title: Caroleans

text: "Gå-på" tactics enabled the Caroleans to repeatedly overcome much larger enemy armies, as the psychological impact of their rapid approach and their steely discipline under fire, combined with their fearsome reputation, often served to unsettle the opposing troops even before physical contact was made. Moreover, if some enemy troops lost their nerve and fled then panic could quite easily spread through the rest of the enemy force, so a quick success against even a relatively small enemy unit was often enough to trigger a general rout. The preference for aggressive action also served, perhaps counterintuitively, as a way to reduce losses, as it ensured that battles would be resolved quickly rather than degenerating into bloody attritional struggles, as often happened when two armies using volley tactics clashed. This was especially important for the Swedish army as it lacked the manpower reserves of larger neighbours like Poland-Lithuania and Russia, and thus could not replenish its ranks after heavy defeats.


title: Caroleans

text: The downsides of the "gå-på" doctrine were that it required strict discipline on the part of the soldiers (see below), and that it was, like all shock tactics a fundamentally risky strategy which could backfire horribly if the commander misjudged the time or place to mount an attack, or if an assault was mounted against enemies with high morale in prepared defensive positions. The latter scenario occurred at the Battle of Poltava, where Peter the Great was able to lure Charles XII into mounting an attack against a Russian camp protected by field fortifications, leading to an overwhelming Swedish defeat.


title: Caroleans

text: According to army regulations of 1694 and 1701, infantry attacks were to be executed as follows: In four ranks with gaps, a Swedish battalion would march "smoothly and slowly" towards the enemy lines, braving enemy fire that often started at a distance of approximately 100 metres. The Swedish soldiers were told not to fire until "you could see the whites in the enemies' eyes", a range of roughly 50 metres. When the marching drums stopped the two rear ranks would fill the gaps within the two foremost ranks and fire a salvo, then draw their swords. The two rear ranks would then move back to their previous position, and the two foremost ranks would close the gaps in their lines, after which the battalion would resume their attack. The two foremost ranks would discharge their muskets in a final volley when they were within range to charge, a distance of roughly 20 metres. At these ranges, the powerful muskets usually felled many enemy troops, having a great physical and psychological impact on opponents.


title: Caroleans

text: Directly after the final volley, the Caroleans charged the enemy ranks with pikes, bayonets, and rapiers. Note that the pikes were used as an offensive weapon; in close combat, they had the advantage over their foes' weapons due to their long reach. Often, complete ranks of enemies fled before physical contact was made, frightened by the long pikes and the fact that the Swedish battalions had previously calmly withstood their fire.


title: Caroleans

text: This method was slightly changed during the Great Northern War. The slow march was replaced by running, to take fewer casualties and begin combat sooner, while optimally still frightening the enemy with a swift, unflinching advance into their fire. The Swedish firing distance was reduced from 50 metres to 15–20 metres for the first volley of the rear ranks who would no longer fall into their previous position behind the front ranks. Instead, they would follow in the gaps within the front ranks. As a result, the battalion attacked in two closely formed ranks, which made the final charge more effective, as the Carolean troops would be closely packed together, making a heavier impact than before.


title: Caroleans

text: The Swedish cavalry fought in a similarly aggressive way, also called the "Carolean manner". Whereas in other European armies, cavalry would form up "knee to the knee" (i.e. in a line, usually only one or two ranks deep), the Swedish cavalry would form up in a tightly packed wedge formation several ranks deep, "knee behind knee" (), in order to ensure that their charge struck the enemy with the maximum possible force. They were moreover armed with rapiers, swords specifically designed for stabbing rather than slashing.


title: Caroleans

text: The cavalry would not normally use their pistols during the charge (again in contrast to practice elsewhere in Europe), and in 1704 a new regulation was enacted explicitly forbidding troopers from using the pistol when charging; pistols were still carried, but were to be used during the melee combat after the charge, or when pursuing routed enemies. In 1705, another regulation decreed that the cavalry were to ride at a trot during the initial phase of the attack and then break into a full gallop just before reaching the enemy.


title: Caroleans

text: Close coordination between infantry, cavalry, and sometimes artillery was needed to break down enemy defences successfully. Only infantry would normally risk a frontal assault on a well-prepared enemy line, preferably with artillery assistance. Regimental cannons would keep pace with infantry and protect them against enemy attacks as they reloaded. The cavalry would strike the opposing cavalry or charge disorganized infantry, preferably in the flank or rear. Cavalry was also used to cover an army in retreat or to interfere with and chase remaining enemy after a successful infantry attack. If a cavalry attack were repulsed, it would fall back behind friendly infantry lines and regroup. If necessary, the infantry could fall back using alternating firing and movement. In some situations, infantry squares were used for protection against flanking cavalry attacks. This formation was effective as all sides of the square would be facing outwards, removing the risk of a vulnerable rear or flank attack, and the formation presented enemy horses with a tightly packed mass of troops and a veritable hedge of sharp weapons, discouraging them from a charge.


title: Caroleans

text: Coordination between the different branches of the army was especially important for the Swedish victory at the Battle of Gadebusch, which was achieved largely through close coordination between the Swedish infantry and artillery.


title: Caroleans

text: Religion played a crucial role in the Carolean army. In addition to swearing fidelity to the Swedish king, the soldiers had to learn and follow the precepts and Lutheran doctrines of the Church of Sweden, and those who flouted religious regulations could be punished severely. For example, blasphemy was regarded as a capital offence. Religion was especially important for building cohesion among the soldiers, who were recruited from all over the Swedish Empire, including Bremen-Verden, Pomerania and Livonia, although Swedes and Finns always comprised a large majority. Even then, however, national identity was nowhere near as strong as it would become in later centuries, and a Swede from, say, Dalarna would feel little sense of compatriotism with one from Skåne or Ångermanland, let alone a Finn from Savonia. Religion was therefore important for encouraging a sense of unity and common purpose amongst the heterogenous soldiery, especially in the face of enemies considered to be "heretics", such as the Catholic Poles or Orthodox Russians. Prayers and Holy Communion were held before most Carolean battles, and field chaplains sometimes even accompanied the men onto the battlefield.


title: Caroleans

text: The chaplains' sermons often reminded soldiers that they had God's protection and assistance in battle, a notion originating when Sweden fought in the Thirty Years War as the continental leader of Protestantism. After the Battle of Narva, many soldiers believed that God had sent the blizzard that led to their victory as a punishment for their enemies' sins and hubris. After the catastrophe at Poltava, many Caroleans became convinced that God had changed sides.


title: Caroleans

text: Good discipline was vital for the Swedish army's highly aggressive "gå-på" tactics, which required the Caroleans to keep in formation and hold their fire as they approached the enemy, even if coming under a hail of bullets themselves. One way of inculcating such extreme self-control was by encouraging a sort of fatalism among the troops: soldiers were told not to be afraid of battle, since if God wanted them to survive then nothing could harm them, and conversely if He had decreed that they were to die then death would come even if they tried to flee. On a more practical level, the army enforced draconian codes of discipline in order to encourage immediate and unthinking obedience among the men.


title: Caroleans

text: Deliberate efforts were also made to boost the soldiers' morale in various ways. New recruits were sorted into regiments based on particular provinces and districts, in order to encourage a sense of local pride and "esprit de corps".


title: Caroleans

text: Similarly, Charles XII is known to have tried to foster a sense of fraternity within the army by granting commissions and promotions on the basis of merit rather than social status or wealth, as was common in other European armies at the time. A famous example of this policy concerns the young Count Oxenstierna, grandson of the famous statesman Axel Oxenstierna, who began his military career as a simple cavalryman, later promoted to corporal. Carl Piper urged Charles to promote the count to cornet, but the king refused, declaring that, "Old nobility and new nobility mean nothing as to the quality of a man. We have many regimental officers in the army who are not nobles and yet good folk. When a cavalryman is good, it is just the same, whether he is a nobleman or nothing. "


title: Caroleans

text: The army's efforts were generally successful; the Swedish army was renowned for the high levels of battlefield discipline among its troops, and the ability of the Caroleans to advance steadily through barrages of punishing enemy fire often served to impress and unsettle their opponents, giving them a moral edge when the melee fighting began. On the other hand, the Caroleans' discipline was not always flawless away from the battlefield. Even though looting was strictly forbidden in the Swedish army, Swedish soldiers were known to engage in the practice from time to time, most notoriously in the aftermath of the Battle of Narva (1700) and Battle of Lemberg (1704). Abuses against civilians were also not unheard-of, although Charles XII issued strict ordinances against such excesses during his Polish and Saxon campaigns; several instances are recorded of Swedish soldiers being sentenced to death after flouting these orders.


title: Caroleans

text: The term "Carolean" is not used for Swedish soldiers after the death of Charles XII in 1718, the return to constitutional monarchy under the 1719 Instrument of Government and the end of the Great Northern War in 1721. However, the Swedish army continued to use the equipment, organisation and tactics of the Carolean period for the next sixty years, until the reforms of King Gustav III in the late 1770s.


title: Viroid

text: Viroids are small single-stranded, circular RNAs that are infectious pathogens. Unlike viruses, they have no protein coating. All known viroids are inhabitants of angiosperms (flowering plants), and most cause diseases, whose respective economic importance to humans varies widely.


title: Viroid

text: The first discoveries of viroids in the 1970s triggered the historically third major extension of the biosphere—to include smaller lifelike entities —after the discoveries in 1675 by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (of the "subvisible" microorganisms) and in 1892–1898 by Dmitri Iosifovich Ivanovsky and Martinus Beijerinck (of the "submicroscopic" viruses).


title: Viroid

text: The unique properties of viroids have been recognized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, in creating a new order of subviral agents.


