the deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, who was also the director of the National Operations Council. On 22 September 1970 when the Parliament reconvened, the Tunku resigned his position as Prime Minister, and Tun Abdul Razak took over.


title: 13 May incident

text: In 2007, Kua Kia Soong argued that, based on declassified British Embassy dispatches, the riot was a coup d'état staged against Tunku Abdul Rahman by UMNO political leaders in association with the army and the police.


title: 13 May incident

text: In an attempt to form a broader coalition, the Barisan Nasional was formed in place of the Alliance Party, with former opposition parties such as Gerakan, PPP, and PAS invited to join the coalition.


title: 13 May incident

text: After the 1969 riot, UMNO also began to restructure the political system to reinforce its power. It advanced its own version of "Ketuanan Melayu" whereby "the politics of this country has been, and must remain for the foreseeable future, native [i.e. Malay] based: that was the secret of our stability and our prosperity and that is a fact of political life which no one can simply wish away." This principle of "Ketuanan Melayu" had been repeatedly used in successive election by UMNO to galvanise Malay support for the party, and it remained the guiding principle of successive governments.


title: Charlotte Vega

text: Charlotte Elizabeth Vega (born 10 February 1994 in Madrid) is a Spanish-British actress and model, known for her role in the 2014 Spanish film "The Misfits Club", the lead role in the 2017 Irish film "The Lodgers", and main roles in two television series during 2015: season 3 of the Spanish series "Velvet" and the single season of the Spanish-British co-production "The Refugees". She also plays the lead role in the 2021 film "Wrong Turn".


title: Charlotte Vega

text: Charlotte Vega was born in Madrid and raised in London. Her parents are both British-born, although her paternal grandparents were from Andalusia. As a child, her father spoke Spanish to Charlotte and her brother, while her mother spoke English. When asked about her background, she said in a 2018 interview: "I feel very Spanish at times and then other times I’ll feel very British. Sometimes Spanish people can be very touchy and overly friendly and I can feel a bit more distant. Other times, I’ll be with British people and think, oh they’re very cold and distant and need some more Spanish in them!”


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is an agrarian political party in Australia. It was founded by Bob Katter, an independent and former Nationals MP for the seat of Kennedy, with a registration application lodged to the Australian Electoral Commission in 2011.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: Katter has been re-elected under the party's label at the 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2022 federal elections. The party also won two seats at the 2012 Queensland state election which it retained at the 2015 state election. The party won an additional seat at the 2017 state election which it retained at the 2020 state election.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: In June 2018, independent and former One Nation Senator for Queensland Fraser Anning joined the party, but was expelled in October 2018 for his inflammatory rhetoric concerning immigration. In February 2020, Bob Katter handed the leadership of the party to his son Robbie Katter, a Queensland state MP.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: The party's application for registration was denied by the Australian Electoral Commission on 17 August 2011, on the grounds that the intended party name ("The Australian Party") was too generic and likely to cause confusion. On 27 September 2011, Katter's Australian Party was registered by the Australian Electoral Commission. Although the party was unsuccessful in registering the shorter party name "The Australian Party" nationally, its simultaneous application to register in Queensland with the abbreviated name succeeded, despite a few public objections.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: Under Queensland electoral law the party appears on the state election ballots only under its abbreviated name. To avoid ballot-box party names varying across Australian states, the KAP unsuccessfully appealed to the courts to have ballots reprinted so that the full party name and not the abbreviated one would appear on ballots for the 2012 Queensland state election.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: The KAP is orientated towards right-wing and agrarian issues. It has also been described as conservative, socially conservative, right-wing populist, and nationalist. Regarding fiscal issues, it supports protectionism, economic nationalism, and a developmentalist vision towards the implementation of tariffs. It advocates for North Queensland statehood.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: In the 2013 federal election, Katter's Australian Party received 1.04% of the nationwide vote in first preferences in the lower house, and 0.89% nationwide in the Senate. Its best performing state was Queensland with 3.75% of the lower-house vote and 2.94% of the Senate vote.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: In the 2016 federal election, Katter's Australian Party received 0.54% of the nationwide vote in first preferences in the lower house, and 0.38% nationwide in the Senate. Bob Katter retained his seat of Kennedy, with a swing of 8.93% towards him. The party's next-best finish was in the Division of Capricornia, where Laurel Carter polled 7.08 percent of the vote.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: On 7 July 2016, while counting for the election was still underway and the final result uncertain, Katter announced that he would provide confidence and supply to the Turnbull Government in the event that it was reduced to minority government. It proved unnecessary, as the Coalition finished with a one-seat majority. In August 2017, during the parliamentary eligibility crisis, Katter announced that he could not guarantee confidence and supply if the government lost its majority.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: The party fielded candidates at the 2012 Queensland state election. Queensland Independent MP Rob Messenger had expressed interest in joining the party, however following the merger with the Queensland Party, Messenger declared he would not join the new party as it intended to run against sitting independents at the election.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: On 9 August 2011, Katter's Australian Party announced plans to merge with state Beaudesert MP Aidan McLindon's Queensland Party, with Katter's Australian Party as the surviving entity. As part of the deal, McLindon became the merged party's leader in Queensland.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: On 30 October 2011, McLindon was joined by Shane Knuth, the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) member for Dalrymple. Knuth, who was from the National half of the merger, objected to what he saw as a reduced voice for regional MPs in the merged party, calling it a Liberal takeover even though the merged party was dominated by former Nationals. He was also displeased with a number of tactics adopted by the LNP's organisational wing, such as grilling potential candidates and maintaining files about Labor MPs containing compromising information.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: In the 2012 Queensland state election, the party contested 76 of the 89 seats in the state legislature. Robbie Katter won Mount Isa—which is virtually coextensive with the western portion of his father's federal seat—while Knuth retained Dalrymple. McLindon was defeated in Beaudesert. Katter claimed that the Electoral Commission's decision not to print his name on the ballot cost the party 8.5% of the vote.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: On 25 November 2012, the party was joined by Condamine LNP MP Ray Hopper. Like Knuth, Hopper is from the National side of the merger. As Knuth had a year earlier, Hopper claimed that the LNP had been a takeover by the old Liberal Party at the expense of the National Party, and accused the LNP of deliberately purging National influence from the party. Hopper claimed to have spoken to eight other LNP backbenchers who were considering defection. On 29 November Hopper was elected as the party's Queensland state leader.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: In the 2015 Queensland state election, the party contested 11 of the 89 seats, with Knuth and Katter retaining their seats, but Hopper failed in a bid for the seat of Nanango. Due to the election's close-run result (44 Labor to 42 LNP with either needing 45), KAP was potentially in a situation to choose the government, and met with both parties and published a list of 28 demands. However, as independent MP Peter Wellington elected to support Labor on confidence and supply, this did not proceed further.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: In the 2017 Queensland state election, Shane Knuth won Hill, Robbie Katter won Traeger and increased their seat numbers to 3 with Nick Dametto winning Hinchinbrook. They also became the 3rd largest party in the Queensland Parliament.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: The Tasmanian Branch, led by Glenorchy Alderman Jenny Branch-Allen, claimed to have received many expressions of interest by potential candidates for the 2013 federal election.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: Ann Bressington, an independent (and formerly No Pokies) member of the South Australian Legislative Council, announced in October 2013 that she would sponsor registration for the party at the 2014 state election, although she did not join the party herself.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: In February 2014, the Country Alliance announced that it would merge with the Victorian Branch of Katter's Australian Party for the upcoming 2014 state election, following confirmation at an extraordinary general meeting of the party. The merged parties plan to contest the election as the "Australian Country Alliance".


