title: Historical GDP of China

text: China's nominal GDP surpassed that of Italy in 2000, France in 2005, the United Kingdom in 2006, Germany in 2007, Japan in 2010 and that of the Eurozone in 2018 making China the world's third largest economy after the European Union and United States. But adjusting for purchasing power parity (PPP), China became the world's second largest economy as early as 1999 surpassing Japan, and has toppled America to become the biggest economy since 2014.


title: Historical GDP of China

text: From 1979 until 2010, China's average annual GDP growth was 9.91%, reaching a historical high of 15.2% in 1984 and a record low of 3.8% in 1990. Based on the current price, the country's average annual GDP growth in these 32 years was 15.8%, reaching an historical high of 36.41% in 1994 and a record low of 6.25% in 1999.


title: Historical GDP of China

text: China's quarterly GDP estimation was formally established in 1992. Afterwards, following the development of SNA of China, quarterly GDP is successively standardized and improved in estimation methodology, accounting classification, accounting procedure, release time and data quality control. Accumulated quarterly GDP estimation is formed. Not only quarterly GDP estimation by industries is established but also quarterly GDP estimation at expenditure approach is being studied. the following is the quarterly GDP list.


title: Photorealism

text: Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can be used broadly to describe artworks in many different media, it is also used to refer specifically to a group of paintings and painters of the American art movement that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s.


title: Photorealism

text: As a full-fledged art movement, Photorealism evolved from Pop Art and as a counter to Abstract Expressionism as well as Minimalist art movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States. Photorealists use a photograph or several photographs to gather the information to create their paintings and it can be argued that the use of a camera and photographs is an acceptance of Modernism. However, the admittance to the use of photographs in Photorealism was met with intense criticism when the movement began to gain momentum in the late 1960s, despite the fact that visual devices had been used since the fifteenth century to aid artists with their work.


title: Photorealism

text: Louis K. Meisel states in his books and lectures the following: The invention of photography in the nineteenth century had three effects on art: portrait and scenic artists were deemed inferior to the photograph and many turned to photography as careers; within nineteenth- and twentieth-century art movements it is well documented that artists used the photograph as source material and as an aid—however, they went to great lengths to deny the fact fearing that their work would be misunderstood as imitations; and through the photograph's invention artists were open to a great deal of new experimentation. Thus, the culmination of the invention of the photograph was a break in art's history towards the challenge facing the artist—since the earliest known cave drawings—trying to replicate the scenes they viewed.


title: Photorealism

text: By the time the Photorealists began producing their bodies of work the photograph had become the leading means of reproducing reality and abstraction was the focus of the art world. Realism continued as an ongoing art movement, even experiencing a reemergence in the 1930s, but by the 1950s modernist critics and Abstract Expressionism had minimalized realism as a serious art undertaking. Though Photorealists share some aspects of American realists, such as Edward Hopper, they tried to set themselves as much apart from traditional realists as they did Abstract Expressionists. Photorealists were much more influenced by the work of Pop artists and were reacting against Abstract Expressionism.


title: Photorealism

text: Pop Art and photorealism were both reactionary movements stemming from the ever-increasing and overwhelming abundance of photographic media, which by the mid 20th century had grown into such a massive phenomenon that it was threatening to lessen the value of imagery in art. However, whereas the Pop artists were primarily pointing out the absurdity of much of the imagery (especially in commercial usage), the Photorealists were trying to reclaim and exalt the value of an image.


title: Photorealism

text: The association of photorealism with "trompe-l'œil" is a wrongly attributed comparison, an error in observation or interpretation made by many critics of the 1970s and 1980s. "Trompe-l'œil" paintings attempt to "fool the eye" and make the viewer think he is seeing an actual object, not a painted one. When observing a Photorealist painting, the viewer is always aware that they are looking at a painting.


title: Photorealism

text: The word "Photorealism" was coined by Louis K. Meisel in 1969 and appeared in print for the first time in 1970 in a Whitney Museum catalogue for the show "Twenty-two Realists." It is also sometimes labeled as Super-Realism, New Realism, Sharp Focus Realism, or Hyper-Realism.


title: Photorealism

text: Louis K. Meisel, two years later, developed a five-point definition at the request of Stuart M. Speiser, who had commissioned a large collection of works by the Photorealists, which later developed into a traveling show known as 'Photo-Realism 1973: The Stuart M. Speiser Collection', which was donated to the Smithsonian in 1978 and is shown in several of its museums as well as traveling under the auspices of 'site'. The definition for the 'originators' was as follows:


title: Photorealism

text: Photorealist painting cannot exist without the photograph. In Photorealism, change and movement must be frozen in time which must then be accurately represented by the artist. Photorealists gather their imagery and information with the camera and photograph. Once the photograph is developed (usually onto a photographic slide) the artist will systematically transfer the image from the photographic slide onto canvases. Usually this is done either by projecting the slide onto the canvas or by using traditional grid techniques. The resulting images are often direct copies of the original photograph but are usually larger than the original photograph or slide. This results in the photorealist style being tight and precise, often with an emphasis on imagery that requires a high level of technical prowess and virtuosity to simulate, such as reflections in specular surfaces and the geometric rigor of man-made environs.


title: Photorealism

text: The first generation of American Photorealists includes the painters Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close, Charles Bell, Audrey Flack, Don Eddy, Robert Bechtle, Ron Kleemann, Richard McLean, John Salt, , and Tom Blackwell. Often working independently of each other and with widely different starting points, these original Photorealists routinely tackled mundane or familiar subjects in traditional art genres--landscapes (mostly urban rather than naturalistic), portraits, and still lifes.


title: Photorealism

text: With the birth of the Photorealist movement, many painters who were related to Photorealism, continued to pursue and refine their techniques; they became the second generation of Photorealists. These painters included John Baeder, Hilo Chen, Jack Mendenhall, David Parrish and Idelle Weber.


title: Photorealism

text: In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, photorealist approaches were favoured by many artists including Mike Gorman and Eric Scott. The introduction of these European painters to a wider US audience was brought about through the 1982 'Superhumanism' exhibition at the Arnold Katzen Gallery, New York.


title: Photorealism

text: Though the movement is primarily associated with painting, Duane Hanson and John DeAndrea are sculptors associated with photorealism for their painted, lifelike sculptures of average people that were complete with simulated hair and real clothes. They are called "Verists."


title: Photorealism

text: Though the height of Photorealism was in the 1970s, the movement continues and includes several of the original photorealists as well as many of their contemporaries. According to Meisel and Chase's "Photorealism at the Millennium", only eight of the original thirteen photorealists were still creating Photorealist work in 2002. As of September 2020, Richard Estes is the only remaining original Photorealist actively working in the Photorealist style.


title: Photorealism

text: Artists Robert Bechtle, Charles Bell, Tom Blackwell, Ralph Goings, John Kacere, Ron Kleemann have died; Audrey Flack, Chuck Close, Don Eddy, and have moved away from Photorealism; and Robert Cottingham no longer considers himself a photorealist.


title: Photorealism

text: Newer Photorealists are building upon the foundations set by the original Photorealists. Examples would be the influence of Richard Estes in works by Anthony Brunelli or the influence of Ralph Goings and Charles Bell in works by Glennray Tutor. However, this has led many to move on from the strict definition of photorealism as the emulation of the photograph. Photorealism is also no longer simply an American art movement. Starting with Franz Gertsch in the 1980s Clive Head, Raphaella Spence, Bertrand Meniel, and Roberto Bernardi are several European artists associated with photorealism that have emerged since the mid-1990s. This internationalization of photorealism is also seen in photorealist events, such as The Prague Project, in which American and non-American photorealist painters have traveled together to locations including Prague, Zurich, Monaco and New York, to work alongside each other in producing work.


title: Photorealism

text: The evolution of technology has brought forth photorealistic paintings that exceed what was thought possible with paintings; these newer paintings by the photorealists are sometimes referred to as "Hyperrealism." With new technology in cameras and digital equipment, artists are able to be far more precision-oriented and can produce imagery using a wider range of media. The artist Bill Fink has developed his own technique for creating photorealistic images using soil, pollen, human hair, and cremated human remains.


title: Photorealism

text: Photorealism's influence and popularity continues to grow, with new books such as Juxtapoz's 2014 book entitled "Hyperreal" detailing current trends within the artistic genre.


title: Cobblestone

text: Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings.


title: Cobblestone

text: Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct from a cobblestone by being quarried or shaped to a regular form, whereas cobblestone is generally of a naturally occurring form and is less uniform in size.


title: Cobblestone

text: Cobblestones are typically either set in sand or similar material, or are bound together with mortar. Paving with cobblestones allows a road to be heavily used all year long. It prevents the build-up of ruts often found in dirt roads. It has the additional advantage of immediately draining water, and not getting muddy in wet weather or dusty in dry weather. Shod horses are also able to get better traction on stone cobbles, pitches or setts than tarmac or asphalt. The fact that carriage wheels, horse hooves and even modern automobiles make a lot of noise when rolling over cobblestone paving might be thought a disadvantage, but it has the advantage of warning pedestrians of their approach. In England, the custom was to strew straw over the cobbles outside the house of a sick or dying person to dampen the sound.


title: Cobblestone

text: Cobblestones set in sand have the environmental advantage of being permeable paving, and of moving rather than cracking with movements in the ground.


