title: Digital cinema

text: Owing to the smaller dynamic range of digital cameras, correcting poor digital exposures is more difficult than correcting poor film exposures during post-production. A partial solution to this problem is to add complex video-assist technology during the shooting process. However, such technologies are typically available only to high-budget production companies. Digital cinemas' efficiency of storing images has a downside. The speed and ease of modern digital editing processes threatens to give editors and their directors, if not an embarrassment of choice then at least a confusion of options, potentially making the editing process, with this 'try it and see' philosophy, lengthier rather than shorter. Because the equipment needed to produce digital feature films can be obtained more easily than celluloid, producers could inundate the market with cheap productions and potentially dominate the efforts of serious directors. Because of the quick speed in which they are filmed, these stories sometimes lack essential narrative structure.


title: Digital cinema

text: The projectors used for celluloid film were largely the same technology as when film/movies were invented over 100 years ago. The evolutions of adding sound and wide screen could largely be accommodated by bolting on sound decoders, and changing lenses. This well proven and understood technology had several advantages 1) The life of a mechanical projector of around 35 years 2) a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 15 years and 3) an average repair time of 15 minutes (often done by the projectionist). On the other hand, digital projectors are around 10 times more expensive, have a much shorter life expectancy due to the developing technology (already technology has moved from 2K to 4K) so the pace of obsolescence is higher. The MTBF has not yet been established, but the ability for the projectionist to effect a quick repair is gone.


title: Digital cinema

text: The electronic transferring of digital film, from central servers to servers in cinema projection booths, is an inexpensive process of supplying copies of newest releases to the vast number of cinema screens demanded by prevailing saturation-release strategies. There is a significant saving on print expenses in such cases: at a minimum cost per print of $1200–2000, the cost of celluloid print production is between $5–8 million per film. With several thousand releases a year, the probable savings offered by digital distribution and projection are over $1 billion. The cost savings and ease, together with the ability to store film rather than having to send a print on to the next cinema, allows a larger scope of films to be screened and watched by the public; minority and small-budget films that would not otherwise get such a chance.


title: Digital cinema

text: The initial costs for converting theaters to digital are high: $100,000 per screen, on average. Theaters have been reluctant to switch without a cost-sharing arrangement with film distributors. A solution is a temporary "Virtual Print Fee" system, where the distributor (who saves the money of producing and transporting a film print) pays a fee per copy to help finance the digital systems of the theaters. A theater can purchase a film projector for as little as $10,000 (though projectors intended for commercial cinemas cost two to three times that; to which must be added the cost of a long-play system, which also costs around $10,000, making a total of around $30,000–$40,000) from which they could expect an average life of 30–40 years. By contrast, a digital cinema playback system—including server, media block, and projector—can cost two to three times as much, and would have a greater risk of component failure and obsolescence. (In Britain the cost of an entry level projector including server, installation, etc., would be £31,000 [$50,000].)


title: Digital cinema

text: Archiving digital masters has also turned out to be both tricky and costly. In a 2007 study, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences found the cost of long-term storage of 4K digital masters to be "enormously higher—up to 11 times that of the cost of storing film masters." This is because of the limited or uncertain lifespan of digital storage: No current digital medium—be it optical disc, magnetic hard drive or digital tape—can reliably store a motion picture for as long as a hundred years or more (something that film—properly stored and handled—does very well). The short history of digital storage media has been one of innovation and, therefore, of obsolescence. Archived digital content must be periodically removed from obsolete physical media to up-to-date media. The expense of digital image capture is not necessarily less than the capture of images onto film; indeed, it is sometimes greater.


title: Eurojet EJ200

text: The Eurojet EJ200 is a military low-bypass turbofan used as the powerplant of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The engine is largely based on the Rolls-Royce XG-40 technology demonstrator, which was developed in the 1980s. The EJ200 is built by the EuroJet Turbo GmbH consortium. The EJ200 is also used in the Bloodhound LSR supersonic land speed record attempting car.


title: Eurojet EJ200

text: Rolls-Royce began development of the XG-40 technology demonstrator engine in 1984. Development costs were met by the British government (85%) and Rolls-Royce.


title: Eurojet EJ200

text: On 2 August 1985, Italy, West Germany and the UK agreed to go ahead with the Eurofighter. The announcement of this agreement confirmed that France had chosen not to proceed as a member of the project. One issue was French insistence that the aircraft be powered by the SNECMA M88, in development at the same time as the XG-40.


title: Eurojet EJ200

text: The Eurojet consortium was formed in 1986 to co-ordinate and manage the project largely based on XG-40 technology. In common with the XG-40, the EJ200 has a three-stage fan with a high pressure ratio, five-stage low-aspect-ratio high-pressure (HP) compressor, a combustor using advanced cooling and thermal protection, and single-stage HP and LP turbines with powder metallurgy discs and single crystal blades. A reheat system (afterburner) provides thrust augmentation. The variable area final nozzle is a convergent-divergent design.


title: Eurojet EJ200

text: In December 2006, Eurojet completed deliveries of the 363 EJ200s for the Tranche 1 Eurofighters. Tranche 2 aircraft require 519 EJ200s. , Eurojet was contracted to produce a total of 1,400 engines for the Eurofighter project.


title: Eurojet EJ200

text: In 2009, Eurojet entered a bid, in competition with General Electric's F414, to supply a thrust vectoring variant of the EJ200 to power the HAL Tejas Mk2 after both the indigenous Kaveri engine and the General Electric F404 used in prototypes and early production models proved to have insufficient performance. After evaluation and acceptance of the technical offer provided by both Eurojet and GE Aviation, the IAF preferred the EJ200 as it lighter and more compact but after the commercial quotes were compared in detail GE Aviation was declared as the lowest bidder. A second consideration by HAL was industrial offsets, if local Eurojet engine production was set up for the Tejas it would make future Eurofighter aircraft bids to India cheaper and more competitive with the Tejas whereas it was assumed the US would not allow aircraft using the engine to be sold to India, however October 2020 Boeing offered to sell F-18 aircraft to the Indian Navy.


title: Eurojet EJ200

text: On 20 January 2015 ASELSAN of Turkey and Eurojet Turbo GmbH signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the EJ200 military turbofan engine programme. It is envisaged that the collaboration would produce a derivative of the EJ200 with thrust vectoring for use in Turkey's TFX 5th generation air superiority fighter programme. Eurojet EJ200 is not selected for TFX program. TFX will use General Electric F110 engine until indigenous manufactured by TRMOTOR.


title: Eurojet EJ200

text: An EJ200 engine, together with a rocket engine, will power the Bloodhound LSR for an attempt at the land speed record. The target speed is at least 1000 mph.


title: Kuiper Systems

text: Kuiper Systems LLC is a subsidiary of Amazon that was set up in 2019 to deploy a large broadband satellite internet constellation to provide broadband internet connectivity. The deployment is also referred to by its project name "Project Kuiper".


title: Kuiper Systems

text: Amazon has signed launch contracts with three launch service providers for a total of 91 launches over the next decade in order to build out the entire constellation, now planned to contain 3,276 satellites. The overall contract value for these launches is in excess of . , no date has been set for when initial launches of the operational constellation will begin.


title: Kuiper Systems

text: Two initial prototype satellites “KuiperSat-1” and “KuiperSat-2” were originally planned to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2022 with ABL Space Systems on their RS1 rocket. On 12 October 2022, Amazon updated this plan to be on ULA's Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle in "early 2023."


title: Kuiper Systems

text: Amazon announced in April 2019 that they would fund and deploy a large broadband satellite internet constellation called Project Kuiper. It is expected to take up to a decade to fully deploy all 3,236 satellites planned for the full constellation in order to provide internet to "tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband internet". Amazon has not announced if they intend to sell broadband service directly to consumers, but they will "offer broadband service through partnerships with other companies".


title: Kuiper Systems

text: In December 2019, information became public that Amazon was asking the FCC to waive requirements (eg. to have applied by 2016) that SpaceX and OneWeb had to follow in order to get their large satellite internet constellations licensed.


title: Kuiper Systems

text: On 30 July 2020, Amazon announced that it would be investing more than US$10 billion in Project Kuiper, post receiving an authorization from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a Project Kuiper constellation of 3,236 satellites, to provide broadband internet access across the globe. A condition included in the FCC's authorization was a non-interference clause that required the satellites to not interfere with previously authorized satellite ventures.


title: Kuiper Systems

text: In December 2020, Amazon unveiled a high-level overview of the low-cost flat-panel antenna that it plans to use for the Project Kuiper satellite constellation. It is a Ka-band phased-array antenna that is much smaller than traditional designs for antennas that operate at 17–30 GHz. The antenna will be ~ in width and is expected to support up to 400 megabits per second of data bandwidth at over 5x less cost than traditional state-of-the-art flat-panel antennas. Amazon also announced that they intend to be "launch agnostic" and would not plan to exclusively use launch capacity from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company, but rather were open to launch capability offers from all providers.


title: Kuiper Systems

text: On 19 April 2021, Amazon announced that it had contracted with ULA for nine launches of Kuiper satellites on Atlas V launch vehicles from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and noted that it will "continue to explore all options" for launching the remainder of the satellites.


title: Kuiper Systems

text: On 5 April 2022, Amazon announced a massive set of launch contracts with three launch providers for a total of 83 launches over the next decade. The agreements foresee the launch of a full constellation at buildout of 3236 satellites, and include 18 launches of the European Ariane 6, 12 launches of Blue Origin's New Glenn (with options on 15 additional flights), and 38 launches on the Vulcan launch vehicle from United Launch Alliance. All three of these medium- or heavy-lift launch vehicles have yet to make their initial flight.