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: For the 2016–2017 financial year, the ten largest disclosed donors to the party were: NIOA (firearms manufacturer) ($191,667), United Petroleum ($150,000), Eliza Nioa ($58,333), Sporting Shooters Association of Australia ($50,000), Glencore Australia ($20,000), Stephen Curley ($17,600), Taxi Owner & Driver Welfare Association ($16,145), Taxi Council of Queensland ($15,000), Firearms Dealers Association ($8,000) and Windlab ($6,000).


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: A 2019 report revealed that Katter's Australian Party has taken more than $808,760 from pro-gun groups during the 2011-2018 period. The party received the most disclosed pro-gun donations of all Australian political parties.


title: Katter's Australian Party

text: In 2021, KAP appointed Chris Carney as its president. Carney is a business leader in the automotive industry, based in North Queensland.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: "Marco" is the tenth and final episode of the first season of the American television drama series "Better Call Saul", the spinoff series of "Breaking Bad". Written and directed by series co-creator Peter Gould, "Marco" aired on AMC in the United States on April 6, 2015. Outside of the United States, the episode premiered on streaming service Netflix in several countries.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: In a flashback to 1992, Jimmy McGill has been released from jail with Chuck McGill's help. Jimmy agrees to Chuck's demand that he move to Albuquerque to live an honest life. Before leaving Cicero, Illinois, he goes to a favorite bar to say goodbye to Marco Pasternak, his partner in crime.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: Jimmy gives the Sandpiper case to HHM and reveals he figured out Chuck was sabotaging his career. Howard Hamlin apologizes for his involvement and gives Jimmy his $20,000 counsel fee. Jimmy requests that Howard take over caring for Chuck.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: Jimmy calls bingo at the local senior center. After an improbable string of numbers beginning with "B", he fixates on words beginning with that letter which remind him of Chuck. Jimmy rants about taking revenge in Illinois against someone named Chet by defecating through the sunroof of Chet's car (the "Chicago Sunroof") without realizing Chet's children were in the back seat. Facing the possibility of registering as a sex offender if convicted, Jimmy asked Chuck for help. Chuck got the charges dropped but Jimmy blames this event for their feud.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: Jimmy returns to Cicero and reunites with Marco. After running a scam on an unsuspecting businessman, they spend several days running cons. At the end of the week, Jimmy explains he is an attorney and must return to Albuquerque to see to his clients. Marco convinces Jimmy to stay for one last con. While running the scam, Marco suffers a heart attack and dies. Jimmy inherits Marco's pinky ring, which he begins to wear even though it is too big.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: Kim Wexler calls Jimmy to report the Sandpiper case has grown too big for HHM, requiring them to partner with Davis & Main. Because of Jimmy's rapport with the clients, D&M is interested in hiring him. Jimmy arranges to meet the D&M partners at the courthouse but changes his mind and drives away. He stops to ask Mike why they did not keep the money they took from the Kettlemans. Mike Ehrmantraut recalls Jimmy did not take it because he wanted to do the "right thing" and says he did not because Jimmy hired him to do a job and he did it. Jimmy assures Mike he will not make the same mistake again and drives off while humming "Smoke on the Water", the song Marco was humming just before he died.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: This episode was written and directed by series co-creator Peter Gould, who also wrote "Uno" and "Mijo" earlier this season.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: The fictitious Equatorial Uqbar Orbis that Jimmy mentions during a scam is a reference to the Jorge Luis Borges story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: During the montage of scams, Marco speaks the line, "Hey, kid, help me get my wife's car out of this bad neighborhood."


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: In the episode, a woman who had sex with Jimmy after he tricked her into thinking he was Kevin Costner realizes he is not. This is a reference to the "Breaking Bad" episode "Abiquiu", where Saul (Jimmy) tells Walter White, "I once told a woman I was Kevin Costner, and it worked because I believed it."


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: Upon airing, the episode received 2.53 million American viewers, and an 18-49 rating of 1.2; including Live+7 ratings, the finale was watched by 5.76 million viewers, and had a 2.8 18-49 rating overall.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: The episode received a highly positive reception from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, based on 27 reviews, it received an 89% approval rating with an average score of 8.55 out of 10. The site's consensus reads, "The investment into Better Call Saul's first season pays off with a finale that is at once comic and tragic, as Jimmy's conversion to Saul nears completion."


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: Roth Cornet of IGN gave the episode a 9.0 rating, concluding, "Better Call Saul gave us an exemplary first season of television. The finale brought us to the moment where Jimmy made the decision to abandon his attempt to walk a righteous path and, instead, give over to his baser drives and desires. A more open-ended conclusion may have felt more emotionally impactful. On the whole, though, this was a gorgeously designed and executed episode; one that leaves enough room for – what we hope will be – an equally extraordinary second season." "The Telegraph" rated the episode 4 out of 5 stars.


title: Marco (Better Call Saul)

text: At the 67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Kelley Dixon and Chris McCaleb were nominated for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series for their work on this episode, while Phillip W. Palmer, Larry Benjamin, and Kevin Valentine were nominated for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series.


title: Resin identification code

text: The ASTM International Resin Identification Coding System, often abbreviated RIC, is a set of symbols appearing on plastic products that identify the plastic resin out of which the product is made. It was developed in 1988 by the Society of the Plastics Industry (now the Plastics Industry Association) in the United States, but since 2008 it has been administered by ASTM International, an international standards organization.


title: Resin identification code

text: The US Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) first introduced the system in 1988 as the "Voluntary Plastic Container Coding System". The SPI stated that one purpose of the original SPI code was to "Provide a consistent national system to facilitate recycling of post-consumer plastics." The system has been adopted by a growing number of communities implementing recycling programs, as a tool to assist in sorting plastics. In order to deal with the concerns of recyclers across the U.S., the RIC system was designed to make it easier for workers in materials recovery and recycling facilities to sort and separate items according to their resin type. Plastics must be recycled separately, with other like materials, in order to preserve the value of the recycled material, and enable its reuse in other products after being recycled.


title: Resin identification code

text: In its original form, the symbols used as part of the RIC consisted of arrows that cycle clockwise to form a triangle that encloses a number.


title: Resin identification code

text: The numbers also indicate general ease (and thus, cost-effectiveness) of recycling, with 1 being the easiest and 6 and 7 being very difficult.


title: Resin identification code

text: When a number is omitted, the arrows arranged in a triangle resemble the universal recycling symbol, a generic indicator of recyclability. Subsequent revisions to the RIC have replaced the arrows with a solid triangle, in order to address consumer confusion about the meaning of the RIC, and the fact that the presence of a RIC symbol on an item does not necessarily indicate that it is recyclable.


title: Resin identification code

text: In 2008, ASTM International took over the administration of the RIC system and eventually issued ASTM D7611—Standard Practice for Coding Plastic Manufactured Articles for Resin Identification. In 2013 this standard was revised to change the graphic marking symbol of the RIC from the "chasing arrows" of the Recycling Symbol to a solid triangle instead.