title: Cobblestone

text: Cobblestones were largely replaced by quarried granite setts (also known as Belgian block) in the nineteenth century. The word cobblestone is often used to describe such treatment. Setts were relatively even and roughly rectangular stones that were laid in regular patterns. They gave a smoother ride for carts than cobbles, although in heavily used sections, such as in yards and the like, the usual practice was to replace the setts by parallel granite slabs set apart by the standard axle length of the time.


title: Cobblestone

text: In England, it was commonplace since ancient times for flat stones with a flat narrow edge to be set on edge to provide an even paved surface. This was known as a 'pitched' surface and was common all over Britain, as it did not require rounded pebbles. Pitched surfaces predate the use of regularly-sized granite setts by more than a thousand years. Such pitched paving is quite distinct from that formed from rounded stones, although both forms are commonly referred to as 'cobbled' surfaces. Most surviving genuinely old 'cobbled' areas are in reality pitched surfaces. A cobbled area is known as a "causey", "cassay" or "cassie" in Scots (probably from "causeway").


title: Cobblestone

text: Cobblestoned and "setted" streets gradually gave way to macadam roads, and later to tarmac, and finally to asphalt concrete at the beginning of the 20th century. However, cobblestones are often retained in historic areas, even for streets with modern vehicular traffic. Many older villages and cities in Europe are still paved with cobblestones or pitched.


title: Cobblestone

text: In recent decades, cobblestones have become a popular material for paving newly pedestrianised streets in Europe. In this case, the noisy nature of the surface is an advantage as pedestrians can hear approaching vehicles. The visual cues of the cobblestones also clarify that the area is more than just a normal street. The use of cobblestones/setts is also considered to be a more "upmarket" roadway solution, having been described as "unique and artistic" compared to the normal asphalt road environment.


title: Cobblestone

text: In older U.S. cities such as Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, New Castle, Portland (Maine), Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans, many of the older streets are paved in cobblestones and setts (mostly setts); however, many such streets have been paved over with asphalt, which can crack and erode away due to heavy traffic, thus revealing the original stone pavement.


title: Cobblestone

text: In some places such as Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, as late as the 1990s some busy intersections still showed cobblestones through worn down sections of pavement. In Toronto streets using setts were used by streetcar routes and disappeared by the 1980s, but are still found in the Distillery District.


title: Cobblestone

text: Many cities in Latin America, such as Buenos Aires, Argentina; Zacatecas and Guanajuato, in Mexico; Old San Juan, Puerto Rico; Philippines, Vigan; and Montevideo, Uruguay, are well known for their many cobblestone streets, which are still operational and in good condition. They are still maintained and repaired in the traditional manner, by placing and arranging granite stones by hand.


title: Cobblestone

text: In the Czech Republic, there are old cobblestone paths with colored marbles and limestones. The design with three colors (red/limestone, black/limestone, white/marble) has a long tradition in Bohemia. The cubes of the old ways are handmade.


title: Cobblestone

text: In the Finger Lakes Region of New York State, the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age left numerous small, rounded cobblestones available for building. Pre-Civil War architecture in the region made heavy use of cobblestones for walls. Today, the fewer than 600 remaining cobblestone buildings are prized as historic locations, most of them private homes. Ninety percent of the cobblestone buildings in America can be found within a 75-mile radius of Rochester, New York. There is also a cluster of cobblestone buildings in the Town of Paris, Ontario. In addition to homes, cobblestones were used to build barns, stagecoach taverns, smokehouses, stores, churches, schools, factories, and cemetery markers.


title: Cobblestone

text: The only public cobblestone building in the US is the Alexander Classical School, located in Alexander, New York.


title: Cobblestone

text: In cycling road races, cobblestones are used as an additional difficulty for the riders. It requires a certain skill to ride cobblestones efficiently, without falling or getting a flat tire. Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix are notable cobbled classics.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: Rifle is a home rule municipality in and the most populous community of Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 10,437 at the 2020 census. Rifle is a regional center of the cattle ranching industry located along Interstate 70 and the Colorado River just east of the Roan Plateau, which dominates the western skyline of the town. The town was founded in 1882 by Abram Maxfield, and was incorporated in 1905 along Rifle Creek, near its mouth on the Colorado. The community takes its name from the creek.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: The land that Rifle resides on was once in the heart of the Ute Nation, a classification of the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. The most common tribe in the area were the Tabagauche, who hunted and lived on the land slightly to the east of Rifle in the Roaring Fork Valley. Due to their location, the Tabagauche were somewhat less exposed to white settlers, and to some extent their ways remained less altered than other native peoples. In 1878 Nathan Meeker was appointed as the director of the White River Ute Agency (the town of Meeker 40 miles north of Rifle was named after him). Meeker had no training or knowledge of Ute culture, and launched into a campaign centered on sedentary agriculture and European-American schooling. As this clashed with the culture of the nomadic Utes, he was met with resistance. It all came to a head when Meeker had the pasture and racetrack for the Ute's horses plowed under. The event that followed is known as the Meeker Massacre in 1879, during which Meeker and his 10 employees were killed. The aftermath of the conflict resulted in nearly all members of the Ute nation being forcibly removed from Colorado into eastern Utah, although the federal government had formerly guaranteed them the land on which they were residing.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: Rifle became more and more settled as the 19th century gave way to the 20th. In 1889, the railroad cut through from the east and ended in Rifle for a while before connecting lines were completed. This opened up the floodgates for new travelers, settlers, and trade. Long drives of cattle over the mountains towards the Front Range and Denver became a thing of the past. Rifle was now a thriving hub for commerce. If it needed to be shipped east to a buyer's market, or shipped west into ranching country, it came through town.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: The first major economy known to Rifle was ranching. The land surrounding the town was arid, and much of it was unsuitable for farming without irrigation. Despite the large stretches of land available, tension arose and manifested between those who tended cattle and those who herded sheep. Good grazing practices were not in place, and the summer pastures at the top of the Roan Plateau were contested over. One rancher lost two-thirds of his flock and went bankrupt when competing cowboys drove the sheep over the cliff.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: Rifle is located in the east portion of the Piceance Basin. The basin is home to different forms of fossil fuels, the largest quantity of which is oil shale. The unreliability of this fossil fuel has left the city in the throes of a cycling boom and bust economy.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: , an organization called the Campaign to Save Roan Plateau has been engaged in an effort to minimize oil and gas drilling on the top of the Roan Plateau, which locals call the Bookcliffs. The Roan Plateau is accessible from the JQS Trail, located north of Rifle, or from the Piceance Creek road.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: Rifle is located in the valley of the Colorado River where Rifle Creek joins from the north. Most of the city is on the north side of the river, but there is some city land to the south. Interstate 70 passes through the city along the south side of the river, with access from Exit 90. I-70 leads east to Glenwood Springs, the Garfield County seat, and southwest to Grand Junction. U.S. Route 6 runs along the north side of the Colorado River through Rifle, providing a local parallel route to I-70. Colorado State Highway 13 intersects I-70 and US-6, passing through the southern and western parts of Rifle, then leading north to Meeker.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Rifle has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.18%, is water.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 9,172 people, 3,221 households, and 2,230 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 2,586 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 81.0% White, 0.5% African American, 1.3% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 13.4% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 30.4% of the population.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: There were 3,221 households, out of which 40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.8% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.35.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.6% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.7 males.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: The median income for a household in the city was $42,734, and the median income for a family was $48,714. Males had a median income of $36,517 versus $25,527 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,376. About 3.4% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: Rifle Mountain Park, located north of Rifle, is maintained by the City of Rifle. It is popular with rock climbers. Other outside attractions near the city include Rifle Falls State Park, Rifle Falls Fish Hatchery, Rifle Gap State Park, Harvey Gap State Park, and access to BLM land, including Hubbard Mesa Open Area, Rifle Arch, and the Roan Plateau.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: Rifle is home to the Garfield County Fair Grounds. One week out of the year, the city bustles with activities surrounding family and professional rodeos, Xtreme bull riding, live music, and a demolition derby.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: The city is served by Garfield County Regional Airport. The state-run bus service Bustang connects Rifle to Grand Junction and Denver. The city is also served by the Union Pacific/Rio Grande line between Denver and Ogden.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: On August 10, 1972, Christo and Jeanne-Claude completed the Valley Curtain project at Rifle Gap, north of town. The completed curtain hung for only 28 hours before it was ripped by a gust of wind.


title: Rifle, Colorado

text: A portion of the film "Vanishing Point" was filmed in Rifle. Scenes include a shot of Kowalski's car crossing Rifle Bridge, and confronting Utah state patrol cars.


title: Roger Guenveur Smith

text: Roger Guenveur Smith (born July 27, 1955) is an American actor, director, and writer best known for his collaborations with Spike Lee.


title: Roger Guenveur Smith

text: Smith was born on July 27, 1955 in Berkeley, California, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist, and Sherman Smith, a judge. He attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles,and graduated from Occidental College (American Studies) in Los Angeles. He then studied at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he successfully auditioned for the Drama School and switched his pursuit of a graduate degree in history. Additionally, Smith studied at the Keskidee Arts Centre in London, England.


title: Roger Guenveur Smith

text: In film, Smith has collaborated with Spike Lee on several works. He has appeared in films such as "School Daze", "Do the Right Thing", "King of New York",


title: Roger Guenveur Smith

text: "Panther," "Malcolm X", "Poetic Justice", "Get On The Bus", "Eve's Bayou", "He Got Game", and "Summer of Sam". During the 1990s, he had a recurring role on "A Different World".


title: Roger Guenveur Smith

text: In 1996, he starred in the self-written and produced "A Huey P. Newton Story", a one-man theatre performance based on the life of Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton. Smith received an Obie Award, and a performance was later filmed by Spike Lee and released in 2001.