title: Kuiper Systems

text: The satellites are projected to use an orbit with a height between . Kuiper is planned to work in concert with Amazon's previously announced large network of 12 satellite ground station facilities (the "AWS Ground Station unit") announced in November 2018. Amazon filed communications license documents with the U.S. regulatory authorities the FCC in July 2019, which included information that the wholly owned Amazon subsidiary that intended to deploy the satellite constellation was Kuiper Systems LLC, based in Seattle, Washington. , the Kuiper System is planned to consist of 3,236 satellites operating in 98 orbital planes in three orbital shells, one each at , , and orbital altitude.


title: Kuiper Systems

text: The president of Kuiper Systems is Rajeev Badyal, a former vice president of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet constellation who was fired in 2018. In December 2019, Amazon announced that the team were expected to move headquarters to a larger R&D facility in Redmond, Washington, in 2020. In October 2022, Amazon confirmed the move to a 219,000-square-foot facility, but did not specify the exact location. They additionally announced plans on expanding to a 172,000-square-foot facility in Kirkland, Washington dedicated to manufacturing.


title: Indo-Surinamese

text: Indo-Surinamese, Indian-Surinamese or Hindustani Surinamese are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Suriname with ancestry from India and the wider subcontinent. Their ancestors were Indian indentured workers brought by the Dutch and the British to the (then) Dutch colony of Suriname during the mid-19th to the early 20th century. Per the 2012 Census of Suriname, 148,443 citizens of Suriname are of Indo-Surinamese origin, constituting 27.4% of the total population, making them the largest ethnic group in Suriname on an individual level.


title: Indo-Surinamese

text: Indo-Surinamese are also known locally by the Dutch term "Hindoestanen" (), derived from the word "Hindustani", lit., "someone from Hindustan". Hence, when Indians migrated to Suriname they were referred to as Hindustanis, people of Indian origin. Since 1947 the official name for the ethnic group in Suriname has been "Hindostanen" (“Hindostanis”). As the term "Hindoestanen" was mostly associated with followers of Hinduism, "Hindostanen" also includes the Muslim and Christian followers among the Indian immigrants in Suriname. Nowadays the term "Hindoestanen" and "Hindostanen" are interchangeably used in common Dutch language, and with that the meaning of "Hindoestanen" came to be more inclusive. They were also known as girmityas, a term referring to the Agreements that the labourers had to sign regarding the work and the period of stay, and meaning "Someone with an Agreement."


title: Indo-Surinamese

text: During the British Raj, many Indians were sent to other British colonies for work. After the abolition of slavery in the Dutch colony of Suriname, the Dutch government signed a treaty with the United Kingdom on the recruitment of contract workers. Indians began migrating to Suriname in 1873 from what was then British India as indentured labourers, mostly 75% from the modern-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, and in smaller numbers Bihar, Haryana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. However, among the immigrants there were also labourers from other parts of South Asia, such as Afghanistan and Nepal.


title: Indo-Surinamese

text: The first ship transporting Indian indentured labourers, the "Lalla Rookh", arrived in Paramaribo. Newly freed slaves in Suriname who witnessed Indian workers disembarking at the harbour, reportedly stated, ""Jobo tanbasi"", meaning "The white man is still the boss", suggesting that they viewed the development as a continuation of the slave trade. Initially, the transport and living conditions of Indian labourers in Suriname was worse than it had been prior to the abolition of the Dutch slave trade. The British Viceroy of India described it as "a new system of slavery". In 1870s, conditions were improved greatly following the passage of new legislation to protect the Indian workers. The Government of the United Kingdom and the colonial British Government in India feared comparisons to slavery would hurt their reputation, and enacted several legislations to make transportation of Indian workers safer and improve working conditions in plantations. The Dutch government, which had signed the agreement to recruit workers with the British after long and difficult negotiations, also feared jeopardizing the arrangement and meticulously followed the regulations imposed by the British. The Dutch were also concerned that they would be accused of reviving the slave trade.


title: Indo-Surinamese

text: In order to reduce the mortality rate among workers being transported from India, the colonial British government required the presence of at least one doctor on every ship. As regulations required the doctor to be of European-origin, the regulations also required that one Indian indentured labourer be appointed as a translator and that he would be paid for his services at the end of the journey. Other regulations mandated that every ship have distilling apparatus with a capacity to produce at least 500 litres of drinking water from seawater daily, and also required ships to have a sickbay, male and female nursing staff, adequate food and medicine, and artificial ventilation in the passengers' quarters. Another regulation prohibited any ship transporting Indian indentured labourers from setting sail between the end of March and the beginning of August. Any shipping company that violated the regulations would be prohibited from transporting contact workers in the future. While the mortality rate among slaves working on plantations between 1680 and 1807 averaged 50.9 per thousand people, following the passage of the regulations post-1873, it dropped to 7.1 per thousand among Indian workers.


title: Indo-Surinamese

text: Indo-Surinamese made up 37.6% of the population in the 1972 Census. Following the independence of Suriname on 25 November 1975, a significant portion of the Indo-Surinamese population migrated to the Netherlands, thereby retaining their Dutch passport.


title: Indo-Surinamese

text: The majority religion among the Indo-Surinamese is Hinduism, practiced by 78% of the people, followed by Islam (13%), Christianity (7%), and Jainism. Among the Hindus about 63% follow orthodox, traditional Hinduism that they call Sanātanī to differentiate themselves from the 15% who belong to the reform movement Arya Samaj, started by Dayananda Saraswati. Among the Indo-Surinamese Muslims, 75% follow Sunni Islam while 25% identify as Ahmadiyya, of either the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam or the Ahmadiyya community.


title: Jo Martin

text: Jo Martin (born 29 April) is a British actress. She played Natalie Crouch in the BBC One sitcom "The Crouches", which aired between 2003 and 2005. She joined the cast of "Holby City" in 2019 as neurosurgeon Max McGerry. Martin portrayed an incarnation of the Doctor known as the Fugitive Doctor in "Doctor Who".


title: Jo Martin

text: Martin was born in Newham, London to a Jamaican mother, who died in 2015. She attended Portway Primary School and Plashet All Girls Secondary School.


title: Jo Martin

text: Martin first appeared in the series 12 episode "Fugitive of the Judoon", playing Ruth Clayton, a tourist guide who is later revealed to be an incarnation of the Doctor known as the Fugitive Doctor. She reprised her role in the series finale, "The Timeless Children", in the third chapter of , "Once, Upon Time", and in the 2022 special "The Power of the Doctor".


title: Jo Martin

text: Martin is currently set to star in "The Fugitive Doctor Adventures", an audio drama series focused on her character to be produced by Big Finish.


title: Jo Martin

text: In November 2020, Talawa Theatre Company released "Tales from the Front Line". The first film presented a verbatim narrative from a teacher, played by Martin, talking about trying to keep themselves and their pupils safe during the pandemic, the emotional and psychological impact of the global Black Lives Matter movement, and the challenges of supporting students' education during an era of great uncertainty.


title: Jo Martin

text: Reviews described Martin's performance as "performed so subtly" as to seem real, while being "conversational and natural".


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Brandon Kenneth Lewis (born 20 June 1971) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from September to October 2022. He previously served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2018 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Great Yarmouth since 2010.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Born in Harold Wood, London, Lewis attended the independent Forest School. He studied economics at the University of Buckingham, switching to King's College London for his master's degree. He then began a career as a barrister. He was a councillor on Brentwood Borough Council from 1998 to 2009 and served as leader of the council from 2004 to 2009. He was elected for Great Yarmouth at the 2010 general election.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Lewis served under Prime Minister David Cameron as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2012 to 2014 and Minister of State for Housing and Planning from 2014 to 2016. Lewis served under Cameron’s successor, Theresa May, as Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service from 2016 to 2017 and Minister of State for Immigration from 2017 to 2018. He was appointed to May’s Cabinet as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio in the 2018 cabinet reshuffle. After May resigned in 2019, Lewis was appointed Minister of State for Security and Deputy for EU Exit and No Deal Preparation by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In the 2020 cabinet reshuffle, he was promoted by Johnson to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He resigned from this post during the July 2022 government crisis. Following the appointment of Liz Truss as Prime Minister, Lewis was appointed as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Lewis was born on 20 June 1971 in Harold Wood in London. He was educated at Forest School in Walthamstow. He received a BSc degree in Economics from the University of Buckingham, an LLB honours degree in Law from the same institution, and an LLM in Commercial Law from King's College London. He was called to the bar by the Inner Temple.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: He was a director of Woodlands Schools Limited, a provider of private primary schools based in Hutton, Essex, until September 2012 when he resigned his position.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In May 1998 Lewis was first elected as a representative of the Conservative Party when he became a Borough Councillor for Hutton South on Brentwood Borough Council.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: He stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative Party candidate for election in the Sherwood constituency in the 2001 general election; he lost to Paddy Tipping, the Labour Party candidate, with 34% of the vote.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: He was re-elected to Brentwood Borough Council 2002 and 2006 with an increased vote share. He later became Conservative Group leader in 2002 and leader of the council in 2004, after his party took control of the local authority. He remained in this position until 2009, when he resigned as a councillor in Essex to focus on seeking election as an MP in Norfolk.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: During his time as leader of the council he co-hosted "The Eric and Brandon Show" with local MP Eric Pickles on Phoenix FM, a local radio station in Brentwood.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In 2006, Lewis was selected as Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate in the Great Yarmouth constituency; he was elected at the 2010 general election, defeating sitting Labour MP Tony Wright with a majority of just over 4000 – a swing to the Conservatives of 8.7% in the seat which was number 66 on their list of target seats. Lewis had stood for Parliament on a "clean expenses pledge", pledging to be "completely open about my expenses".