title: Viroid

text: The first recognized viroid, the pathogenic agent of the potato spindle tuber disease, was discovered, initially molecularly characterized, and named by Theodor Otto Diener, plant pathologist at the U.S Department of Agriculture's Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, in 1971. This viroid is now called potato spindle tuber viroid, abbreviated PSTVd. The "Citrus exocortis viroid" (CEVd) was discovered soon thereafter, and together understanding of PSTVd and CEVd shaped the concept of the viroid.


title: Viroid

text: Although viroids are composed of nucleic acid, they do not code for any protein. The viroid's replication mechanism uses RNA polymerase II, a host cell enzyme normally associated with synthesis of messenger RNA from DNA, which instead catalyzes "rolling circle" synthesis of new RNA using the viroid's RNA as a template. Viroids are often ribozymes, having catalytic properties that allow self-cleavage and ligation of unit-size genomes from larger replication intermediates.


title: Viroid

text: Diener initially hypothesized in 1989 that viroids may represent "living relics" from the widely assumed, ancient, and non-cellular RNA world, and others have followed this conjecture. Following the discovery of retrozymes, it is now thought that viroids and other viroid-like elements may derive from this newly found class of retrotransposon.


title: Viroid

text: Viroids only infect plants, and infectious viroids can be transmitted to new plant hosts by aphids, by cross contamination following mechanical damage to plants as a result of horticultural or agricultural practices, or from plant to plant by leaf contact. Upon infection, viroids replicate in the nucleus ("Pospiviroidae") or chloroplasts ("Avsunviroidae") of plant cells in three steps through an RNA-based mechanism. They require RNA polymerase II, a host cell enzyme normally associated with synthesis of messenger RNA from DNA, which instead catalyzes "rolling circle" synthesis of new RNA using the viroid as template.


title: Viroid

text: Unlike plant viruses which produce movement proteins, viroids are entirely passive, relying entirely on the host. This is useful in the study of RNA kinetics in plants.


title: Viroid

text: There has long been uncertainty over how viroids induce symptoms in plants without encoding any protein products within their sequences. Evidence suggests that RNA silencing is involved in the process. First, changes to the viroid genome can dramatically alter its virulence. This reflects the fact that any siRNAs produced would have less complementary base pairing with target messenger RNA. Secondly, siRNAs corresponding to sequences from viroid genomes have been isolated from infected plants. Finally, transgenic expression of the noninfectious hpRNA of potato spindle tuber viroid develops all the corresponding viroid-like symptoms. This indicates that when viroids replicate via a double stranded intermediate RNA, they are targeted by a dicer enzyme and cleaved into siRNAs that are then loaded onto the RNA-induced silencing complex. The viroid siRNAs contain sequences capable of complementary base pairing with the plant's own messenger RNAs, and induction of degradation or inhibition of translation causes the classic viroid symptoms.


title: Viroid

text: Retroviroids and retroviroid-like elements are viroids, which are RNA that have a DNA homologue. These entities are thought to be largely exclusive to the carnation, "Dianthus caryophyllus", that are closely related to the family of viruses termed 'carnation small viroid-like RNA' (CarSV RNA). These elements may act as a homologous substrate upon which recombination may occur and are linked to double-stranded break repair. These elements are dubbed retroviroids as the homologous DNA is generated by reverse transcriptase that is encoded by retroviruses.


title: Viroid

text: Diener's 1989 hypothesis had proposed that the unique properties of viroids make them more plausible macromolecules than introns, or other RNAs considered in the past as possible "living relics" of a hypothetical, pre-cellular RNA world. If so, viroids have assumed significance beyond plant virology for evolutionary theory, because their properties make them more plausible candidates than other RNAs to perform crucial steps in the evolution of life from inanimate matter (abiogenesis). Diener's hypothesis was mostly forgotten until 2014, when it was resurrected in a review article by Flores et al., in which the authors summarized Diener's evidence supporting his hypothesis as:


title: Viroid

text: The presence, in extant cells, of RNAs with molecular properties predicted for RNAs of the RNA world constitutes another powerful argument supporting the RNA world hypothesis. However, the origins of viroids themselves from this RNA world has been cast into doubt by several factors, including the discovery of retrozymes (a family of retrotransposon likely representing their ancestors) and their complete absence from organisms outside of the plants (especially their complete absence from prokaryotes including bacteria and archaea).


title: Viroid

text: The development of tests based on ELISA, PCR, and nucleic acid hybridization has allowed for rapid and inexpensive detection of known viroids in biosecurity inspections, phytosanitary inspections, and quarantine. However, the ongoing discovery and evolution of new viroids makes such assays always incomplete.


title: Viroid

text: In the 1920s, symptoms of a previously unknown potato disease were noticed in New York and New Jersey fields. Because tubers on affected plants become elongated and misshapen, they named it the potato spindle tuber disease.


title: Viroid

text: The symptoms appeared on plants onto which pieces from affected plants had been budded—indicating that the disease was caused by a transmissible pathogenic agent. A fungus or bacterium could not be found consistently associated with symptom-bearing plants, however, and therefore, it was assumed the disease was caused by a virus. Despite numerous attempts over the years to isolate and purify the assumed virus, using increasingly sophisticated methods, these were unsuccessful when applied to extracts from potato spindle tuber disease-afflicted plants.


title: Viroid

text: In 1971 Theodor O. Diener showed that the agent was not a virus, but a totally unexpected novel type of pathogen, 1/80th the size of typical viruses, for which he proposed the term "viroid". Parallel to agriculture-directed studies, more basic scientific research elucidated many of viroids' physical, chemical, and macromolecular properties. Viroids were shown to consist of short stretches (a few hundred nucleobases) of single-stranded RNA and, unlike viruses, did not have a protein coat. Compared with other infectious plant pathogens, viroids are extremely small in size, ranging from 246 to 467 nucleobases; they thus consist of fewer than 10,000 atoms. In comparison, the genomes of the smallest known viruses capable of causing an infection by themselves are around 2,000 nucleobases long.


title: Viroid

text: In 1976, Sänger et al. presented evidence that potato spindle tuber viroid is a "single-stranded, covalently closed, circular RNA molecule, existing as a highly base-paired rod-like structure"—believed to be the first such molecule described. Circular RNA, unlike linear RNA, forms a covalently closed continuous loop, in which the 3' and 5' ends present in linear RNA molecules have been joined. Sänger et al. also provided evidence for the true circularity of viroids by finding that the RNA could not be phosphorylated at the 5' terminus. In other tests, they failed to find even one free 3' end, which ruled out the possibility of the molecule having two 3' ends. Viroids thus are true circular RNAs.


title: Viroid

text: The single-strandedness and circularity of viroids was confirmed by electron microscopy, The complete nucleotide sequence of potato spindle tuber viroid was determined in 1978. PSTVd was the first pathogen of a eukaryotic organism for which the complete molecular structure has been established. Over thirty plant diseases have since been identified as viroid-, not virus-caused, as had been assumed.


title: Viroid

text: In 2014, "New York Times" science writer Carl Zimmer published a popularized piece that mistakenly credited Flores et al. with the hypothesis' original conception.


title: Jim Cantore

text: James D. Cantore (born February 16, 1964) is an American meteorologist. He is best known as an on-air personality for The Weather Channel.


title: Jim Cantore

text: A native of Beacon Falls, Connecticut, who was raised in White River Junction, Vermont, Cantore graduated from Lyndon State College in 1986. The Weather Channel gave him his first job out of college in July of that year and he has worked there ever since. Cantore has become one of the best-known meteorologists on television. Algis Laukaitis of the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star referred to Cantore as the "rock star of meteorologists".


title: Jim Cantore

text: Cantore has been lauded for his ability to "break down" complicated weather events into terms the average viewer can understand. Cantore is often selected to go to report on severe weather events. Since the ratings for the Weather Channel increase during these events, Cantore has become a recognizable figure. In particular, viewers' association of Cantore's presence with incoming or in-progress severe weather events became so strong that the Weather Channel lampooned it in a one-minute 2011 commercial spot in which Cantore goes on a beach vacation, panicking nearby beachgoers and locals who take his presence as an ominous sign.


title: Jim Cantore

text: Though he is best known for his live field coverage of major weather events (such as Hurricanes Ike, Gustav, Katrina, Isabel, Rita, Andrew, Floyd, Mitch, Bonnie, Irene, Sandy, Matthew, Irma, Dorian, Laura, and Ian), his contributions go well beyond severe weather field reporting. His early work at TWC included developing the audience favorite Fall Foliage Forecast. He has reported on events such as the Space Shuttle Discovery launch, the "Winter X Games," PGA tournaments, NFL games and more.


title: Jim Cantore

text: Jim is a member of both the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society. He holds the AMS Television Seal of Approval. He also received the NOAA-David S. Johnson Award in 2003 for his innovative use of environmental satellite technology.


title: Jim Cantore

text: Aside from live reporting for TWC, Cantore also serves as the narrator on the TWC series "Storm Stories". He also narrates Local On The 8s (excluding the national version).


title: Jim Cantore

text: He was featured in the beginning of the ECHL's Stockton Thunder entrance video saying "Hello, this is meteorologist Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel; a special weather advisory has been issued for the Central Valley—a 100% chance of thunder."


title: Jim Cantore

text: After NBCUniversal's acquisition of The Weather Channel in 2008, Cantore has occasionally filled in for Al Roker on The Today Show. He was also in London hosting weather segments for NBC during the 2012 Summer Olympics.


title: Jim Cantore

text: On January 28, 2014, while doing a live on-location report at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina, Cantore was charged by a student named Colin Marcelli. Cantore noticed the charge, and kneed Marcelli in the groin. Marcelli immediately ran off. Cantore never broke his train of thought nor appeared frazzled during the incident. A recording of the shot has gained upwards of two million views on YouTube.