title: Roger Guenveur Smith

text: In addition to his performances in major studio productions, Smith continues to work in and support independent film projects. In 2003, he had a starring role in the Steven Soderbergh/George Clooney TV series "K-Street" on HBO. Also in 2003, Smith read in the HBO documentary, "Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives"; the film, based on interviews conducted by the WPA in the 1930s with formerly enslaved African Americans, is a compilation of slave narratives with actors emulating the original conversation with the interviewer. Smith was also the voice of Bao-Dur in the video game "". He portrayed a corrupt detective in the martial arts/crime film "Fist of the Warrior", alongside Ho-Sung Pak and Sherilyn Fenn. Smith starred with Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum in the 1992 film "Deep Cover". He also played a villain in "All About the Benjamins" (2002) with Ice Cube. In 2000, he portrayed Agent Schreck in the first installment of the "Final Destination" horror films. In 2006, he played the main villain in the straight-to-video actioner "Mercenary for Justice", opposite Steven Seagal. Smith was in the 2007 film "American Gangster" with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, in which he played the role of "Nate", Frank Lucas's army connection in Vietnam. Most recently he played the role of "Isaiah" in the 2016 film "The Birth of a Nation", a film about the life of Nat Turner.


title: Roger Guenveur Smith

text: "Juan and John", written and performed by Guenveur Smith, is based on baseball's most famous fight--San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal clubbing Johnny Roseboro of the Los Angeles Dodgers with his bat during a 1965 battle for the pennant at Candlestick Park—which traumatized the playwright as a child.


title: Roger Guenveur Smith

text: Smith portrayed American black leader Booker T. Washington in the 2020 Netflix miniseries "Self Made", based on the life of Madame C. J. Walker.


title: Roger Guenveur Smith

text: Smith works and resides in Los Angeles, California, and also resides in New York City. He is divorced from Carolina Smith, the mother of his adult daughter. He and his wife, LeTania Kirkland Smith, have three children.


title: Political positions of the Democratic Party

text: The platform of the Democratic Party of the United States is generally based on American liberalism, contrasting with the conservatism of the Republican Party. The party has large centrist and progressive wings, as well as smaller fiscal conservative and democratic socialist elements.


text: Democratic platforms seek to promote social programs, labor unions, consumer protection, workplace safety regulation, equal opportunity, disability rights, racial equity, regulations against environmental pollution, and criminal justice reform. Democrats tend to support abortion rights and the LGBT community, as well as a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Democrats typically agree with the scientific consensus on climate change and favor a multilateral approach in foreign policy.


text: Equal economic opportunity, a robust social safety net, and strong labor unions have historically been at the heart of Democratic economic policy. The party favors a mixed economy and generally supports a progressive tax system, higher minimum wages, Social Security, universal health care, public education, and subsidized housing. It also supports infrastructure development and clean energy investments to achieve economic development and job creation. Since the 1990s, the party has occasionally supported centrist economic reforms that cut the size of government and reduced market regulations.


text: Democrats support a more progressive tax structure to provide more services and reduce economic inequality by making sure that the wealthiest Americans pay the highest tax rate. They also support more government spending on social services while spending less on the military. They oppose cutting social services, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, believing cuts to be harmful to efficiency and social justice. Democrats believe the benefits of social services include a more productive labor force and that the benefits of this are greater than any benefits that could be derived from lower taxes, especially on top earners. Furthermore, Democrats view social services as essential to providing positive freedom (i.e., freedom derived from economic opportunity). The Democratic-led House of Representatives reinstated the PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) budget rule early in the 110th Congress.


text: Democrats favor raising the minimum wage and believe that all Americans have the right to a fair wage. They call for a $15.00/hour national minimum wage and believe that the minimum wage should be adjusted regularly. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 was an early component of the party's agenda during the 110th Congress. In 2006, Democrats supported six state ballot initiatives to increase the minimum wage; all six initiatives passed.


text: Democrats call for "affordable and quality health care" and favor moving toward universal health care in a variety of forms to address rising healthcare costs. Some Democratic politicians favor a single-payer program or Medicare for All, while others prefer creating a public health insurance option.


text: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as "Obamacare"), which President Barack Obama signed into law on March 23, 2010, has been one of the most significant pushes for universal health care. As of December 2019, more than 20 million Americans have gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.


text: Democrats favor improving public education by raising school standards and reforming the Head Start program. They also support universal preschool and expanding access to primary education (some Democrats who support this through charter schools). They call for slashes in student loan debt and support reforms to force down tuition fees. Other proposed reforms have included nationwide universal preschool education, tuition-free or reduced-tuition college, and reforms of standardized testing. Democrats have the long-term aim of having low-cost, publicly funded college education with low tuition fees (like in much of Europe and Canada), which should be available to every eligible American student. Alternatively, they encourage expanding access to post-secondary education by increasing state funding for student financial aid such as Pell Grants and college tuition tax deductions.


text: Democrats believe that the government should protect the environment and have a history of environmentalism. In more recent years, this stance has had as its emphasis alternative energy generation as the basis for an improved economy, greater national security, and general environmental benefits.


text: Democrats also favor expanding conservation lands, and they encourage open space and rail travel to relieve highway and airport congestion and improve air quality and economy; they "believe that communities, environmental interests, and government should work together to protect resources while ensuring the vitality of local economies. Once Americans were led to believe they had to make a choice between the economy and the environment. They now know this is a false choice."


text: The Democratic party's foremost environmental concern is climate change. Democrats, most notably former Vice President Al Gore, have pressed for stern regulation of greenhouse gases. On October 15, 2007, Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to build greater knowledge about man-made climate change and laying the foundations for the measures needed to counteract it. A 2017 analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund of climate change denial in the U.S. Congress found that 180 members deny the science behind climate change, all Republicans, and that no Democratic members of Congress publicly denied climate change.


text: Democrats support increased domestic renewable energy development, including wind and solar power farms, in an effort to reduce carbon pollution. The party's platform calls for an "all of the above" energy policy including clean energy, natural gas, and domestic oil, while wanting to become energy independent. The party has supported higher taxes on oil companies and increased regulations on coal power plants, favoring a policy of reducing long-term reliance on fossil fuels. In addition, the party supports stricter fuel emissions standards to prevent air pollution.


text: The 2012 Democratic Party platform endorses fair and free trade, the KORUS FTA, the TPP, the Panama–United States Trade Promotion Agreement, the CTPA, and the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center.


text: The modern Democratic Party emphasizes social equality and equal opportunity. Democrats support voting rights and minority rights, including LGBT rights. The party passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after a Democratic attempt to filibuster led by southern Democrats, which for the first time outlawed segregation. Carmines and Stimson wrote "the Democratic Party appropriated racial liberalism and assumed federal responsibility for ending racial discrimination."


text: Ideological social elements in the party include cultural liberalism, civil libertarianism, and feminism. Some Democratic social policies are immigration reform, electoral reform, and women's reproductive rights.


text: The Democratic Party strives for equality of opportunity for all Americans regardless of sex, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, or national origin. Many Democrats support affirmative action programs to further this goal. Democrats also strongly support the Americans with Disabilities Act to prohibit discrimination against people based on physical or mental disability. As such, they pushed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, a disability rights expansion that became law.


text: The 2012 Democratic Party platform believes the right to vote and to have one's vote counted is an essential American freedom, and opposes laws placing unnecessary restrictions on those seeking to exercise that freedom, such as voter ID laws. Many Democrats also support automatic voter registration, which ensures that all Americans over the legal voting age are registered to vote upon reaching the aforementioned age, and are never required to re-register.


text: The 2012 Democratic Party platform endorses maintaining "Roe v. Wade", a woman's right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and a woman's decision to have a child by providing affordable health care and ensuring the availability of and access to programs helping women during pregnancy and after a child's birth, including caring adoption programs, along with opposing any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.


text: The 2012 Democratic Party platform endorses enacting comprehensive immigration reform supporting American economic goals and reflects America's values as both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. They generally support an easier path toward citizenship for immigrants, a system for allocating visas meeting economic needs, keeps families together, and enforces the law. The party supported the immigration policy of the Obama administration, the DREAM Act, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and opposes state laws targeting immigrants. Democrats are generally more sympathetic to sanctuary cities.


text: The 2012 Democratic Party platform endorsed the principle that no one should face discrimination based on their gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity, such as transgender, gay, lesbian and/or bisexual. They support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, anti-bullying prevention for LGBT youth, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Democrats also supported President Obama's presidential memorandum on April 15, 2010, granting patients to receive visitors and to designate surrogate decision makers for medical emergencies, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's March 29, 2012, update of the Customs Declarations Form that same-sex couples and their children can go through Customs when re-entering the country together instead of being forced to split up, marriage equality, and the Respect for Marriage Act. Support for the Obama administration policy requiring American diplomats must raise the issue wherever harassment or abuse arises, and they are required to record it in the State Department's annual report on human rights, and the United States Department of State funding a program financing LGBT rights organizations to combat discrimination, violence, and other abuses is also present. Since 2011, the party opposed the Defense of Marriage Act. The party also opposes discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples seeking the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples, and efforts by other nations criminalizing homosexual conduct or ignore abuse.


text: With a stated goal of reducing crime and homicide, the Democratic Party has introduced various gun control measures, most notably the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Brady Bill of 1993, and Crime Control Act of 1994. However, some Democrats, especially rural, Southern, and Western Democrats, favor fewer restrictions on firearm possession and warned that the party was defeated in the 2000 presidential election in rural areas because of the issue. In the national platform for 2008, the only statement explicitly favoring gun control was a plan calling for renewal of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban.