title: Resin identification code

text: Since its introduction, the RIC has often been used as a signifier of recyclability, but the presence of a code on a plastic product does not necessarily indicate that it is recyclable any more than its absence means the plastic object is necessarily "un"recyclable.


title: Resin identification code

text: In the United States, use of the RIC in the coding of plastics has led to ongoing consumer confusion about which plastic products are recyclable. When many plastics recycling programs were first being implemented in communities across the United States, only plastics with RICs "1" and "2" (polyethylene terephthalate and high-density polyethylene, respectively) were accepted to be recycled. The list of acceptable plastic items has grown since then, and in some areas municipal recycling programs can collect and successfully recycle most plastic products regardless of their RIC. This has led some communities to instruct residents to refer to the form of packaging (i.e. "bottles", "tubs", "lids", etc.) when determining what to include in a curbside recycling bin, rather than instructing them to rely on the RIC. To further alleviate consumer confusion, the American Chemistry Council launched the "Recycling Terms & Tools" program to promote standardized language that can be used to educate consumers about how to recycle plastic products.


title: Resin identification code

text: However, even when it is technically possible to recycle a particular plastic, it is often economically unfeasible to recycle it, and this can mislead consumers into thinking that more plastic is recycled than really is. In the U.S. in 2018, only 8.5% of plastic waste was recycled.


title: Resin identification code

text: Modifications to the RIC are currently being discussed and developed by ASTM's D20.95 subcommittee on recycled plastics.


title: Resin identification code

text: In the U.S. the Sustainable packaging Coalition has also created a "How2Recycle" label in an effort to replace the RIC with a label that aligns more closely with how the public currently uses the RIC. Rather than indicating what type of plastic resin a product is made out of, the four "How2Recycle" labels indicate whether a plastic product is


title: Resin identification code

text: The "How2Recycle" labels also encourage consumers to check with local facilities to see what plastics each municipal recycling facility can accept.


title: Resin identification code

text: The different resin identification codes can be represented by Unicode icons ♳ (U+2673), ♴ (U+2674), ♵ (U+2675), ♶ (U+2676), ♷ (U+2677), ♸ (U+2678), and ♹ (U+2679). ♺ (U+267A) is the portion of the symbol without the number or abbreviation.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (; ; 14 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, theologian, and occult writer. Agrippa's "Three Books of Occult Philosophy" published in 1533 drew heavily upon Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and neo-Platonism. His book was widely influential among occultists of the early modern period, and was condemned as heretical by the inquisitor of Cologne.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: Agrippa was born in Nettersheim, near Cologne on 14 September 1486 to a family of middle nobility. Many members of his family had been in the service of the House of Habsburg. Agrippa studied at the University of Cologne from 1499 to 1502, (age 13–16) when he received the degree of "magister artium". The University of Cologne was one of the centers of Thomism, and the faculty of arts was split between the dominant Thomists and the Albertists. It is likely that Agrippa's interest in the occult came from this Albertist influence. Agrippa himself named Albert’s "Speculum" as one of his first occult study texts. He later studied in Paris, where he apparently took part in a secret society involved in the occult.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: In 1508 Agrippa traveled to Spain to work as a mercenary. He continued his travels by way of Valencia, the Baleares, Sardinia, Naples, Avignon, and Lyon. He served as a captain in the army of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, who awarded him the title of "Ritter" or knight.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: Agrippa's academic career began in 1509, receiving the patronage of Margaret of Austria, governor of Franche-Comté, and Antoine de Vergy, archbishop of Besançon and chancellor of the University of Dole. He was given the opportunity to lecture a course at the University on Hebrew scholar Johann Reuchlin's "De verbo mirifico". At Dôle, Agrippa wrote "De nobilitate et praecellentia foeminae sexus" (On the Nobility and Excellence of the Feminine Sex), a work that aimed at proving the superiority of women using cabalistic ideas. The book was probably intended to impress Margaret. Agrippa’s lectures received attention, and he was given a doctorate in theology because of them. He was, however, denounced by the Franciscan prior Jean Catilinet as a "Judaizing heretic", and was forced to leave Dôle in 1510.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: In the winter of 1509-1510 Agrippa returned to Germany and studied with Humanist Johannes Trithemius at Würzburg. On 8 April 1510 he dedicated the then unpublished first draft of "De occulta philosophia" ("On the Occult Philosophy") to Trithemius, who recommended that Agrippa keep his occult studies secret. Proceeding to the Netherlands he took service again with Maximilian. In 1510 the king sent Agrippa on a diplomatic mission to England, where he was the guest of the Humanist and Platonist John Colet, dean of St Paul's Cathedral, and where he replied to the accusations brought against him by Catilinet ("Expostulatio super Expositione sua in librum De verbo mirifico"). In the reply he argued that his Christian faith was not incompatible with his appreciation for Jewish thought, writing "I am a Christian, but I do not dislike Jewish Rabbis". Agrippa then returned to Cologne and gave disputations at the university's faculty of theology.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: Agrippa followed Maximilian to Italy in 1511, and as a theologian attended the schismatic council of Pisa (1512), which was called by some cardinals in opposition to a council called by Pope Julius II. He remained in Italy for seven years, partly in the service of William IX, Marquess of Montferrat, and partly in that of Charles III, Duke of Savoy, probably occupied in teaching theology and practicing medicine. During his time in northern Italy Agrippa came into contact with Agostino Ricci and perhaps Paolo Ricci, and studied the works of philosophers Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, and the kabbalah. In 1515 he lectured at the University of Pavia on the Pimander of Hermes Trismegistus, but these lectures were abruptly terminated owing to the victories of Francis I, King of France.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: In 1518 the efforts of one or other of his patrons secured for Agrippa the position of town advocate and orator, or syndic, at Metz. Here, as at Dôle, his opinions soon brought him into collision with the monks, and his defense of a woman accused of witchcraft involved him in a dispute with the inquisitor, Nicholas Savin. The consequence of this was that in 1520 he resigned his office and returned to Cologne, where he stayed about two years. He then practiced for a short time as a physician at Geneva and Freiburg, but in 1524 went to Lyons on being appointed physician to Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I. In 1528 he gave up this position, and about this time was invited to take part in the dispute over the legality of the divorce of Catherine of Aragon by Henry VIII; but he preferred an offer made by Margaret, duchess of Savoy and regent of the Netherlands, and became archivist and historiographer to the emperor Charles V.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: Margaret's death in 1530 weakened his position, and the publication of some of his writings about the same time aroused anew the hatred of his enemies; but after suffering a short imprisonment for debt at Brussels he lived at Cologne and Bonn, under the protection of Hermann of Wied, archbishop of Cologne. By publishing his works he brought himself into antagonism with the Inquisition, which sought to stop the printing of "De occulta philosophia". He then went to France, where he was arrested by order of Francis I for some disparaging words about the queen-mother; but he was soon released, and on 18 February 1535 died at Grenoble. He was married three times and had a large family.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: During his wandering life in Germany, France, and Italy, Agrippa worked as a theologian, physician, legal expert, and soldier. Agrippa was for some time in the service of Maximilian I, probably as a soldier in Italy, but devoted his time mainly to the study of the occult sciences and to problematic theological legal questions, which exposed him to various persecutions through life, usually in the mode described above: He would be privately denounced for one sort of heresy or another. He would only reply with venom considerably later (Nauert demonstrates this pattern effectively).


