title: Cannabis strain

text: THC is associated with the psychoactive "high", while CBD is not psychoactive and is purported to have medicinal properties.


title: Cannabis strain

text: In order for there to be genetic stability within a marijuana strain the breeder has to go through selection and breeding, pinpointing the dominant and recessive genes within the two strains being crossed. After analyzing offspring with the preferred traits a breeder is looking for, the breeder will select the preferred traits and continue to breed those offspring to create the desired final product. Selection is a crucial process for a breeder to create a strain, especially if a client is looking for something with specific plant traits the breeder has to ensure that the hybrid's genetic traits have been closed in enough so unwanted traits aren't expressed in future harvests.


title: Cannabis strain

text: In a retail market that is decriminalized such as in The Netherlands, where wholesale production is illegal but prosecutions are not always enforced because of the contradiction of the law that is recognised by the courts, competition puts pressure on breeders to create increasingly attractive varieties to maintain market share. Breeders give their strains distinct and memorable names in order to help differentiate them from their competitors' strains, although they may in fact be very similar.


title: Cannabis strain

text: Acapulco Gold is a golden-leafed "Cannabis sativa" strain originally from the Acapulco area of southwest Mexico.


title: Cannabis strain

text: Bedrocan is a medicinal "cannabis" variety cultivated from a Dutch medical marijuana "Cannabis sativa" L. strain, having a standardized content of THC (22%) and CBD (1%). It is currently cultivated by Bedrocan Nederland, Bedrocan Canada and Bedrocan Česká Republika. It was introduced in 2003 and is dispensed through pharmacies after prescription from a physician.


title: Cannabis strain

text: Blue Dream is a hybrid cannabis strain widely used for both medical and recreational purposes, developed in 2003.


title: Cannabis strain

text: Charlotte's Web is a high-cannabidiol (CBD), low-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) "cannabis" variety and extract marketed as a dietary supplement under federal law of the United States. It is produced by the Stanley brothers in Colorado. It does not induce the psychoactive "high" typically associated with recreational marijuana strains that are high in THC. In September 2014, the Stanleys announced that they would ensure that the product consistently contained less than 0.3% THC. Charlotte's Web gained national attention when it was used to treat Charlotte Figi's epileptic seizures. Her story has led to her being described as "the girl who is changing medical marijuana laws across America," as well as the "most famous example of medicinal hemp use".


title: Cannabis strain

text: Skunk refers to "cannabis" strains that are strong-smelling and have been likened to the smell of the spray from a skunk. These strains of "cannabis" are believed to have originated during the early 1990s in the United States prior to larger-scale development and popularization by Dutch growers. Just as with other strains of "cannabis", skunk is commonly grown in controlled indoor environments under specialized grow lights, or in a greenhouse when full outdoor conditions are not suitable; skunk strains are hybrids of "Cannabis sativa" and "Cannabis indica".


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The Toyota Camry (XV50) is a mid-size car produced by Toyota from August 2011 to March 2019. Replacing the XV40 series, the XV50 represents the seventh generation of the Toyota Camry in all markets outside Japan, which follows a different generational lineage.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The XV50 Camry was introduced on 23 August 2011 and made its debut in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on 27 August 2011. It was released in Japan on 5 September 2011 and in the U.S. later that same month. The interior received a major restyling, while the exterior received all-new sheet metal and more angular styling. Power options are the 2.5-litre 2AR-FE 4-cylinder and the 3.5-litre 2GR-FE V6. The power output for the 2AR-FE was increased to across the entire vehicle lineup while the power output for the V6 remained unchanged. EPA fuel economy numbers for both engines increased, with the V6 engine increased to city cycle, highway cycle and the 4-cylinder having city cycle and highway cycle. The engine produces of torque. Despite similar exterior dimensions with the XV40 Camry, Toyota was able to increase the interior volume by restyling the interior panels so that they followed the contour of the exterior panels.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The XV50 Camry is the first Camry to be offered in the U.S. without a manual transmission. The U.S. Camry has a 6-speed automatic transmission, with SE models featuring paddle shifters for manual shifts. eCVT is still offered on hybrid models. In Japan, the XV50 Camry is exclusive to "Toyota Corolla Store" locations.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The 2013 model year Camry was released in Japan on 3 September 2012, but was delayed in the U.S. until late January 2013 due to power shortages in Japan caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. For the first time, the Japanese market Camry did not use the "regular" Camry design used for the U.S. and Australian models. Instead, it adopts the "prestige" Camry or Aurion design that Southeast Asia and China have received.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The SE model is fitted with a sport-tuned suspension, 17-inch alloy wheels (with 18-inch alloys on V6 models), fog lamps, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, sport seats and shift paddles to differentiate it from the XLE.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: Prices in the U.S. start at . The SE, XLE trims and the hybrid had no price change or a reduction of between $200 and $2000 with respect to the previous year. The Camry LE received a price increase of $710, while the new base level Camry L was introduced to the lineup.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: Introduced in late 2011, the XV50 series Camry in Australia and New Zealand was sold under a new two-tier naming and styling structure. For the petrol models (ASV50R), Altise remains the base model while Ateva, Sportivo and Grande have been replaced by the Atara S, SX and SL. Australian Camrys have different interior fabrics, colour and trim as well as the steering and suspension settings that were adapted for the local market. The Altise (base) starts at and the Atara SL (top-end) is .


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The XV50 series (AVV50R) Camry Hybrid was released to the Australian market in early 2012, and is available in two variants, the lower grade "h" (partially based on the Atara S) and the higher grade "hL" (based on the Atara SL). The hybrid models are differentiated to the petrol models by having a unique chrome grille and additional hybrid badging.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The facelift version of the XV50 started production in Australia on 28 April 2015. Australian production ended on 3 October 2017 when the Altona plant was closed, making it the last Toyota vehicle produced in Australia.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The Asian version of the Camry was designed in Japan by Hirofumi Fukui, Kazumi Kowaki and Keisuke Matsuno in 2009. It is referred to as the "prestige Camry" by Toyota officials in Japan. The prestige Camry was first unveiled in Ukraine on 25 August 2011. It was also manufactured and sold in Australia as the Toyota Aurion (XV50), which was launched there in April 2012. The Camry was launched in China on 18 November 2011, followed by its hybrid counterpart on 21 May 2012.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The prestige Camry for the ASEAN market was first unveiled in Thailand at the 33rd Bangkok International Motor Show on 28 March 2012. In Indonesia, the prestige Camry was launched on 4 April 2012, followed by the Philippines on 27 April 2012, Malaysia on 1 June 2012 and Vietnam on 14 August 2012. This was the first time the Camry in Indonesia and Malaysia that also offered with a hybrid drivetrain. The prestige Camry, sold in Japan and other Asian markets, received a large facelift in 2014 (for the 2015 model year) and was unveiled during the Moscow International Automobile Salon. However, the Aurion in Australia did not receive the same treatment, but was given a much smaller facelift based on the original design.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: In India, the prestige Camry was launched on 24 August 2012. The Camry Hybrid was also available for the first time in India, which was launched on 28 August 2013. Both the Indian market Camry and Camry Hybrid were locally assembled.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: In Taiwan, the prestige Camry was launched on 2 December 2011. The Camry Hybrid was also available for the first time in Taiwan. Both the Indian market Camry and Camry Hybrid were locally assembled. In March 2015, Toyota facelifted the Camry with new bumpers, grille, air dams, rear combination lamps, and most importantly the new 2.0-litre 6AR-FSE engine with Dual VVT-i. The 2.0 E came with a 6-speed automatic transmission. In June 2017, the facelift model was launched, with Eco, Standard and Elegance trims. Safety features such as seven airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) were standard across all trims.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: Toyota introduced a substantial mid-cycle restyling to the XV50 Camry at the 2014 New York International Auto Show in April 2014. The changes, applicable to the entire Camry range and dubbed the "big minor change" (not a new generation), consisted mainly of the alteration of most of the exterior panels – only the roof remained unchanged. The powertrain remained unchanged from the pre-facelift model.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The facelift included an aggressive front bumper featuring a wider and more prominent trapezoidal grille shape. The interior received a more premium appearance, with improved materials and amenities. The window and door seals were improved to reduce wind and road noise. This version was sold in North America, the Middle East and Australasia.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The facelifted "prestige" Camry was first launched in Japan on 9 September 2014 in Hybrid powertrain. Unlike the facelifted regular Camry, the exterior panels of the facelifted "prestige" Camry remained unchanged, except the new headlamps (which has a similar shape to the pre-facelift regular Camry), new tail lamps, new front grille (similar to the XX40 Avalon), and new front and rear bumpers. This version was also sold in China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and South America.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: Toyota started production of restyled Camry for Russian market in November 2014. The car has a new design and a new 2.0 L 6AR-FSE engine, , paired with a 6-speed automatic gearbox.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: In China, the facelifted Camry was launched in January 2015. Available engines are the 2.0 L 6AR-FSE and the 5AR-FE which is China's variant of the 2AR-FE four-cylinder. Trim levels are named as the 2.0E D4-S (entry model), 2.0G D4-S, 2.0S D4-S, 2.0G D4-S Luxury, 2.5G, 2.5S, and the top model 2.5Q. Pricing starts from 184,800 yuan to 289,800 yuan ($27,840 to US$43,660).