text: The 2012 Democratic Party platform endorsed the death penalty, but believed it must not be arbitrary, DNA testing should be used in all appropriate circumstances, defendants should have effective assistance of counsel, and the administration of justice should be fair and impartial.


text: As of March 2015, 77% of Republicans, 57% of Independents, and 40% of Democrats said they favored the death penalty. 17% of Republicans, 37% of Independents, and 56% of Democrats said they opposed capital punishment.


text: Many Democrats are opposed to the use of torture against individuals apprehended and held prisoner by the U.S. military, and hold that categorizing such prisoners as unlawful combatants does not release the U.S. from its obligations under the Geneva Conventions. Democrats contend that torture is inhumane, decreases the United States' moral standing in the world, and produces questionable results. According to a 2014 poll, most Democrats did not think that waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation tactics were justified.


text: Torture became a very divisive issue in the party after Barack Obama was elected president. Many centrist Democrats and members of the party's leadership supported the use of torture while the more left-leaning wings continued to be steadfastly opposed to it.


text: The Democratic Party believes that individuals should have a right to privacy. For example, many Democrats have opposed the NSA warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens.


text: Some Democratic officeholders have championed consumer protection laws that limit the sharing of consumer data between corporations. Democrats oppose "sodomy laws" and believe that government should not regulate consensual noncommercial sexual conduct among adults as a matter of personal privacy.


text: Many Democrats are opposed to the Patriot Act. However, when the law was passed most Democrats were supportive of it and all but two Democrats in the U.S. Senate voted for the original legislation in 2001. The lone nay vote was from Russ Feingold of Wisconsin; Mary Landrieu of Louisiana did not vote. In the House, the Democrats voted for the Act by a margin of 145–62. Democrats split on the issue of the Act's renewal in 2006. In the Senate, 34 Democrats voted for the 2006 renewal, and 9 against. In the House, 66 Democrats voted for the renewal, and 124 against


text: In foreign policy, the voters of the two major parties have largely overlapped since the 1990s. The Gallup poll in early 2013 shows broad agreement on the top issues, albeit with some divergence regarding as human rights and international cooperation through agencies such as the UN.


text: Democrats chose A over B by 65–32%; Republicans chose A over B by 56% to 39%; independents chose A over B by 67% to 29%.


text: In 2002, Congressional Democrats were divided on the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq; 147 voted against it (21 in the Senate and 126 in the House) and 110 voted for it (29 in the Senate, 81 in the House). Since then, many prominent Democrats, such as former Senator John Edwards, have expressed regret about this decision, and have called it a mistake, while others, such as Senator Hillary Clinton have criticized the conduct of the war but did not repudiate their initial vote for it (though Clinton later went on to do so during the party's 2008 presidential primaries). Referring to Iraq, in April 2007, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared the war to be "lost" while other Democrats (especially during the 2004 presidential election cycle) accused President Bush of lying to the public about WMDs in Iraq. Among lawmakers, Democrats are the most vocal opponents of Operation Iraqi Freedom and campaigned on a platform of withdrawal ahead of the 2006 mid-term elections.


text: A March 2003 CBS News poll taken a few days before the invasion of Iraq found that 34% of Democrats nationwide would support it without United Nations backing, 51% would support it only with its backing, and 14% would not support it at all. "The Los Angeles Times" stated in early April 2003 that 70% of Democrats supported the decision to invade while 27% opposed it. The Pew Research Center stated in August 2007 that opposition increased from 37% during the initial invasion to 74%. In April 2008, a CBS News poll found that about 90% of Democrats disapproved of the Bush administration's conduct and want to end the war within the next year.


text: Democrats in the House of Representatives near-unanimously supported a non-binding resolution disapproving of President Bush's decision to send additional troops into Iraq in 2007. Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly supported military funding legislation that included a provision that set "a timeline for the withdrawal of all US combat troops from Iraq" by March 31, 2008, but also would leave combat forces in Iraq for purposes such as targeted counter-terrorism operations. After a veto from the president, and a failed attempt in Congress to override the veto, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 was passed by Congress and signed by the president after the timetable was dropped. Criticism of the Iraq War subsided after the Iraq War troop surge of 2007 led to a dramatic decrease in Iraqi violence. The Democratic-controlled 110th Congress continued to fund efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Presidential candidate Barack Obama advocated a withdrawal of combat troops within Iraq by late 2010 with a residual force of peacekeeping troops left in place. He stated that both the speed of withdrawal and the number of troops left over would be "entirely conditions-based."


text: On February 27, 2009, President Obama announced, "As a candidate for president, I made clear my support for a timeline of 16 months to carry out this drawdown, while pledging to consult closely with our military commanders upon taking office to ensure that we preserve the gains we've made and protect our troops ... Those consultations are now complete, and I have chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months." Around 50,000 non-combat related forces will remain. Obama's plan drew wide bipartisan support, including that of defeated Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain.


text: The Democratic Party has been critical of Iran's nuclear weapon program and supported economic sanctions against the Iranian government. In 2013, the Democratic led administration worked to reach a diplomatic agreement with the government of Iran to halt the Iranian nuclear weapon program in exchange for international economic sanction relief. As of 2014 negotiations had been successful and the party called for more cooperation with Iran in the future. In 2015, the Obama administration agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which provides sanction relief in exchange for international oversight of the Iranian nuclear program.


text: Democrats in the House of Representatives and in the Senate near-unanimously voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists against "those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States" in Afghanistan in 2001, supporting the NATO coalition invasion of the nation. Most elected Democrats continue to support the Afghanistan conflict, and some, such as a Democratic National Committee spokesperson, have voiced concerns that the Iraq War shifted too many resources away from the presence in Afghanistan. Since 2006, then-candidate Barack Obama called for a "surge" of troops into Afghanistan and, since 2008, Republican candidate John McCain also called for a "surge". As President, Obama sent a "surge" force of additional troops to Afghanistan. Troop levels were at 94,000 in December 2011, and are decreasing as of recent years, with a target of 68,000 by fall 2012. Obama planned to bring all the troops home by 2014.


text: Support for the war among the American people has diminished over time, and many Democrats have changed their opinion and now oppose a continuation of the conflict. In July 2008, Gallup found that 41% of Democrats called the invasion a "mistake" while a 55% majority disagreed; in contrast, Republicans were more supportive of the war. The survey described Democrats as evenly divided about whether or not more troops should be sent—56% support it if it would mean removing troops from Iraq and only 47% support it otherwise. A CNN survey in August 2009 stated that a majority of Democrats now oppose the war. CNN polling director Keating Holland said, "Nearly two thirds of Republicans support the war in Afghanistan. Three quarters of Democrats oppose the war." An August 2009 "Washington Post" poll found similar results, and the paper stated that Obama's policies would anger his closest supporters.


text: The 2012 Democratic Party platform endorses maintaining commitment to Israel's security, claiming a strong and secure Israel is vital because of strategic interests and common values, the Obama administration providing nearly $10 billion to Israel in the past three years, military support for Israel, such as the Iron Dome system, the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, and recognizing Jerusalem as and remains the capital of Israel, and opposes any attempt to delegitimize Israel on the world stage. The platform also states that Democratic Party seeks peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and supports a two-state solution, under conditions that Israel's security concerns are met and any Palestinian partner must recognize Israel's right to exist, reject violence, and adhere to existing agreements.


title: Amal Movement

text: The Amal Movement () is a Lebanese political party and former militia affiliated with the Shia community. Founded by Musa Al-Sadr, Cheikh Mohamad Yaacoub, and Hussein el Husseini in 1974, the party has been led by Nabih Berri since 1980.


title: Amal Movement

text: Founded by Musa al-Sadr and Hussein el Husseini as the "Movement of the Dispossessed" in 1974, the Amal movement gained attention from Shia outcry after the disappearance of Musa al-Sadr and saw a renewal in popularity after Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1978. The Iranian Revolution of 1978–79 also provided momentum for the party. The Amal Movement is, by a small margin, the largest Shia party in parliament, having fourteen representatives to Hezbollah's thirteen. Amal has an alliance with Hezbollah.


title: Amal Movement

text: The movement's current name was originally used by the Deprived Movement militia, the "Lebanese Resistance Regiments" (). This name, when abbreviated, created the acronym "Amal", which is Arabic for "hope".


title: Amal Movement

text: Harakat al-Mahrumin ( meaning The Movement of the Deprived or The Movement of the Dispossessed or The Movement of the Disinherited) was established by Imam Musa al-Sadr, his companion Sheikh Mohamad Yaacoub and member of parliament Hussein el-Husseini in 1974, as an attempt to reform the Lebanese system, although the beginnings can be traced to 1969 in declarations by the Imam al-Sadr calling upon peace and equality between all Lebanese confessions and religions, so that no one confession would remain "deprived" in any region in Lebanon, noting that the Shia community in Lebanon remained the poorest and most neglected by the Lebanese government.


title: Amal Movement

text: While acknowledging its support base to be the "traditionally under-represented politically and economically disadvantaged" Shi'a community, it aimed, according to Palmer-Harik, to seek social justice for all deprived Lebanese. Although influenced by Islamic ideas, it was a secular movement trying to unite people along communal rather than religious or ideological lines.


title: Amal Movement

text: The movement had support from many confessions, but membership remained mainly within the Shia confession and was considered as a definitive Shia force against the traditional Shia families hegemony at the time.