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Lewis served on the Work and Pensions Select Committee and the Regulatory Reform Select Committee from his election until 2012. He has been a member of a number of all-party parliamentary groups, including time as the chair of the Local Growth group and co-chair of a group discussing coastal erosion. A report by the Local Growth group in September 2012, when it was chaired by Lewis, criticised the Government for an "uncoordinated" approach to its Local Enterprise Partnership policy which, according to Lewis, left "gaps and weaknesses".


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In 2010–2011 Lewis claimed just over £15,000 in accommodation expenses and in 2011–12 and 2012–13 he claimed just under £21,500 for accommodation.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In the House of Commons he previously sat on the Work and Pensions Committee and the Regulatory Reform Committee.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Lewis has run a variety of campaigns as Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth. Campaigns have included opposing the removal of free bus passes for school children in Belton & Burgh Castle, cutting fuel duty, protecting Norfolk bus services, and improving Great Yarmouth railway station.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In September 2012 Lewis was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government, working under Eric Pickles. In July 2014, Lewis was promoted to Minister of State for Housing and Planning, when the prime minister brought the portfolios of Housing and Planning together for the first time under his premiership. He claimed that there had been a "dramatic swing" in public opinion – with almost half of people now in favour of new housing in their area. This related to the new National Planning Policy Framework, the primary framework for town planning in the country, which some argued made it substantially easier for developers to build on greenfield land.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: As the local MP, Lewis declined initially to support local campaigners who were fighting against the Conservative run county council's controversial plans for the proposed King's Lynn incinerator. By 2012 he had joined all fellow local MPs in expressing concern with the proposal and, after a change in leadership of the county council, the plans for the incinerator were dropped in 2014.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In 2013 Lewis was critical of local councils, including many Conservative run councils, planning council tax rises in 2013 against the wishes of the Government, saying that there was "still massive scope" for councils to cut "waste and inefficiency". He has also criticised the Local Government Association for producing proposals to give local councils more freedom over their levels of council tax in the future.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Labour MPs called upon IPSA to investigate whether Lewis was using taxpayer funds for inappropriate political purposes after it was revealed that he had claimed £37,000 for "research briefing and other parliamentary associated assistance" to a political campaign consultancy.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In August 2015, it was reported that Lewis claimed £31,000 of hotel expenses over a two-year period following stays at the Park Plaza hotel near Parliament. Lewis stated that he opted to stay in London rather than travel home to Essex and all the claims complied with parliamentary rules.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In January 2016, the Labour Party unsuccessfully proposed an amendment in Parliament that would have required private landlords to make their homes "fit for human habitation". According to Parliament's register of interests, Lewis was one of 72 Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment who personally derived an income from renting out property. The Conservative Government had responded to the amendment that they believed homes should be fit for human habitation but did not want to pass the new law that would explicitly require it.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: He supported the United Kingdom remaining a member of the European Union in the 2016 EU membership referendum. In July 2016, Lewis was promoted to be the minister of state for the Home Office with a portfolio including Police and Fire services, as well as Europol and Interpol.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Following the Grenfell disaster, Lewis was criticised for having rejected calls to increase fire safety regulations in his former role as housing minister. He had argued that legislating to mandate sprinklers in high rise buildings was the wrong approach as water-based sprinklers were inappropriate for electrical fires.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In a January 2018 cabinet reshuffle, Lewis was promoted to Chairman of the Conservative Party, succeeding Patrick McLoughlin. Lewis was also appointed Minister without Portfolio.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: On 19 July, Government Chief Whip Julian Smith was reported to be resisting calls to resign his position, following allegations that he had instructed five Conservative Party MPs to break "pairing" agreements in an important parliamentary vote the previous day. Lewis was the only one to comply with the instruction. Subsequent reports indicated that Smith had given similar instructions to five MPs, but that Lewis had been the only one willing to break what one commentator described later as "a centuries old 'code of honour'". Before it became known that the affair had involved approaches by Smith to more than one MP, the prime minister Theresa May backed Lewis by stating that "The breaking of the pair was done in error. It wasn't good enough and will not be repeated."


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In July 2019, Lewis was appointed Minister of State for Security and Deputy for EU Exit and No Deal Preparation by new Prime Minister Boris Johnson.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In February 2020 he moved to be the secretary of state for Northern Ireland as part of a cabinet reshuffle under Johnson.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: He robustly defended the Government's support for the Northern Ireland Protocol. Lewis also responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: In September 2020, Lewis provoked controversy when he conceded that a bill designed to amend the United Kingdom's withdrawal agreement with the European Union would "break international law" in a "specific and limited way".


title: Brandon Lewis

text: On 6 July 2022, Lewis told Johnson he needed to step down from office due to a loss in support, during the July 2022 government crisis. Lewis resigned on 7 July, after turning down offers of promotion from Johnson, saying the Government was no longer upholding "honesty, integrity and mutual respect".


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Lewis ran Nadhim Zahawi's campaign in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. After Zahawi was eliminated from the contest, Lewis endorsed Liz Truss's leadership bid.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Lewis was appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice on 6 September 2022 after Liz Truss became the prime minister.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: On 29 September, Lewis negotiated a deal with the Criminal Bar Association to end the 2022 British barristers' industrial action. The deal included a 15% increase in legal aid fees to cases in the Crown Court, £3,000,000 of funding for case preparation and £4,000,000 for prerecorded cross-examinations of vulnerable victims and witnesses. On 10 October, 57% of barristers voted to end the strike and Crown Court cases began to be heard as normal from 11 October.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: On 25 October 2022, Lewis resigned from the front bench upon the ascension of Rishi Sunak to the Prime Ministership and returned to the backbenches. He was succeeded as Justice Secretary by Dominic Raab.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: Lewis married Justine Rappolt in 1999; the couple have two children. He completed the London Marathon in 2005 and 2008 and lists triathlon as an interest. He is a member of the Carlton Club.


title: Brandon Lewis

text: On 29 September 2016, Lewis was sworn in to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, giving him the honorific title "The Right Honourable" for life. In the 2019 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for political and public service in September 2019.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: The Contender is a 2000 American political drama film written and directed by Rod Lurie. It stars Gary Oldman, Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges and Christian Slater. The film focuses on a fictional United States President (played by Bridges) and the events surrounding his appointment of a new Vice President (Allen).


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: The film serves as a response to the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton. It became the subject of controversy regarding alterations that displeased Oldman, who co-produced. Joan Allen was nominated for Best Actress and Jeff Bridges for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: Second-term Democratic U.S. President Jackson Evans must select a new Vice President following the sudden death of his vice president, Troy Ellard. The obvious choice seems to be Virginia Governor Jack Hathaway, who is hailed as a hero after he recently dove into a lake in a failed attempt to save a drowning girl. The President instead decides that his "swan song" will be helping to break the glass ceiling by nominating Ohio Senator Laine Hanson. In accordance with the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, approval from both houses of Congress is required. Standing in her way is Republican Congressman Sheldon Runyon of Illinois, who believes she is unqualified for the position, and backs Hathaway for the nod. His investigation into her background turns up an incident where she was apparently photographed participating in a drunken orgy as part of a sorority initiation. He is joined in his opposition by Democratic Representative Reginald Webster.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: The confirmation hearings begin in Washington, D.C., and Runyon, who chairs the committee, quickly addresses Hanson's alleged sexual imbroglio. Hanson refuses to address the incident, neither confirming nor denying anything, and tries to turn the discussion towards political issues. Anticipating that Hanson would deem her personal past "none of anyone's business", Runyon starts rumors in the media saying that the sexual escapade in college was done in exchange for money and favors, making it prostitution.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: Hanson meets with Evans and offers to withdraw her name, to save his administration more embarrassment. Despite the wishes of the administration, she refuses to fight back or even address Runyon's charges, arguing that to answer the questions dignifies them being asked in the first place—something she does not believe. Evans meets with Runyon, informing him he will not choose Hanson as vice president. Runyon casually brings forward Hathaway as a replacement. They make an agreement that Runyon will back down on his attacks if Evans chooses Hathaway as vice president. However, Evans requests Runyon to make a public statement defending Hathaway, which Runyon agrees to do.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: Hanson, Hathaway, and Runyon are all invited to the White House. Evans then shocks them by showing an FBI report revealing that Hathaway paid the woman to drive off the bridge into the lake and get saved by him. Hathaway is arrested and Runyon is disgraced because he vouched for Hathaway's integrity just hours earlier. Evans meets with Hanson, and she finally tells what actually happened that night in college. She said that she did indeed arrive at a fraternity house to have sex with two men as part of an initiation, but changed her mind before any sex occurred. However, she did not prove her innocence, citing that by doing so will further the idea that it was acceptable to ask the questions in the first place. Evans addresses Congress, where he chastises all Democrats and Republicans who blocked Hanson's confirmation. He explicitly lambasts Runyon, who leaves in humiliation. Although he declares that Hanson had asked for her nomination to be withdrawn so he could finish his presidency with triumph over controversy, he remains adamant by rejecting her resignation and calls for an immediate confirmation vote.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: Director Rod Lurie said he wrote the screenplay because he wished to make a film starring Joan Allen, and wrote the part of Laine Hanson with her in mind. Having a fascination with politics, and inspired by his daughter, he wished to make a feminist film that would differ from Allen's frequent role as troubled wife. At the time, the Lewinsky scandal was in the news, and actor Jeff Bridges acknowledged the story was a response to it. In writing the screenplay, Lurie considered a number of possible endings, including one in which Laine is assassinated. However, he wanted to give a message of hope to his daughter and audiences.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: Actor Gary Oldman decided to produce the film, attracted to the screenplay which he felt was reminiscent of "All the President's Men" (1976). He did not see Sheldon Runyon as a villain, and Lurie claimed he was not written to be one. Oldman's manager Douglas Urbanski noted they independently produced the film before DreamWorks became involved.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: Before approaching Jeff Bridges for the part of President Evans, Lurie submitted the screenplay to Paul Newman, reflecting how the character was envisioned to be older than he is in the final film. Newman turned down the role, which Lurie attributed to the actor's retirement. Bridges also sings the song featured in the beginning of the film.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: Lurie wanted Sam Elliott for the part of Kermit, despite skepticism that he was best known for playing cowboys. Christian Slater joined the cast, saying he was interested in the screenplay's discussion of principles.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: The scene where Laine is interviewed by Larry King was shot before principal photography. False gravestones were made for a set recreating Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, with many of the markers having the same name, while "The Washington Post" gave permission for shooting in their office for one scene.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: A number of scenes were filmed during rain, but this precipitation does not appear in the film because a severe amount is needed to be visible. In one such scene, before Laine is announced as vice presidential nominee, a typhoon was forecast, and Lurie's assistant from India performed a religious ritual to ward it off, which the director credited with working. The scene where Laine debates abortion with the House Judiciary Committee is directly influenced by "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962).