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: In Thailand, the facelifted Camry was launched on 11 March 2015 with available trim levels as 2.5HV Premium, 2.5HV NAVI, 2.5HV CD, 2.5G, 2.0G Extremo, and 2.0G. The old 1AZ-FE engine was discontinued and replaced with the 6AR-FBS engine. Toyota Thailand also later introduced the additional trim level "ESport" which was imported from Australia on 12 June 2015. Marking the first time for the country to have both regular and prestige Camry models selling at the same time.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: In Indonesia, the facelifted Camry was launched on 1 April 2015. Trim levels remain unchanged as the 2.5 G, 2.5 V, and 2.5 Hybrid.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: Toyota Australia commenced production of the facelift XV50 Camry for the Australian market in April 2015.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: In February 2015, for the 2016 model year, Toyota released the Special Edition Camry for the US market—limited to 12,000 units. Based on the SE model, it has unique black gloss and silver painted 18-inch alloy wheels, blue accents and stitching throughout the interior including the seats, white-faced gauges with aluminum trim, smoked taillights, Special Edition floor mats and trunk emblem. Added standard equipment include a power moonroof, keyless entry and ignition, and a Qi inductive charge pad for mobile phones. The only option was a navigation system. Available colours unique to the Special Edition Camry were either "Blizzard Pearl" (white) or "Blue Streak Metallic". These two colours joined the regular colour palette for the 2017 model year, although only available on SE and XSE models.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: The Camry Hybrid received improvements, including a revised version of the Hybrid Synergy Drive, paired with an Atkinson cycle version of the standard 2AR-FE 2.5-litre 4-cylinder, the 2AR-FXE. The engine delivers net system power of , up from in the previous model, and allows the new model to achieve a 39% increase in fuel economy rating, giving the Camry Hybrid best MPG ratings among mid-size sedans. The Camry Hybrid uses a 1.6 kWh sealed nickel-metal hydride traction battery.


title: Toyota Camry (XV50)

text: It has a , which in Australia makes it the most aerodynamic locally produced car, the same as its XV40 predecessor.


title: Woking F.C.

text: Woking Football Club is a professional association football club, based in Woking, Surrey, England. Founded in 1887, the club plays its home matches at The Laithwaite Community Stadium and is nicknamed the Cardinals, often shortened to the Cards. Currently, they compete in having been promoted from the National League South in the 2018–19 season.


title: Woking F.C.

text: Woking Football Club was founded in 1887. The club joined the West Surrey League in 1895–96, winning the title by one point. However, within 21 years of being formed, the club was in danger of folding for financial reasons. The turning point came when, in January 1908, Woking played Bolton Wanderers in the First Round of the FA Cup, having made it through five qualifying rounds. Despite losing the away game 5–0, the club made it into the national news. Bolton Wanderers, impressed by the minnows they had defeated, travelled to Woking for a friendly match the following season, which kept the club solvent.


title: Woking F.C.

text: In 1911 the club joined the Isthmian League, maintaining their place in the top division for 72 years and finishing as runners-up to Wycombe Wanderers in 1956–57. That achievement was eclipsed the following season when, in front of a 71,000 crowd, Woking beat Ilford 3–0 to win the 1958 F.A. Amateur Cup final, the last to be televised live.


title: Woking F.C.

text: The club then went into decline, culminating in a first-ever relegation in 1982–83. By the end of the 1984–85 season the club had plunged to Division Two South of the Isthmian League. It was during that season that former player, Geoff Chapple, was appointed as manager. However, Chapple was not able to save the club from relegation. The following season, the club just missed out on promotion at the first attempt. However, the club clinched the Division Two South title in 1986–87 and, after two third-place finishes in Division One, they were promoted back to the Premier Division at the end of the 1989–90 season.


title: Woking F.C.

text: During the 1990–91 season, the club reached the fourth round of the FA Cup. Woking beat three Conference sides to set up a third round away tie at Second Division side West Bromwich Albion. After trailing 1–0 at half time, Woking went on to win 4–2, with Tim Buzaglo scoring a hat-trick. In the Fourth Round, the club was drawn against First Division Everton. The tie was originally going to be played at Woking, however the venue was switched to Everton's home ground, Goodison Park. Woking narrowly lost the match 1–0 to a Kevin Sheedy goal.


title: Woking F.C.

text: Promotion to the Conference was achieved in 1991–92. The Isthmian League title was clinched in early April, with seven games still to be played, 18 points clear of nearest rivals, Enfield. The next season saw Woking finish the season in eighth position. The following summer saw Chapple sign former Chelsea, Sunderland, Fulham and QPR winger, Clive Walker, from Brighton & Hove Albion and he was to prove the catalyst in the most successful period in the club's history. Woking won the FA Trophy for the first time in 1994, defeating Runcorn in the final at Wembley; the following season they became only the second club to win back-to-back FA Trophies (after Scarborough in 1976–77), defeating Kidderminster Harriers in the final. A third FA Trophy triumph followed in 1997, with Dagenham & Redbridge the opponents in the final. The Cards also achieved five successive top-five finishes in the Conference, including being runners-up in 1994–95 and 1995–96 when they finished below Stevenage. The club also continued to enjoy national prominence in the FA Cup. Barnet were defeated in successive seasons following draws at their homeground. In 1996–97 a run in the FA Cup saw the club beat Millwall, then top of Division Two, and Cambridge United, who were challenging for promotion from Division Three. The Third Round saw Woking draw 1–1 away to Premier League side Coventry City, thanks to a last minute equaliser from the Cards' Steve Thompson, but Coventry won the replay at Kingfield 2–1.


title: Woking F.C.

text: At the end of the 1996–97 campaign, having just clinched the FA Trophy for the third time, Geoff Chapple and his coach, Colin Lippiatt, left the club and joined Kingstonian. This was the beginning of a less successful period for the club. John McGovern and then Brian McDermott were given the position of manager, but neither achieved anything greater than a mid-table finish. After McDermott, Colin Lippiatt returned but fared little better. He was replaced by his former boss as Geoff Chapple too came back to Woking. Lippiatt departed in January 2002 and Glenn Cockerill joined as Chapple's assistant. This season ended with the club just one place above the relegation places. In the meantime very significant events had taken place off the field. The downturn in the club's fortunes had led to a financial crisis. With the club facing administration or worse, local businessman and long-time fan Chris Ingram bought the club, becoming chairman in February 2002 with an aim of trying to increase the club's income and to secure its long-term financial stability.


title: Woking F.C.

text: Cockerill took over as manager later that year, and oversaw a relative period of stability for the club, before he was sacked shortly before the end of the 2006–07 season. An unimpressive campaign under the management of Frank Gray followed in 2007–08, before a disastrous 2008–09 season which saw three men (Kim Grant, Phil Gilchrist and Graham Baker) take charge of the club, eventually resulted in the club's relegation to the Conference South. That summer, a supporters' trust took over the running of the club. Woking finished 5th in their first Conference South season, but lost to Bath City in the play-off final. The following season saw Woking struggling to challenge for promotion, and Graham Baker was sacked halfway through the campaign for suggesting that the fans were expecting too much of the team.


title: Woking F.C.

text: Garry Hill took over as manager and improved the team's form, eventually resulting in another fifth-place finish, only for the club to get knocked out in the play-off semi-finals this time against Farnborough. In April 2012, having beaten Maidenhead United 0–1 with Giuseppe Sole scoring for a record breaking ninth game in a row, Woking were promoted to the Conference Premier, winning the Conference South with two games to spare. They eventually reached 97 points, beating second placed Dartford by nine points.


title: Woking F.C.

text: After five seasons in the National League (formerly Conference Premier), Woking acrimoniously parted company with Garry Hill after six-and-a-half years at the helm.


title: Woking F.C.

text: The club appointed former Southampton and West Ham United under-23s coach Anthony Limbrick in May 2017, which saw the club take another step to becoming full-time again, with players training three times a week. Despite a good run in the 2017–18 FA Cup, Woking's league form suffered, which culminated in just three league wins between October 2017 and April 2018. Limbrick was subsequently relieved of his duties just 11 months into a three-year contract, leaving assistant manager Jason Goodliffe to take over the managerial reins (aided by former Aldershot Town coach Matt Gray) to preserve The Cards' National League status with just five games remaining. However, Woking's fate was eventually sealed on the final day of the season after a 2–1 home defeat against Dover Athletic.


title: Woking F.C.

text: On 16 May 2018, and after much speculation, the club finally confirmed the appointment of former Kingstonian and Hampton & Richmond Borough manager Alan Dowson. Woking returned to the National League in 2019 at the first time of asking following a 1–0 win over Welling United in National League South Play-Off Final. During this promotion season, Woking reached the third round of the FA Cup. Woking had beaten League Two side Swindon Town before losing out to Premier League side Watford 2–0.


title: Woking F.C.

text: The following season, Woking finished in 10th place back in the National League following the decision to stop the season in March 2020 due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2020–21 National League season, Woking finished 20th.


title: Woking F.C.

text: On 28 February 2022, Dowson was sacked by the club following a "prolonged run of poor form in the league", ending his four-year association with the Surrey-based side. Dowson informed local paper SurreyLive that the club had sacked him in a 20 second phone call and he would never return to Woking. Due to the circumstances of how Dowson was sacked board members Rosemary Johnson and Kelvin Reay resigned. Ian Dyer the assistant manager took charge of the club as caretaker manager.


title: Woking F.C.

text: On 28 March 2022, former Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll was appointed until the end of the 2023–24 season, with Ian Dyer remaining as his assistant


title: Woking F.C.

text: Woking play their home games at Kingfield Stadium (currently The Laithwaite Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons), Kingfield Road, Woking, GU22 9AA.


title: Woking F.C.

text: The KRE: This is the main home terrace and usually where the best atmosphere is found. It runs along one end of the pitch. The terrace is covered by a roof.


title: Woking F.C.

text: The Leslie Goodson stand: This stand is the largest stand of the stadium and is located opposite to the KRE. The LGS is an all seater stand consisting of around 2,000 seats. A quarter of this stand is usually given to away fans.


title: Woking F.C.

text: The Chris lane terrace: The Chris lane terrace is a large terrace without a roof and is reserved for away fans. The terrace runs a whole length of the pitch.


title: Woking F.C.