title: Jim Cantore

text: On February 14, 2015, while covering the impacts of Winter Storm Neptune along the South Shore of Massachusetts, an intense band of thundersnow struck the area, causing Cantore to react excitedly to the presence of the ultra-rare phenomenon. The video of his reaction now has over 5,000,000 views on YouTube.


title: Jim Cantore

text: On October 10, 2018, while covering landfall of Hurricane Michael in Panama City Beach, Florida, Cantore was forced to quickly dodge a flying piece of lumber while reporting live. Video of the incident was viewed on Twitter more than 500,000 times in the hour after its occurrence.


title: Jim Cantore

text: On September 28, 2022, while covering Category 4 Hurricane Ian, Cantore was hit by a flying tree branch in the eyewall of the storm at Punta Gorda, Florida. The video has gone viral on Twitter with millions of views in under 24 hours.


title: Jim Cantore

text: Cantore's children have Fragile X syndrome. Cantore does charitable work for FRAXA, the Fragile X Research Foundation, and the Parkinson’s Unity Walk. He also contributes his time to Make-a-Wish Foundation events around the country and he has also served as a celebrity cabinet member with the American Red Cross.


title: Trinitarios

text: The Trinitarios is an Dominican American criminal organization founded by Dominicans in New York City, New York in 1993.


title: Trinitarios

text: The Trinitarios were established in 1993 on Rikers Island, the New York City jail, by two Dominicans facing separate murder charges—Leonides "Junito" Sierra and Julio "Caballo" Marine. While on the West coast the Mexican Mafia and their alliances Barrio 18, la Mara Salvatrucha and the rest of other Sureños controls the prisons and los barrios of California and Southwestern regions along with the Aryan Brotherhood and other list of peckerwood gangs who protect themselves from the African American gangs. The Trinitarios on the East Coast was built in Rikers Island prison to protect mainly Dominicans and other Hispanic nationalities from African American gangs or other American gangs. This Dominican gang is considered to be the very first Latino gang that originated in New York City and then later it spread out to the whole northeastern region of United States. The group was named for three revolutionaries of the Dominican War of Independence; its slogan is "Dios, patria y libertad" (the official motto of the Dominican Republic, "God, homeland and liberty").Their colors are lime green, as well as red, blue, and white (the colors of the Dominican Republic flag).


title: Trinitarios

text: The group suffered a major blow in 2009, as the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York dismantled the group through a series of prosecutions. In 2011, 50 members and associates of the Bronx Trinitarios Gang (BTG) were charged with federal racketeering, narcotics and firearms offenses. Forty-one defendants were charged with a racketeering conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in connection to alleged participation in a criminal enterprise that included narcotics trafficking, murder and attempted murder.


title: Trinitarios

text: In 2014, the Trinitarios' co-founder and former leader, Sierra, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the racketeering conspiracy, to run consecutively with a 22½ year to life sentence in New York that Sierra was already serving as a result of his 1989 murder conviction. Some 140 other members, including Sierra's chief lieutenants, were also convicted and received lengthy prison sentences.


title: Trinitarios

text: Later, however, the group had a resurgence. Internal factions of the Trinitarios have battled with one another, beginning in 2011, when a leader of a Sunset Park, Brooklyn chapter of the Trinitarios attempted to expand to the Bronx without authorization. The gang war that ensued intensified in 2018, with several shootings.


title: Trinitarios

text: In 2011, a New York City Police Department estimated that there were 3,181 Trinitarios in the city, about 5% of the total number of members of New York gangs. Their numbers grew rapidly around 2007–2008, but later remained stabilized. The gang operates mainly in New York and New Jersey, with activities in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Albany and Long Island. It also has a presence elsewhere in the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, including Rhode Island, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, as well as Tennessee. In Spain, membership of the Trinitarios is predominantly Dominican, but also Bolivian, Colombian and Spanish. Such Latin American gangs spread to Spain as a result of mass deportations from the United States of Latin American immigrants with criminal records.


title: Trinitarios

text: The Trinitarios are known for their high degree of organization, including a hierarchical structure, as well as for their use of brutal violence. Testimony given against Trinitarios in court indicated that "one needs a sponsor to join, and once in, new members receive a rule book, take an oath and swear to abide by the gang's constitution." The gang's "weapon of choice" is the machete, but members also carry baseball bats, guns, and knives. Criminal activities perpetrated by Trinitarios include drug dealing, in heroin and cocaine, as well as assaults and home invasions. The Trinitarios have infiltrated schools as a recruiting ground.


title: Trinitarios

text: Three Trinitarios members, including the "Primera" (leader) of the gang's Rhode Island chapter, were indicted by a federal grand jury on firearms and drug charges on August 25, 2010, after being captured on an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) videotape attending an organizational meeting in Providence. A fourth member was charged on state firearm charges.


title: Trinitarios

text: Seven Barcelona-based members were convicted of using a kitchen knife to carve a fifty centimeter "X" into the back of a gang member deemed a traitor for associating with MS-13 on March 21, 2012. During the trial, the Trinitarios were designated a criminal organization which allowed heavier sentences to be imposed upon the perpetrators and the gang's leaders. On the same day as the ruling – May 11, 2014 – a brawl occurred in Madrid involving Trinitarios and Ñetas, leading to the arrests of twenty-six gang members.


title: Trinitarios

text: In August 2018 several Trinitarios gang members were arrested for shooting at a house in Lawrence, Massachusetts. A Trinitarios gang member was arrested in January 2019 for the shooting of a 16-year-old girl in Lawrence.


title: Trinitarios

text: In June 2018, a Trinitario gang member from Haverhill, Massachusetts was arrested for the murder of a rival Gangster Disciples member. A Haverhill detective wrote that the arrests were in connection with an ongoing feud (a gang war) between the Trinitarios and their rivals, the Gangster Disciples, that had resulted in multiple shootings."


title: Trinitarios

text: In November 2019, in Massachusetts, 18 Trinitarios were among 32 arrested in "Operation Emerald Crush." The operation involved more than 70 federal, state and local officers who carried out the arrests of suspects alleged to have sold massive amounts of firearms and drugs including cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and crack cocaine with an estimated street value of $120,000. Authorities confiscated 79 firearms in the operation. Out of the 79 guns, which came in from out of state, 17 were stolen and at least two were used in shootings. In one case, undercover officers were able to buy 27 guns in one transaction.


title: Trinitarios

text: On June 20, 2018, in the Bronx, 15-year-old Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz left his apartment to loan a friend five dollars. Guzman-Feliz was a member of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) Explorers program, a group for youths interested in law enforcement careers, and aspired to become a detective. Five Trinitarios, who were "hunting their enemies," mistakenly believed that the teenager was a young man that had disrespected one of the gang member nieces. The boy whom they were actually after bore a striking resemblance to Junior, therefore he was believed to be the boy they were after. After the murder a leader of the gang went on social media and apologized to Juniors family, and said they had locked the killers out of their gang. The gang members entered the bodega at Bathgate Avenue and East 183rd Street where Guzman-Feliz was seeking shelter, dragged him onto the sidewalk in front of the store, and beat him and stabbed him with machetes and large knives. The murder was captured by security cameras and cell phone-video.