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: In the scene where Allen is riding by supporters in a car, few extras attended the shot, which lasted only 15 minutes. As a result, a number of crew members were costumed and stood in.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: After the film was nearly completed, Lurie received a phone call saying producer Steven Spielberg was interested in the project. Lurie and Allen said it was the first time DreamWorks adopted a film the company had not produced.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: Lurie said nearly 30 minutes of footage was deleted because it did not reflect intended themes of principles and leadership. Based on lack of enthusiasm in test screenings to the final scene where Laine addresses the House Judiciary Committee, and with Spielberg's advice, Lurie added music intended to be inspirational, which did receive a better response from test audiences.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: The film was screened in Toronto in September 2000, and premiered in Los Angeles on 6 October. After a wider release on 13 October, it generated over $5 million during its opening weekend.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: The film finished its run with a total domestic gross of $17,872,723, a low amount even though the release during the 2000 United States presidential election could have created interest. It earned $22,361,811 worldwide.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: "The Contender" holds an overall approval rating of 76% on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 130 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""The Contender" wears its political heart on its sleeve, but strong performances and a solid screenplay help the end result add up to a gripping drama from either side of the aisle". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, calling it "one of those rare movies where you leave the theater having been surprised and entertained, and then start arguing". Emanuel Levy wrote in "Variety" that Lurie was improving as a director and screenwriter, but the film was "too obvious and verbose". Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the film a B− in "Entertainment Weekly", saying Bridges emulated Bill Clinton in "charisma, charm, appetite", and that ""The Contender" booms and pontificates, full of bravado and that ineffable quality of the current political season, chutzpah", but "only pretends to be enlightened, liberal". "Rolling Stone"s Peter Travers called the film "a lively, entertaining ride" before descending into partisanship. In "The Chicago Tribune", Michael Wilmington called it "a smart, tense political drama about presidential politics". Bob Graham of the "San Francisco Chronicle" praised Allen and Bridges. Stephen Hunter of "The Washington Post" wrote, "As entertainment of a tawdry but compelling sort, "The Contender" certainly delivers", but found Allen's character uninspiring.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: In 2003, critic J. Hoberman assessed the film to be a feminist attack on double standards, in which "unbridled female sexuality" is perceived as a threat to the system. Hoberman concluded then-Senator Hillary Clinton was more the contender than 2000 presidential candidate Al Gore, and that the film was "a prophecy of 2004". Author Harry Keyishian wrote the ending, in which it appears Laine will be confirmed despite her civic religion, is unrealistic, and "swelling music replaces logic and probability". M. Keith Booker called it "a surprisingly complex film", in which Runyon is a villain who stands by his principles, while Evans is heroic despite being "a savvy politician", a harder man than what the public sees. In 2009, Gary Susman of "Entertainment Weekly" named Evans as one of the 10 greatest fictional presidents.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: After viewing "The Contender", actor Dustin Hoffman placed a telephone call to Oldman to commend his work in the film.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: The film has also been the subject of controversy. In an October 2000 issue of "Premiere" magazine, Oldman supposedly alleged that editing cuts were made due to the studio's Democratic leanings. Oldman and his co-producer, Urbanski, reportedly accused the DreamWorks studio and director Rod Lurie of editing the original film to make it more Democrat-biased, mainly by making the Runyon character less sympathetic than was originally intended.


title: The Contender (2000 film)

text: However, Oldman stated in other interviews that his criticisms were only directed at Lurie and that the quote was "bastardized, kinda" when reprinted on Internet sources. He went on to complain that his issue with the film was how it became progressively less "ambiguous" as the editing went on, specifically citing the music as a problem in turning it into a film about "good guys and bad guys". Roger Ebert stated that Oldman's denunciation of the film never happened, and quoted Urbanski as saying Oldman is "the least political person I know" and taking credit for producing the film independently from DreamWorks, which eventually adopted it.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg, as the son of a surgeon. He grew up in Schiedam, where he married 19-year-old Maria de la Queillerie on 28 March 1649. She died in Malacca, now part of Malaysia, on 2 November 1664, at the age of 35. The couple had eight or nine children, most of whom did not survive infancy. Their son Abraham van Riebeeck, born at the Cape, later became Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: Joining the "Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie" (VOC) (Dutch East India Company) in 1639, he served in a number of posts, including that of an assistant surgeon in the Batavia in the East Indies.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: He was head of the VOC trading post in Tonkin, Indochina. After being dismissed from that position in 1645 due to conducting trade for his own personal account, he began to advocate a refreshment station in the Cape of Good Hope after staying 18 days there during his return voyage. Two years later, support increased after a marooned VOC ship was able to survive in a temporary fortress. The Heeren XVII requested a report from Leendert Jansz and Mathys Proot, which recommended a Dutch presence.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: In 1643, van Riebeeck travelled with Jan van Elseracq to the VOC outpost at Dejima in Japan. Seven years later in 1650, he proposed selling hides of South African wild animals to Japan.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: Van Riebeeck was requested by the Dutch East India Company to undertake the command of the initial Dutch settlement in the future South Africa and departed from Texel on 24 December 1651. He landed two ships (The "Drommedaris" and "Goede Hoope") in Table Bay, at the future Cape Town site on 6 April 1652, and a third ship, the "Reijger", on 7 April 1652. He was accompanied by 82 men and 8 women, including his wife Maria. The fleet originally included five ships, but the "Walvis" and the "Oliphant" arrived late, having had 130 burials at sea.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: Van Riebeeck commenced immediately to fortify the settlement as a way station for the VOC trade route between the Netherlands and the East Indies. The primary purpose of this way station was to provide fresh provisions for the VOC fleets sailing between the Dutch Republic and Batavia, as deaths en route were very high.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: Van Riebeeck was Commander of the Cape from 1652 to 1662; he was charged with building a fort, with improving the natural anchorage at Table Bay, planting cereals, fruit, and vegetables, and obtaining livestock from the indigenous Khoi people. In the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, a few wild almond trees still survive. The initial fort, named Fort de Goede Hoop ('Fort of Good Hope') was made of mud, clay, and timber, and had four corners or bastions. This fort was replaced by the Castle of Good Hope, built between 1666 and 1679 after van Riebeeck had left the Cape.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: Van Riebeeck was joined at the Cape by a fellow Culemborger Roelof de Man (1634-1663), who arrived in January 1654 on board the ship "Naerden". Roelof came as the colony bookkeeper and was later promoted to second-in-charge.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: Van Riebeeck reported the first comet discovered from South Africa, C/1652 Y1, which was spotted on 17 December 1652.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: In his time at the Cape, van Riebeeck oversaw a sustained, systematic effort to establish an impressive range of useful plants in the novel conditions on the Cape Peninsula – in the process changing the natural environment forever. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples, and citrus, had an important and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region. For instance, in 1659, he established a vineyard in the Colony to produce red wine in order to combat scurvy. The daily diary entries kept throughout his time at the Cape (VOC policy) provided the basis for future exploration of the natural environment and its natural resources. Careful reading of his diaries indicate that some of his knowledge was learned from the indigenous peoples inhabiting the region.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: Jan van Riebeeck is of immense cultural and historical significance to South Africa, as he was in particular during the Apartheid era. Many Afrikaners view him as the founding father of their nation. Consequently, his image appeared ubiquitously on stamps and bank notes issued until 1994. An image used on currency notes after South Africa became a republic in 1961 was thought to be that of van Riebeeck, but was instead of Bartholomeus Vermuyden.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: 6 April used to be known as van Riebeeck's Day, and later as Founders' Day, but the holiday was abolished by the African National Congress government after the elections of 1994. His image no longer features on any official currency or stamps, but statues of him and his wife remain in Adderley Street, Cape Town. The coat of arms of the city of Cape Town is based on the van Riebeeck family coat of arms.