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: No evidence exists that Agrippa was seriously accused, much less persecuted, for his interest in or practice of magical or occult arts during his lifetime, although it was known he argued against the persecution of witches. It is impossible, of course, to cite negatively, but Nauert, the best bio-bibliographical study to date, shows no indication of such persecution, and Van der Poel's careful examination of the various attacks suggest that they were founded on quite other theological grounds.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: According to some scholarship: "As early as 1525 and again as late as 1533 (two years before his death) Agrippa clearly and unequivocally rejected magic in its totality, from its sources in imagined antiquity to contemporary practice." Some aspects remain unclear, but some believe this renunciation was sincere (not out of fear, as a parody, or otherwise). Recent scholarship (see Further Reading below, in Lehrich, Nauert, and Van der Poel) generally agrees that this rejection or repudiation of magic is not what it seems: Agrippa never rejected magic in its totality, but he did retract his early manuscript of the "Occult Philosophy" – to be replaced by the later form.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: According to his student Johann Weyer, in the 1563 book "De praestigiis daemonum", Agrippa died in Grenoble, in 1535. Augustin Calmet wrote that Agrippa had a dog that jumped into the Rhone as his master neared death causing many to believe it was a demon.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: Rabanus also, a famous Doctor, composed an excellent book of the vertues of numbers: But now how great vertues numbers have in nature, is manifest in the hearb which is called Cinquefoil, i.e. five leaved Grass; for this resists poysons by vertue of the number of five; also drives away divells, conduceth to expiation; and one leafe of it taken twice in a day in wine, cures the Feaver of one day: three the tertian Feaver: foure the quartane. In like manner four grains of the seed of Turnisole being drunk, cures the quartane, but three the tertian. In like manner Vervin is said to cure Feavers, being drunk in wine, if in tertians it be cut from the third joynt, in quartans from the fourth.


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: The book was a major influence on such later magical thinkers as Giordano Bruno and John Dee, but was ill-understood after the decline of the Occult Renaissance concomitant with the scientific revolution. The book (whose early draft, quite different from the final form, circulated in manuscript long before it was published) is often cited in discussions of Albrecht Dürer's famous engraving Melencolia I (1514). (Note that "Philosophy of Natural Magic: Complete Work on Natural Magic, White & Black Magic", 1569, , is simply book 1 of "De occulta philosophia libri tres.")


title: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

text: A spurious "Fourth book of occult philosophy", sometimes called "Of Magical Ceremonies", has also been attributed to him; this book first appeared in Marburg in 1559 and is not believed to have been written by Agrippa.


title: Europol

text: The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, better known under the name Europol, formerly the European Police Office and Europol Drugs Unit, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU) formed in 1998 to handle criminal intelligence and combat serious international organised crime and terrorism through cooperation between competent authorities of EU member states. The Agency has no executive powers, and its officials are not entitled to arrest suspects or act without prior approval from competent authorities in the member states. Seated in The Hague, it had 1,432 staff members in 2022.


title: Europol

text: Europol has its origins in TREVI, a forum for security cooperation created amongst European Community interior and justice ministers in 1976. At first, TREVI focused on international terrorism, but soon started to cover other areas of cross-border crime within the Community. At the European Summit in Luxembourg on 28–29 June 1991, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl called for the creation of a European police agency similar to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)—thus sowing the seeds of police co-operation across Europe. At the Summit, the European Council agreed to establish "a Central European Criminal Investigations Office (Europol) by 31 December 1993 the latest."


title: Europol

text: The idea of the Luxembourg Summit was further elaborated at the European Council in Maastricht on 9–10 December 1991, a meeting to draft the Maastricht Treaty. The European Council agreed to create "a European police office (Europol) the initial function of which would be to organize exchange of information on narcotic drugs". The Council likewise instructed TREVI ministers to take measures in setting up the office. On 7 February 1992, Europol was enshrined with more substance in Article K.1, section 9, as the Maastricht Treaty was signed:[...] Member States shall regard the following areas as matters of common interest: [...] police cooperation for the purposes of preventing and combatting terrorism, unlawful drug trafficking and other serious forms of international crime, including if necessary certain aspects of customs cooperation, in connection with the organization of a Union-wide system for exchanging information within a European Police Office (Europol).Europol was first de facto organised provisionally in 1993 as the Europol Drugs Unit (EDU) in Strasbourg at the same site as the Schengen Information System was hosted. The small initial group started operations there in January 1994 under the leadership of Jürgen Storbeck and with a mandate to assist national police forces in criminal investigations. The competition for the permanent site of Europol during the period was between The Hague, Rome and Strasbourg—the European Council decided on 29 October 1993 that Europol should be established in The Hague. A former Catholic boys school built in 1910 at Raamweg 47 was chosen as the precise location. The house was used in World War II by police and intelligence agencies and after the War manned by the Dutch State Intelligence Service until Europol relocated there later in 1994.


title: Europol

text: The Europol Convention was signed on 26 July 1995 in Brussels and came into force on 1 October 1998 after being ratified by all the Member States. The European Police Office (Europol) commenced its full activities on 1 July 1999.


title: Europol

text: Europol was fully integrated into the European Union with Council Decision 2009/371/JHA of 6 April 2009. It replaced the Europol Convention and reformed Europol as an EU agency (i.e. subject to the general rules and procedures applicable to all EU agencies) on 1 January 2010 due to different aspirations, such as enhanced support to Member States on countering serious and organised crime, budgetary control by the European Parliament, and administrative simplification.


title: Europol

text: The Agency's new 32 000 m headquarters building, designed by Frank Wintermans, was opened by, then Queen, now Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands on 1 July 2011 in the international zone of The Hague next to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) at Eisenhowerlaan 73.


title: Europol

text: On 11 January 2013, Director Rob Wainwright and European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström launched the "European Cybercrime Centre" (EC3 or EC), a unit of Europol tasked with assisting Member States to dismantle and disrupt cybercrime committed by organised groups to generate large criminal profits (e.g. online fraud), causing serious harm to victims (e.g. online child sexual exploitation) or affecting critical infrastructure and systems in the EU. The purpose of the centre is to coordinate cross-border law enforcement activities against cybercrime and act as a centre of technological expertise, such as tool development and training. Commissioner Malmström stated that the need for a cybercrime centre in Europe was "to protect the open and free internet". On 25 January 2016, the European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) was launched as a new strategic platform within Europol to share information among EU states in tracking movements of Europeans into and from Syria as well as to monitor terrorists' finances and militants' Internet usage.


title: Europol

text: When the UK exercised its opt-out from the area of freedom, security and justice in 2014, its request to continue participating in Europol was approved.


title: Europol

text: Denmark was not permitted to participate in the 2016 recast Europol Regulation due to its opt-out from the area of freedom, security and justice. In a December 2015 referendum it rejected converting its opt-out to a case-by-case opt-in, which would have allowed it to participate in the new regulation and remain a member of Europol. However, Denmark and the European Union agreed on a co-operation deal in December 2016. The agreement was accepted by both the European Parliament and the Danish Parliament on 27 April 2017 and subsequently signed on 29 April 2017—two days before Denmark would have been cut off from the Agency.