text: Moaners corner: Moaners corner is one of three stands on the opposite side of the pitch to the Chris lane terrace. It’s a small terrace stand without a roof. The fans who stand in the terrace are usually veteran fans.


title: Woking F.C.

text: Directors Box: The directors box is a small stand that the directors of the club sit, this is also where the commentary box is. This stand is located in between moaners corner and the family stand


title: Woking F.C.

text: The Family stand: The family stand is located next to the directors box and is an all-seater stand usually consisting of families.


title: Woking F.C.

text: For many years Woking's main rivals have been Stevenage and Aldershot Town, where games attract larger than average crowds. Stevenage are Woking's historic rivals due to animosity in the 1990s, while the rivalry with Aldershot is a more recent rivalry due to locality. Torquay United have also become minor rivals due to intense games and competition when they were relegated to the national league south together, altercations between fans has also helped feed this new rivalry.


title: Woking F.C.

text: Aldershot Town and Woking have met competitively on 32 occasions. Aldershot Town have won 18 times, Woking 7 times and there has been 7 drawn matches.


title: Woking F.C.

text: 1. Players that have gone onto play in the football league or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).<br>


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: The Royal Saudi Navy () or Royal Saudi Naval Forces (), is the maritime arm of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces and one of the five service branches of the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia. Its primary role is monitoring and defending the Saudi territorial waters against military or economic intrusion, and participating in international naval alliances.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: Each fleet has a full military capability including warships, support ships, administrative and technical support, naval aviation, marines and special security units.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: The Navy was founded in 1960 and began a significant expansion with United States assistance in 1972 aiming to match the Imperial Iranian Navy. Following the Iranian Revolution a further expansion programme, Sawari, was initiated with French assistance. Further vessels were purchased from Britain and France in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980, U.S. defense contractor Science Applications International Corporation began work with the Royal Saudi Navy to design and integrate the country's own command, control, and communications (C3) centers.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: 4 Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) ordered by Royal Saudi Navy in 2019. The ship is derived from the Freedom-class littoral combat ship but with upgraded features. The deliveries of the MMSC will begin in June 2023.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: 3 frigates are modified versions of the (built by DCN, Lorient). Each has a fully loaded displacement of 4,725 tons, and is armed with eight MBDA Exocet MM40 Block II surface-to-surface missiles (SSM), two eight-cell Sylver vertical launch systems for the Eurosam (MBDA and Thales) Aster 15 surface-to-air missile (SAM), an Oto Melara 76 mm/62 Super Rapid gun, and four 533 mm aft torpedo tubes. The ships are armed with the DCNS F17 heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo. The helicopter deck at the stern has a single landing spot for a medium size helicopter, such as the Eurocopter AS 365 Dauphin or the larger AS 532 Cougar or NH90 helicopters.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: 4 "Al Madinah"-class frigates based in the Red Sea, built in France (Arsenal de Marine, Lorient (French Government Dockyard and CNIM, La Seyne) in the mid-1980s. Their full load displacement is 2,610 tons and they are armed with eight Otomat surface-to-surface missiles, one 8-cell Crotale surface-to-air missile launcher (26 missiles total), one 100 mm/44 dual purpose gun, two 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, four torpedo tubes, an aft helicopter deck and hangar; one Dauphin helicopter.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: It was believed the Saudis intended to order two new British-built Type 45 destroyers, however production of the destroyers came to an end with no order made. Another destroyer that the Saudis are considering is the American built , having been briefed by the US Navy in May 2011 on the acquisition of two destroyers in a package that also includes an unknown number of Littoral Combat Ships.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: 5 Avante-class corvettes ordered by Royal Saudi Navy in 2018. The corvettes built by Spanish company Navantia.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: 4 s built in the United States in 1981–83, based in the Persian Gulf, full load displacement of 1,038 tons, armament of eight Harpoon SSM, one 76 mm OTO Melara DP gun, one 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, two 20 mm guns, one 81 mm mortar, two 40 mm grenade launchers, two triple 12.75 inch torpedo tubes.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: 9 Al Sadiq-class patrol boats built in the United States (Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin) 1972–1980, full load displacement of 495 tons, armed with four Harpoon SSM, one 76 mm OTO gun, one 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, two 20 mm guns, one 81 mm mortar, two 40 mm grenade launchers, two triple 12.75 inch torpedo tubes.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: 2 French built (modified replenishment ships built by CN La Ciotat, with a helicopter deck aft and hangars for 2 helicopters.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: The Royal Saudi Navy maintains two, 1,500-man marine brigades consisting of three battalions each. The brigades are assigned to the Western Fleet headquartered in Jeddah and the Eastern Fleet headquartered in Jubail. The brigades are equipped with 200 Pegaso BMR AFVs and HMMWVs.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: Germany will supply 48 patrol boats to Saudi Arabia within the framework of its border security project, a cost of 1.5 billion euros has been noted for this deal. Lürssen has already started building 15 patrol vessels for the project's first phase. The patrol boats to be procured under the current contract come in two forms. The first are the 'TNC 35' models, which are 35-meter-long and are propelled by two diesel engines with a combined output of 7,800 kilowatts. The boat can reach speeds of up to 40 knots. The second models, 'FPB 38' are 38-meter-long and can reach speeds of up to 31 knots. As of November 2016 1 TNC 35 has been delivered to Saudi Arabia.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: Saudi Arabia wants to buy five German submarines for around €2.5 billion ($3.4 billion) and more than two dozen more in the future.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: In December 2014, the U.S. awarded Lockheed Martin a contract for a Foreign Military Sale of the Mk 41 Vertical Launching System to Saudi Arabia. With no surface ships compatible with the Mk 41 and no plans to acquire a land-based missile defense system, this indicates the country is close to purchasing a VLS-equipped surface combatant. Saudi Arabia has evaluated the and the Multi-mission Combat Ship version of the able to carry a VLS. In October 2015, the US Congress was informed of a possible sale of Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) Ships, a variant of the LCS.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: In July 2018 it was announced that Navantia had signed an agreement with the Royal Saudi Navy for the production of 5 Avante 2000 Corvettes with the last to be delivered by 2022 at a cost of approximately 2 billion Euros.


title: Royal Saudi Navy

text: On 30 January 2017 "Al-Madinah" was attacked by Houthi rebels using a suicide boat, killing 2 sailors and wounding 3 others. The attack took place near the port city of Al Hudaydah, 150 kilometers southwest of the Yemeni capital Sana'a.


title: Vince Cable

text: Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills from 2010 to 2015.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable studied Economics at Cambridge and Glasgow, before working as an economic adviser to the Government of Kenya in the 1960s, and for the Commonwealth Secretariat in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, he also lectured in economics at Glasgow. He later served as Chief Economist for Shell in the 1990s. Initially active in the Labour Party, Cable became a Labour councillor in Glasgow in the 1970s, during which time he also served as a special adviser to then-Trade Secretary John Smith. In 1982, however, he defected to the newly formed Social Democratic Party, which later amalgamated with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats.


title: Vince Cable

text: After standing unsuccessfully for Parliament four times, Cable was elected for Twickenham in 1997. He was quickly appointed the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, and was later elected as Deputy Leader in 2006. Cable resigned from both of these positions in May 2010 after being appointed as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the coalition government. He lost his seat in 2015, although later regained it in 2017. Cable subsequently stood in the leadership election to replace Tim Farron, and was elected unopposed.


title: Vince Cable

text: In May 2019, Cable led the Liberal Democrats to their best national electoral performance since the 2010 election, gaining fifteen seats in the European Parliament election. This followed a campaign in which the party ran on an anti-Brexit platform. He subsequently announced his intention to retire from politics, and stood down as leader on 22 July 2019, upon the election of Jo Swinson; he stood down from Parliament at the 2019 general election.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable was born in York, to a working class Conservative-supporting family. His father, Len, was a craftsman for Rowntree's, and his mother, Edith, packed chocolates for Terry's. Cable attended Nunthorpe Grammar School where he became Head Boy. He then attended Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he initially studied Natural Sciences and later switched to Economics. He was the President of the Cambridge Union in 1965. He was also a committee member and later President-elect of the Cambridge University Liberal Club, but he resigned from the Liberal Party before taking up the office of President. Whilst at Cambridge, he was a contemporary of the Cambridge Mafia.


title: Vince Cable

text: In 1966, at the end of his studies at the University of Cambridge, Cable was appointed as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow (ODI Nuffield Fellow) working in Kenya.


title: Vince Cable

text: He graduated in 1973 with a PhD in Economics from the University of Glasgow on economic integration and industrialisation.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable lectured for a time at the University of Glasgow and was a visiting research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics, for a three-year period until 2004. In 2016, Cable was made Honorary Professor of Economics at the University of Nottingham.


title: Vince Cable

text: From 1966 to 1968, he was a Treasury Finance Officer to the Kenyan Government. In 1969, he visited Central America as a researcher on the recently formed Central American Common Market.


title: Vince Cable

text: From the early to mid-1970s, Cable served as First Secretary under Hugh Carless in the Latin American department of the Foreign Office. He was involved in a CBI trade mission to South America at this time, engaging in six months of commercial diplomacy. In the late 1970s, he was special adviser to John Smith when the latter was Trade Secretary. He was an adviser to the UK Government and then to the Commonwealth Secretary-General Shridath "Sonny" Ramphal in the 1970s and 1980s.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable served in an official capacity at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting of 1983 in Delhi, witnessing "private sessions at first hand" involving Indira Gandhi, then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Lee Kuan Yew, and Bob Hawke among others. He was also present at the summits of 1985, 1987, and 1989. In the same period, he contributed to the Brandt Commission, the Palme Commission, and the UN's Brundtland Commission.


title: Vince Cable

text: From the 1980s onwards, Cable authored and co-wrote numerous publications in favour of globalisation, free trade, and economic integration such as "Protectionism and Industrial Decline", "The Commerce of Culture", and "Developing with Foreign Investment".