title: Jan van Riebeeck

text: Many South African towns and villages have streets named after him. Riebeek-Kasteel is one of the oldest towns in South Africa, situated 75 km from Cape Town in the Riebeek Valley together with its sister town Riebeek West.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Iranian Azerbaijanis (; ), also known as Iranian Azeris, Iranian Turks, Persian Turks or Persian Azerbaijanis, are Iranians of Azerbaijani ethnicity who may speak the Azerbaijani language as their first language.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Iranian Azerbaijanis are mainly found in and are native to the Iranian Azerbaijan region including provinces of (East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan, West Azerbaijan) and in smaller numbers, in other provinces such as Kurdistan, Qazvin, Hamadan, Gilan, Markazi and Kermanshah. Iranian Azerbaijanis also constitute a significant minority in Tehran, Karaj and other regions.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Azerbaijanis comprise the largest minority ethnic group in Iran. Apart from Iranian Azerbaijan (provinces of West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan), Azerbaijani populations are found in large numbers in four other provinces: Hamadan (includes other Turkic ethnic groups such as Afshar, Gharehgozloo, Shahsevan, and Baharloo), Qazvin, Markazi, and Kurdistan. Azerbaijani-populated of Markazi province includes some parts and villages of Komijan, Khondab, Saveh, Zarandieh, Shazand, and Farahan. In Kurdistan, Azerbaijanis are mainly found in villages around Qorveh.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Azerbaijanis have also immigrated and resettled in large numbers in Central Iran, mainly Tehran, Qom and Karaj. They have also emigrated and resettled in large numbers in Khorasan. Immigrant Azerbaijani communities have been represented by people prominent not only among urban and industrial working classes but also in commercial, administrative, political, religious, and intellectual circles.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: According to the Iranologist Victoria Arakelova, estimating the number of Azeris in Iran has been hampered since the dissolution of the Soviet Union through the indoctrination of the idea of a separated nation (Azeris in Iran and Azerbaijan) with various figures featuring in politically-biased publications as the "Azerbaijani minority of Iran" without any justification or reliable sources, even though all Iranian censuses distinguish exclusively religious minorities. She further claims that in the early 1990s, when the entire population of Iran was barely 60 million, the most popular figure on the population of Azerbaijanis in Iran was around 30 million, half of the country's population, widely circulating not only among academics and political analysts but also in the official circles of Russia and the West. During the 2000s, the figure decreased to 20 million, which has been popularly used and kept up-to-date, only with a few minor adjustments. Arakelova puts the number of Azerbaijanis in Iran at 6 to 6.5 million.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Sub-ethnic groups of the Azerbaijanis within the modern-day borders of Iran following the ceding of the Caucasus to Russia in the 19th century, include the Shahsevan, the Qarapapaqs, the Ayrums, the Bayat, the Qajars, the Qaradaghis, and the Gharagozloo.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: A comparative study (2013) on the complete mitochondrial DNA diversity in Iranians has indicated that Iranian Azerbaijanis are more related to the people of Georgia, than they are to other Iranians, as well as to Armenians. The same multidimensional scaling plot demonstrates the intermediate position of Caucasian Azerbaijanis between the Azeris/Georgians and Turks/Iranians groupings. There is no significant difference between Iranian Azerbaijanis and other major ethnic groups of Iran.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: According to the scholar of historical geography, Xavier de Planhol: "Azerbaijani material culture, a result of this multi-secular symbiosis, is thus a subtle combination of indigenous elements and nomadic contributions…. It is a Turkish language learned and spoken by Iranian peasants". According to Richard Frye: "The Turkish speakers of Azerbaijan (q.v.) are mainly descended from the earlier Iranian speakers, several pockets of whom still exist in the region. A massive migration of Oghuz Turks in the 11th and 12th centuries gradually Turkified Azerbaijan as well as Anatolia." According to Olivier Roy: "The mass of the Oghuz Turkic tribes who crossed the Amu Darya towards the west left the Iranian plateau, which remained Persian, and established themselves more to the west, in Anatolia. Here they divided into Ottomans, who were Sunni and settled, and Turkmens, who were nomads and in part Shiite (or, rather, Alevi). The latter was to keep the name "Turkmen" for a long time: from the thirteenth century onwards they "Turkised" the Iranian populations of Azerbaijan (who spoke west Iranian languages such as Caucasian Tat, which is still found in residual forms), thus creating a new identity based on Shiism and the use of Oghuz Turkic. These are the people today known as Azerbaijanis.". According to Rybakov: "Speaking of the Azerbaijan culture originating at that time, in the XIV-XV cc., one must bear in mind, first of all, literature and other parts of culture organically connected with the language. As for the material culture, it remained traditional even after the Turkicization of the local population. However, the presence of a massive layer of Iranians that took part in the formation of the Azerbaijani ethnos, have imposed its imprint, primarily on the lexicon of the Azerbaijani language which contains a great number of Iranian and Arabic words. The latter entered both the Azerbaijani and Turkish languages mainly through the Iranian intermediary. Having become independent, the Azerbaijani culture retained close connections with the Iranian and Arab cultures. They were reinforced by a common religion and common cultural-historical traditions.".


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: It is believed that the Medes mixed with an indigenous population, the Mannai, a group related to the Urartians. Ancient written accounts, such as one written by Arab historian Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Masudi (896–956), attest to an Iranian presence in the region:


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Scholars see cultural similarities between modern Persians and Azerbaijanis as evidence of an ancient Iranian influence. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism was prominent throughout the Caucasus before Christianity and Islam and that the influence of various Persian Empires added to the Iranian character of the area. It has also been hypothesized that the population of Iranian Azerbaijan was predominantly Persian-speaking before the Oghuz arrived. This claim is supported by the many figures of Persian literature, such as Qatran Tabrizi, Shams Tabrizi, Nezami, and Khaghani, who wrote in Persian prior to and during the Oghuz migration, as well as by Strabo, Al-Istakhri, and Al-Masudi, who all describe the language of the region as Persian. The claim is mentioned by other medieval historians, such as Al-Muqaddasi. Other common Perso-Azerbaijani features include Iranian place names such as Tabriz and the name Azerbaijan itself.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Following the Russo-Persian Wars of 1804–13 and 1826–28, the territories of the Iranian Qajar dynasty in the Caucasus were forcefully ceded to the Russian Empire and the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 and the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828 finalized the borders between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran. The areas to the north of the river Aras, including the territory of the contemporary Republic of Azerbaijan, were Iranian territory until they were occupied by Russia over the course of the 19th century. The Russo-Persian Wars of the 19th century settled the modern-day boundary of Iran, stripping it of all its Caucasian territories and incorporating them into the Russian Empire. The eventual formation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918 established the territory of modern Azerbaijan.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: As a direct result of Qajar Iran's forced ceding to Russia, the Azerbaijanis are nowadays parted between two nations: Iran and Azerbaijan. Despite living on two sides of an international border, the Azerbaijanis form a single ethnic group.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: The burden of the Russo-Persian War (1826–28) was on the tribes of Qaradağ region, who being in front line, provided human resources and provision of the Iranian army. In the wake of the war, a significant fraction of the inhabitants of this area lived as nomadic tribes (ایلات). The major tribes included; Cilibyanlu 1,500 tents and houses, Karacurlu 2500, Haji Alilu 800, Begdillu 200, and various minor groups 500. At the time Ahar, with 3,500 inhabitants, was the only city of Qaradağ. The Haji-Alilu tribe played major rule in the later political developments.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: During the Persian Constitutional Revolution , Tabriz was at the center of battles which followed the ascent to the throne of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar on 8 January 1907. The revolutionary forces were headed by Sattar Khan who was originally from Arasbaran. Haydar Khan Amo-oghli had significant contribution in the inception and progression of the revolution, and introducing leftist ideas into Iranian mainstream politics. During the following tumultuous years, Amir Arshad, the headman of Haji-Alilu tribe, had a major impact on the subsequent political developments in Iran in relation to the status of Iranian Kurds. He is credited with fending off communism from Iran.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: The ill-fated Constitutional Revolution did not bring democracy to Iran. Instead, Rezā Shāh, then Brigadier-General of the Persian Cossack Brigade, deposed Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last Shah of the Qajar dynasty, and founded the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925 and established a despotic monarchy. His insistence on ethnic nationalism and cultural unitarism along with forced detribalization and sedentarization resulted in suppression of several ethnic and social groups, including Azerbaijanis. Ironically, the main architect of this totalitarian policy, which was justified by reference to racial ultra-nationalism, was Mirza Fatali Akhundov, an intellectual from Azerbaijan. In accordance with the Orientalist views of the supremacy of the "Aryan peoples", he idealized pre-Islamic Achaemenid and Sassanid empires, whilst negating the 'Islamization' of Persia by Muslim forces." This idealization of a distant past was put into practice by both the Pahlavi kings, particularly Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who honored himself with the title Āryāmehr, "Light of the Aryans". Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in an interview concisely expressed his views by declaring, "we Iranians are Aryans, and the fact that we are not adjacent to other Aryan nations in Europe is just a geographical anomaly.".