title: Trinitarios

text: The murder outraged the public, and video footage of the murder went viral. In June 2019, five Trinitarios were convicted of first-degree murder and other charges, including conspiracy and gang assault, in the murder. Two gang members who participated in the attack testified for the prosecution, revealing the inner workings of the gang. After the verdict was rendered, one of the killers shouted, ""Popote, hasta la muerte!"" ("Trinitarios until death"). In July 2022, two leaders of a ‘set’ or faction were convicted of murder for ordering the killing.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: Notre-Dame Basilica () is a basilica in the historic district of Old Montreal, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The church is located at 110 Notre-Dame Street West, at the corner of Saint Sulpice Street. It is located next to the Saint-Sulpice Seminary and faces the Place d'Armes square.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: The interior of the church is amongst the most dramatic in the world and regarded as a masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture. The vaults are coloured deep blue and decorated with golden stars, and the rest of the sanctuary is decorated in blues, azures, reds, purples, silver, and gold. It is filled with hundreds of intricate wooden carvings and several religious statues. Unusual for a church, the stained glass windows along the walls of the sanctuary do not depict biblical scenes, but rather scenes from the religious history of Montreal. It also has a Casavant Frères pipe organ, dated 1891, which comprises four keyboards, 92 stops using electromagnetic action and an adjustable combination system, 7000 individual pipes and a pedal board.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: Approximately 11 million people visit Notre-Dame Basilica every year, making it one of the most visited monuments in North America.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: In 1657, the Roman Catholic Sulpicians arrived in "Ville-Marie", now known as Montreal; six years later, the seigneury of the island was vested in them. They ruled until 1840. The parish they founded was dedicated to the Holy Name of Mary, and the parish church of Notre-Dame was built on the site in 1672. François Baillairgé, an architect, designed the interior decoration and choir 1785–95; facade and vault decoration, 1818.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: By 1824 the congregation had completely outgrown the church, and James O'Donnell, an Irish-American Anglican from New York City, was commissioned to design the new building, with a goal of accommodating a congregation of up to 10,000. O'Donnell was a proponent of the Gothic Revival architectural movement, and designed the church as such. He intended for a terrace to be built on the exterior of the church, but this was never completed due to a lack of funding. He is the only person buried in the church's crypt. O'Donnell converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed and was thus buried in the crypt.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: The primary construction took place between 1824 and 1829. The cornerstone was laid at Place d'Armes on September 1, 1824. The sanctuary was finished in 1830, and the first tower in 1841, the second in 1843. O'Donnell designed the towers to be traditionally Gothic, and intended for them to be seen from any point in the city. Following O'Donnell's death, John Ostell, an English-born architect, finished the towers according to O'Donnell's original plans. Upon completion, the church was the largest in North America, and remained so for over fifty years. Samuel Russell Warren constructed a new organ in 1858. The facade of the church was completed in 1865, and included three statues by French sculptor Henri Bouriché: Saint-Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Jean-Baptiste.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: The interior took much longer, and Victor Bourgeau, who also worked on Montreal's Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, worked on it from 1872 to 1879. Stonemason John Redpath was a major participant in the construction of the Basilica. The sanctuary originally hosted a large canopy, but because it caused a lighting effect that would blind the congregation, the interior designs were reworked by Bourgeau and Victor Rousselot, the current priest. They were inspired by the Saint-Chappelle in Paris, with gold leaf motifs paired with brightly painted columns.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: Because of the splendour and grand scale of the church, a more intimate chapel, Chapelle du Sacré-Cœur (Chapel of the Sacred Heart), was built behind it, along with some offices and a sacristy. It was completed in 1888. In 1886, Casavant Frères began constructing a new 32-foot pipe organ at the church, completing it in 1891. It was notably the first organ with adjustable-combination pedals to be operated by electricity.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: Arson destroyed the Sacré-Cœur Chapel on December 8, 1978. It was rebuilt with the first two levels reproduced from old drawings and photographs, with modern vaulting and reredos and an immense bronze altarpiece by Quebec sculptor Charles Daudelin.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: Notre-Dame Church was raised to the status of a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II on April 21, 1982. The Notre-Dame Roman Catholic Church was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1989.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: On May 31, 2000, the provincial state funeral for former Montreal Canadiens superstar Maurice "Rocket" Richard was held in front of thousands, both inside and outside the Basilica.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: On October 3, 2000, Justin Trudeau gave his eulogy just steps from the High Altar during the state funeral of Pierre Trudeau, his father and Canada's 15th prime minister.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: It was also the setting of Celine Dion's December 17, 1994, wedding to René Angélil and hosted the funeral service for Angélil on January 22, 2016.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: In the summer of 2014, a French collector named Pierre-Jean Chalencon displayed a variety of artifacts that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte. These items included clothing, weapons, and furniture, and were on display in the crypt on the basilica.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: In April 2019, following the Notre-Dame de Paris fire, Montreal's Notre-Dame announced that it would accept donations to aid in the Paris cathedral's reconstruction.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: Both towers have bells, the West Tower (La Persévérance), has a bourdon bell nicknamed Jean-Baptiste, cast in John Dod Ward’s Eagle Foundry in 1848. Jean-Baptiste weighs 10,900 kg and tolled only on special occasions such as funerals, great church festivals and even Christmas Eve. The East Tower (La Temperance), houses a ten-bell carillon from the same foundry in May 24, 1842.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: The basilica offers musical programming of choral and organ performances. It is a tradition among many Montrealers to attend the annual performance of Handel's "Messiah" every Christmas.


title: Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

text: More than 11 million people visit Notre-Dame every year, only one million fewer than Notre-Dame de Paris.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Arthur Joseph Griffith (; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that produced the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, and served as the president of Dáil Éireann from January 1922 until his death later in August.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: After a short spell in South Africa, Griffith founded and edited the Irish nationalist newspaper "The United Irishman" in 1899. In 1904, he wrote "The Resurrection of Hungary: A Parallel for Ireland", which advocated the withdrawal of Irish members from the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the setting up of the institutions of government at home in Ireland, a policy that became known as (ourselves). On 28 November 1905, he presented "The Sinn Féin Policy" at the first annual convention of his organisation, the National Council; the occasion is marked as the founding date of the Sinn Féin party. Griffith took over as president of Sinn Féin in 1911, but at that time the organisation was still small.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Griffith was arrested following the Easter Rising of 1916, despite not having taken any part in it. On his release, he worked to build up Sinn Féin, which won a string of by-election victories. At the party's (annual convention) in October 1917, Sinn Féin became an unambiguously republican party, and Griffith resigned the presidency in favour of the 1916 leader Éamon de Valera, becoming vice-president instead. Griffith was elected as an MP for East Cavan in a by-election in June 1918, and re-elected in the 1918 general election, when Sinn Féin won a huge electoral victory over the Irish Parliamentary Party and, refusing to take their seats at Westminster, set up their own constituent assembly, Dáil Éireann.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In the Dáil, Griffith served as Minister for Home Affairs from 1919 to 1921, and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1921 to 1922. In September 1921, he was appointed chairman of the Irish delegation to negotiate a treaty with the British government. After months of negotiations, he and the other four delegates signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which created the Irish Free State, but not as a republic. This led to a split in the Dáil. After the Treaty was narrowly approved by the Dáil, de Valera resigned as president and Griffith was elected in his place. The split led to the Irish Civil War. Griffith died suddenly in August 1922, two months after the outbreak of that war.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Arthur Joseph Griffith was born at 61 Upper Dominick Street, Dublin on 31 March 1871, of distant Welsh lineage. His great-great-grandfather, William Griffith of Drws-y-coed Uchaf, Rhyd-ddu, Caernarvonshire (1719-1782), was a farmer and supporter of the Moravian Church cause. His great grandfather, Griffith Griffith (b. 1789), emigrated first to the United States and then to Ireland, where some of his sisters had settled in Dublin among the Moravian community there. A Roman Catholic, Griffith was educated by the Irish Christian Brothers. He worked for a time as a printer before joining the Gaelic League, which was aimed at promoting the restoration of the Irish language.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: His father had been a printer on "The Nation" newspaper — Griffith was one of several employees locked out in the early 1890s due to a dispute with a new owner of the paper. The young Griffith was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). He initially supported Parnell's political views, but then decided that Parnell's political outlook was not what he thought was best for Ireland. Griffith visited South Africa from 1896 to 1898. In South Africa, Griffith supported the Boers in their campaign against British expansionism and was a supporter of Paul Kruger.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In 1899, on returning to Dublin, Griffith co-founded the weekly "United Irishman" newspaper with his associate William Rooney, who died in 1901. On 24 November 1910, Griffith married his fiancée, Maud Sheehan, after a six-year engagement; they had a son and a daughter.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Griffith's fierce criticism of the Irish Parliamentary Party's alliance with the British Liberal Party was heavily influenced by the anti-Liberal rhetoric of Young Irelander John Mitchel. Griffith supported the Limerick boycott, advocating shunning Jewish-owned businesses in the city. Griffith also supported movements seeking national independence from the British Empire in Egypt and India, and wrote a highly-critical description of the British government action at Matabele. Despite his opposition to communism and socialism, he sometimes worked with James Connolly, who also supported Irish nationalism.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In September 1900, he established an organisation called "Cumann na nGaedheal" ("Society of the Gaels"), to unite advanced nationalist and separatist groups and clubs. In 1903, he set up the National Council, to campaign against the visit to Ireland of King Edward VII and his consort Alexandra of Denmark. In 1907, that organisation merged with the Sinn Féin League, which itself had been formed from an amalgamation of Cumann na nGaedheal and the Dungannon Clubs, to form what would become Sinn Féin.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In 1906, after the "United Irishman" journal collapsed because of a libel suit, Griffith re-founded it under the title "Sinn Féin". It briefly became a daily in 1909 and survived until its suppression by the British government in 1914, after which Griffith became editor of the new nationalist journal, "Nationality".


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Most historians opt for 28 November 1905 as a founding date because it was on this date that Griffith first presented his 'Sinn Féin Policy'. In his writings, Griffith declared that the Act of Union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1800 was illegal and that, consequently, the Anglo-Irish dual monarchy that existed under Grattan's Parliament and the so-called "Constitution of 1782" were still in effect. Its first president was Edward Martyn.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: The fundamental principles of abstentionism on which Sinn Féin was founded were outlined in an article published in 1904, by Griffith called "The Resurrection of Hungary", in which, noting how in 1867 Hungary went from being "part" of the Austrian Empire to a separate co-equal kingdom in Austria-Hungary. Though not a monarchist himself, Griffith advocated such an approach for the Anglo-Irish relationship, namely that Ireland should become a separate kingdom alongside Great Britain, the two forming a dual monarchy with a shared monarch but separate governments, as it was thought this solution would be more palatable to the British. This was similar to the policy of Henry Grattan a century earlier. However, this idea was never really embraced by later separatist leaders, especially Michael Collins, and never came to anything, although Kevin O'Higgins toyed with the idea as a means of ending partition, shortly before his assassination in 1927.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Griffith sought to combine elements of Parnellism with the traditional separatist approach; he saw himself not as a leader but as providing a strategy which a new leader might follow. Central to his strategy was parliamentary abstention: the belief that Irish MPs should refuse to attend the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster, but should instead establish a separate Irish parliament (with an administrative system based on local government) in Dublin.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Griffith was a staunch economic nationalist, he argued that nationalism was central to the fostering of economic growth. He often cited the works of German economist Friedrich List.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In February 1908, Sinn Féin unsuccessfully contested a by-election in North Leitrim, where the sitting MP, one Charles Dolan of Manorhamilton, County Leitrim, had defected to Sinn Féin. At this time Sinn Féin was being infiltrated by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, who saw it as a vehicle for their aims; it had several local Councillors (mostly in Dublin, including W. T. Cosgrave) and contained a dissident wing grouped from 1910 around the monthly periodical called "Irish Freedom". The IRB members argued that the aim of dual monarchism should be replaced by republicanism and that Griffith was excessively inclined to compromise with conservative elements (notably in his pro-employer position during the 1913–1914 Dublin Lockout, when he saw the syndicalism of James Larkin as aimed at crippling Irish industry for Great Britain's benefit).