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable worked for the oil company Royal Dutch Shell from 1990 to 1997, serving as its Chief Economist between 1995 and 1997. His role at Shell came under scrutiny as the company was accused of playing a role in a turbulent era of Nigerian politics during the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha.


title: Vince Cable

text: In 2017, Cable became a strategic advisor on the World Trade Board for the annual World Trade Symposium co-organised by Misys and FT Live.


title: Vince Cable

text: At university, Cable was a member of the Liberal Party but then joined the Labour Party in 1966. In 1970, he contested Glasgow Hillhead for Labour, but failed to unseat the sitting Conservative MP, Tam Galbraith. The same year, Cable stood for election to the Corporation of Glasgow in the Partick West ward, but failed to be elected. He became a Labour councillor in 1971, representing Maryhill ward, and stood down in 1974. In 1979, he sought the Labour Party nomination for Hampstead, losing to Ken Livingstone, who was unsuccessful in taking the seat.


title: Vince Cable

text: In February 1982, he defected to the recently created Social Democratic Party (SDP). He was the SDP–Liberal Alliance parliamentary candidate for his home city of York in both the 1983 and 1987 general elections. Following the 1988 merger of the SDP and the Liberal Party, he finished in second place at the 1992 general election to Conservative MP Toby Jessel in the Twickenham constituency, by 5,711 votes.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable entered the House of Commons after defeating sitting Conservative MP Toby Jessel in the Twickenham constituency in his second attempt, at the 1997 general election. He subsequently increased his majority at the elections of 2001, 2005 and increased still further in 2010. He lost his seat in 2015, but regained it at the snap election in 2017.


title: Vince Cable

text: In 2004, Cable was a contributor to the economically liberal "Orange Book," which advocated for policies such as greater private sector involvement in higher education and healthcare. However, he has described himself as being a social democrat, as well as an "open markets" liberal, and stated his desire to reconcile "economic liberalism with wider moral values and social justice".


title: Vince Cable

text: Following the "Orange Book", Cable was one of several Lib Dem MPs who oversaw the party's shift towards economic liberalism with the adoption of a more free market approach, a development which was suggested by some as having helped lead to the 2010 coalition with the Conservatives. In 2005, as Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, he suggested the possibility of the party dropping its commitment to a 50p top rate of income tax, supported exempting people on low income from income tax completely, and explored the possibility of a flat tax, with the former two proposals later becoming party policy. Also in 2005, he said that there was no future for the Liberal Democrats to the left of New Labour. He was critical of what he considered the Labour government's slow response to cutting government waste, later accusing Labour of allowing a "writhing nest" of quangos to develop.


title: Vince Cable

text: Prior to the 2005 Liberal Democrat party conference, Cable did not rule out the possibility that the Lib Dems might form a coalition government with the Conservatives in the event of a hung parliament at the forthcoming general election. However, party leader Charles Kennedy said that the Lib Dems would remain an "independent political force".


title: Vince Cable

text: In late-2005 or early-2006, Cable presented Charles Kennedy a letter signed by eleven out of the twenty-three frontbenchers, including himself, expressing a lack of confidence in Kennedy's leadership of the Liberal Democrats. On 5 January 2006, because of pressure from his frontbench team and an ITN News report documenting his alcoholism, Charles Kennedy announced a leadership election in which he pledged to stand for re-election. However, he resigned on 7 January. Cable did not run for the party leadership, instead supporting Menzies Campbell's candidacy.


title: Vince Cable

text: A Twickenham resident, Cable commuted by train into Central London daily and so claimed the "London Supplement" instead of the Additional Costs Allowance. However, "The Daily Telegraph" reported in May 2009 that he had been unaware that he was entitled to the London Supplement and so in 2004 wrote to the Fees Office to ask if he could receive retrospective payments for 2002–03 and 2003–04. The Fees Office refused the request, informing Cable that these accounts were already closed.


title: Vince Cable

text: When overall MP allowances are ranked, Cable came in 568th for 2007–08 (out of 645 MPs). "The Daily Telegraph" also noted that he did not take a recent 2.33% salary rise.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable won plaudits for his repeated warnings and campaigns on the high level of personal debt in Britain. His was a significant voice of criticism during the Northern Rock crisis, calling for the nationalisation of the bank, capitalising on the claimed indecisiveness of both the Labour Government and Conservative Opposition on the issue.


title: Vince Cable

text: In May 2010, Cable declared his resignation as Deputy Leader to dedicate more time to his Cabinet role as Business Secretary. His responsibilities and authority were somewhat reduced when it was revealed in December 2010 that he had boasted to "Daily Telegraph" reporters posing as constituents of his "nuclear option" to bring the government down by his resignation. Still worse, he claimed to the reporters that he had "declared war" on Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation despite having the responsibility to impartially arbitrate on the News Corporation bid to acquire the remaining 60.9% of BSkyB it did not already own. Amid cries for his resignation or sacking, all his responsibilities concerning the bid were removed. Cable did not resign.


title: Vince Cable

text: Following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell as Party Leader on 15 October 2007, Cable being Deputy Leader automatically succeeded him as Party Leader, pending a leadership election. He declined to stand for leader, reportedly fearing ageism (Campbell's critics were accused of ageism, and Cable was only 2 years his junior).


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable received significant acclaim during his tenure as Acting Party Leader, with particular praise for his strong performances at Prime Minister's Questions. He was popular in the party and media for his attacks on the government's record over Northern Rock, HMRC's loss of 25,000,000 individuals' child benefit data and the party funding scandal surrounding David Abrahams' secret donations to the Labour Party. The latter attracted for Cable positive media attention for a joke at PMQs describing Gordon Brown's "remarkable transformation in the last few weeks from Stalin to Mr. Bean, creating chaos out of order rather than order out of chaos", called by "The Economist", "the single best line of Gordon Brown's premiership".


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable is credited by some with prescience of the global financial crisis of 2007–2010. In November 2003, Cable asked Gordon Brown, then-Chancellor, "Is not the brutal truth that ... the growth of the British economy is sustained by consumer spending pinned against record levels of personal debt, which is secured, if at all, against house prices that the Bank of England describes as well above equilibrium level?" Brown replied, "As the Bank of England said yesterday, consumer spending is returning to trend. The Governor said,


title: Vince Cable

text: "there is no indication that the scale of debt problems have ... risen markedly in the last five years." He also said that the fraction of household income used up in debt service is lower than it was then."


title: Vince Cable

text: In his book "The Storm", Cable writes, "The trigger for the current global financial crisis was the US mortgage market and, indeed, the scale of improvident and unscrupulous lending on that side of the Atlantic dwarfs into insignificance the escapades of our own banks." Cable commented that he had not warned about this: "one of the problems of being a British MP is that you do tend to get rather parochial and I haven't been to the States for years and years, so I wouldn't claim to have any feel for what's been going on there."


title: Vince Cable

text: In September 2008, Cable praised the-then US President George W. Bush for his response to the financial crisis and for attempting to "save Western capitalism." He compared this with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's response which Cable claimed was to be like a "Fairy Godmother" to the banks, and a "sideshow".


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable has also been vocal over the bonus culture in the banking system. He has called for bonuses to all bank employees to be frozen.


title: Vince Cable

text: However, Cable has been criticised by some, mostly Conservatives, for "flip-flopping" on issues in connection with the crisis. For example, he is accused of criticising the Government's policy of Quantitative easing, when in January 2009 he used the phrase "the Robert Mugabe school of economics", while in March 2009 he said, "directly increasing the amount of money flowing into the economy is now the only clear option". The Liberal Democrats also have responded that he was making the point that QE "needed to be managed with a great deal of care".


title: Vince Cable

text: On the issue of fiscal stimulus, Cable said in October 2008, "it is entirely wrong for the government to assume the economy should be stimulated by yet more public spending rather than tax cuts". In February 2009, however, he said, "we believe – and the Government say that they believe – in the need for a fiscal stimulus. Despite the severe financial constraints on the public sector, we believe that such a stimulus is right and necessary".


title: Vince Cable

text: On the principle of the independence of the Bank of England, Cable said at the 2008 Liberal Democrat party conference, "The Government must not compromise the independence of the Bank of England by telling it to slash interest rates." The following month, though, he called on the Chancellor to urge the Governor of the Bank to make "a large cut in interest rates". The Liberal Democrats have responded that this in no way changes their policy on Bank of England independence.


title: Vince Cable

text: At the 2010 general election Cable was again returned as MP for Twickenham. With the election resulting in a hung parliament, Cable was a key figure in coalition talks, particularly the unsuccessful negotiations with the Labour Party. The Liberal Democrats entered a coalition agreement with the Conservative Party on 11 May 2010, and Cable was appointed Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 12 May. The Queen approved his appointment as a Privy Counsellor, and he formally joined the Privy council on 13 May 2010.


title: Vince Cable

text: In May 2010, Cable insisted the coalition government was not split over planned increases to non-business Capital Gains Tax, which some thought would raise taxes on sales of second homes by 40% or 50%. Senior Conservative MPs attacked the rise as a tax on the middle-classes and a betrayal of Conservative values. Cable said that it was a "key" part of the coalition deal and there was no disagreement over it between the coalition partners. Cable said the changes to Capital Gains Tax would help to fulfill the Lib Dem aim of bringing more "fairness" to the tax system: "It's very important that we have wealth taxed in the same way as income." He continued,


title: Vince Cable

text: In July 2010, Cable sought to reform credit lines amid a "significant demand" (according to the Forum of Private Business) of smaller firms finding it harder to secure loans. Among a range of proposals published in a green paper, Cable urged banks to limit bonus and dividend payments to "pre-crisis and 2009 levels respectively", the green paper stating that such a move would enable banks to retain £10,000,000,000 of additional capital in 2010 could in turn sustain £50,000,000,000 of new lending.