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Mirza Fatali Akhundov is not the only Azerbaijani intellectual in framing Iranian ultra-nationalism. Hassan Taqizadeh, the organizer of "Iran Society" in Berlin, has contributed to the development of Iranian nationalism. Since 1916 he published "Kaveh" periodical in Farsi language, which included articles emphasizing the racial unity of Germans and Iranians. Ahmad Kasravi, Taqi Arani, Hossein Kazemzadeh (Iranshahr) and Mahmoud Afshar advocated the suppression of the Azerbaijani language as they supposed that the multilingualism contradicted the racial purity of Iranians. Therefore, It is noteworthy that, contrary to what one might expect, many of the leading agents of the construction of an Iranian bounded territorial entity came from non-Persian-speaking ethnic minorities, and the foremost were the Azerbaijanis, rather than the nation's titular ethnic group, the Persians.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: The most important political development affecting the Middle East at the beginning of the twentieth century was the collapse of the Ottoman and the Russian empires. The idea of a greater homeland for all Turks was propagated by pan-Turkism, which was adopted almost at once as a main ideological pillar by the Committee of Union and Progress and somewhat later by other political caucuses in what remained of the Ottoman Empire. On the eve of World War I, pan-Turkist propaganda focused chiefly on the Turkic-speaking peoples of the southern Caucasus, in Iranian Azerbaijan and Turkistan in Central Asia, with the ultimate purpose of persuading them all to secede from the larger political entities to which they belonged and to join the new pan-Turkic homeland.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: It was this latter appeal to Iranian Azerbaijanis which, contrary to pan-Turkist intentions, caused a small group of Azerbaijani intellectuals to become the most vociferous advocates of Iran's territorial integrity and sovereignty. If in Europe "romantic nationalism responded to the damage likely to be caused by modernism by providing a new and larger sense of belonging, an all-encompassing totality, which brought about new social ties, identity and meaning, and a new sense of history from one's origin on to an illustrious future,"(42) in Iran after the Constitutional movement romantic nationalism was adopted by the Azerbaijani Democrats as a reaction to the irredentist policies threatening the country's territorial integrity. In their view, assuring territorial integrity was a necessary first step on the road to establishing the rule of law in society and a competent modern state which would safeguard collective as well as individual rights. It was within this context that their political loyalty outweighed their other ethnic or regional affinities.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: The failure of the Democrats in the arena of Iranian politics after the Constitutional movement and the start of modern state-building paved the way for the emergence of the titular ethnic group's cultural nationalism. Whereas the adoption of integrationist policies preserved Iran's geographic integrity and provided the majority of Iranians with a secure and firm national identity, the blatant ignoring of other demands of the Constitutional movement, such as the call for the formation of a society based on law and order, left the country still searching for a political identity. The ultimate purpose was to persuade these populations to secede from the larger political entities to which they belonged and join the new pan-Turkic homeland. It was the latter appeal to Iranian Azerbaijanis, which, contrary to Pan-Turkist intentions, caused a small group of Azerbaijani intellectuals to become the strongest advocates of the territorial integrity of Iran.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: After the constitutional revolution in Iran, a romantic nationalism was adopted by Azerbaijani Democrats as a reaction to the pan-Turkist irredentist policies threatening Iran's territorial integrity. It was during this period that Iranism and linguistic homogenization policies were proposed as a defensive nature against all others. Contrary to what one might expect, foremost among innovating this defensive nationalism were Iranian Azerbaijanis. They viewed that assuring the territorial integrity of the country was the first step in building a society based on law and a modern state. Through this framework, their political loyalty outweighed their ethnic and regional affiliations. The adoption of these integrationist policies paved the way for the emergence of the titular ethnic group's cultural nationalism.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: In late 1941 Soviet forces invaded Iran in coordination with British Army under an operation known as Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. Their forces broke through the border and moved from the Azerbaijan SSR into Iranian Azerbaijan. Reza Shah was forced by the invading British to abdicate in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who replaced his father as Shah on the throne on 16 September 1941. At the aftermath of a four-year-long tumultuous period the Azerbaijan People's Government, a Soviet puppet state, was established in Tabriz, perhaps through direct involvement of the Soviet leadership. This government autonomously ruled the province from November 1945 to November 1946. However, the Soviet soon realized their idea was premature, the mass of the population did not support separatism; under largely Western pressure, the Soviet troops withdrew in 1946, which resulted in the quick collapse of the Azerbaijan People's Government.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Beginning in the 1850s, many Iranian Azerbaijanis opted to become work migrants and seek job opportunities in the Russian Empire, primarily in the economically booming Azerbaijani-populated part of the Caucasus. Due to them being Persian subjects, Russian offices often recorded them as "Persians". The migrants referred to one another as "hamshahri" ("compatriot") as an in-group identity. The word was adopted by the Azerbaijani-speaking locals as "həmşəri" and has since been applied by them to Iranian Azerbaijani migrants in general. Already in the nineteenth century, the word also spread to urban varieties of Russian of Baku and Tiflis in the form of "gamshara" ("гамшара") or "amshara" ("амшара"), where it was, however, used with a negative connotation to mean "a raggamuffin". In the Soviet times, the word was borrowed into the Russian slang of Ashkhabad and was used to refer to forestallers.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Iranian Azerbaijanis often worked menial jobs, including on dyer's madder plantations in Guba where 9,000 out of 14,000 Iranian Azerbaijani contract workers were employed as of 1867. In the 1886 economic report on the life of the peasantry of the Guba district, Yagodynsky reported frequent cases of intermarriage between the Iranian work migrants and local women which prompted the former to settle in villages near Guba and quickly assimilate. Children from such families would be completely integrated in the community and not be regarded as foreigners or outsiders by its residents.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Starting from the late nineteenth century, Baku was another popular destination for Iranian Azerbaijanis, thanks to its highly developing oil industry. By the beginning of the twentieth century, they already constituted 50% of all the oil workers of Baku, and numbered 9,426 people in 1897, 11,132 people in 1903 and 25,096 people in 1913. Amo-oghli and Sattar Khan notably worked in the Baku oil fields before returning to Iran and engaging in politics.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: In 1925, there were 45,028 Iranian-born Azerbaijanis in the Azerbaijan SSR. Of those, 15,000 (mostly oil workers, port and navy workers and railway workers) had retained Iranian citizenship by 1938 and were concentrated in Baku and Ganja. In accordance with the 1938 decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, residents of Azerbaijan with Iranian citizenship were given 10 days to apply for Soviet citizenship and were then relocated to Kazakhstan. Those who refused (numbering 2,878 people) became subject to deportation back to Iran immediately. Some naturalized Iranian Azerbaijanis were later accused of various anti-Soviet activities and arrested or even executed in the so-called "Iranian operation" of 1938.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: After the fall of the Azerbaijan People's Government in 1946, as many as 10,000 Iranian Azerbaijani political émigrés relocated to Soviet Azerbaijan, fleeing the inevitable repressions of the Shah's government. Notable Azerbaijanis of Iranian descent living in Azerbaijan included writers Mirza Ibrahimov and Mir Jalal Pashayev, singers Rubaba Muradova and Fatma Mukhtarova, actress Munavvar Kalantarli, poets Madina Gulgun and Balash Azeroghlu and others.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: However, with the advent of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the emphasis shifted away from nationalism as the new government highlighted religion as the main unifying factor. Within the Islamic Revolutionary government there emerged an Azerbaijani nationalist faction led by Ayatollah Kazem Shariatmadari, who advocated greater regional autonomy and wanted the constitution to be revised to include secularists and opposition parties; this was denied. Other Azerbaijanis played an important rule in the revolution including Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Bazargan, Sadeq Khalkhali, and Ali Khamenei.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Azerbaijanis make up 25% of Tehran's population and 30.3% – 33% of the population of the Tehran Province. Azerbaijanis in Tehran live in all of the cities within Tehran Province. They are by far the largest ethnic group after Persians in Tehran and the wider Tehran Province.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: In October 2020, several protests erupted in Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran and Tabriz, in support of Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Iranian Azerbaijani demonstrators chanted pro-Azerbaijan slogans and clashed with Iran's security forces.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Generally, Iranian Azerbaijanis were regarded as "a well integrated linguistic minority" by academics prior to Iran's Islamic Revolution. Despite friction, they came to be well represented at all levels of, "political, military, and intellectual hierarchies, as well as the religious hierarchy.". In addition, the current Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, is half Azerbaijani. In contrast to the claims of de facto discrimination of some Iranian Azerbaijanis, the government claims that its policy in the past 30 years has been one of pan-Islamism, which is based on a common Islamic religion of which diverse ethnic groups may be part, and which does not favor or repress any particular ethnicity, including the Persian majority. Persian language is thus merely used as the lingua franca of the country, which helps maintain Iran's traditional centralized model of government. More recently, the Azerbaijani language and culture is being taught and studied at the university level in Iran, and there appears to exist publications of books, newspapers and apparently, regional radio broadcasts too in the language.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: According to Professor. Nikki R. Keddie of UCLA: "One can purchase newspapers, books, music tapes, and videos in Azerbaijani and Kurdish, and there are radio and television stations in ethnic areas that broadcast news and entertainment programs in even more languages".


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Azerbaijani nationalism has oscillated since the Islamic revolution and recently escalated into riots over the publication in May 2006 of a cartoon that many Azerbaijanis found offensive. The cartoon was drawn by Mana Neyestani, an ethnic Azerbaijani, who was fired along with his editor as a result of the controversy.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Another series of protests took place in November 2015, in the cities of Iranian Azerbaijan including Tabriz, Urmia, Ardabil and Zanjan, in response to an episode of a popular children's program called Fitileh which had depicted what was seen as a racist image of Azerbaijanis. Mohammad Sarafraz director-general of the IRIB and Davud Nemati-Anarki, the head of the public relations department, officially apologised for the "unintentional offense" caused by the program. Protests were also held in July 2016 in Tehran, Tabriz, Urmia, Maragheh, Zanjan, Ahar, Khoy, and Ardabil in response to "denigration of Azerbaijanis by the state media". Plastic bullets were shot at protesters and several people were arrested.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Despite sporadic problems, Azerbaijanis are an intrinsic community within Iran. Currently, the living conditions of Iranian Azerbaijanis closely resemble that of Persians:


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Iranian Azerbaijanis are in high positions of authority with the Azerbaijanis Ayatollah Ali Khamenei currently sitting as the Supreme Leader. Azerbaijanis in Iran remain quite conservative in comparison to most Azerbaijanis in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Nonetheless, since the Republic of Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, there has been renewed interest and contact between Azerbaijanis on both sides of the border.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: While Iranian Azerbaijanis may seek greater linguistic rights, few of them display separatist tendencies. Extensive reporting by Afshin Molavi, an Iranian Azerbaijani scholar, in the three major Azerbaijani provinces of Iran, as well as among Iranian Azerbaijanis in Tehran, found that separatist sentiment was not widely held among Iranian Azerbaijanis. Few people framed their genuine political, social and economic frustration – feelings that are shared by the majority of Iranians – within an ethnic context.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: According to another Iranian Azerbaijani scholar, Dr. Hassan Javadi – a Tabriz-born, Cambridge-educated scholar of Azerbaijani literature and professor of Persian, Azerbaijani and English literature at George Washington University – Iranian Azerbaijanis have more important matters on their mind than cultural rights. "Iran's Azerbaijani community, like the rest of the country, is engaged in the movement for reform and democracy," Javadi told the Central Asia Caucasus Institute crowd, adding that separatist groups represent "fringe thinking." He also told EurasiaNet: "I get no sense that these cultural issues outweigh national ones, nor do I have any sense that there is widespread talk of secession."