title: Europol

text: The UK also did not originally participate in the recast 2016 Europol Regulation, but subsequently notified the EU of its desire to participate in December 2016. Its participation was confirmed by a Commission Decision in March 2017. In September 2017, it was reported that the United Kingdom was planning to hold onto Europol access, such as intelligence sharing and co-operation in fighting crime and terrorism, after Brexit though a new treaty. However, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said in November 2017 that the UK "will no longer be a member of the European Defence Agency or Europol" after Brexit takes effect.


title: Europol

text: The European Parliament approved Europol's new legal framework, Regulation (EU) 2016/794, on 11 May 2016 after three years of negotiations and thus repealed the former Decisions of 2009. The new framework granted additional powers on counter-terrorism to Europol, but also includes adding training and exchange programmes for staff, creating a solid data protection system, and strengthening the Parliament's control over the Agency. The Regulation took effect on 1 May 2017. Additionally, the full name was amended to European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol).


title: Europol

text: Europol started the Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object campaign and website on 31 May 2017. The site's objective is to display objects in child sexual abuse images to try to find the perpetrators and victims — in the hope that distinct details, such as a logo on a bag or a shampoo bottle, can be identified by the public who can then forward the information by an anonymous tip-off or social media. The approach was called crowdsourcing by the investigators. Bellingcat, the investigative search network, reported that several objects had been positively identified following its attempt to support Europol's call.


title: Europol

text: Europol is mandated by the European Union (EU) to assist EU Member States in the fight against international crime, such as illicit drugs, trafficking in human beings, intellectual property crime, cybercrime, euro counterfeiting and terrorism, by serving as a centre for law enforcement co-operation, expertise and criminal intelligence. Europol or its officials do not have executive powers — and therefore they do not have powers of arrest and cannot carry out investigations without the approval of national authorities.


title: Europol

text: Europol reported it would focus on countering cybercrime, organised crime, and terrorism as well as on building its information technology capacities during the 2016–2020 strategy cycle, . Europol likewise stated that the previous strategy cycle of 2010–2014 laid the foundation for the Agency as the European criminal information hub. The EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) of 2017 identified eight priority crime areas: cybercrime; drug production, trafficking and distribution; migrant smuggling; organised property crime; trafficking in human beings; criminal finances and money laundering; document fraud; and online trade in illicit goods and services.


title: Europol

text: Additionally, the Agency's tasked activities in detail include analysis and exchange information, such as criminal intelligence; co-ordination of investigative and operational action as well as joint investigation teams; preparation of threat assessments, strategic and operational analyses and general situation reports; and developing specialist knowledge of crime prevention and forensic methods. Europol is to coordinate and support other EU bodies established within the area of freedom, security and justice, such as the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), and EU crisis management missions. The Agency is also directed to assist the European Council and the European Commission in developing strategic and operational priorities.


title: Europol

text: Europol has published the annual "Terrorism Situation and Trend Report" (TE-SAT), since 2007. This report provides an overview of terrorism within the EU over the previous year. It includes statistics on foiled, failed and completed terrorist attacks, arrests, and the number of deaths and injuries caused by terrorism within the 13 member states.


title: Europol

text: On 4 May 2020, Europol launched the new European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC). The Centre aims to enhance the operational support provided to the EU Member States and EU bodies in the fields of financial and economic crime and promote the systematic use of financial investigations.


title: Europol

text: The new EFECC has been set up within the current organisational structure of Europol that is already playing an important part in the European response to financial and economic crime and will be staffed with 65 international experts and analysts.


title: Europol

text: In the financial year 2017, the Agency's budget was approximately 116.4 million euros. As of December 2016, Europol has 1065 staff, of which 32.3% are female and 67.7% male, including employment contracts with Europol, liaison officers from Member States and third states and organisations, Seconded National Experts, trainees and contractors. Of the staff, 201 are liaison officers and around 100 analysts. In addition to the Management Board and Liaison Bureaux, Europol is organised into three different departments under the Executive Director:


title: Europol

text: The Europol Directorate"," day-to-day leadership of the Agency, is appointed by the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) for four-year terms. As of 2018, the agency is headed by executive director Catherine De Bolle. The Agency is accountable to and controlled by the Justice and Home Affairs Council. Together with the European Parliament, the Council approves Europol's budget and regulations related to its work. The Council forwards an annual special report to the European Parliament on the work of the Agency — and the Parliament also discharges Europol from its responsibility for managing a set budget. Before 2009, the Agency was an international body and thus the European Parliament lacked effective scrutiny powers over it. From 2009 to 2017, the European Parliament had been the sole organ in parliamentary control of Europol. The Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group (JPSG) was created at the EU Speakers Conference in Bratislava on 23–25 April 2017 to allow both the European Parliament and national EU parliaments to exert control over Europol.


title: Europol

text: The Europol Management Board comprises representatives from all of the Member States and from the European Commission, each having one vote. Decisions of the Board require a supermajority and it meets at least twice per year on Europol's current and future activities as well as on adopting the budget, programming material and general annual reports. The board forwards its decisions to the Justice and Home Affairs Council for perusal. The Management Board functions include data protection, internal audit and accountancy.


title: Europol

text: External financial oversight of the Agency is conducted by the European Court of Auditors (ECA); for example, ECA evaluated Europol in 2017 on anti-radicalization programmes. Internal control is carried out by the Internal Audit Service of the European Commission as well as by the Europol Management Board-appointed Internal Audit Function. The European Ombudsman is tasked with investigating complaints against EU institutions and bodies, including Europol, as well as assisting to create a more transparent, effective, accountable and ethical administration. , the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has been responsible for supervising the agency's data protection measures.


title: Europol

text: The Director of Europol is able to enter into agreements for Europol with other countries and international organizations. As of September 2017, Europol co-operates on an operational basis with Albania, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Denmark, Colombia, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States of America, and Interpol. Similarly, the Agency has strategic agreements with Armenia, Brazil, China, Russia, Turkey, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and World Customs Organization (WCO).


title: Decoupled

text: A misanthropic writer and his startup-founder wife juggle their impending divorce with the absurdities and annoyances of life in their affluent world.


title: Decoupled

text: The series opened to mixed review from critics, though the performances of the lead pair received praise. The show's creator, Manu Joseph, subsequently noted that 'liberal media' outlets targeted the show.


title: Decoupled

text: Within three days of release, the series became the leading Indian series on the platform of the week.


title: Angela Duckworth

text: Angela Lee Duckworth (born 1970) is an American academic, psychologist, and popular science author. She is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she studies grit and self-control. She is also the Founder and CEO of Character Lab, a not-for-profit whose mission is to advance the science and practice of character development.


title: Angela Duckworth

text: Duckworth was born in 1970 to Chinese immigrants. Her father Ying Kao Lee (1933-2020) was a chemist with DuPont and invented Lucite dispersion lacquer. She grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and graduated from Cherry Hill High School East.


title: Angela Duckworth

text: Duckworth earned a B.A. in Neurobiology at Harvard College in 1992. She then graduated from the University of Oxford in 1996 with an M.Sc. in neuroscience on a Marshall Scholarship, and from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 with a Ph.D. in psychology. She was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2013.


title: Angela Duckworth

text: After obtaining a master's degree, Duckworth was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. She quit about a year later to become a math teacher at Lowell High School (San Francisco).