title: Vince Cable

text: The left-leaning parts of the British press have been critical of his role in the Coalition Government, from "The Guardian" to the "Morning Star" describing him as "the man who started off a Lib Dem and now looks more convincingly Tory than most of the Tory frontbench" for his role in supporting public spending cuts.


title: Vince Cable

text: Beginning in 2010 and continuing throughout the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition's tenure in office, Cable led the drive for deregulation; notably the "Red Tape Challenge" to reduce existing regulation and the "One In, One Out" rule to limit any future regulation, Cable agreeing with the need for a "bonfire of regulations". "The Guardian" dubbed this as "neoliberal" while the response from the business community was largely positive.


title: Vince Cable

text: In September 2010, during a speech at the Liberal Democrat conference, Cable said that bankers present more of a threat to Britain than trade unions.


title: Vince Cable

text: After the interim report on banking by John Vickers was published in April 2011, Cable said: "I was very impressed with the quality of the analysis. It does address head on the issue of banks that are too big to fail, the dependency on the government guarantee. It makes the case for separation," he added.


title: Vince Cable

text: In June 2011, Cable said "rewards for failure" were unforgivable at a time when real wages were being squeezed across the country. Speaking at the Association of British Insurers biennial conference, Cable warned he planned to bring "excessive and unjustified" executive pay under control by launching a fresh consultation. He said that although "Britain does have some world-class executives", investors had not seen a return "since the turn of the century" and claimed executive pay was 120 times that of the average UK employee, whereas it was only 45 in 1998. Cable later revealed Government plans that would require companies to publish "more informative remuneration reports" for shareholders. The plans also included binding votes by shareholders on executive pay as well as greater transparency and diversity on boards.


title: Vince Cable

text: In November 2011, Cable announced the first of several reforms to employment laws. Beginning with changes to the tribunal system, he proposed the introduction of tribunal fees for employees making claims against employers, stating that the current system had become a "major impediment" to small businesses hiring people. The tribunal fees were later ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court in 2017 after a court victory by trade union UNISON.


title: Vince Cable

text: In an article in May 2012, Cable denounced the "red tape factories" of the European Union, calling for increased deregulation and labour market flexibility, as well as the expansion of the Single Market and scrapping of the Working Time Directive. He revealed that at a recent meeting of European economic ministers, a group of like-minded nations had formed in making these same demands.


title: Vince Cable

text: In September 2012, Cable and his department colleague Michael Fallon announced a large package of deregulation for businesses, including scrapping 3,000 regulations and implementing exemptions from health and safety inspections for shops, pubs, and offices. Cable claimed that businesses should not be "tied up in unnecessary red tape", but the move was criticised by trade unions. Days later Cable announced further deregulation involving changes to employment laws, proposing to reduce employee compensation for unfair dismissals and allowing employers and employees to agree to an out-of-court 'pay off' for under-performance dismissals. This was also criticised by trade unions.


title: Vince Cable

text: In January 2013, Cable rejected calls by Labour for the government to intervene in the high street crisis following the collapse of music retailer, HMV, he said: "it is not the job of Government to sort out the problems of competition on the high street. Consumers make their choices and there are consequences." In December 2013, Cable supported the continuation of zero hours contracts after a government review, saying "they have a place in today’s labour market", although admitting there had "been evidence of abuse." His statements were met with negative responses from British trade unions.


title: Vince Cable

text: In 2014, during the Israel-Gaza conflict, Cable received criticism for his involvement in the signing off of arms deals to Israel, primarily concerning component parts used in the assembly of Hermes drones. Shortly afterwards, he announced that arms exports to Israel would be suspended unless the recently declared ceasefire was upheld, a response which was condemned by Baroness Warsi, and by the CAAT who called it "very weak".


title: Vince Cable

text: In February 2015, Cable was reportedly a speaker at an event hosted by various arms companies at a London hotel.


title: Vince Cable

text: In 2015, Cable refused to issue export licences for the sale of Paveway IV laser-guided bomb to the Royal Saudi Air Force over concern about how they might be used in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen. Cable came under pressure from then-Prime Minister David Cameron, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond for the immediate resumption of exports. Cable stated he was then given specific assurances by the Ministry of Defence that the UK would be given oversight of potential bombing targets to minimise the risk of civilian casualties, including involvement in decisions, to a similar level given to the United States. On this understanding, Cable agreed to issue export licences for a £200,000,000 order for the weapons. In 2016, it became apparent the Ministry of Defence did not have this level of oversight, to which Cable responded "That is categorically contrary to what I was told was going to happen." The sale is being investigated by the Committees on Arms Export Controls.


title: Vince Cable

text: In late-December 2010, undercover reporters from "The Daily Telegraph", posing as constituents, set up a meeting with Cable, who expressed frustration with being in the coalition and compared it to "fighting a war"; he stated he had "a nuclear option... if they push me too far then I can walk out and bring the government down and they know that", and had to "pick" his fights carefully. He also claimed the Liberal Democrats had pressed for a "very tough approach" to the UK's banks, which had been opposed by the Conservatives. He described the coalition's attempt at fast, widespread reforms (including the health service and local governments) as being a "kind of Maoist revolution", and thought "we [the Government] are trying to do too many things... a lot of it is Tory inspired. The problem is not that they are Tory-inspired, but that they haven’t thought them through. We should be putting a brake on them." When his comments appeared in the press, Cable stated, "Naturally I am embarrassed by these comments and I regret them", before reaffirming his commitment to the Coalition Government, stating that "I am proud of what it is achieving".


title: Vince Cable

text: In part of the "Daily Telegraph" transcript that it did not disclose, Cable stated in reference to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation takeover bid for BSkyB, "I have declared war on Mr Murdoch and I think we are going to win." Following this revelation, Cable had his responsibility for media affairs – including ruling on Murdoch's takeover plans – withdrawn from his role as Business Secretary. In May 2011, the Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint regarding the "Telegraph"'s use of subterfuge.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable's stature in the Government grew since then, being dubbed "the moral centre of this Coalition" by Peter Oborne, chief political commentator at the "Daily Telegraph".


title: Vince Cable

text: As Business Secretary, Cable oversaw the privatisation of the Royal Mail in 2013. The share price increased by 38% within a day and 70% in a year. The National Audit Office said that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was too cautious when setting the sale price, but that a planned postal workers' union strike also affected the government's sale price. Cable refused to apologise, and said that the Government had been right to take a cautious approach, pointing out that the sale had raised £2,000,000,000 for the taxpayer, with a further £1,500,000,000 from the 30% stake in Royal Mail which it had retained. The NAO also noted that some "priority investors", had made significant profits following the sale, having been allocated more shares in the belief that they would form part of a stable and supportive shareholder base. However, almost half of the shares allocated to them had been sold within a few weeks of the sale.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable lost his seat, previously considered safe – with a majority of 12,140 – to the Conservative candidate Tania Mathias at the 2015 general election. Mathias won with a majority of 2,017 votes. Cable's elimination from Parliament, combined with the Liberal Democrats' collective defeat at the election, and the formation of a Conservative majority government obliged him to resign as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, a position which he held for the majority of its existence. He had also enjoyed the longest tenure as President of the Board of Trade since that of Peter Thorneycroft, which ended in 1957.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable announced on 18 April 2017 his intention to stand for his former seat of Twickenham at the snap general election. In May 2017, Cable urged Liberal Democrat supporters to vote tactically for Ealing Central and Acton Labour candidate Rupa Huq. At the election, he was successful in winning back his former seat, with a majority of 9,762 votes.


title: Vince Cable

text: In a cross-party effort shortly after the election, Cable along with former Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband and veteran Conservative MP Ken Clarke made a joint submission to Ofcom, opposing 21st Century Fox's takeover bid of Sky.


title: Vince Cable

text: Following Tim Farron's resignation as leader of the Liberal Democrats, Cable announced his candidacy in the subsequent leadership election.


title: Vince Cable

text: On 20 July 2017, Cable became leader of the Liberal Democrats after facing no competition. He was the oldest leader of a major UK political party since Sir Winston Churchill.


title: Vince Cable

text: In a manifesto released upon his ascent to leadership, Cable revealed his policy priorities as Liberal Democrat leader would include tackling inequality, improving public services, opposing Brexit, electoral reform and young people.


title: Vince Cable

text: In late 2017 Cable revealed that he had become "more interventionist" economically due to experiences while in the Coalition government. Subsequently, Cable has called for the blocking of several foreign takeovers of UK companies in the technology sector, and for the reform of UK takeover laws in the form of the 'Cadbury Clause' that had been suggested by figures within the Conservative Party. Following the leak of the Paradise Papers, Cable commented that direct rule of crown dependencies should be threatened if substantial progress was not made in curbing aggressive tax avoidance.


title: Vince Cable

text: In September 2017 Cable echoed Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in calling for greater taxation of foreign speculators in the housing market. He has also called for the reform of empty dwelling management orders.


title: Vince Cable

text: In an 8 November 2017 pre-Budget speech at the City of London, Cable announced the Liberal Democrats under his leadership would seek to revive the fiscal Golden Rule of former Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown.


title: Vince Cable

text: In early 2018, Cable's leadership saw former Conservative donors Peter J Stringfellow and Charlie Mullins switch and pledge their support to Cable and the Liberal Democrats over Brexit.