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In 1911, he helped to found the Proportional Representation Society of Ireland, believing that proportional representation would help to prevent animosity between unionists and nationalists in an independent Ireland.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In 1916, rebels seized and took over a number of key locations in Dublin, in what became known as the Easter Rising. After its defeat, it was widely described both by British politicians and the Irish and British media as the "Sinn Féin rebellion", even though Sinn Féin had very limited involvement. When in 1917, surviving leaders of the rebellion were released from gaol (or escaped) they joined Sinn Féin "en masse", using it as a vehicle for the advancement of the republic. The result was a bitter clash between those original members who backed Griffith's concept of an Anglo-Irish dual monarchy and the new members, under Éamon de Valera, who wanted to achieve a republic. Matters almost led to a split at the party's Ard Fheis (conference) in October 1917.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In a compromise, it was decided to seek to establish a republic initially, then allow the people to decide whether they wanted a republic or a monarchy, subject to the condition that no member of Britain's royal house could sit on any prospective Irish throne. At that Ard Fheis, Griffith resigned the presidency of Sinn Féin in favour of de Valera; he and Fr. Michael O'Flanagan were elected Vice-Presidents. The leaders of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) sought a rapprochement with Griffith over the British threat of conscription, which both parties condemned, but Griffith refused unless the IPP embraced his more radical and subversive ideals, a suggestion which John Dillon, a leader of the IPP rubbished as unrealistic, although it would ultimately mean the defeat and dissolution of the IPP after the election in December 1918.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In May 1918, along with Éamon de Valera and 72 other Sinn Féiners, Griffith was arrested on the pretext of involvement in the fictitious German Plot. Griffith spent ten months interned in HM Prison Gloucester, being released on 6 March 1919. Fr. O'Flanagan was left as Acting-President of Sinn Féin. Griffith was put forward as a Sinn Féin candidate for the East Cavan by-election on 20 June 1918. Under the slogan "Put him in to get him out," and was elected. and held the seat when Sinn Féin subsequently routed the Irish Parliamentary Party at the 1918 general election with a commitment of abstentionism from the British House of Commons. Griffith was returned for both East Cavan and Tyrone North West.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Sinn Féin's MPs set up an Irish parliament, Dáil Éireann and declared independence for the Irish Republic; the Irish War of Independence followed almost immediately. The dominant leaders in the Dáil included Éamon de Valera, President of Dáil Éireann (1919–21), President of the Republic (1921–1922), and Michael Collins, Minister for Finance, head of the IRB and the Irish Republican Army's Director of Intelligence.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: During de Valera's absence in the United States (1919–21) Griffith served as Acting President and gave regular press interviews. He was arrested at his house at 3am, on 26 November 1920, and later jailed, Fr. O'Flanagan again taking over as acting leader until de Valera returned from America on 23 December. Griffith was to spend the next seven months in Dublin's Mountjoy Prison. He was released on 30 June 1921 as peace moves got under way.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In Ireland, a general election was held on 24 May 1921 and Griffith, while still in prison, headed the poll in the contested constituency of Fermanagh and Tyrone, and was returned unopposed for Cavan. On 26 August 1921, Griffith was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in the new Irish cabinet.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In September 1921, de Valera, President of the Republic, asked Griffith to head the delegation of Irish plenipotentiaries to negotiate with the British government. The delegates set up Headquarters in Hans Place, London. After nearly two months of negotiations, on 5 December, the delegates decided in private conversation in their headquarters to sign the Treaty and recommended it to the Dáil; negotiations closed at 2.20 a.m. on 6 December 1921. Griffith was the member of the treaty delegation most supportive of its eventual outcome, a compromise based on dominion status, rather than a republic. The Treaty was ratified by the Dáil by 64 votes to 57 on 7 January 1922. On 9 January, de Valera stood down as president and sought re-election by the Dáil, which he lost by a vote of 60 to 58. Griffith then succeeded de Valera as President of Dáil Éireann. A second ratification of the Treaty by the House of Commons of Southern Ireland followed shortly afterwards. Griffith was, however, to a great extent merely a figurehead as President of the Second Dáil.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Suffering from overwork and strain after the long and difficult negotiations with the British government (Griffith attended 41 of the 42 provisional government meetings held between 23 June and 30 July), and the work involved in establishing the Free State government, he entered St. Vincent's Nursing Home, Leeson Street, Dublin, during the first week of August 1922, following an acute attack of tonsillitis. He was confined to a room in St Vincent's by his doctors, who had observed signs of what they thought might be a subarachnoid hemorrhage, but it was difficult to keep him quiet, and he resumed his daily work in the government building. He had been about to leave for his office shortly before 10 a.m. on 12 August 1922, when he paused to retie his shoelace and fell down unconscious. He regained consciousness, but collapsed again with blood coming from his mouth. Three doctors rendered assistance, but to no avail. Fr John Lee of the Marist Fathers administered extreme unction, and Griffith expired as the priest recited the concluding prayer. The cause of death, cerebral haemorrhage, was also reported as being due to heart failure. He died at the age of 51, ten days before Michael Collins' death in an ambush in County Cork. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery four days later.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: The historian Diarmaid Ferriter considers that, though he had founded Sinn Féin, Griffith was 'quickly airbrushed' from Irish history. His widow had to beg his former colleagues for a pension, saying that he 'had made them all'. She considered that his grave plot was too modest and threatened to exhume his body. Only in 1968 was a plaque fixed on his former Clontarf home on St Lawrence Road.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Griffith Barracks which is now Griffith College Dublin on South Circular Road, Dublin, Griffith Avenue in North Dublin, Griffith Park in Drumcondra and Arthur Griffith Park in Lucan, County Dublin are named after him. An obelisk erected in 1950 in the grounds of Leinster House commemorates Griffith, as well as Michael Collins and Kevin O'Higgins.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: As editor of the "United Irishman", Griffith took an Anti-Dreyfusard line, writing in 1899 to defend the conviction of "the Jew traitor" Dreyfus; accusing the Dublin press of being "almost all Jew rags"; and decrying "Fifty other rags like those which have nothing behind them but the forty or fifty thousand Jewish usurers and pick- pockets in each country and which no decent Christian ever reads except holding his nose as a precaution against nausea". Other editorials in Griffith's United Irishman that year expressed concern about a conspiracy where "the Jew capitalist has got a grip on the lying "Press of Civilization" from Vienna to New York and further", and concluded "we know that all Jews are pretty sure to be traitors if they get the chance." The United Irishman also published articles signed by 'The Home Secretary' (Frank Hugh O'Donnell) that were anti-Semitic in tone, including one in 1899 that stated: "I have in former years often declared that the Three Evil Influences of the century were the Pirate, the Freemason, and the Jew." The powerful antisemitism found in the pages of the United Irishman during Griffth's editorial tenure has been credited with shaping various aspects of Joyce's "Ulysses", especially in the "Cyclops" episode.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: In 1904, a piece in the paper voiced support for the Limerick Boycott, a boycott of Jewish businesses in Limerick organised by a local priest, declaring that "the Jew in Limerick has not been boycotted because he is a Jew, but because he is a usurer" and that "If Jews —as Jews— were boycotted, it would be outrageously unjust". Griffith was apparently unaware that the Jews of Limerick had little or no involvement in money-lending or similar practices. The "United Irishman" also published articles by Oliver St. John Gogarty that contained antisemitic sentiments, which were common in the Ireland of the time.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: During this time an article in the United Irishman also expressed positive views towards Zionism; while "The Jews of Great Britain and Ireland have united, as is their wont, to crush the Christian who dares to block their path or to point them out for what they are — nine tenths of them— usurers and parasites of industry" and excluded from this criticism was "the Zionist minority of the Jews, who include those honest and patriotic Jews who desire the reestablishment of the Hebrew nation in Palestine". Colum Kenny writes that Griffith "presumably" wrote this article.


title: Arthur Griffith

text: From 1904 until his death, Griffith wrote virtually nothing which could be construed as antisemitic. Historian Colum Kenny writes that Griffith's "thinking developed" which is shown by a "radical shift" in his journalism. Already in 1903, he had supported the candidature of the Jewish Albert Altman for election to Dublin Corporation. In 1909, he wrote a favourable article in "Sinn Féin" on the Jewish contribution to European civilisation, and in "Nationality" in 1915, he railed against the Irish Parliamentary Party for saying that Jews should be barred from public office. Griffith's publication 'Scissors and Paste' published three separate articles sympathetic to Jewish victims of Eastern European pogroms and in 1915 his 'Nationality' published a piece which defended English Jew Matthew Nathan - "We do not know of one Nationalist Irishman who objects to Sir Matthew Nathan because of the religion he professes, or who holds the creed that an Irish Jew should be ineligible for any office he was competent to fill in an Irish government".