title: Amal Movement

text: On January 20, 1975, the 'Lebanese Resistance Regiments' ( | "Afwaj al-Muqawama al-Lubnaniyya"), also designated variously as the 'Lebanese Resistance Battalions', 'The Battalions of the Lebanese Resistance', 'Lebanese Resistance Detachments' and 'Battalions de la Resistance Libanaise (BRL)' in French were formed as the military wing of Harakat al-Mahrumin under the leadership of al-Sadr, and came to be popularly known as Amal (in Arabic أمل) from the acronym Afwaj al-Mouqawma Al-Lubnaniyya).


title: Amal Movement

text: Amal became one of the most important Shi'a Muslim militias during the Lebanese Civil War. It grew strong with the support of, and through its ties with, Syria and the 300,000 Shi'a internal refugees from southern Lebanon after the Israeli bombings in the early 1980s. Amal's practical objectives were to gain greater respect for Lebanon's Shi'ite population and the allocation of a larger share of governmental resources for the Shi'ite-dominated southern part of the country.


title: Amal Movement

text: At its zenith, the militia had 14,000 troops. Amal fought a long campaign against Palestinian refugees during the Lebanese Civil War (called the War of the Camps). After the War of the Camps, Amal fought a bloody battle against rival Shi'a group Hezbollah for control of Beirut, which provoked Syrian military intervention. Hezbollah itself was formed by religious members of Amal who had left after Nabih Berri's assumption of full control and the subsequent resignation of most of Amal's earliest members.


title: Amal Movement

text: On January 20, 1975 T5, the Lebanese Resistance Detachments (also called 'The Battalions of the Lebanese Resistance' in English) is formed as a military wing of The Movement of the Disinherited under the leadership of al-Sadr. In 1978 the founder Al-Sadr disappears in mysterious circumstances while visiting Libya. He was succeeded by Hussein el-Husseini as leader of Amal.


title: Amal Movement

text: In 1980, Palestinian guerrillas attempt to assassinate then-Secretary General Hussein el-Husseini by launching missiles into his home, outside Beirut. El-Husseini had refused, despite Syrian pressure, to get involved in the Lebanese Civil War and fight alongside the PLO or any other faction.


title: Amal Movement

text: Subsequently, in 1980, el-Husseini resigned from the leadership of Amal and was replaced by Nabih Berri, marking the entry of Amal in the Lebanese Civil War.


title: Amal Movement

text: In the summer of 1982 Husayn Al-Musawi, deputy head and official spokesman of Amal, broke away to form the Islamist Islamic Amal Movement.


title: Amal Movement

text: In May 1985, heavy fighting erupted between Amal and Palestinian camp militias for the control of the Sabra, Shatila and Burj el-Barajneh camps in Beirut, sparking the so-called "War of the Camps" which lasted until 1987.


title: Amal Movement

text: In December 1985, Nabih Berri of Amal, Walid Jumblatt of the Druze Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and Elie Hobeika of the Lebanese Forces signed the Tripartite Accord in Damascus which is supposed to give strong influence to Damascus regarding Lebanese matters. The agreement never came into effect due to Hobeika's ousting.


title: Amal Movement

text: Two months later Amal militiamen were driven out of West Beirut by their Communist (PLA) and Druze (PSP) rivals in a week of street fighting, artillery exchanges and looting which led to the Syrian army returning to Beirut on 22 February after an absence of three and a half years.


title: Amal Movement

text: On February 17, 1988, the American Chief of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) observer group in Lebanon, Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, was abducted and later killed after meeting with Amal's political leader of southern Lebanon. Amal responded by launching a campaign against Hezbollah in the south, It was believed that Hezbollah abducted him; Though the party to this day denies it and insists that it was done to create problems between them and the Amal movement.


title: Amal Movement

text: In April 1988 Amal launched an all-out assault on Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut.


title: Amal Movement

text: Early in May 1988 Hezbollah gained control of 80% of the Shi'ite suburbs of Beirut through well-timed assaults.


title: Amal Movement

text: In 1989, Amal accepted the Taif agreement (mainly authored by el-Husseini) in order to end the civil war.


title: Amal Movement

text: In September 1991, with background in the Syrian controlled end of the Lebanese Civil War in October 1990, 2,800 Amal troops joined the Lebanese army.


title: Amal Movement

text: The War of the Camps was a series of controversial battles in the mid-1980s between Amal and Palestinian groups. The Druze-oriented Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), the leftists, and also Hezbollah supported the Palestinians, while the Syrian government backed Amal.


title: Amal Movement

text: Although most of the Palestinian guerrillas were expelled during the 1982 Israeli invasion, Palestinian militias began to regain their footing after the Israeli withdrawal from first Beirut, then Sidon and Tyre. Syria viewed this revival with some anxiety: though in the same ideological camp, Damascus had little control over most Palestinians organizations and was afraid that the build-up of Palestinian forces could lead to a new Israeli invasion. In Lebanon, Shia–Palestinian relations had been very tense since the late 1960s. After the multinational force withdrew from Beirut in February 1984, Amal and the PSP took control of west Beirut and Amal built a number of outposts around the camps (in Beirut but also in the south). On April 15, 1985, Amal and the PSP attacked Al-Murabitun, the main Lebanese Sunni militia and the closest ally of the PLO in Lebanon. Al-Murabitun were vanquished and their leader, Ibrahim Kulaylat was sent into exile. On May 19, 1985, heavy fighting erupted between Amal and the Palestinians for the control of the Sabra, Shatila and Burj el-Barajneh camps (all in Beirut). On May 28, 1985, Amal suffered a suicide attack by four young female Palestinian suicide bombers in Shatila. Despite its efforts, Amal could not take the control of the camps. The death toll remains unknown, with estimates ranging from a few hundreds to a few thousands. This and heavy Arab pressure led to a cease-fire on June 17.


title: Amal Movement

text: The situation remained tense and fights occurred again in September 1985 and March 1986. On May 19, 1986, heavy fighting erupted again. Despite new armaments provided by Syria, Amal could not take control of the camps. Many cease-fires were announced, but most of them did not last more than a few days. The situation began to cool after Syria deployed some troops on June 24, 1986.


title: Amal Movement

text: There was tension in the south, an area where Shi'as and Palestinians were both present. This led to frequent clashes. On September 29, 1986, fighting erupted at the Rashidiyye camp (Tyre). The conflict immediately spread to Sidon and Beirut. Palestinian forces managed to occupy the Amal-controlled town of Maghdouché on the eastern hills of Sidon to open the road to Rashidiyye. Syrian forces helped Amal and Israel launched air strikes against PLO position around Maghdouche. A cease-fire was negotiated between Amal and pro-Syrian Palestinian groups on December 15, 1986, but it was rejected by Yasser Arafat's Fatah. Fatah tried to appease the situation by giving some of its positions to Hezbollah and to the Murabitun. The situation became relatively calm for a while, but the bombing against the camps continued. In Beirut, a blockade of the camps led to a dramatic lack of food and medications inside the camps. In early 1987, the fighting spread to Hezbollah and the PSP who supported the Palestinians. The PSP, having won numerous battles, quickly seized large portions of west Beirut. Consequently, Syria occupied west Beirut beginning February 21, 1987. On April 7, 1987, Amal finally lifted the siege and handed its positions around the camps to the Syrian army. According to "The New York Times" (March 10, 1992, citing figures from the Lebanese police), 3,781 were killed in the fighting.


title: Amal Movement

text: On February 17, 1988, Col William R. Higgins, American Chief of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) observer group in Lebanon, was abducted from his UN vehicle between Tyre and Nakoura after a meeting with Abd al-Majid Saleh, Amal's political leader in southern Lebanon. It soon became "clear that Sheikh al-Musawi, the commander to Hezbollah's Islamic Resistance, had been personally responsible for the abduction of Lt. Col Higgins in close cooperation with both Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid, the local commander of Hizballah's military wing, and Mustafa al-Dirani, the former head of Amal's security service." This is seen as a direct challenge to Amal by Hezbollah, and Amal responds by launching an offensive against Hezbollah in the south where it "scores decisive military victories ... leading to the expulsion of a number of Hizballah clergy to the Beqqa". In Beirut's southern suburbs however, where fighting also raged, Hizballah was much more successful. "[E]lements within Hizballah and the Iranian Pasdaran established a joint command to assassinate high-ranking Amal officials and carry out operations against Amal checkpoints and centers."


title: Amal Movement

text: By May, Amal had suffered major losses, its members were defecting to Hezbollah, and by June, Syria had to intervene militarily to rescue Amal from defeat. In January 1989, a truce in the "ferocious" fighting between Hizballah and Amal was arranged by Syrian and Iranian intervention. "Under this agreement, Amal's authority over the security of southern Lebanon [is] recognized while Hizballah [is] permitted to maintain only a nonmilitary presence through political, cultural, and informational programmes."


title: Amal Movement

text: Amal was a strong supporter of Syria after 1990 and endorsed Syria's military presence in Lebanon. After Rafik Hariri's assassination in 2005, Amal opposed the Syrian withdrawal and did not take part in the Cedar Revolution.


title: Amal Movement

text: Since 1992, the party has been represented in the Lebanese parliament and the government. Amal's enemies often criticize it for corruption among its semi-major leaders. Nabih Berri was elected speaker of parliament in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2009 and 2016. Following the 2018 Lebanese general election, Amal has had 17 representatives in the 128-seat Lebanese parliament. This was an increase from the 13 representatives at the 2009 election, 14 at the 2005 election, 10 at the 2000 election, 8 at the 1996 election and 5 at the 1992 election.