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Iranian Azerbaijanis, a Turkic speaking people, are culturally a part of the Iranian peoples and have influenced Iranian culture. At the same time, they have influenced and been influenced by their non-Iranian neighbors, especially Caucasians and Russians. Azerbaijani music is distinct music that is tightly connected to the music of other Iranian peoples such as Persian music and Kurdish music, and also the music of the Caucasian peoples. Although the Azerbaijani language is not an official language of Iran it is widely used, mostly orally, among the Iranian Azerbaijanis.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Jahan Shah (r. 1438–67), the Qara Qoyunlu ("black sheep") ruler of Azerbaijan was a master poet. He compiled a "diwan" under the pen-name Haqiqi. Shah Isma'il (1487–1524), who used the pen-name Khata'i, was a prominent ruler-poet and has, apart from his "diwan" compiled a mathnawi called Deh-name, consisting of some eulogies of Ali, the fourth Caliph of early Islam. After the Safavid era, Azerbaijani could not sustain its early development. The main theme of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was the development of verse-folk stories, mainly intended for performance by Ashughs in weddings. The most famous among these literary works are "Koroghlu", Ashiq Qərib, and "Kərəm ilə Əsli".


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Following the establishing of Qajar dynasty in Iran Azerbaijani literature flourished and reached its peak by the end of the nineteenth century. By then, journalism had been launched in Azerbaijani language and social activism had become the main theme of literary works. The most influential writers of this era are Fathali Akhondzadeh and Mojez Shabestari.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Pahlavi era was the darkest period for Azerbaijani literature. The education and publication in Azerbaijani language was banned and writers of Azerbaijan, such as Gholam-Hossein Saedi, Samad Behrangi and Reza Barahani, published their works in Farsi language. The only exception was Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar, who is famous for his verse book, "Heydar Babaya Salam"; simply he was too mighty to be censored. Shahriar's work was an innovative way of summarizing the Cultural identity in concise poetic form and was adapted by a generation of lesser-known poets, particularly from Qareh Dagh region, to record their oral traditions. One remarkable example is Abbas Eslami, known with his pen-name "Barez", (1932–2011) who described the melancholic demise of his homeland in a book titled mourning Sabalan. Another example is Mohamad Golmohamadi's long poem, titled "I am madly in love with Qareh Dagh" (قاراداغ اؤلکه‌سینین گؤر نئجه دیوانه‌سی ام), is a concise description of the region's cultural landscape.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: The long-lasting suppression finally led to a generation of revolutionary poets, composing verses by allegoric allusion to the imposing landscape of Azerbaijan:


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: After the Islamic revolution of 1979 the ban on Azerbaijani publications in Iran has eased. However, great literary works have not yet appeared and glory days of fifteenth century ruler-poets is not on the horizon. The contemporary literature is restricted to oral traditions, such as "bayaties".


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Traditional Azerbaijani music can be classified into two categories: the music of "ashugh" and the "mugham". Mugham, despite its similarity to Persian classic music and utmost importance in Azerbaijan, has not been popular among Iranian Azerbaijanis. The ashugh music had survived in the mountainous region of Qaradağ and presently is identified as the representative of the cultural identity of Azerbaijanis. Recent innovative developments, aiming to enhance the urban-appealing aspects of this ashugh performances, has drastically enhanced the status of ashugh music. The opening of academic-style music classes in Tabriz by master ashughs, such as Ashig Imran Heidari and Ashig Changiz Mehdipour, has greatly contributed to the ongoing image building.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Living in the crossroads of many civilizations, Azerbaijani artisans have developed a rich tradition of decorative arts including rugs, lace, printed textiles, jewelry, vessels made of copper, engraved metals, wooden articles, and ceramics. Among these, carpet weaving stands out as the acme of Azerbaijani art.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Tabriz is one of the main centers of carpet weaving in Iran. At present 40% of Iranian carpet exports are originated from Tabriz. These carpets are generally known as Tabriz rugs. Another carpet weaving center is Ardebil, which, despite being overshadowed by Tabriz in recent years, has produced the finest carpets in past. The two most famous Iranian rugs in the world had been woven in Ardebil in 1540. One is hung in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the other is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts. These carpets have silk warps and contain over thirty million knots.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: The acme of carpet weaving art is manifested in Verni, which was originated in Nagorno-Karabakh. Verni is a carpet-like kilim with a delicate and fine warp and woof, which is woven without a previous sketch, thanks to the creative talents of nomadic women and girls. Verni weavers employ the image of birds and animals (deer, rooster, cat, snake, birds, gazelle, sheep, camel, wolf and eagle) in simple geometrical shapes, imitating the earthenware patterns that were popular in prehistoric times. A key décor feature, which is intrinsic to many Vernis, is the S-element. Its shape varies, it may resemble both figure 5 and letter S. This element means "dragon" among the nomads. At present, Verni is woven by the girls of Arasbaran Tribes, often in the same room where the nomadic tribes reside, and is a significant income source for about 20,000 families in Qaradagh region. Verni weavers employ the image of birds and animals in simple geometrical shapes, imitating the earthenware patterns that were popular in prehistoric times.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: The majority of Azerbaijanis are followers of Shia Islam. Azerbaijanis commemorate Shia holy days (ten first days of the holy month of Muharram) at least with the same intensity as other Iranians. In metropolitan cities with mixed ethnic composition, such as Tehran, Azerbaijanis are thought to be more intense in their expression of religious ritual than their Persian counterparts. However, Azerbaijanis are less inclined to Islamism. This is evident by the fact that just before the revolution Azerbaijanis followed either Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari or Kho'i, both traditionalist jurists. In contrast, Persians followed more radical Ruhollah Khomeini.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: There is also a small minority of Azerbaijanis who practice the Baháʼí Faith. Also in recent years, some Azerbaijanis in Iran have begun converting to Christianity, which is strictly prohibited and can result in imprisonment.


title: Iranian Azerbaijanis

text: Followers of Yarisan religion (Goran in the Azerbaijani language) constitute a significant fraction of the population. In some regions Yarisan followers are sometimes known as Shamlus, a clear reference to the name of Shamlu tribe, which was one of the main constituents of Qizilbash confederation.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: The 2022 California wildfire season is an ongoing series of wildfires burning throughout the U.S. state of California. , a total of 7,329 fires have been recorded, totaling approximately across the state. Wildfires have killed 9 people so far in California in 2022, have destroyed 772 structures, and damaged another 104. The 2022 season follows the 2020 and 2021 California wildfire seasons, which had the highest and second-highest (respectively) numbers of acres burned in the historical record.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: A number of early-season wildfires helped raise concerns. In January 2022, the Colorado Fire in Monterey County became the first incident of the year in California, exhibiting "surreal fire behavior given the wet and ". In February, the Airport Fire near Bishop Airport in Inyo County burned over 4,000 acres.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: Drastic climatic and ecological conditions, including climate change and long-term drought, led to the anticipation of a potentially above-average wildfire season on the heels of two previous such seasons in 2020 and 2021. However, while the number of fires to date in 2022 is only slightly below the 5-year average (7,329 fires versus 7,537 fires), the total acreage burned so far is well below the 5-year average; 362,403 acres have burned in 2022 thus far versus 2,147,137 acres burned by this time on average in the past five years (though that period includes several of California's most significant fire seasons). Peak fire season in California typically occurs in late summer and/or fall, and effectively ends when significant precipitation occurs across the state.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: A number of significant wildfires have burned in California so far this year, including the Oak Fire in Mariposa County, which burned over 180 structures, the McKinney Fire in Siskiyou County, which caused 4 fatalities, and the Mosquito Fire in Placer and El Dorado counties, which is California's largest wildfire of 2022.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: After a wet October and December in the beginning of the 2022 water year, California experienced the driest January–February period on record in the state, with similar conditions continuing in March. This dry stretch follows a period of severe drought in the state that began in 2020, in part due to climate change in California, and which contributed to severe wildfire seasons in both 2020 and 2021.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: In its April monthly seasonal outlook, the National Interagency Fire Center forecast above normal significant fire potential for the Bay Area, Mid Coast-Mendocino, and Sacramento Valley/Foothill areas beginning in May, due to the lack of seasonal precipitation, early start to the growing season, and long-term drought. It also noted that "A further expansion of above normal significant fire potential is forecast across most elevations during June and July." The Northern California Geographic Coordination Center (commonly called 'North Ops') forecast stated that "Confidence is moderate to high for an early start to the significant large fire season."