title: Vince Cable

text: On education, Cable has rejected cutting or abolishing university tuition fees. He has instead announced that he would seek to implement lifelong learning accounts which would serve as endowments to all young people to help pay for education or training at any future date, and suggested this endowment could range from £5,000 to £10,000 per head (the average university student debt in England is £50,800 upon graduation as of 2017), costing around £10 billion a year. Cable claimed the policy could be funded from reform of capital gains, inheritance, and property taxes. Also on education, he proposes to abolish the Ofsted inspectorate and reform school league tables to focus on pupil well-being rather than exam results because a “change in emphasis” is needed away from competition. He supported the February 2018 USS strikes, calling for the government to underwrite lecturers' pensions, while refusing to cross a picket line at the Cass Business School.


title: Vince Cable

text: On 22 March, Cable announced that at an earlier meeting of European liberal parties he had garnered the signed agreements of eight European ALDE Prime Ministers demanding another referendum on the terms of Britain's exit from the European Union. Shortly after, however, in contradiction to Cable's announcement ALDE issued a statement denying that there had been any joint agreement about backing another referendum.


title: Vince Cable

text: In June, Cable set out plans to create a state land-buying agency to compulsorily purchase land at 40% below market value. Cable also unveiled a proposal to develop a sovereign wealth fund, totalling £100 billion of assets, to be paid for partly by a tax on gifts.


title: Vince Cable

text: In response to both the 2017 and 2018 Autumn Budget announcements, Cable called for a large increase in public services spending and the end of austerity, attacking the Conservative government's 2018 Autumn Budget for failing to meet his demands on increased spending. He criticised Labour for not voting against a package of Conservative tax cuts which included raising the personal income tax allowance and higher rate income tax threshold, money that he argued would be better used on reversing cuts to benefits.


title: Vince Cable

text: Electorally, Cable asserted that the Liberal Democrats under his leadership would win over substantial numbers of younger Labour voters "when the penny drops" about Labour's stance on Brexit, and that "young supporters will soon notice". Aside from Brexit, he claimed that adopting and pitching policies like higher taxation of wealth would also help in winning over Labour voters. Despite this, the Liberal Democrats under Cable's leadership have drawn observations from numerous political commentators such as Stephen Bush of "New Statesman" and John Rentoul of "The Independent" who noted that Liberal Democrat national polling had remained static even with significantly negative public perceptions of both the Labour and Conservative parties. Rentoul, as well as politics historian Glen O'Hara pointed to traditional and once potential Liberal Democrat voters Cable might wish to target as now having become solidly Labour voters. "The Times" Red Box editor and columnist Matt Chorley, in assessing Cable's leadership, wrote how there was already a "grey-haired nasal leftie running an opposition party" (in reference to Jeremy Corbyn) and therefore Cable was not needed.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable has received significant critical commentary surrounding his leadership of the Liberal Democrats in terms of policy proposals and stances. In particular, Cable's support for a second referendum on membership of the European Union and his comment that older Brexit voters were driven by nostalgia were met with negative reactions from the likes of broadcaster Julia Hartley Brewer, government Cabinet member Sajid Javid, and others. However, some in the media have expressed agreement with Cable's position on Brexit. Other policy, such as punitive taxation of foreign housing investors was criticised by the Adam Smith Institute think tank. The "Financial Times" considered Cable to be part of a "coalition of anti-capitalists" due to his calls for foreign takeovers of British companies to be blocked, and in "The Daily Telegraph" his policies were likened unfavourably to those of the Labour Party. Political journalist Andrew Rawnsley of "The Observer" was critical of Cable's general approach but conceded the possibility of Cable's anti-Brexit policy paying off eventually.


title: Vince Cable

text: On 7 September 2018, Cable announced his intention to resign as leader of the Liberal Democrats. He initially said he would resign once Brexit has been resolved or stopped, and when his proposed party reforms had been accepted, but in March 2019, he said that he would resign in May 2019 after the local elections. Following the 2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, he confirmed on 24 May that he would stand down on 23 July 2019.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable has compared himself to centrist French President Emmanuel Macron, saying that as Business Secretary he had worked with Macron (then an economy minister) personally and that they have a "very similar" approach. He believes his party should occupy the "vast middle ground", likening the political conditions of the UK with those of France. Cable asserts that there is an "appetite" for "middle-of-the-road politics" which he claims he can provide, and has decried what he sees as the mistreatment of “middle-of-the-road Brownite type” politicians like Tom Watson by the "hard left" within the Labour Party.


title: Vince Cable

text: He supported the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership trade agreement (TTIP), saying in 2014 that "if you are a true believer in free trade then you want to trade more with the US." To critics such as trade unions he replied that he was "genuinely baffled" about their fears that TTIP would lead to the privatisation of the NHS, adding that TTIP had "nothing to do with allowing the Americans to interfere with our NHS". In 2018, concerning the possibility of US-UK trade deal which might follow the United Kingdom's future exit from the European Union, Cable warned that a trade deal in such circumstances might involve agreeing to open up the NHS to private American healthcare firms. Cable claimed this was unlike TTIP in which public services were to remain protected and therefore he argued the UK should remain in the EU. Cable also warned that a post-Brexit trade deal with the US might lead to accepting lower standards in farming produce, less food being produced in the UK and less employment for farmers.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable thinks free trade is not a zero-sum game and that it is mutually beneficial for nations, stating: "Countries are better off when they participate in specialisation, with consumers benefiting from greater choice, higher quality products, and lower prices." He has condemned British and American politicians such as Donald Trump who he claims exploit the "anger and fear" over potential job losses which may result from foreign trade competition.


title: Vince Cable

text: In May 2018, Theresa May welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit. Erdoğan declared that the United Kingdom is "an ally and a strategic partner, but also a real friend." Cable denounced the visit, saying that "The UK has a strong, proud history of democracy and human rights, but our reputation on the world stage is in danger of being eroded by this Conservative government’s desire to woo world leaders like [Donald] Trump and Erdoğan. May’s administration appears to have substituted diplomacy for sycophancy in its pursuit of Brexit." Cable said that Erdoğan "is responsible for alarming oppression and violence."


title: Vince Cable

text: In response to the murder of the Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Cable said: "This situation gets murkier and murkier. The Government should have already suspended arms export licences to Saudi Arabia given the outrages in Yemen. This reinforces the argument for loosening the bonds to the regime."


title: Vince Cable

text: As an economist, Cable considers Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes to be his heroes, recommending Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" and Robert Skidelsky’s "Life of John Maynard Keynes" to novice economists.


title: Vince Cable

text: He has been a proponent of greater capital spending, or borrowing to invest, and has made the case for this several times during and after the 2010-2015 coalition government.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable has called the demutualisation of building societies "one of the greatest acts of economic vandalism in modern times".


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable supports the continuation of the Liberal Democrat policy of a hypothecated 1p rise in income tax to pay for improved health and social care,<ref name="BBC9/7/2017">Brexit may never happen – Sir Vince Cable "BBC"</ref> along with proposals for replacing national insurance taxes with a likewise hypothecated new NHS and social care tax . He has also voiced support for a wealth tax to raise £15 billion or the equivalent of “less than one-third of 1pc of household wealth, net of debt” which would be used to address “intergenerational inequality.”


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable has been critical of the National Living Wage (the UK system of minimum wage), arguing in 2015 that smaller businesses would struggle to pay employees higher rates.


title: Vince Cable

text: He has called for companies Google, Amazon, and Facebook to be broken up, and supports the introduction of a digital services tax on technology companies.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable has held differing views over time on the possibility of a new party emerging which could involve the Liberal Democrats. After the election of Jeremy Corbyn to the Labour leadership in 2015, Cable called on centre-left MPs from Labour and the Liberal Democrats to unite to prevent the Conservatives holding a “monopoly on power.” He made a similar suggestion in the lead up to the 2017 general election, predicting a new party in the event of Labour undergoing electoral collapse. After becoming leader of the Liberal Democrats, however, he rejected a proposal for a new anti-Brexit party by former government adviser James Chapman, insisting that anti-Brexit figures should join the Liberal Democrats instead.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable has taken a sceptical approach to the question of potential coalitions with other parties since 2015. In April 2018, he said that the Liberal Democrats would never form a coalition government with Labour led by Jeremy Corbyn, and previously opposed the idea in 2015 as well where he said working with Labour was "inconceivable" because of Jeremy Corbyn's economic policies. Cable claims he would not work with the Conservatives either, comparing a coalition with the Conservatives to "mating with a praying mantis" where "You get eaten at the end of it." Rather than a coalition or propping up a government, he would prefer to work on "issue-by-issue" instead.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable ruled out the idea of electoral pacts in mid-April during the 2017 general election campaign. However, in early May, Cable was recorded suggesting that Liberal Democrat supporters vote for Labour candidates in certain seats where they could stop the Conservatives. Responding to the story on LBC radio, Cable restated that he would not work with Labour and said that the Liberal Democrats had more "common ground" with the Conservatives under David Cameron than with Labour under Jeremy Corbyn. Shortly after, Cable was due to appear and speak at a Compass event in support of a 'progressive alliance' (a proposed electoral pact between the Green Party, the Liberal Democrats, and Labour) but backed out, stating it was "too late" for a progressive alliance because he couldn't work with Labour "in its current form." He had previously spoken at a progressive alliance event by Compass in 2016.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable believed Brexit might never happen. He maintained that when people saw the economic costs they would turn against it and a cross-party coalition of opponents to Brexit might develop. Cable said, "the whole question of continued membership will once again arise" if people's living standards worsened and unemployment rose.


title: Vince Cable

text: On 23 June 2018 Cable appeared at the People's Vote march in London to mark the second anniversary of the referendum to leave the European Union.In his speech he said, "keep fighting, keep hoping, we will win."