title: Amal Movement

text: According to Amal officials, the party's militants "have been involved in every major battle since fighting began" during the 2006 Lebanon War, and at least 8 members were reported to have been killed.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: Hachim Mastour (; born 15 June 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or second striker for Botola 2 club Renaissance Zemamra.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: He began his career at Reggiana, and signed for AC Milan for €500,000 at the age of 14. In 2015 he was loaned for two years to Málaga, making only one substitute appearance before the deal was terminated a year early. He was then lent to PEC Zwolle, before signing for Greek side Lamia on a permanent deal. In 2019 Mastour returned to Italy, playing for Reggina and Carpi in the Serie C. After being clubless for one year, he signed for Renaissance Zemamra in the Moroccan Botola 2.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: Mastour was born in Italy and represented the nation at under-16 level. He then switched allegiance to his ancestral Morocco, making his senior debut in June 2015 as their youngest-ever player.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: Mastour was born to Moroccan parents in Reggio Emilia, Italy. He began playing at his hometown club AC Reggiana, and in early 2012, at the age of 13, he featured for Inter Milan in youth tournaments despite rules prohibiting him from leaving Reggiana until his next birthday. In January of that year, he scored five goals in the Ielasi Memorial tournament, including one in the final against A.S. Roma. After approaches from Juventus, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City, Mastour moved to Inter's city rivals AC Milan on the recommendation of former manager Arrigo Sacchi, for a fee of €500,000. Shortly after signing, he gave an interview with Sky Italia in which he dribbled and performed kick-ups with a cherry. He is a Muslim.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: He was promoted into Milan's first team by manager Clarence Seedorf for the final match of the 2013–14 Serie A season and would have become the youngest Milan player to feature in the league, but did not come off the bench in the 2–1 win over Sassuolo at the San Siro on 18 May.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: On 31 August 2015, Mastour was loaned to Spain's Málaga CF for two seasons, at the exclusive request of club owner Abdullah al-Thani; as a minor his transfer to another country had to be approved by FIFA, which was not completed until 5 November. He was first included in a matchday squad for the La Liga home fixture against fellow Andalusians Real Betis two days later, making his competitive club debut in the eventual 0–1 loss by playing five minutes as a substitute for compatriot Adnane Tighadouini. On 7 July 2016, after making one appearance all season, Málaga opted to rescind Mastour's loan contract, and he returned to Milan.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: On 14 July 2016, Mastour joined Dutch club PEC Zwolle on a season-long loan. He made his Eredivisie debut on 13 August, replacing fellow Moroccan Youness Mokhtar for the final 17 minutes of a 0–3 home loss to Sparta Rotterdam.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: Despite initial reports suggesting his contract was expired, Mastour actually returned to Milan at the end of the loan spell, having one year left in his contract.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: On 4 September 2018, Greek Superleague club Lamia officially announced the signing of Mastour on a free transfer, on a contract worth €200,000 per year. He was reported absent in December, and the following February his father confirmed that this was due to injury that he alleged was not being treated by the club. Following six goalless appearances in seven months, his deal was terminated by mutual consent on 4 March 2019. The following month, he trained with Parma.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: Mastour signed a three-year contract with Serie C side Reggina on 18 October 2019. He made his debut on 22 January 2020, as an 81st-minute substitute in a 2–1 home loss to Virtus Francavilla.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: On 14 January 2021, after playing the first half of the campaign with Reggina, he was loaned out to Serie C club Carpi until the end of the season. On 24 January, he scored his first professional goal in a 5–1 defeat against Sambenedettese.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: After being clubless since July 2021, Mastour signed for Moroccan side Renaissance Zemamra in the Botola 2 on 28 June 2022. He scored on his debut for the club, in a 3–1 win against Jenuesse Ben Guerir on 11 September.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: Mastour was capped seven times and scored once for Italy under-16s. He made his international debut on 18 August 2013, playing the first half of a 3–0 friendly victory over Qatar in Borgo Valsugana, and scored a late equaliser in a 2–1 win over Croatia in Umag on 11 March the following year.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: Eligible to play for both the Italy national team and the Morocco national team, he announced on 19 May 2015 that he was persuaded to represent the latter, because he felt Morocco to be his country. He was offered the opportunity to have his international debut immediately, while he still had to prove himself to earn a spot for the Italy senior team.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: On 12 June 2015, he made his international debut for Morocco in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group F match against Libya at the Stade Adrar in Agadir, replacing Nordin Amrabat for the final two minutes of the 1–0 victory.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: Described as a "fantasista" in Italian, Mastour is a versatile, quick, agile, creative, and highly skilful player, with excellent technique and an ability to read the game; although his favoured role is as an attacking midfielder, he is capable of playing in several attacking roles, and has been deployed as a second striker, or even as a winger. Although naturally right-footed, he is strong with either foot.


title: Hachim Mastour

text: Mastour claimed at age 14 that his main abilities were his ball control and dribbling. In 2015, Fabio Balaudo of UEFA.com added: "Excellent dribbling skills and sublime technique have made him almost impossible to mark for players in his age group. With great control at speed, a good shot with both feet and the ability to change pace, he is expected to shine behind the forwards or as a winger." A former coach likened Mastour to former Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder for his ability to orchestrate play from behind the forward line, but his ability in making the ball disappear with his tricks earned him comparisons with Ronaldinho and Neymar as well. Several pundits, including Ivano Pasqualino, have also highlighted Mastour's ball-juggling skills and prowess at free-style football as some of his key strengths and characteristics as a player. In 2014, Omar Danesi, the coach of Milan's under-17 team, praised Mastour's speed and ability to retain the ball from defenders. He predicted a first-team breakthrough, while assuring that Mastour should be given sufficient time to improve beforehand. A.C. Milan youth director, Filippo Galli, said that "nobody at Milan has any doubts about Hachim's ability".


title: Hachim Mastour

text: Considered to be a highly promising prospect in his youth, in 2015, "The Guardian" named him as one of the 50 best young players in the world born in 1998. Despite his talent, however, he has since struggled to establish himself at the professional level and consistently achieve first team football; as such, several pundits have questioned whether he is capable of handling the pressure needed to fulfil his potential. Moreover, Paul Grech felt in 2018 that Mastour lacked the physical strength to succeed at the highest level, given his relatively modest height of . Regarding his limitations as a player, his former Zwolle manager Ron Jans said of him: "He can do wonderful things with a ball but he must start adding more depth to his game." Regarding Mastour's situation, his former Milan manager, Gennaro Gattuso, commented on the issue in 2018, stating: "We’ve talked a lot lately. I even threatened him because he became more famous for making videos than playing, but he doesn’t do that anymore because I told him I’d knock his teeth out! In recent months he’s improved some things in training and we decided to let him play in the Primavera. The train has passed but he’s not 50-years-old, he’s 20-years-old [in June] and I think he has to take stock of his mistakes. He needs to play consistently, because we can see he’s lost some match sharpness. I’ve noticed a few improvements though."


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Victoria Anne Kennedy (née Reggie; born February 26, 1954) is an American diplomat, attorney and activist who has served as the United States Ambassador to Austria since 2022. She is the widow and the second wife of longtime U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, who was twenty-two years her senior.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Kennedy Family through her late husband, her brothers-in-law are former U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and former President of The United States John F. Kennedy. Her father-in-law is businessman and diplomat Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: The second of six children, Victoria Anne Reggie was born in Crowley in Acadia Parish in southwestern Louisiana. Her father, Edmund Reggie, was a Louisiana judge and banker, and her mother, Doris Ann Boustany, was a Democratic National committeewoman. Reggie is of Lebanese descent, as all of her grandparents were Maronites from Lebanon who immigrated to the United States and later settled to Louisiana. Reggie's grandparents became important members of the local Roman Catholic church, and later their children became involved in business and politics.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Reggie's immediate family was wealthy because of money from her maternal family's interest in the Bunny Bread baking concern in New Orleans. She was raised in a family that was constantly involved in politics and campaigns. At the 1956 Democratic National Convention, her father helped deliver his state for John F. Kennedy's unsuccessful bid for the vice-presidential nomination. Over time, John Kennedy developed a close social relationship with the Reggies. Her mother cast the only Louisiana delegate vote for Ted Kennedy at the 1980 Democratic National Convention,