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: In Northern California, the peak fire season in California begins in the early summer (June-July) and runs until late fall, varying year to year. In Southern California, the peak fire season begins in late spring (May-June) and runs until fall. The precise timing varies according to annual and seasonal precipitation, as well as the occurrence of offshore wind events, such as the Santa Anas, Diablo winds, or sundowner winds. However, fires are possible at any time of year in the state, particularly in drier Southern California.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: In anticipation of the 2022 California wildfire season, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) increased its planned wildfire mitigation plan spending for 2022 to $5.96 billion, from $4.8 billion in 2021 and $4.46 billion in 2020. The mitigation plan includes the 'undergrounding' of at least 175 miles of power lines in high-fire risk areas, the installation of 98 additional wildfire detection/monitoring cameras and 100 additional weather stations, the expansion of safety settings that cut off power when objects (such as trees or branches) contact power lines, and the continued implementation of public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) as a last resort during extreme fire weather conditions. These moves came after the company declared bankruptcy in 2019 over its liability for wildfire damage costs from the 2018 Camp Fire and 2017 Tubbs Fire, among others. PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the Camp Fire, shortly before the company exited bankruptcy in June of 2020. In January of 2022, Cal Fire determined that the Dixie Fire, the largest fire of the 2021 California wildfire season and largest non-complex fire in recorded California history, was caused by a tree contacting PG&E electrical distribution lines.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: The lead-in to the 2022 Western United States fire season has also been marked by concerns about firefighting staffing. On March 15, 2022, "Politico" reported that United States Forest Service (USFS) officials had warned California employees that there had been "50 percent fewer applications submitted for GS3 through GS9 firefighting positions" compared to 2021, in part because of low pay, housing issues, and high cost of living. The "San Francisco Chronicle" similarly reported that between 2019 and 2021, the number of U.S. Forest Service firefighters stationed in California dropped by more than 20%, or over 1,000 firefighters. Testifying for the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 4, USFS Chief Randy Moore noted that in some areas, the USFS had only reached 50% of the staffing goal for wildland firefighters so far. Chief Moore cited competition in the labor market, including with private, county, and state organizations, such as Cal Fire, as a major reason for the hiring challenges. During the peak of fire season, representatives of California's private timber industry called for firefighting reserves to be augmented by the U.S. military and the National Guard, but were resisted by federal and state officials who noted the cost of such efforts and the lack of extreme resource needs during the season so far. The state has been forced to seek military assistance in the past during severe fire seasons.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: Anthropogenic climate change is partially responsible for driving increased wildfire severity in California. For instance, background warming has led to weather and vegetation conditions more favorable for wildfire activity even at night, which has typically been a period of reduced activity that allows crews to intensify efforts to suppress fires.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: The state of California is experiencing drought conditions on a number of timescales. The state saw very little precipitation in the January to March time period, with much of the state experiencing its driest such period. As of March 22, 2022, the National Drought Mitigation Center's U.S. Drought Monitor saw the entire state in moderate to extreme drought conditions. In February, their Drought Severity and Coverage (DSCI) index, which measures cumulative dryness, was at 275, or nearly twice the 20-year average of approximately 146, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. This dry period is part of an ongoing 22-year spell of drought in the North American West that marks the driest such period in at least 1,200 years, according to scientific research based on analysis of soil moisture deficits and tree rings.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: The drought has impacted wildfire risk and severity in a number of ways. Increased dryness of fuels, driven by increased vapor pressure deficit (VPD), a measure of the aridity of the atmosphere, is behind an eightfold increase in the area burned by wildfires in the summer in California since 1972, according to scientific research. Drought and overcrowding have also made forests more vulnerable not just to wildfires but bark beetle infestation, which has further weakened and killed forests. Total tree mortality since 2010 exceeds 172 million, providing plentiful fuel for wildfires.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: Scientists believe that prior to European colonization, far more area—between 4.4 and 11.8 million acres—was burned on an annual basis in California than in modern history, as a combination of wildfires and indigenous controlled burning. Beginning with the advent of the U.S. Forest Service's '10 AM policy', in which it sought to extinguish all fires by 10 AM the morning after their report, the primary method of wildfire management in California has been suppression. The success of this approach has led to a surfeit of fuel, resulting in larger and more extreme fires.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: California, as with other areas of the United States and the world, has experienced a growing amount of human development into the wildland-urban interface, or WUI. This area consists of developed areas either adjacent to, or intermingled with, wildland vegetation and fuels. Such areas are more prone to wildfire ignitions and structure losses, increasing the risk and severity of fire seasons in California. The 2018 Camp Fire and 2017 Tubbs Fire are two examples of recent California wildfires that resulted devastating losses in WUI communities.


title: 2022 California wildfires

text: The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), produced significant structural damage or casualties, or were otherwise notable. Acreage and containment figures may not be up to date.


title: United States and weapons of mass destruction

text: The United States is known to have possessed three types of weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, and biological weapons. The U.S. is the only country to have used nuclear weapons on another country, when it detonated two atomic bombs over two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. It had secretly developed the earliest form of the atomic weapon during the 1940s under the title "Manhattan Project". The United States pioneered the development of both the nuclear fission and hydrogen bombs (the latter involving nuclear fusion). It was the world's first and only nuclear power for four years, from 1945 until 1949, when the Soviet Union produced its own nuclear weapon. The United States has the second-largest number of nuclear weapons in the world, after the Russian Federation.


text: Nuclear weapons have been used twice in combat: two nuclear weapons were used by the United States against Japan during World War II in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Altogether, the two bombings killed 105,000 people and injured thousands more while devastating hundreds or thousands of military bases, factories, and cottage industries. The nuclear bombs that were set had repercussions that last multiple days after the explosion.


text: The U.S. conducted an extensive nuclear testing program. 1054 tests were conducted between 1945 and 1992. The exact number of nuclear devices detonated is unclear because some tests involved multiple devices while a few failed to explode or were designed not to create a nuclear explosion. The last nuclear test by the United States was on September 23, 1992; the U.S. has signed but not ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.


text: The United States is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which the U.S. ratified in 1968. On October 13, 1999, the U.S. Senate rejected ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, having previously ratified the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963. The U.S. has not, however, tested a nuclear weapon since 1992, though it has tested many non-nuclear components and has developed powerful supercomputers to duplicate the knowledge gained from testing without conducting the actual tests themselves.


text: In the early 1990s, the U.S. stopped developing new nuclear weapons and now devotes most of its nuclear efforts into stockpile stewardship, maintaining and dismantling its now-aging arsenal. The administration of George W. Bush decided in 2003 to engage in research towards a new generation of small nuclear weapons, especially "earth penetrators". The budget passed by the United States Congress in 2004 eliminated funding for some of this research including the "bunker-busting or earth-penetrating" weapons.


text: The exact number of nuclear weapons possessed by the United States is difficult to determine. Different treaties and organizations have different criteria for reporting nuclear weapons, especially those held in reserve, and those being dismantled or rebuilt:


text: In 2002, the United States and Russia agreed in the SORT treaty to reduce their deployed stockpiles to not more than 2,200 warheads each. In 2003, the U.S. rejected Russian proposals to further reduce both nation's nuclear stockpiles to 1,500 each. In 2007, for the first time in 15 years, the United States built new warheads. These replaced some older warheads as part of the Minuteman III upgrade program. 2007 also saw the first Minuteman III missiles removed from service as part of the drawdown. Overall, stockpiles and deployment systems continue to decline in number under the terms of the New START treaty.


text: In 2014, "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists" released a report, stating that there are a total of 2,530 warheads kept in reserve, and 2,120 actively deployed. Of the warheads actively deployed, the number of strategic warheads rests at 1,920 (subtracting 200 tactical B61s as part of Nato nuclear weapon sharing arrangements). The amount of warheads being actively disabled rests at about 2,700 warheads, which brings the total United States inventory to about 7,400 warheads.


text: The U.S. government decided not to sign the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a binding agreement for negotiations for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, supported by more than 120 nations.


text: As of early 2019, more than 90% of world's 13,865 nuclear weapons were owned by the United States and Russia.


text: The U.S. Air Force currently operates 400 Minuteman III ICBMs, located primarily in the northern Rocky Mountain states and the Dakotas. Peacekeeper missiles were phased out of the Air Force inventory in 2005. All USAF Minuteman II missiles were destroyed in accordance with the START treaty and their launch silos imploded and buried then sold to the public under the START II. The U.S. goal under the SORT treaty was to reduce from 1,600 warheads deployed on over 500 missiles in 2003 to 500 warheads on 450 missiles in 2012. The first Minuteman III were removed under this plan in 2007 while, at the same time, the warheads deployed on Minuteman IIIs began to be upgraded from smaller W62s to larger W87s from decommissioned Peacekeeper missiles.


text: The U.S. Air Force also operates a strategic nuclear bomber fleet. The bomber force consists of 36 nuclear-armed B-52 Stratofortresses, and 13 B-2 Spirits. All 64 B-1s were retrofitted to operate in a solely conventional mode by 2007 and thus don't count as nuclear platforms.


text: In addition to this, the U.S. military can also deploy smaller tactical nuclear weapons either through cruise missiles or with conventional fighter-bombers. The U.S. maintains about 400 nuclear gravity bombs capable of use by the F/A-18 Hornet F-15E, F-16, F-22 and F-35. Some 350 of these bombs are deployed at seven airbases in six European NATO countries; of these, 180 tactical B61 nuclear bombs fall under a nuclear sharing arrangement.