title: Angela Duckworth

text: Duckworth's first book, "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance", was released in May 2016. It stayed on "The" "New York Times" bestseller list for 21 weeks. A review of the book in "The New York Times" called Duckworth "the psychologist who has made 'grit' the reigning buzzword in education-policy circles."


title: Angela Duckworth

text: Duckworth is best known for her research on grit, a strength she defines as passion and perseverance for long-term goals. She developed the Grit Scale, a measure of this construct.


title: Angela Duckworth

text: Duckworth has found grit to be a common factor among the high-achievers she has studied. Her work suggests that grit is unrelated to IQ but is closely related to conscientiousness. Grit has been studied across the lifespan, but Duckworth focuses primarily on how building grit can help adolescents. This falls under the umbrella of character education and the movement to expand school instruction beyond solely cognitive factors.


title: Angela Duckworth

text: Since the introduction of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, there has been a growing call for effective ways to measure character strengths. However, Duckworth herself has encouraged caution when applying and, especially, testing character in classrooms. One reason is that existing measures were designed for scientific purposes, and so as yet there are no reliable ways to measure grit in high-stakes situations, like college admissions or job applications.


title: Angela Duckworth

text: Some claim that focusing on grit would lead to the neglect of other important factors, like the positive socio-economic prerequisites necessary to deploy it. Duckworth has acknowledged the importance of environmental factors, saying that it's not that one matters more than the other but rather that they both matter: "The question is not whether we should concern ourselves with grit or structural barriers to achievement. In the most profound sense, both are important, and more than that, they are intertwined."


title: Angela Duckworth

text: Grit has had its share of critics. A 2017 meta-analysis found that "grit is only moderately correlated with performance and retention," and that it had not been adequately distinguished from several previously studied constructs, including conscientiousness, persistence, and industriousness. In a 2021 article, Duckworth acknowledged that she had misinterpreted the psychometric properties of her Grit scale.


title: Lachin corridor

text: The Lachin corridor (; or ; ) is a mountain road that links Armenia and the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Being the only road between these two territories, it is has been often described as a "lifeline" for the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. The corridor is "de jure" in the Lachin District of Azerbaijan, but is under the control of a Russian peacekeeping force as provided for in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh armistice agreement. The territory of the corridor covered the villages of Zabukh, Sus and the city of Lachin itself until 2022. On 26 August 2022, these settlements were transferred to Azerbaijani control. Four days later, a new route to the south was opened for use that bypasses the settlements of Zabukh, Sus and Lachin and instead passes by the villages of Mets Shen/Boyuk Galadarasi and Hin Shen/Kirov.


title: Lachin corridor

text: From 13th December 2022, a group of Azerbaijani citizens self-identifying as eco-activists blocked Lachin corridor, rendering 1,100 people, including 270 children, unable to return to their homes, This was followed by Azerbaijan cutting off the gas supply from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabach, putting the 120,000 Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh under risk of humanitarian crisis.


title: Lachin corridor

text: Being the only road that connects Nagorno-Karabakh to the Republic of Armenia, it has often been described as a "lifeline" to and for residents of Nagorno-Karabakh.


title: Lachin corridor

text: During the First Nagorno-Karabakh, the Lachin corridor was blockaded by Azerbaijani forces for four years. In June 1992, the corridor came under the control of the Artsakh Defence Army. For administration purposes, it was part of the Republic of Artsakh's Kashatagh Province. In a statement to the United Nations on 18 September 2005, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, said "It is the issue of communication of the Armenians living in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan with Armenia and that of the Azerbaijanis living in the Nakhchivan region of Azerbaijan with the rest of the country. We suggest the using of the so-called Lachin corridor – which should be called "Road of Peace" – by both sides in both directions provided that security of this road will be ensured by the multinational peacekeeping forces at the initial stage".


title: Lachin corridor

text: In the aftermath of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, which ended with a Russian-brokered armistice, the Lachin corridor became the sole connection between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.


title: Lachin corridor

text: According to the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, a new corridor was going to be built in the region as the Lachin corridor passes through the city of Lachin, and when this corridor is ready, the city will be returned to the Azerbaijani administration.


title: Lachin corridor

text: Following the ceasefire, around 200 Armenians remained in the Lachin corridor, with 30 of them in Sus, 100–120 in Lachin and over 40 in Zabukh (Aghavno).


title: Lachin corridor

text: In March 2021, a journalist for BBC visited the road, reporting that "since the war, Armenians have had no control over who and what uses this road", adding that the control is now up to the Russians.


title: Lachin corridor

text: In August 2022, Azerbaijan built its part of the road around Lachin, while Armenia did not yet. On 2 August, the local Armenian authorities reported that the Azerbaijani side had conveyed to them a demand to organize communication with Armenia along a different route, bypassing the existing one. Following the renewed clashes around Lachin, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, stated that Azerbaijan's demand for the Lachin corridor was unlawful, since the Armenian side has not yet agreed to any plan for the construction of a new road. Azerbaijan accused Armenia of delaying the construction of its part of the road, while the part for which Azerbaijan was responsible had already been built. On 4 August, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia, Gnel Sanosyan, stated that the construction of an alternative road to Lachin was actively underway and would be completed the spring of 2023. On 5 August, local Armenian authorities told the residents of Lachin, as well as Zabukh and Sus, to leave their homes by 25 August, after which the towns would be handed over to Azerbaijan. Some of the Armenian inhabitants burned their houses down. As of 26 August, Azerbaijan regained control of villages in the Lachin corridor, including Lachin, Sus, and Zabukh. Soon after, the planned alternate route to the south that passes by the villages of Mets Shen/Boyuk Galadarasi and Hin Shen/Kichik Galadarasi (formerly Kirov) was opened for use.