title: Arthur Griffith

text: Griffith was a close friend of Jewish solicitor Michael Noyk, who defended many IRA members in courts martial during the Irish War of Independence, and served as an official in the First Dáil Department of Finance and as a Dáil Court judge during the war. Other Jewish Friends included Dr Edward Lipman, Jacob Elyan and Dr Bethel Solomons. Noyk and Solomons were among a group of friends who purchased a house for Griffith when he married.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the northwest, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don Valley to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west. It is also the home of the municipal government of Toronto and the Government of Ontario.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: The area is made up of Canada's largest concentration of skyscrapers and businesses that form Toronto's skyline. Downtown Toronto has the third most skyscrapers in North America exceeding in height, behind Midtown Manhattan, New York City and the Chicago Loop.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: The retail core of the downtown is located along Yonge Street from Queen Street to College Street. There is a large cluster of retail centres and shops in the area, including the Toronto Eaton Centre indoor mall. There are an estimated 600 retail stores, 150 bars and restaurants, and 7 hotels. In recent years the area has been experiencing a renaissance as the Business Improvement Area (BIA) has brought in new retail and improved the cleanliness. The area has also seen the opening of the Dundas Square public square, a public space for holding performances and art displays. The area includes several live theatres, a movie complex at Dundas Square and the historic Massey Hall. Historical sites and landmarks include the Arts & Letter Club, the Church of the Holy Trinity, Mackenzie House, Maple Leaf Gardens, Old City Hall, and the Toronto Police Museum and Discovery Centre.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: The Financial District, centred on the intersection of Bay Street and King Street is the centre of Canada's financial industry. It contains the Toronto Stock Exchange, which is the largest in Canada and tenth in the world by market capitalization as of 2021. The construction of skyscrapers in downtown Toronto had started to rapidly increase since the 1960s.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: The area of St. Lawrence to the east of the financial district is one of the oldest areas of Toronto. It features heritage buildings, theatres, music, dining and many pubs. It is a community of distinct downtown neighbourhoods including the site of the original Town of York, which was Toronto's first neighbourhood, dating back to 1793. The area boasts one of the largest concentrations of 19th-century buildings in Ontario. Of particular note is St. Lawrence Hall, St. James' Cathedral, St. Michael's Cathedral, St. Paul's Basilica, the Enoch Turner School House, the Bank of Upper Canada, Le Royal Meridien King Edward Hotel, and the Gooderham Building. On Saturday there is a farmers' market. Other historical districts in downtown Toronto include Cabbagetown, Corktown, the Distillery District, and Old Town.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: To the west of the financial district is the Entertainment District. It is home to hundreds of restaurants, nightclubs, sporting facilities, boutiques, hotels, attractions, and live theatre. The district was formerly an industrial area and was redeveloped for entertainment purposes in the early 1980s, becoming a major centre for entertainment. The redevelopment started with the Mirvish family refurbishing the Royal Alexandra Theatre and their construction of the Princess of Wales Theatre. The area is now the site of Roy Thomson Hall and the Canadian Broadcasting Centre.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: The Yorkville area, to the north, north of Bloor Street and the Mink Mile, has more than 700 designer boutiques, spas, restaurants, hotels, and world-class galleries. It is a former village in its own right (prior to 1883) and since the early 1970s has developed into an up-scale shopping district. The intersection of Bloor and Yonge Streets is the intersection of the city's subway lines and is one of the busiest intersections in the city. At the intersection of Avenue Road and Bloor Street is the Royal Ontario Museum, the largest museum in the city, with a diverse anthropological and natural history collection.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: The Harbourfront area to the south was formerly an industrial and railway lands area. Since the 1970s, it has seen extensive redevelopment, including the building of the Rogers Centre stadium, numerous condominiums and the Harbourfront Centre waterfront revitalization. The area to the east of Yonge Street is still in transition, with the conversion of industrial lands to mixed residential and commercial uses planned.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: Among the important government headquarters in downtown Toronto include the Ontario Legislature, and the Toronto City Hall.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: In the 1970s, Toronto experienced major economic growth and surpassed Montreal to become the largest city in Canada. Many international and domestic businesses relocated to Toronto and created massive new skyscrapers downtown. All of Canada's Big Five banks constructed skyscrapers beginning in the late 1960s up until the early 1990s.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: Today downtown Toronto contains dozens of notable skyscrapers. The area's First Canadian Place is the tallest building in Canada at a height of 298 metres (978 feet). The CN Tower, once the tallest free-standing structure in the world, remains the tallest such structure in the Americas, standing at 553.33 metres (1,815 ft., 5 inches). Other notable buildings include Scotia Plaza, TD Centre, Commerce Court, the Royal Bank Plaza, The Bay's flagship store, and the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: Since 2007, urban consolidation has been centred in downtown Toronto and as a result has been undergoing Manhattanization with the construction of new office towers, hotels and condos.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: As of 2016, the population of Downtown Toronto was 237,698 people with 503,575 jobs located within the area. The population density was 143 people per hectare, and the job density was 303 jobs per hectare.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: Downtown Toronto is home to three public universities, OCAD University, Toronto Metropolitan University, and the University of Toronto. OCAD University is Canada's largest and oldest post secondary institution for art and design. Ryerson University is a research university, whose campus is located near downtown Yonge Street. The University of Toronto is a collegiate research university, whose St. George campus is situated downtown. Established in 1827, the University of Toronto is the oldest university in the province of Ontario. In addition, downtown Toronto also hosts one college, George Brown College.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: Four different public school boards provide primary and secondary education for the City of Toronto, as well as the downtown area. Two Toronto-based school boards provide instruction in the English language, the secular Toronto District School Board, and the separate Toronto Catholic District School Board. The other two Toronto-based school boards, the secular Conseil scolaire Viamonde, and the separate Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir provide instruction in the French language.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: The Royal Conservatory of Music is a non-profit music education institution that is headquartered in downtown Toronto.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: Downtown Toronto is home to the flagship department stores of The Bay, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom (formerly Sears Canada). The CF Toronto Eaton Centre, a large, multilevel enclosed shopping mall and office complex that spans several blocks and houses 330 stores, is the city's top tourist attraction with over one million visitors weekly.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: Yonge Street, a major arterial route in the city, begins at the northern shore of the Toronto Harbour and runs through downtown, continuing north all the way to the city of Barrie, Ontario. Other notable streets include Dundas, Bloor, Queen, King, and University.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: The Toronto Transit Commission administers the Toronto area's public transportation system, including buses, streetcar, and subways. The regional public transportation service, GO Transit, also provides bus and commuter train service to downtown Toronto from its hub, Union Station. Union Station is the city's major intermodal transportation hub, providing access not only to local and regional public transit, but also to inter-city rail services like Via Rail.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: In addition to surface-level pedestrian sidewalks, much of downtown Toronto is also connected through the PATH Underground, an extensive network of underground pedestrian tunnels, skyways, and at-grade walkways.


title: Downtown Toronto

text: Nearby airports include Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which is adjacent to the downtown area, and the much larger Toronto Pearson International Airport located 27 km to the northwest.


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: Alexander Glebovich Nevzorov (; born on 3 August 1958) is a Russian (since 2022, also Ukrainian) television journalist, film director and a former member of the Russian State Duma.


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: Alexander Nevzorov was born on 3 August 1958 in Leningrad. He started working for the Leningrad television in 1985. From December 1987 to 1993, he hosted the program "600 Seconds" on the Leningrad TV channel, aired then all over the Soviet Union. On 12 December 1990 he was shot and wounded during a meeting with someone who pretended to have sensitive documents to offer. In late 1991 his program was taken off the air twice and later gradually lost its popularity. During the 1991 coup d'état attempt, Nevzorov supported the State Committee on the State of Emergency, the organ of the coupists. Nevzorov formed the Nashi movement (not to be confused with the later pro-Putin youth movement of the same name). The broadcast was finally closed down in the aftermath of Yeltsin's victory in his confrontation with the Russian Supreme Soviet (Nevzorov had supported the anti-Yeltsin side).


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: In the 1993 campaign, Nevzorov was elected deputy in the State Duma of the Russian Federation for the first time, and after that was re-elected as an independent deputy three times, serving until the 2007 elections when the single constituency seats were abolished.


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: He served as an adviser on film, TV and radio to Vladimir Yakovlev during the latter's tenure as the Governor (mayor) of Saint Petersburg.


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: In 1994 Nevzorov was a vocal supporter of the initiation of the First Chechen War. In 1997 he wrote and directed the TV film "Chistilishche" ("Purgatory") about the Chechen war, co-produced with Boris Berezovsky and released in March 1998. As the Chechen War dragged on, his views changed and he became skeptical of Russian imperialism. He regretted his past nationalist positions, and said in 2015 about his involvement in Nashi:


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: In 1999 Nevzorov collaborated with the ORT TV channel and often appeared as a political commentator on Sergey Dorenko's Saturday night news show.


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: In 2012, Nevzorov supported Vladimir Putin during his presidential campaign, and was his authorised representative. In 2014, however, Nevzorov opposed the Russian annexation of Crimea.


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: In 2017, Nevzorov was recognized as a saint by the Russian Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster for promoting atheism.


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: In a video posted to YouTube on 11 April 2021, Nevzorov predicted that a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine would end in tragedy and humiliation for Russia. He also predicted fierce Ukrainian resistance.