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Victoria Reggie attended parochial schools growing up and was a straight-A student. She attended Newcomb College at Tulane University in New Orleans, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English, "magna cum laude", was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was president of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She then received her Juris Doctor degree, "summa cum laude" in 1979 from Tulane University Law School. There she was a member of the "Tulane Law Review". Her education at Tulane, along with twenty years of other Tulane tuition for her brothers and sisters, was paid for by scholarships awarded by a political ally of her father.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: After law school, Reggie clerked for Judge Robert Arthur Sprecher at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. As an attorney, she specialized in banking law.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Kennedy is president and co-founder of Common Sense about Kids and Guns, an advocacy group begun in 1999 which seeks to reduce gun deaths and injuries to children in the U.S. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and has served on the board of Stop Handgun Violence in Boston. She is a board member of Catholic Democrats and authored the preface for their 2009 book "The Catholic Case for Obama". She was named a trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 4, 2009.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Reports indicated that the Senator Kennedy expressed the wish that his wife would succeed him in office, and speculation towards that possibility continued during his illness.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Upon his death, some thought that she would be appointed by then-Governor Deval Patrick to take the Senator's seat until the special election could take place, but she declined and the governor instead appointed long-time Kennedy associate Paul G. Kirk. Some Democratic officials hoped she would agree to run for Senate to finish out her husband's term, but she declined again and instead endorsed Martha Coakley for the special election to fill the vacant seat. Coakley was defeated by Scott Brown. A year later, speculation continued as some noted Democrats saw her as their best chance to take back Senator Kennedy's former seat from Brown and the Republicans in the 2012 election; however, she again declined, and the Democratic nomination was awarded to Elizabeth Warren, who went on to defeat Brown in November 2012.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Since the Senator's death, Kennedy has spoken at graduation ceremonies and received honorary degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Lesley University, and the University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland, in the spring of 2010. She also surprised the 95 members of the graduating class of Harwich High School on Cape Cod by accepting their invitation to speak at their June 2010 graduation.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Kennedy was invited to speak at the spring commencement of the Catholic Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts, but at the request of Bishop Robert Joseph McManus of the Diocese of Worcester, Kennedy was disinvited by the college. The bishop and other Catholic organizations had expressed reservations about a stalwart pro-choice advocate like Kennedy speaking at a Catholic university.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: On May 3, 2013, she received the "Woman of the 21st Century" award at the 2013 Annual Luncheon of the Women's Guild of Cedars-Sinai, presented by actress Morgan Fairchild.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: In February 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama nominated her to serve as a governor of the United States Postal Service (a member of the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service), for a term expiring December 8, 2016. Had she been confirmed, Kennedy would assume the board seat being vacated by Carolyn L. Gallagher. The nomination expired with the end of Obama's term as president.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: In 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Kennedy to serve as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Austria. In mid-June, the office of Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen had confirmed the required "agreement" for Kennedy's appointment was issued. On October 5, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. On October 19, 2021, her nomination was reported favorably out of committee. On October 26, 2021, Kennedy was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote. Her swearing in as the United States Ambassador to Austria took place at Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate on November 16, 2021, with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer administering her oath of office. She arrived in Vienna on January 7, 2022, and presented her credentials to President Alexander Van der Bellen on January 12, 2022.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: She met her first husband, Grier C. Raclin, a telecommunications attorney (who later became a senior executive at Charter Communications in St. Louis, Missouri), when they clerked together at the Everett McKinley Dirksen Federal Courthouse. Their 1981 church wedding was in Crowley and "feted four hundred guests with a week's worth of parties."


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Following marriage, the couple moved to Washington, D.C., where she practiced banking and savings and loan law and restructuring and bankruptcy law for Keck, Mahin & Cate. She was made partner there, and was known to be "charismatic and hard-driving" and a tough negotiator in settlement talks and "as a real star" for her ability to work on complicated financial transactions.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Reggie and Raclin had two children, Curran (born 1982) and Caroline (born 1985). They were divorced in 1990. Upon her divorce, she was left to juggle her career as a lawyer with her role as a single mother of two young children.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: While the Kennedy and Reggie families were friends for many years, Vicki remembers (but Senator Kennedy did not) their first meeting, when Vicki was a summer intern in his Senate office's mailroom, the year following her college graduation. They began dating after meeting again in June 1991 at a party celebrating her parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Ted Kennedy said of this meeting, "I had known Vicki before, but this was the first time I think I really saw her." The relationship became serious in September 1991. They were engaged in March 1992, and married July 3, 1992, in a civil ceremony at his home in McLean, Virginia. His political career had suffered from a long period of womanizing, drinking, and adverse publicity, and she is credited with stabilizing his personal life and helping him resume a productive career in the Senate. Kennedy was devoted to her two children.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: In Ted Kennedy's 1994 senatorial re-election campaign against Moderate Republican Mitt Romney, she was credited by "The New York Times" with "giving him a political advantage in a difficult contest." For a Boston, Massachusetts, reception she organized, 1,200 influential New England women met five of Kennedy's Senate colleagues. Kennedy became Ted's principal assistant and closest political advisor. By 1997, she no longer practiced law. She came to the aid of the greater Kennedy family following the 1999 death of John F. Kennedy Jr.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Following Ted Kennedy's May 2008 diagnosis of brain cancer, Kennedy became his primary caregiver and dealt with the Kennedy clan along with Ted's political connections. She assisted with the planning of his course of treatment.


title: Victoria Reggie Kennedy

text: Senator Kennedy died on August 25, 2009. Throughout four days of his lying in state, a funeral service and burial, his widow maintained a public face of composure, dignity, and gratitude to staffers and citizens who lined the streets and waited at the U.S. Capitol to pay their respects.


title: Verónica Rodríguez

text: Rodriguez was born on 1 August 1991 in the Venezuelan city of Maracay, capital of the Atanasio Girardot municipality and the state of Aragua. She has a younger sister, Katya, who is also a pornographic actress. She was educated in a private Catholic school where the students were separated by gender. Her parents divorced when she was eight years old and she moved with her mother to the United States, where she lived in Chicago, Illinois for four years and later in Miami, Florida.


title: Verónica Rodríguez

text: Prior to entering the pornographic industry, Rodriguez worked as a sales clerk in a Miami mall. Her first porn internship came when she made a cameo as an extra in a production. This allowed her to get in contact with producers in the industry who asked her if she was interested in working full-time in the industry.


title: Verónica Rodríguez

text: Rodriguez made her debut as a pornographic actress in 2011 when she was 20 years old, with her first scene being for Bang Bros studios. She has worked for production companies such as Naughty America, Pure Play Media, Evil Angel, 3rd Degree, Brazzers, Hustler, Girlsway, Devil's Film, Vixen, New Sensations, Digital Playground, Reality Kings, Elegant Angel, Girlfriends Films, and Wicked, among others.


title: Verónica Rodríguez

text: Rodriguez has had a stable presence since 2014 in the industry awards circuit, mainly the AVN Awards and the XBIZ Awards. Of all the nominations she received, the categories she's been the most nominated were for Best Lesbian Sex Scene, Best Lesbian Group Sex Scene, or Best M-H-M Threesome Scene. In 2015, at the XBIZ Awards, she was nominated for Female Artist of the Year and Best Supporting Actress for "Apocalypse X".


title: Verónica Rodríguez

text: As an actress, Rodriguez has appeared in more than 380 films. She has also released music, with one of her songs being titled "Hola" and another song titled "Mala" which features vocals from Lil Pump. Some of her works include "Amateur Assault", "Cuties 6", "Evil Squirters 2", "Glamour Girls 4", "Kendra's Angels", "Latina Squirt Goddess", "Naughty Athletics 21," "Oil Overload 11", "Panty Raid," and "Sweet Petite".


title: Sam Champion

text: Samuel James Champion (born August 13, 1961) is an American weather anchor who is best known for his combined 25-year career on the ABC flagship station WABC-TV and "Good Morning America". He formerly co-anchored "AMHQ: America's Morning Headquarters" and "23.5 Degrees With Sam Champion" on The Weather Channel.


title: Sam Champion

text: After December 4, 2013, his final day with ABC, he became the managing editor of The Weather Channel, beginning on January 1, 2014. Champion also appeared on the "Today" show on NBC. After leaving NBC and the Weather Channel in 2016, he returned to ABC on a fill-in basis and returned to become the weekday morning and noon weather anchor at WABC-TV in June 2019.


title: Sam Champion

text: Champion was born in Paducah, Kentucky, to Sylvia and James H. Champion on August 13, 1961. He has one sibling, sister Teresa. His father, who died October 25, 2010, was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Vietnam. He graduated from Fairfax High School in Fairfax, Virginia in 1979. He has a B.A. in broadcast news from Eastern Kentucky University, and interned at WKYT-TV in Lexington, Kentucky.


title: Sam Champion

text: Champion worked at WPSD-TV in Paducah, Kentucky, and WJKS (later WCWJ) in Jacksonville, Florida. He became a weather presenter for WABC-TV's "Eyewitness News" in New York City in 1988. He went on "Good Morning America" at a salary in 2004 of $1.5 million per year. On April 7, 2008 he debuted as host of "Sea Rescue", an educational and informational program in Litton's Weekend Adventure that focuses on the rescue, rehabilitation, and in many instances release of animals back into wildlife.


title: Sam Champion

text: In August 2006, "Good Morning America" announced Champion would join that show and ABC News, effective September 5, 2006. Champion announced his departure from ABC on December 2, 2013, to become an on-air presence at and managing editor of The Weather Channel. His last day on "Good Morning America" was December 4, 2013. He was immediately replaced by Ginger Zee.


title: Sam Champion

text: He had occasionally appeared on "Live with Kelly and Ryan", the daily talk show produced by WABC-TV, and CNN's "Larry King Live". He often begins his 30-second weathercasts by saying, "Let's get to the boards." His catchphrase when breaking for weather reports from local ABC stations is, "That's the weather around the nation. Here's what you can expect this morning."


title: Sam Champion

text: Immediately following his departure from "GMA", it was announced that Champion would join The Weather Channel to host his own morning show, titled "America's Morning Headquarters" which debuted on March 17, 2014. In September 2015, it was revealed that Champion would leave "AMHQ" to serve as a contributor to its primetime programs. In December 2016, Champion and The Weather Channel decided not to renew their contract. As a result, Champion left the company on December 27, 2016.


title: Sam Champion

text: He returned to ABC as a fill-in weather forecaster on "Good Morning America" during the maternity leave of Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee, his replacement. On May 22, 2019, it was announced that Champion would be returning to WABC-TV's morning and noon newscasts and contributing to ABC News, beginning June 3, 2019.