title: Lachin corridor

text: In December 2022, Azerbaijan blocked the corridor, creating a humanitarian catastrophe for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan's actions were condemned by the UN Secretary General, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Russia, Canada and a number of other countries.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Ramaswamy Venkataraman (, 4 December 191027 January 2009) was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist and politician who served as a Union Minister and as the eighth president of India.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Venkataraman was born in Rajamadam village in Tanjore district, Madras Presidency. He studied law and practised in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India. In his young age, he was an activist of the Indian independence movement and participated in the Quit India Movement. He was appointed as the member of the Constituent Assembly and the provisional cabinet. He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times and served as Union Finance Minister and Defence Minister. In 1984, he was elected as the seventh vice president of India and in 1987, he became the eighth President of India and served from 1987 to 1992. He also served as a State minister under K. Kamaraj and M. Bhaktavatsalam.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Venkataraman was born during the British colonial rule in Rajamadam village near in Pattukottai, near Tanjore district in Tamil Nadu in an Iyer family. He had a close friend in Rajamadam village named as Rajamadam Kannan Iyengar. He had his school education in Govt Boys Higher Secondary School, Pattukottai & Undergraduation in National College, Tiruchirappalli.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Educated locally and in the city of Madras (now Chennai), Venkataraman obtained his master's degree in economics from Loyola College, Madras. He later qualified in Law from the Law College, Madras. Venkataraman was enrolled in the Madras High Court in 1935 and in the Supreme Court in 1951.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: While practising law, Venkataraman was drawn into the movement for India's freedom from Britain's colonial subjugation. His active participation in the Indian National Congress's celebrated resistance to the British Government, the Quit India Movement of 1942, resulted in his detention for two years under the Defence of India Rules. Venkataraman's interest in the law continued during this period. In 1946, when the transfer of power from British to Indian hands was imminent, the Government of India included him in the panel of lawyers sent to Malaya and Singapore to defend Indian nationals charged with offences of collaboration during the Japanese occupation of those two places. In the years 1947 to 1950, Venkataraman served as Secretary of the Madras Provincial Bar Federation.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Law and trade activity led to Venkataraman's increasing association with politics. He was a member of constituent assembly that drafted India's constitution. In 1950, he was elected to free India's Provisional Parliament (1950–1952) and to the First Parliament (1952–1957). During his term of legislative activity, Venkataraman attended the 1952 Session of the Metal Trades Committee of International Labour Organisation as a workers' delegate. He was a member of the Indian Parliamentary Delegation to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in New Zealand. Venkataraman was also Secretary to the Congress Parliamentary Party in 1953–1954.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Although re-elected to Parliament in 1957, Venkataraman resigned his seat in the Lok Sabha to join the State Government of Madras as a Minister. There Shri Venkataraman held the portfolios of Industries, Labour, Cooperation, Power, Transport and Commercial Taxes from 1957 to 1967. During this time, he was also Leader of the Upper House, namely, the Madras Legislative Council.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Venkataraman was appointed as a Member of the Union Planning Commission in 1967 and was entrusted the subjects of Industry, Labour, power, Transport, Communications, Railways. He held that office until 1971. In 1977, Venkataraman was elected to the Lok Sabha from Madras (South) Constituency and served as an Opposition Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Venkataraman was also, variously, a member of the Political Affairs Committee and the Economic Affairs Committee of the Union Cabinet; Governor, International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Asian Development Bank. Venkataraman was a Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961. He was Leader of the Indian Delegation to the 42nd Session of the International Labour Conference at Geneva (1958) and represented India in the Inter Parliamentary Conference in Vienna (1978). He was a member of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal from 1955 to 1979 and was its President from 1968 to 1979.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: In 1980, Venkataraman was re-elected to the Lok Sabha and was appointed Union Minister of Finance in the Government headed by Smt. Indira Gandhi. He was later appointed Union Minister of Defence, here he is credited for initiating India's missile programme, he shifted A P J Abdul Kalam from space programme to the missile programme, and consolidated the entire missile system, naming it as Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Later he was to serve as Vice-President of India and then as a President of India starting 1987, where he worked with four prime ministers, and appointed three of them: V. P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar and P. V. Narasimha Rao, during his five-year term, which saw the advent of coalition politics in India. His successor S. D. Sharma was the only other Indian President in 20th Century to work with four prime ministers and appoint three of them.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Venkataraman received the Doctorate of Law (Honoris Causa) from the University of Madras. He is an Honorary Fellow, Madras Medical College; a Doctor of Social Sciences, University of Roorkee; Doctor of Law (Honoris Causa) from the University of Burdwan. He was awarded The Tamra Patra for participation in the freedom struggle, the Soviet Land Prize for his travelogue on K. Kamaraj's visit to the Socialist countries. He was the recipient of a Souvenir from the Secretary-General of the United Nations for distinguished service as President of the U.N. Administrative Tribunal. The title of "Sat Seva Ratna" was conferred on him by the Sankaracharya of Kancheepuram. He was a great devotee of the Paramacharya of Kanchi.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: On 12 January 2009, Venkataraman was admitted to the Army Hospital (Research and Referral ) with complaints of Urosepsis (sepsis caused by a urinary tract infection). His condition grew critical on 20 January, when he was detected with low blood pressure and E. coli tract infection.


title: Ramaswamy Venkataraman

text: Venkataraman died at the Army Hospital (was Research and Referral) New Delhi on 27 January 2009 at 14:30 IST due to multiple organ failure at the age of 98. Since he died on the day after Republic Day, some programmes coinciding it were cancelled to mark the respect towards the late former President. He was cremated with full state honours at Ekta Sthal near Raj Ghat. President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and various other leaders condoled his death.


title: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (United States)

text: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP or U.S. GAAP, pronounced like "gap") is the accounting standard adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). While the SEC previously stated that it intends to move from U.S. GAAP to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS); the latter standards differ considerably from GAAP, so progress has been slow and uncertain. More recently, the SEC has acknowledged that there is no longer a push to move more U.S companies to IFRS, so the two sets of standards will "continue to coexist" for the foreseeable future.


text: The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) published U.S. GAAP in Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) beginning in 2008.


text: Accounting standards have historically been set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) subject to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations. The AICPA first created the Committee on Accounting Procedure in 1939 and replaced that with the Accounting Principles Board in 1959. In 1973, the Accounting Principles Board was replaced by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) under the supervision of the Financial Accounting Foundation with the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council serving to advise and provide input on the accounting standards. Other organizations involved in determining United States accounting standards include the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), formed in 1984; and the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB), formed in 1990.


text: Circa 2008, the FASB issued the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, which reorganized the thousands of U.S. GAAP pronouncements into roughly 90 accounting topics.


text: In 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a preliminary "roadmap" that may lead the United States to abandon Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the future, and to join more than 100 countries around the world instead in using the London-based International Financial Reporting Standards. As of 2010, the convergence project was underway with the FASB meeting routinely with the IASB. The SEC expressed their aim to fully adopt International Financial Reporting Standards in the U.S. by 2014. With the convergence of the U.S. GAAP and the international IFRS accounting systems, as the highest authority over International Financial Reporting Standards, the International Accounting Standards Board is becoming more important in the United States.


text: To achieve basic objectives and implement fundamental qualities GAAP has four basic assumptions, four basic principles, and four basic constraints.


text: Under the AICPA's Code of Professional Ethics under Rule 203 – Accounting Principles, a member must depart from GAAP if following it would lead to a material misstatement on the financial statements, or otherwise be misleading. In the departure, the member must disclose, if practical, the reasons why compliance with the accounting principle would result in a misleading financial statement. Under Rule 203-1-Departures from Established Accounting Principles, the departures are rare, and usually take place when there is new legislation, the evolution of new forms of business transactions, an unusual degree of materiality, or the existence of conflicting industry practices.


text: The Codification is effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. All existing accounting standards documents are superseded as described in FASB Statement No. 168, The FASB Accounting Standards Codification and the Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. All other accounting literature not included in the Codification is non-authoritative.


text: The Codification reorganizes the thousands of U.S. GAAP pronouncements into roughly 90 accounting topics and displays all topics using a consistent structure. It also includes relevant Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), guidance that follows the same topical structure in separate sections in the Codification.