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: On 22 March 2022, Nevzorov was charged under Russia's "false information" law after he published information that Russian forces had shelled a maternity hospital in Mariupol. Under a new law passed on 4 March, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Nevzorov said that Vladimir Putin's "regime is not going to spare anyone, and that any attempts to comprehend the criminal war [in Ukraine] will end in prison." Nevzorov's wife Lidia stated on social media that her husband was in Israel.


title: Alexander Nevzorov

text: In June 2022, Nevzorov and his wife Lidia submitted an application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for Ukrainian citizenship. On 3 June, Nevzorov and the State Migration Service of Ukraine confirmed that Nevzorov and his wife had received Ukrainian citizenship. On 6 June, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov stated that Nevzorov did not yet have citizenship, but that he had only applied for it.


title: North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens

text: Abductions of Japanese citizens from Japan by agents of the North Korean government took place during a period of six years from 1977 to 1983. Although only 17 Japanese (eight men and nine women) are officially recognized by the Japanese government as having been abducted, there may have been hundreds of others. The North Korean government has officially admitted to abducting 13 Japanese citizens.


text: There are testimonies that many non-Japanese citizens, including eight citizens from European countries and one from the Middle East, have been abducted by North Korea.


text: In the 1970s, a number of Japanese citizens disappeared from coastal areas in Japan. The people who had disappeared were average Japanese people who were opportunistically abducted by operatives lying in wait. Although North Korean agents were suspected, the opinion that North Korea had nothing to do with the disappearances was widely held. Most of the missing were in their 20s; the youngest, Megumi Yokota, was 13 when she disappeared in November 1977, from the Japanese west coast city of Niigata.


text: Some of the victims were abducted to teach Japanese language and culture at North Korean spy schools. Older victims were also abducted for the purpose of obtaining their identities. It is speculated that Japanese women were abducted to have them become wives to a group of North Korea-based Japanese terrorists belonging to the Yodo-go terrorist group after a 1970 Japan Airlines hijacking and that some may have been abducted because they happened to witness activities of North Korean agents in Japan, which may explain Yokota's abduction at such a young age.


text: For a long time, these abductions were denied by North Korea and its sympathizers (including Chongryon and the Japan Socialist Party) and were often considered a conspiracy theory. Despite pressure from Japanese parent groups, the Japanese government took no action.


text: There are claims that this issue has been used by Japanese nationalists, including former Japanese Prime Ministers Yoshihide Suga and the late Shinzō Abe, to "further militarize", push for revision of the Constitution to reduce constitutional limits on the army, revise the Basic Education Law, and pursue other political goals. Such claims have been criticized by Kyoko Nakayama, the special adviser in Tokyo to the Japanese prime minister on the abduction issue, who said "This is about rescuing our citizens [from ongoing abduction]... They deserve all possible support to regain their freedom and dignity. It is our duty to retrieve them." (See Norimitsu Onishi.)


text: On September 17, 2002, then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited North Korea to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il for the First Japan-North Korea Summit, which eventually resulted in the Japan-North Korean Pyongyang Declaration. To facilitate normalization of relations with Japan, Kim admitted North Korea had abducted at least 13 Japanese citizens and issued an oral apology:


text: During the meeting, North Korea also provided death certificates for eight people whom the North claimed were dead, but admitted in 2004 that these certificates had been hastily drafted shortly beforehand. For several reasons, the Japanese government and NGOs question whether or not those eight people are actually dead.


text: According to Russian scholar Andrei Lankov, the North Korean disclosure was a strategic mistake. What was intended to be a gesture of honesty was met with outrage within both the Japanese government and the general public, as the allegations that were previously thought of as conspiracy theories had proved to be true. Japan retaliated by trying to isolate North Korea by cutting trade and other exchanges. In Lankov's view, the North Korean government will "probably think twice" before making similar confessions in the future. The ordeal was also unnecessary because North Korea had ample supply of willing Japanese speakers through Chongryon.


text: Later, North Korea allowed the five victims that it said were alive to return to Japan, on the condition that they return later to North Korea. The victims (whose identities were confirmed by DNA testing, dental records, and fingerprint analysis) were returned to Japan on October 15, 2002. The five repatriated victims were Yasushi Chimura and his wife Fukie, Kaoru Hasuike and his wife Yukiko, and Hitomi Soga, the wife of Charles Robert Jenkins, who remained in North Korea. However, the Japanese Government, listening to the pleas of the general public and the abductees' families, told North Korea that the victims would not be returning. North Korea claimed that this was a violation of the agreement and refused to continue further talks.


text: The three children of the Chimura family and the two children of the Hasuike family, who were born in North Korea, were allowed to rejoin their parents in Japan following the second visit of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi to Pyongyang on May 22, 2004. They returned to Japan on July 18, 2004. According to their parents and other relatives, all five children expressed a desire to remain in Japan and live as Japanese.


text: Hitomi Soga was able to reunite with her husband and children, but through a more circuitous route. Her husband, Charles Robert Jenkins, was a defector from the United States Army who fled to North Korea where he eventually met and married Soga. Fearing a court-martial, Jenkins and their two daughters initially met Soga in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 9, 2004, eventually returning together to Japan on July 18. Two months later, on September 11, 2004, Jenkins reported to the army base at Camp Zama, Japan, served a light sentence after being found guilty of desertion and aiding the enemy, and was dishonorably discharged from the army. Charles then lived on Sado Island in Japan with his family until his death in 2017.


text: In November 2004, North Korea returned the cremated remains of two people, stating that they were those of Megumi Yokota and Kaoru Matsuki, who the North claimed died after being abducted. Subsequent Japanese DNA testing determined that those remains belonged to neither of the two. However, the independent scientific journal "Nature" published an article highly critical of this testing, which was performed at Teikyo University by Tomio Yoshii, a relatively junior faculty member (lecturer) in a forensics department, without a professor being present. Yoshii later acknowledged that he had no previous experience in the analysis of cremated specimens. This mistake—intentional or not—further strained relations between Japan and North Korea.


text: In an interview with Japanese police, Yasushi Chimura and Kaoru Hasuike, two of the abductees allowed to return to Japan in 2002, identified two of their abductors as Sin Gwang-su (known also as Sin Kwang-su) and a man known as "Pak". The National Police Agency has requested the arrests of Sin Gwang-su and Choi Sung-chol for the abductions of Japanese nationals. Sin reportedly told police in South Korea that he had been personally ordered by Kim Jong-il to carry out abductions.


text: In March 2006, Osaka police raided six facilities, including the North Korean Chamber of Commerce, in an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the June 1980 disappearance of one of the alleged abductees, Tadaaki Hara. All six facilities were linked to Chongryon, a pro-North Korean residents' organization in Japan. A police spokesman said that the head of Chongryon at the time was suspected of cooperating in his abduction.


text: The North Korean government continues to claim that there were only 13 abductees and that the issue has been resolved with the return of the five victims. However, the Japanese government claims that the issue has not been properly resolved and that all evidence provided by North Korea is forged.


text: By May 2004, five abductee victims and their families (10 in total) returned from North Korea. However, a number of alleged victims are still missing. Although then Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda commented on December 24, 2004, that "unless honest measures are taken swiftly, we cannot help but impose strict measures", hinting at possible sanctions.


text: The victims' support group has also looked to the United Nations (UN) for help. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a speech given in the Japanese Diet on February 24, 2004, mentioned the issue, sympathized with the victims and their families, and expressed wishes for a complete settlement. Later that year, the United States Congress passed the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004. The victims' families and their supporters expressed gratitude toward the United States government and president.


text: In 2004, the Japanese Diet passed two laws designed to restrict trade with North Korea. On November 2, 2005, the United Kingdom led 45 countries, including the United States and Japan, in submitting a proposal condemning North Korea to the United Nations. On December 16, this proposal was passed by the UN General Assembly with 88 supporting, 21 opposing, and 60 abstention votes. In particular, China and Russia opposed this proposal and the South Korean government abstained. The proposal condemned North Korea for "systematic humanitarian violations" and mentioned the abduction issue, the existence of concentration camps and the abuse against North Korean defectors sent back to North Korea. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed support for the abduction issue. On April 27, 2006, Sakie Yokota, mother of abductee Megumi Yokota, testified in a United States House of Representatives subcommittee about the abduction issue. The next day, Yokota met with US President George W. Bush to ask for the United States' help in resolving the abduction issue. The President called the meeting "one of the most moving meetings" in his presidency and questioned North Korea's actions. On June 13, 2006, the North Korean Human Rights Bill, calling for sanctions to be placed on North Korea, was tabled in the Japanese Diet.


text: In October 2011, South Korean intelligence agencies reported they believed dozens of South Korean and Japanese abduction victims were moved to Wonhwa-ri in South Pyongan Province; this group may have included Megumi Yokota, Yaeko Taguchi, and Tadaaki Hara.


text: Following Kim Jong-il's death in December 2011, former abductee Kaoru Hasuike expressed a wish for the Japanese government to "carefully analyze the state of affairs in North Korea and do its best to secure the safety of abductees still left there". The abduction issue has become very central to Japan's North Korea policy and Japan's participation in the Six-Party Talks. Most importantly, "Tokyo has kept conditioning its provision of economic incentives, widely deemed to be crucial to a comprehensive and lasting solution of the nuclear conundrum, on the establishment of diplomatic relations with North Korea—a development which in turn hinges on a resolution of the abduction issue."


text: On August 29, 2013, families of victims including the Yokotas testified at a UN team hearing. In May 2014, after talks with Japan, North Korea agreed to probe the abductees issue. On 4 July 2014, Japan eased several of its sanctions on North Korea after talks between the two countries. Pyongyang agreed to reopen investigations about the abduction cases. In October 2014, a Japanese delegation visited North Korea.


text: In March 2015, after talks with North Korea failed to produce results, Japan extended its sanctions for another 24 months. These include barring North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports and limits on trade with the country. These sanctions have expired in March 2017.


text: In February 2019, it was announced by Japanese government sources that Minoru Tanaka, a restaurant worker believed to have been kidnapped in or around 1978, has been living in Pyongyang with his wife and children since then. North Korean authorities had previously denied any involvement with Tanaka's disappearance, and no immediate reaction was available.


text: Mainichi Shimbun reported in 2019 on May 20 that a man from Chiba that was listed as likely abducted by North Korea was found in Japan and no connections were to North Korea involving his disappearance in 1992. The number of suspected kidnapping of Japanese by North Korea dropped to 882 people.


text: Japan Times reported in 2019 on August 7 that a man listed as likely abducted by North Korea was found in Japan and no connections were to North Korea involving his disappearance in 1974. The number of suspected kidnapping of Japanese by North Korea dropped to 881 people.