title: Sam Champion

text: On September 8, 2022, Champion was announced as a contestant on season 31 of "Dancing with the Stars". He is partnered with Cheryl Burke.


title: Sam Champion

text: Champion is active in many charitable organizations in the New York City area. He was the Grand Marshal of the Multiple Sclerosis Society Fall Bike Tour, the chairman of the 25th annual March of Dimes NYC WalkAmerica, and master of ceremonies of "Stopping AIDS Together," a part of Sunday by the Bay. He hosted the New York City Anti-Violence Project's 2002 "Courage Awards," along with movie critic Frank DeCaro.


title: Sam Champion

text: Champion had a basal cell carcinoma removed from his skin in May 2010 while on air, after previous bouts with the disease. He said he wanted to raise awareness about skin cancer during Cancer Awareness Month.


title: Tocilizumab

text: Tocilizumab, sold under the brand name Actemra among others, is an immunosuppressive drug, used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a severe form of arthritis in children. It is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R). Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a cytokine that plays an important role in immune response and is implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases, such as autoimmune diseases, multiple myeloma and prostate cancer. Tocilizumab was jointly developed by Osaka University and Chugai, and was licensed in 2003 by Hoffmann-La Roche.


title: Tocilizumab

text: Tocilizumab was granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the treatment of COVID-19 in the United States in June 2021.


title: Tocilizumab

text: In the United States, tocilizumab is indicated for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, giant cell arteritis, systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease, polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and cytokine release syndrome.


title: Tocilizumab

text: In the European Union, tocilizumab is indicated for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, juvenile idiopathic polyarthritis, giant cell arteritis, cytokine release syndrome, and COVID19.


title: Tocilizumab

text: Tocilizumab is used for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, applied in combination with methotrexate, if other drugs like disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and TNF alpha blockers have proven to be ineffective or were not tolerated. It can be used as a monotherapy for patients who do not tolerate methotrexate. The drug slows down the progression of the disease and can improve physical function of patients.


title: Tocilizumab

text: The treatment of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) is similar to rheumatoid arthritis treatment: tocilizumab is combined with methotrexate unless the latter is not tolerated. General safety and effectiveness is established for children of two years and older. In 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved tocilizumab for the treatment of active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.


title: Tocilizumab

text: In Japan, tocilizumab is also approved for the treatment of Castleman's disease, a rare benign tumor of B cells.


title: Tocilizumab

text: On 30 August 2017, the FDA approved tocilizumab for cytokine release syndrome, a side effect of CAR-T cell therapies.


title: Tocilizumab

text: The most common adverse effects observed in clinical trials were upper respiratory tract infections (more than 10% of patients), nasopharyngitis (common cold), headache, and high blood pressure (at least 5%). The enzyme alanine transaminase was also elevated in at least 5% of patients, but in most cases without symptoms. Elevated total cholesterol levels were common. Among the less common side effects were dizziness, various infections, as well as reactions of the skin and mucosae like mild rashes, gastritis and mouth ulcer. Rare but severe reactions were gastrointestinal perforations (0.26% in six months) and anaphylaxis (0.2%).


title: Tocilizumab

text: There are no certain interactions with other drugs. The blood plasma levels of simvastatin were reduced by 57% after a single dose of tocilizumab, but it is not known whether this is clinically relevant. A possible mechanism is that the elevated IL-6 levels of patients with rheumatoid arthritis suppress the biosynthesis of various cytochrome P450 enzymes, notably CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP3A4. Tocilizumab lowers IL-6 and thus normalises cytochrome levels, increasing the metabolization of simvastatin (and possibly other cytochrome metabolised drugs).


title: Tocilizumab

text: Besides other functions, interleukin 6 (IL-6) is involved in the development of immunological and inflammatory reactions. Some autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis are associated with abnormally high IL-6 levels. Tocilizumab binds soluble as well as membrane bound interleukin-6 receptors, hindering IL-6 from exerting its pro-inflammatory effects. It has been noted that the membrane bound form and soluble form of the IL-6 receptor may have different effects in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis with the soluble form being more implicated in disease progression.


title: Tocilizumab

text: Interleukin 6 and its receptor were discovered and cloned at Osaka University, Japan, by Tadamitsu Kishimoto in the 1980s. In 1997, Chugai Pharmaceuticals began the clinical development of tocilizumab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical studies for Castleman's disease and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis started in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Hoffmann–La Roche co-developed the drug due to a license agreement in 2003.


title: Tocilizumab

text: Data presented in 2008 showed the effectiveness of tocilizumab in combination therapy with methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis treatment.


title: Tocilizumab

text: In further studies, it was effective and generally well tolerated when administered either as monotherapy or in combination with conventional DMARDs in adult patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.


title: Tocilizumab

text: In June 2005, tocilizumab was approved in Japan for Castleman's disease. In January 2009, the drug was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as "RoActemra" for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis under the mentioned restrictions. On 11 January 2010, it was approved by the U.S. FDA as "Actemra" for the same purpose. Tocilizumab was approved by Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration on 27 May 2009 and was listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from 1 August 2010. In New Zealand, tocilizumab was approved for distribution in July 2009, and Pharmac approved subsidising it with special authority restrictions on 1 July 2013 for systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and 1 July 2014 for rheumatoid arthritis. The FDA approved tocilizumab for the treatment of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis for children from two years of age in April 2011, and the EMA followed in August the same year.


title: Tocilizumab

text: Tocilizumab is marketed by Chugai in some countries, especially in Japan and other Asian countries, and jointly by Chugai and Roche (Hoffmann–La Roche's holding company) in others, for example Great Britain, France and Germany.


title: Tocilizumab

text: In June 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for tocilizumab for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized people aged two years of age and older who are receiving systemic corticosteroids and require supplemental oxygen, non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).


title: Tocilizumab

text: In September 2021, Indian pharmaceutical firm Hetero obtained emergency use approval from the country's health authority, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), to produce a generic version of tocilizumab to treat COVID-19 in adults.


title: Tocilizumab

text: In December 2021, tocilizumab was granted a provisional approval by the Australian regulator, Therapeutic Goods Administration, for treatment of adults.


title: Tocilizumab

text: Tocilizumab is currently under evaluation in a multicenter clinical trial (ALL-IN) for the prevention of acute cellular rejection in status post heart transplant patients.


title: Tocilizumab

text: There is good evidence tocilizumab can help reduce the need for mechanical ventilation for people in hospital with COVID-19, and some evidence it can help prevent secondary infections.


title: Tocilizumab

text: A 2021 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that, while tocilizumab does not show significant benefits on survival, it could play a role in preventing progression to intensive care and mechanical ventilation.


title: Tocilizumab

text: Early case reports suggest tocilizumab might be effective in otherwise refractory neuromyelitis optica (NMO, Devic's disease).


title: Tocilizumab

text: Two small studies found tocilizumab to be beneficial in endocrine ophthalmopathy (Graves' orbitopathy) that is refractory to corticosteroid treatment.


title: Daddy (Korn song)

text: "Daddy" is a song recorded and performed by American nu metal band Korn for their self-titled debut album (1994). It is the album's 12th and final track.


title: Daddy (Korn song)

text: Jonathan Davis has stated that the song is about a painful experience of being molested as a child and not being believed. However, he denied it was about physical or sexual abuse at the hands of his father, and the title and some concepts within the song stem from his parents not believing him. The song caused many to assume that Jonathan's father Rick Davis had molested his son. It is a source of embarrassment for Rick, though his son has gone on the record in many interviews saying it was actually written about a family friend. Jonathan and Rick both decided not to say who the person was.


title: Daddy (Korn song)

text: In an interview with "Rolling Stone", Davis stated that he is comfortable performing the song now. Davis has also uploaded a video discussing the song to YouTube. In the video, he said that the abuser was his babysitter; who had since died.


title: Daddy (Korn song)

text: The song eventually leads to Davis being stranded in a room, and shouting hostile things presumably to the abuser, which then leads to Davis weeping for a long period of time as a lullaby by vocalist Judith Kiener is heard. The band continues on playing an instrumental version until eventually a door is heard shutting. The rest of the band did not know that the song was about Davis' childhood prior to recording.


title: Daddy (Korn song)

text: After about five minutes of silence at the end of the song, a discussion can be heard; an audio clip that producer Ross Robinson found inside an abandoned house. The argument revolves around a man named Michael and his wife named Geri conversing about the installation of a car part (apparently an exhaust manifold on a Dodge Dart). Michael can be heard verbally abusing Geri over the merits of the installation. This hidden track is called "Michael & Geri".


title: Daddy (Korn song)

text: The song is notable for its popularity among fans, rarely being played live after the album version was recorded; an earlier version of the song was performed at a few of their first shows. Jonathan Davis says that the song is simply too personal for him to perform live.


title: Daddy (Korn song)

text: "I don't play that song live because it's just magic," Davis said. "If I play that song over and over every night, it'd lose its meaning. I don't want people to expect me to freak out like I did on that. That was what happened in that point in time, and that magic was captured, and I don't want to fuck with it."


title: Daddy (Korn song)

text: Korn announced they were going to play their self-titled album in full on tours to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album, including playing "Daddy"; however, the band later stated they will only be playing their debut album in full at festivals, hence not playing "Daddy" on the Prepare for Hell tour with Slipknot and King 810.


title: Daddy (Korn song)

text: The song remains popular with fans, often ranked highly among other Korn songs. It is considered, by many, to be one of the most disturbing songs to have been released and is often cited on various polls and lists.