text: While the Codification does not change GAAP, it introduces a new structure—one that is organized in an easily accessible, user-friendly online research system. The FASB expects that the new system will reduce the amount of time and effort required to research an accounting issue, mitigate the risk of noncompliance with standards through improved usability of the literature, provide accurate information with real-time updates as new standards are released, and assist the FASB with the research efforts required during the standard-setting process.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: David Anthony Mack (born May 30, 1961) is a former professional runner and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer involved in the Rampart Division's Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) unit. He was one of the central figures in the LAPD Rampart police corruption scandal. Mack was arrested in December 1997 for robbery of $722,000 from a South Central Los Angeles branch of the Bank of America. He was sentenced to fourteen years and three months in federal prison. Mack has never revealed the whereabouts of the money.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: As an athlete, David Mack ran track for Locke High School and was champion at the CIF California State Meet at 880 yards for two years in a row.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: He attended the University of Oregon where he ran track with his high school rival Jeff West. After West transferred to UCLA, Mack considered following suit, but was convinced to stay at UO by coach Bill Dellinger. While in college, Mack dated later world record holder in the 100m & 200m, Flo Jo. In 1980, as a freshman in college, he finished sixth in the Olympic Trials. Mack won three Pac-10 conference titles in the 800 and in his junior year, the NCAA Division I Championship in the 800 meters.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: As a professional, Mack ran for Santa Monica Track Club. He qualified for the United States national team, running the 800 metres in the 1983 World Championships in Athletics but failed to advance to the final. He was the rabbit in Sydney Maree's 1500 meter world record and one week later rabbited Steve Ovett to surpass that record. A stress fracture in his shin caused him to fail to make it out of the heats at the 1984 USATF Championships. In 1985 he ran 1:43.35 seconds which at the time was the second fastest time ever by an American and still ranks 9th fastest. He failed to advance from the heats in the 800m at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics. Beset by fatigue from iron deficiency, his last professional race was in 1988.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: Mack joined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in 1988. He first worked as a patrol officer and then as an undercover narcotics officer. Mack next moved to a late shift in West Los Angeles in 1990, where he began a relationship with Errolyn Romero, a nineteen-year-old ticket taker at the Baldwin Theatre. Mack was awarded the LAPD Medal for Heroism in 1993 for shooting a drug dealer who reportedly threatened his partner, Rafael "Ray" Pérez, although the event described by the two was later discovered to be a lie, and that the officers additionally had planted a gun on the suspect.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: In August 1997, Romero became employed at a Bank of America branch near the University of Southern California campus. On November 6, 1997, Mack entered the bank and claimed he wanted to access his safe deposit box. Romero admitted him to the secure area, where he threw her to the floor and robbed the vault of $722,000.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: In her capacity as branch assistant manager, Romero had ordered double the usual amount of cash to be on hand at the bank on the day of the robbery. After one month of investigation, Romero confessed to her role in the crime and implicated Mack as the mastermind. He was arrested in December 1997. His two accomplices were never caught.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: Mack was sentenced to fourteen years and three months in prison and has never revealed the whereabouts of the money. He was released on May 14, 2010.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: According to the Tupac documentary "Assassination: Battle for Compton", citing official legal documents, a reliable jail informant by the name of Ken Boagni, who befriended Rafael Perez in prison, stated Perez claimed the money stolen in the bank robbery was intended to go to Harry Billups, also known as Amir Muhammed, who was friends with Mack, for allegedly carrying out the murder of late rapper Christopher Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls, because Billups was not paid in full by his contractors, namely Reggie Wright Jr. and David Kenner, because he failed to also murder Sean Combs, the second intended target. Boagni claimed both Perez and Mack were involved in the murder of Wallace, but Billups was the shooter.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: In April 2007, the estate of Christopher Wallace, a rapper who performed under the name The Notorious B.I.G., filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, which also named Mack, Pérez, and Nino Durden as defendants.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: The lawsuit alleged that the officers conspired to murder Wallace, and that Pérez and Mack were present the night of the drive-by shooting which claimed his life on March 9, 1997. In 2010, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit against the city and the officers.


title: David Mack (police officer)

text: In the biography film "City of Lies", David Mack is played by Shamier Anderson. The film features the 1997 bank robbery.


title: Discover Financial

text: Discover Financial Services is an American financial services company that owns and operates Discover Bank, which offers checking and savings accounts, personal loans, home equity loans, student loans and credit cards. It also owns and operates the Discover and Pulse networks, and owns Diners Club International. Discover Card is the third largest credit card brand in the United States, when measured by cards in force, with nearly 50 million cardholders. Discover is currently headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Riverwoods, Illinois.


title: Discover Financial

text: In 1981, Sears purchased the Dean Witter Reynolds brokerage firm organization and Coldwell, Banker & Company (real estate franchise) as an attempt to add financial services to its portfolio of customer services. In 1985, Sears also acquired the Greenwood Trust Company. Altogether, these companies operated as a Sears subsidiary called Dean Witter Financial Services Group, Inc. The plan to create a one-stop financial-services center in Sears stores was not as successful as Sears had hoped. Its credit card operations accounted for a loss of $22 million in the fourth quarter of 1986, and a loss of $25.8 million in the first quarter of 1987.


title: Discover Financial

text: On March 1, 1993, Sears sold off its financial services branch as a new independent publicly traded company called Dean Witter, Discover & Co. with Dean Witter Reynolds in charge. This company had a stock ticker symbol of DWD.


title: Discover Financial

text: In 1995, Discover Card Services, Inc. changed its name to NOVUS Services, Inc. to distinguish its network functions from the Discover Card.


title: Discover Financial

text: In 1997, this company merged with investment banking house Morgan Stanley to become Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Discover & Co.


title: Discover Financial

text: On February 1, 1999, the company rebranded itself as Discover Financial Services, Inc. The NOVUS logo was retired, replaced by the Discover Network logo.


title: Discover Financial

text: In April 2005, Morgan Stanley announced that it would divest Discover Financial Services as an independent company within six months. By June, industry sources reported that Morgan Stanley was reassessing its plan to spin off Discover. In August, the company confirmed it would not sell Discover. However, on December 19, 2006, during a fourth quarter earnings report, Morgan Stanley CEO John J. Mack announced Discover would be spun off as a standalone publicly traded company by the end of August 2007, stating that both companies will be better positioned for growth and success as separate entities. Ahead of schedule on June 30, 2007, Discover was spun off as an independent, publicly traded company. It began trading on the NYSE for the first time on July 2 as DFS.


title: Discover Financial

text: The Greenwood Trust Company was founded on August 30, 1911, and was based in Greenwood, Delaware. It was acquired in 1985 and renamed Discover Bank on August 1, 2000. Discover Bank is mainly an online financial institution that offers many financial services such as checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts. However the first and original location of the Greenwood Trust Company on 502 East Market Street is still operating and is the only physical banking location of Discover Bank. Discover Bank operates as a subsidiary of Discover Financial Services and is FDIC insured.


title: Discover Financial

text: In 2005, Discover Financial Services acquired Pulse, an interbank electronic funds transfer payments network. This allowed Pulse and its more than 4,000 member banks, credit unions, and savings institutions to join with the Discover Network's 4 million merchant and cash access locations. Additionally DFS now had the ability to market and issue debit and ATM cards. On February 13, 2006, DFS announced that it would begin offering Discover debit cards to other financial institutions, becoming the first credit card services company to compete directly with MasterCard and Visa in the rapidly growing signature debit market.


title: Discover Financial

text: In April 2008, Discover Financial and Citigroup announced that Discover was purchasing the Diners Club International network from Citigroup for $165 million. In May 2008, the Federal Trade Commission approved the transaction and it was finalized on July 1, 2008. Discover stated that the Diners Club network, which is a major network outside the United States, will be merged with the Discover Network, a major network in the United States. The creation of an international network for Discover and Diners Club cardholders allowed customers to expand their global reach. Diners Club cards will continue to be issued by Diners Club International licensees. At this time, Discover Bank has no plans on issuing Diners Club branded cards itself.