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable maintained it "beggars belief that the army and the police are now being asked to prepare for riots in the chaotic aftermath of a botched Brexit. (...) For the 'true believers' - the fundamentalists - the costs of Brexit have always been irrelevant. Years of economic pain justified by the erotic spasm of leaving the European Union. Economic pain felt - of course - not by them by those least able to afford it. (...) [Theresa May] is dutifully delivering a policy she doesn't really believe in; failing in negotiations; losing public support; and all to appease a dwindling group of angry people in her party who will denounce her as a traitor, whatever she comes up with. (...) Our sympathy can only extend so far, while she puts the interests of the country second to the whims of the extremists in her party."


title: Vince Cable

text: In 2017, Cable defended the £9,000 per year university tuition fees cap, claiming it would be "dangerous and stupid" and a "cheap populist gesture" to abolish tuition fees, adding that the "40% of students" who go to university should not be subsidised by the "60% who don't". The comments were criticised on social media by figures on the left, while Conservative MP Jo Johnson voiced support for Cable's stance.


title: Vince Cable

text: On housing, he has backed building on green belts as a solution to the housing crisis. He proposes allowing councils to levy up to a 500% council tax on empty homes.


title: Vince Cable

text: In 2018, Cable wrote that he had opposed and still opposed the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament, for being made up of unaccountable members. However, he expressed his appreciation for the Lords' "capacity to defeat and embarrass the government" over Brexit legislation, in which he argued the House of Lords were exercising more thorough oversight. Cable declined an offer to be seated in the House of Lords after the 2015 general election.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable's first wife was Olympia Rebelo, a Kenyan from a Goan Roman Catholic background, whom he met "in the unromantic setting of a York mental hospital where we happened to be working as nurses during a summer holiday." They had three children together and she completed her PhD in history at Glasgow University in 1976. Olympia was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after the 1987 general election. After apparently successful treatment, the disease returned in the mid-1990s and before the 1997 general election. She died shortly after the 2001 general election.


title: Vince Cable

text: In 2004, he married Rachel Wenban Smith. When appearing on BBC Radio 4's "Desert Island Discs" programme in January 2009, Cable revealed that he wears the wedding rings from both of his marriages.


title: Vince Cable

text: A keen ballroom dancer, Cable long expressed his desire to appear on the BBC's hit television show "Strictly Come Dancing"; he appeared on the Christmas 2010 edition of the show, partnered by Erin Boag and dancing the Foxtrot. He performed well and scored 36/40 from the judges, including a mark of 10/10 from head judge Len Goodman. Cable was the second politician to appear on the show, after former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable is a patron of MyBigCareer, a career guidance charity for young people, the Polycystic Kidney Disease Charity (PKD), the Changez Charity. and chair of HCT Group, a social enterprise transport operator.


title: Vince Cable

text: Cable revealed that he had a minor stroke while leader of the Liberal Democrats in his memoir. The stroke occurred in May 2018.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: Aliens: Colonial Marines is a 2013 first-person shooter developed by Gearbox Software and published by Sega for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Based on the "Alien" universe and set shortly after the events of James Cameron's 1986 film "Aliens", the game follows a group of Colonial Marines, a fictional military unit, as they confront the Weyland-Yutani corporation in an effort to rescue survivors from the "Sulaco" spaceship. The game features a campaign mode that supports both single-player and cooperative gameplay, and a multiplayer mode in which players compete in different scenarios.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: "Colonial Marines" was developed over six years and suffered from a tumultuous development cycle. Because Gearbox decided to focus on other projects like "Duke Nukem Forever" and "Borderlands 2", they outsourced a significant part of the game to other studios. The game was heavily inspired by Cameron's film. Concept artist Syd Mead, who collaborated with Cameron to design the "Sulaco", was hired to design locations. Four downloadable content packs were released, adding multiplayer maps, a new cooperative mode, and a new campaign mode that takes place before the campaign of the base game.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: "Colonial Marines" sold more than one million copies in the United States and Europe, but received unfavorable reviews from critics, who criticized its technical problems, low-quality graphics, and weak artificial intelligence of enemies. It is considered to be one of the worst video games ever made. The competitive multiplayer mode was highlighted as its strongest aspect. The game drew a significant controversy for featuring a lower graphical quality than that of the press demos. This led two players to file a lawsuit, claiming that Gearbox and Sega had falsely advertised the game, but it lost class-action status by 2015. In 2017, a modder improved the game's artificial intelligence by correcting an error in the game's code.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: "Aliens: Colonial Marines" is a first-person shooter based on the "Alien" science fiction horror film series. The game's campaign mode, which can be played by a single player or cooperatively by up to four players, features 11 missions that involve players moving from one checkpoint to another while fighting opponents controlled by the game's artificial intelligence. Opponents consist of either Alien creatures, also known as Xenomorphs, or hostile human mercenaries. Xenomorphs are fast and primarily attack with their claws or by spitting acid, while mercenaries are slower and use firearms.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: As the fictional Colonial Marines military unit depicted in James Cameron's 1986 film "Aliens", players have access to weapons such as pistols, shotguns, grenades, pulse rifles, flamethrowers, robotic sentry turrets, and smartguns, which automatically track and target opponents. They may also use welding torches to seal doors and motion trackers to detect unseen enemies. Ammunition can be found on defeated mercenaries or from certain locations in the mission area. The Colonial Marines are protected by a health bar that is divided into segments. If a segment is partially depleted, it will automatically regenerate over time. Med-Packs throughout the missions may be acquired to restore lost health segments. Players may also collect pieces of armor that protect the health bar with a secondary meter that does not automatically regenerate. Players have a limited time to revive a player whose health has been fully depleted. If they fail to do so, the downed player cannot return to the game until the surviving players reach the next checkpoint.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: In addition to the campaign mode, "Colonial Marines" features a competitive multiplayer mode where two teams of up to five players face each other in four different scenarios. Each scenario involves one team playing as Colonial Marines and the other as Aliens. After a time limit has been reached, players switch roles and play once more on the same map. Scenarios include Team Deathmatch, where both teams must kill as many opposing players as possible; Extermination, where Colonial Marines must detonate bombs in egg-infested areas protected by Aliens; Escape, which involves Colonial Marines completing objectives to reach a destination while being assaulted by Aliens; and Survivor, where Colonial Marines must survive attacks from Aliens with limited health and ammunition resources for as long as possible. Unlike Colonial Marines, Alien players play from a third-person perspective and cannot use firearms, but have the ability to climb walls, run on ceilings, deliver attacks with their claws, and unleash streams of acid.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: Players earn experience points by overcoming opponents, completing challenges, and finding collectibles—Audio Logs, Dog Tags, and Legendary Weapons, all of which are related to characters who appear in the film series. Challenges range from killing opponents in a particular way to winning multiplayer matches and completing campaign missions under a difficulty setting. Players have two ranks, one for their Colonial Marine character and another for their Alien character. When a sufficient amount of experience has been obtained, their characters rank up. Colonial Marine ranks unlock weapon upgrades for use in both the campaign and the competitive multiplayer modes. These include alternate fire attachments, telescopic sights, and larger capacity magazines. In contrast, Alien ranks unlock new combat abilities for Alien characters. Completing challenges also unlocks appearance options for both Colonial Marine and Alien characters, and new attributes that are exclusive to Colonial Marines in the competitive multiplayer mode.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: 17 weeks after the events of "Aliens", the "Sephora" spaceship sends a full battalion of Colonial Marines to investigate the "Sulaco" spaceship, now in orbit around the LV-426 moon. A massive Xenomorph infestation is discovered inside the "Sulaco" and several Marines are killed in the initial onslaught. Corporal Christopher Winter, private Peter O'Neal, and private Bella Clarison discover that hostile mercenaries working for the Weyland-Yutani corporation are in command of the "Sulaco" and have been breeding Xenomorphs on board for study. Shortly before both ships are destroyed in the ensuing confrontation, the Marines, along with commander Captain Cruz, "Sephora" android Bishop, and pilot lieutenant Lisa Reid, escape aboard her dropship and take shelter in the ruins of the Hadley's Hope colony complex on LV-426.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: Although the Marines learn that Clarison has been attacked by a facehugger and needs medical treatment, Cruz orders Winter to travel to a nearby Weyland-Yutani research facility set up near a derelict Xenomorph spacecraft and recover a manifest that identifies an unknown prisoner from the "Sulaco". In an attempt at saving Clarison, Winter and O'Neal accept the mission and escort her to the facility, where they intend to convince surviving personnel to remove the Xenomorph embryo from her body. However, upon arrival, an interrogated Weyland-Yutani medical officer explains to them that Clarison's life cannot be saved because the creature's invasive placenta is cancerous and will eventually kill her even if the embryo is successfully extracted. Clarison dies when a chestburster hatches from her.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: Winter and O'Neal recover the manifest they were sent to find and rescue the prisoner, who is revealed to be corporal Dwayne Hicks. Hicks explains that Weyland-Yutani intercepted and boarded the "Sulaco" prior to its arrival at the Fiorina 161 planet. A fire in the hypersleep bay subsequently caused the "Sulaco" survivors Ellen Ripley, Newt, and Bishop to be jettisoned from the ship, along with the body of an unidentified man who was mistaken for the corporal. Hicks himself was captured by Weyland-Yutani personnel and subjected to torture during interrogation, overseen by android Michael Weyland in an attempt to learn more about the Xenomorphs' origins and to gain control of the "Sulaco"s weapon systems. From Hicks, the Marines also learn that an FTL-capable ship is docked at the research facility, representing the last chance for the Marines to escape from the moon.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: After gathering the remaining "Sephora" personnel on the colony, Cruz orders an all-out assault on the Weyland-Yutani complex in the hopes of capturing the FTL vessel. Winter and Hicks spearhead the advance, but the ship leaves shortly before they can reach it. In a last desperate attempt, Cruz pilots a dropship up to the escaping vessel and crashes into its hangar. Winter is confronted by a Xenomorph queen in the hangar bay, and attempts to eject her using a cargo launching system, but fails when she climbs back aboard. Cruz sacrifices himself when he launches the crippled dropship directly into the queen, propelling both out of the vessel. Winter, O'Neal, Reid, Bishop, and Hicks confront Weyland, who is ultimately executed by Hicks. In search of useful intelligence, Bishop connects to the destroyed android and states that he has "everything".


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: "Colonial Marines" was conceived by Gearbox Software after an encounter between the company's creative director, Bryan Martell, and the director of the original "Alien" film, Ridley Scott. When "" was released in 2005, Gearbox was interested in working with an existing intellectual property and had previously considered Scott's 1982 film "Blade Runner" and Michael Mann's 1995 film "Heat" as candidates. Martell's discussion with Scott on the "Alien" universe inspired him to approach 20th Century Fox about the licensing opportunities. Sega, who bought the rights to publish games based on the franchise in December 2006, gave Gearbox complete freedom to present them with an idea for a game. Because Gearbox had experience with first-person shooters and the development team was composed of people who were fans of "Aliens", the company proposed a first-person shooter that would be a direct sequel to it.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: Although the final script for the game was written by Gearbox writer Mikey Neumann, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, writers of the 2004 television series "Battlestar Galactica", collaborated with Gearbox during the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike to develop the story and characters. The game takes place shortly after the 1992 "Aliens" sequel "Alien 3", but addresses the events that lead to it. As a result, "Colonial Marines" is considered part of the series' canon. Several locations of "Aliens" like the "Sulaco" spaceship and the Hadley's Hope colony were recreated for the game. To keep the same level of authenticity, concept artist Syd Mead, who collaborated with Cameron on the film to design the "Sulaco", was hired to recreate its "mechanical mood" and design areas of the spaceship that did not appear in the film but would be used in the game. The development team also contacted Kodak to get color channel details about the film's film stock.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: Originally, "Colonial Marines" was intended to feature squad-based gameplay, allowing the player to issue orders to Colonial Marines controlled by the game's artificial intelligence using context-sensitive commands. These would include hacking doors, sealing air vents, and setting up sentry turrets. In cooperative mode, players would then be able to directly control these Marines, who would have their own strengths and weaknesses. However, this idea was ultimately dropped to make the gameplay more accessible. Gearbox chose to develop the game for Microsoft Windows and the then recently released PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, stating that their technology would "do [the film] justice."


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: Although Gearbox is credited as the primary developer of "Colonial Marines", multiple development studios contributed to the game's production. Initial work on "Colonial Marines", internally codenamed "Pecan", began in 2007 with the creation of a prototype by Demiurge Studios, who also helped Gearbox with the networking and multiplayer aspects. Between 2007 and 2010, Gearbox did not focus on the development of the game, instead preferring to work on other projects like "Borderlands" and "Duke Nukem Forever", a game that took over a decade to develop. The game was built using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3, but Gearbox spent a considerable amount of preproduction time developing a custom real-time lighting and shadow renderer that is "plugged" into the engine to capture the feel of "Aliens". Nerve Software, a company that handled the multiplayer of the 2001 first-person shooter "Return to Castle Wolfenstein", built multiplayer maps for the game.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: When "Borderlands" was released in 2009, the game turned out to be a critical and commercial success. This led Gearbox to immediately start work on a sequel, "Borderlands 2", and outsource primary development on "Colonial Marines" to TimeGate Studios, who was developing "" at the time. In late 2010, when TimeGate started to focus their work on "Colonial Marines", the company realized that very little progress had been made to the game. According to one source, the game was simply a collection of unrelated assets that included a lighting and shadow renderer. Although TimeGate handled primary development on the game until "Borderlands 2" was almost complete in mid-2012, their work had to constantly be approved by both Gearbox and Sega. Because narrative designers were still writing the script of the campaign mode, entire scenes and missions were discarded due to story changes. One of these involved the player escorting a scientist who would be a secret agent working for the Weyland-Yutani corporation.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: To further complicate the situation, there were disagreements on how the game should be designed; Sega wanted "Colonial Marines" to be more similar to a "Call of Duty" game, with fewer Aliens and more Marines to shoot at, a view Gearbox and TimeGate disagreed with. Developers also struggled to optimize the game after spending a significant amount of time increasing its graphical fidelity for a press demo, which ran on high-end computers not normally meant for general use. The game's shader and particle fidelity were then decreased significantly before release, and textures had to be reduced in size to fit into the memory restraints of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: When Gearbox took the project back in mid-2012, the company was not satisfied with TimeGate's work, partially because the game could not run on the PlayStation 3. With a release date set for February 2013, asking Sega for an extension was not an option because the game had already been delayed several times. This resulted in Gearbox only having nine months to revise TimeGate's work and finish the game. How much of the game was actually made by Gearbox was highly questioned by TimeGate. According to Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, TimeGate "contributed 20-25 percent of the game's overall development time." However, without considering Gearbox's preproduction time, Pitchford said that TimeGate's effort was equivalent to theirs. A moderator on the official TimeGate forum revealed that the studio worked on the weapons, characters, Aliens, story, and multiplayer component, while some TimeGate developers estimated that 50 percent of the campaign mode in the released game was made by them.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: Several actors from the films were involved in the game. Michael Biehn reprised his role as corporal Dwayne Hicks, while Lance Henriksen voiced the androids Bishop and Michael Weyland. Henriksen remarked that it was interesting for him to voice a character that he had not touched in more than 25 years. In contrast, Biehn commented negatively on his experience in voicing his character, stating that there was a lack of passion from the people who were in charge of the project. The soundtrack was composed by Kevin Riepl, who is best known for his work on numerous independent films and the "Gears of War" series. Because the story of the game is canonical, Riepl's score was heavily influenced by Jerry Goldsmith's work on "Alien" and James Horner's work on "Aliens". The soundtrack was recorded at Ocean Way in Nashville, Tennessee.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: A first-person shooter based on the "Alien" universe was confirmed to be in pre-production shortly after Sega acquired the license in December 2006. "Colonial Marines" was officially announced by "Game Informer" in its March 2008 issue, where its premise and intended gameplay features were revealed. Although the game shares the same title as a canceled 2002 PlayStation 2 project by Electronic Arts and Fox Interactive that would feature a similar setting and subject matter, the game is completely unrelated to it. Originally intended to be released in 2009, "Colonial Marines" was delayed after Gearbox laid off several employees in November 2008. This led some to question whether the game had been canceled or not. In the following years, few other announcements were made, although Gearbox did show some screenshots at the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: At the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, after confirming that "Colonial Marines" would be released in spring 2012, Gearbox unveiled a teaser trailer and revealed that a Wii U version was in development. A live gameplay demo played by a Gearbox representative was also showcased at the event. In January 2012, Sega announced that the game had been delayed to a fall 2012 release, stating that the company did not want to "sacrifice the creative process just for the sake of following a [deadline]." In May 2012, the game was delayed one last time, with Gearbox stating that "Colonial Marines" would launch for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on February 12, 2013, while the Wii U version would follow later. In the months leading up to the game's release, more trailers and demos were released.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: Prior to its release, "Colonial Marines" was criticized for not featuring any playable female character. When a petition was formed to change this, Gearbox included them in both the cooperative and multiplayer modes. In addition to the standard edition of the game, a collector's edition was made available for purchase. The collector's edition included a Powerloader figurine inspired by the film, a Colonial Marines dossier, character customization options, exclusive multiplayer weapons, and a firing range game level. Players who pre-ordered the game could also receive some of the collector's edition content as a bonus. Shortly after the game's release, Gearbox released a patch that fixed numerous campaign and multiplayer bugs and offered various visual improvements. The Wii U version, which was being handled by Demiurge, was canceled in April 2013.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: "Colonial Marines" supports additional in-game content in the form of downloadable content packs. Between March and July 2013, four downloadable content packs were released for the game. A season pass to these packs could be purchased before the game was released. The first pack, "Bug Hunt", was released on March 19, 2013, and adds a new cooperative mode that involves up to four players fighting increasingly larger waves of Xenomorphs and hostile soldiers across three new maps. Players earn in-game money by killing opponents, which can then be spent on different options like buying ammunition or opening up new areas of the map to increase their chances of survival. The second pack, "Reconnaissance Pack", was released on May 7, 2013, and extends the game's competitive multiplayer mode with four maps and more customization options for Xenomorph characters, while the third pack, "Movie Map Pack", was released on June 11, 2013, and adds four maps set in locations from the first three "Alien" films.


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: The fourth and final pack, "Stasis Interrupted", was released on July 23, 2013, and adds a new campaign mode that takes place before the campaign of the base game, exploring what happened to Hicks between "Aliens" and "Alien 3". The campaign features four "interlocking" missions where players must play as three different characters. "Stasis Interrupted" also adds several new achievements for players to unlock, which were initially leaked via a list of PlayStation 3 Trophies. According to a report, both Demiurge and Nerve were in charge of developing the downloadable content packs for the game, but it was not confirmed if they contributed to the development of "Stasis Interrupted".


title: Aliens: Colonial Marines

text: "Colonial Marines" received unfavorable reviews from critics, who criticized its uninspiring gameplay, technical issues, low-quality graphics, and superficial thrills, especially when compared to Cameron's film. Writing for "IGN", editor Tristan Ogilvie remarked that, although "Colonial Marines" looks and sounds like "Aliens", it does not feel like it and does not bring anything new to the first-person shooter genre. Similarly, Kevin VanOrd of "GameSpot" described the game as "a shallow bit of science-fiction fluff with cheap production values and an indifferent attitude." Also in agreement, Jose Otero of 1Up.com stated: "The weapons and sounds of ACM feel authentic, but the bland look of the game will make you think it shipped as an unfinished product." "Electronic Gaming Monthly", however, praised the game for its respect to the source material, describing "Colonial Marines" as "easily the best gaming representation of the franchise to date."