text: Tokyo Reporter has reported in 2019 on September 8 that the Japanese police confirmed Takeshi Saito is dead when the body was found in Japan in April 2018. The number of suspected kidnapping of Japanese by North Korea is at 880.


text: On website of the National Police Agency, the number of missing Japanese citizens suspected of being kidnapped by North Korea is stated as 879 as of September 10, 2019. The number has since reduced to 871 as on July 12, 2022


text: Following the resignation of long-serving Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in 2020 due to health reasons, his replacement, Yoshihide Suga, claimed he wanted 'to make a breakthrough' regarding the situation, and went on to discuss the possibility of a meeting between himself and Kim Jong-Un to discuss the issue. However, Suga resigned in 2021 before he could meet with Kim Jong-un. Suga's successor, Fumio Kishida, has yet to comment on the abduction issue.


text: Seventeen nationals are officially recognized by the Japanese government as victims of the abduction issue. The sixteenth, Minoru Tanaka, was added to the list on April 27, 2005, following discovery of evidence supporting the assertion that he was abducted. The seventeenth victim, Kyoko Matsumoto, was added to the list in November 2006.


text: North Korea has also perpetrated abductions in South Korea, which has the highest number of citizens abducted by the North. The number of South Korean abductees is put at 3,800 in total, with an estimated 485 or 486 abductees still in North Korean captivity.


text: In December 1969, a Korean Air Lines YS-11 was hijacked by a North Korean agent soon after taking off from Gangneung. The pilot was forced to fly to and land in North Korea. The crew, aircraft, and seven of the passengers have yet to be returned. North Korea claims that this was an act of asylum by the pilot, but it is considered to be another case of abduction.


text: In the 1970s, many women were abducted from Lebanon and in July 1977 there was an attempt to abduct a Korean pianist/actress and her husband from Yugoslavia.


text: There are testimonies that several others have been abducted, including two Chinese (Macau), two Dutch, three French, three Italians, a Jordanian, four Malaysians, and a Singaporean. There is also some evidence that suggests that a missing American citizen, David Sneddon, was kidnapped while traveling in China in 2004 by North Korean agents and brought to somewhere just outside Pyongyang to be the personal English language tutor for Kim Jong-un.


text: The UN Commission on Human Rights investigated the abductees issue, as part of the " Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea". Abductee Hitomi Soga has also testified that citizens of Romania and Thailand were among the abductees. The family of an abduction victim from Thailand has been identified and the Japanese government is working with the Thai government to resolve the issue.


text: According to the Committee for Democratization of North Korea (CDNK), North Korean agents are also believed to have abducted roughly 200 citizens of the People's Republic of China from the late 1990s onward, mostly ethnic Koreans from frontier towns in northeast China who provided aid to North Korean defectors. The kidnapped victims were then imprisoned in North Korea. The Chinese government reportedly has not officially requested the repatriation of any of these victims, a policy the CDNK describes as aimed at preserving harmony in the countries' bilateral relations.


text: There is also controversy about whether the remains of Megumi Yokota returned by North Korea to Japan are genuine or not. The Japanese government tested them and claims they are not. But in February 2005, the British scientific journal "Nature" published an article in which the Teikyo University DNA analyst who did the tests, Tomio Yoshii, acknowledged that the results could be inconclusive. Likewise, the technique used is reportedly no longer used professionally in the United States due to the ease with which contamination can occur. According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the remains are not available for further testing.


text: Another controversy arose when, in May 2012, Japan strongly protested when a top American diplomat linked the issue of North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens with the issue of abduction to Japan by Japanese parents away from non-Japanese parents.


text: The protagonist of the novel "The Orphan Master's Son" spends several years during the early part of the book helping with and organizing abductions of Japanese to North Korea. These abductions and some of their victims remain an important secondary theme for the rest of the book.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: Philip John Fleck Jr. (born November 29, 1980) is an American football coach and former wide receiver. He has served as the head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team since 2017.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: Born in Sugar Grove, Illinois, Fleck played college football as a wide receiver at Northern Illinois University. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco 49ers in 2004, spending a majority of his short NFL career on the practice squad. Since then, he has pursued a coaching career.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: He has formerly been the wide receivers coach for Northern Illinois (2007–2009), Rutgers (2010–2011), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012). Fleck was also previously the head coach of the Western Michigan Broncos football team from 2013 until 2016. In 2019, two years following his hiring by Minnesota, Fleck led the Golden Gophers to one of their best seasons in half a century, earning their most wins since 1904.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: Fleck started his playing career at Kaneland High School located in Maple Park, Illinois, where he helped the Knights win back to back, undefeated state championships in 1997 and 1998. He set a state record with 95 catches for 1,548 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior. For his career, Fleck caught 199 passes for 3,121 yards and 34 scores with at least one catch in 40 straight games. Fleck also lettered in varsity track and basketball.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: Upon graduation, Fleck attended Northern Illinois University where he played wide receiver under head coach Joe Novak. As a senior, he led the Huskies with 77 catches for 1,028 yards and six touchdowns, a reception total that still ranks second on the school's single-season list. Fleck still owns the school record for career punt returns (87), is second in punt return yards (716), ranks third in career catches (179) and is fourth in receiving yards (2,162). He was a second team Academic All-American as a senior and was twice voted team captain by his Huskie teammates.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: Fleck was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco 49ers following the 2004 NFL Draft. 49ers head coach Dennis Erickson labeled Fleck a "frickin' warrior" during the first days of rookie training camp. Fleck spent a majority of the 2004 season on the 49ers practice squad before being promoted to the 53 man roster and appearing in the 49ers final game of the season. Playing special teams, he registered a tackle and returned one punt for ten yards. Fleck spent the 2005 season on injured reserve after suffering a significant shoulder injury during the preseason. On June 12, 2006, Fleck was released by the 49ers. The day he was released, 49ers head coach Mike Nolan offered Fleck a spot on his coaching staff as assistant wide receivers coach, stating "If that's something he wants to do, I think he'd be very good at it."


title: P. J. Fleck

text: Fleck attempted to continue his playing career after his release from the 49ers, and had a tryout with his hometown Chicago Bears on June 20. However, he failed his physical due to his previous injuries and was unable to sign. Fleck stated that after the failed physical, he knew it was time to begin a career in coaching.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: Fleck began his coaching career in 2006 as an offensive graduate assistant at Ohio State University at the invitation of head coach Jim Tressel. He worked directly with the Buckeyes tight ends and assisted with the special teams. Northern Illinois running back coach Thomas Hammock and defensive ends coach Mike Sabock, a lifelong friend and collegiate teammate of Tressel, helped Fleck land the Ohio State job. Fleck spent one year with the Buckeyes, who were ranked No. 1 in the country most of the season. The team earned the 2006 Big Ten Championship and appeared in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game, where they lost to Florida and finished the season ranked No. 2 in the nation.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: In 2007, Fleck was hired by Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak as wide receivers coach, replacing Carnelius Cruz. Novak had stated several years prior that he hoped to one day hire Fleck as a coach. Following Novak's retirement in 2008, Fleck was one of two NIU assistants to be retained by incoming head coach Jerry Kill, and also added the title of recruiting coordinator.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: In 2010, Fleck was hired by Rutgers University as the wide receivers coach under head coach Greg Schiano.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: On February 2, 2012, he was hired as the offensive coordinator at Northern Illinois University. Coach Dave Doeren said the following about Fleck's hiring, "We spoke at length about why this is the right place for him. It was very evident to me that he bleeds NIU, and he would have tremendous pride and passion working not just for me, but for the university to help continue what we started last year, and really what he started here as a player. His recruiting abilities and passing game expertise, working alongside Coach Carey as our run game coordinator, will be a great combination for our offense." Just one day later, on February 3, 2012, Fleck abruptly resigned the Northern Illinois position to accept a position as wide receivers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL. The move reunited him with Schiano, who had recently left Rutgers for the Buccaneers head coaching job.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: During his time with the Buccaneers, Fleck was known to wear cleats during practice, often running routes and simulating defenses with the receivers.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: On December 17, 2012, Western Michigan University announced the hiring of Fleck as the new head coach, making him the youngest head coach and the first head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football to have been born in the 1980s. Fleck signed a five-year contract worth $392,000 per season that includes an assistant coaches salary pool of $825,000. The previous head coach, Bill Cubit, earned $375,000 per year with an assistants salary pool of $723,000. With the increased budget, Fleck hired a dedicated recruiting coordinator – a first for the WMU football program. Other candidates expressing interest in the job included Syracuse defensive coordinator (and later head coach) Scott Shafer, and Kent State offensive coordinator Brian Rock, both former WMU assistants. WMU had also been in contact with Indiana State head coach Trent Miles, North Dakota State head coach Craig Bohl, and Illinois State head coach Brock Spack, all of whom declined interest or withdrew from consideration


title: P. J. Fleck

text: One of Fleck's first actions as head coach was to rescind scholarship offers to incoming players who had verbally committed to Western Michigan. The withdraws occurred just weeks before the national signing day, and left players unable to arrange other Division I scholarships as slots were already filled at other schools. "I know if it was me, I would be ticked," Fleck said of the players who had scholarship offers pulled. "I also know if it was me, I would have showed up in the office of the head football coach, telling him I was dying to still be here."


title: P. J. Fleck

text: Fleck made sports headlines after his hire with his charisma and attempts to energize to the WMU program, including dancing (The Harlem Shake), posting YouTube videos, adding an in-stadium DJ for games, and establishing a program-wide mantra of "rowing the boat". Fleck participated in a polar bear plunge held at Goldsworth Pond on the Western Michigan campus. The event raised funds for the Michigan Special Olympics, and led Holly Anderson of "Sports Illustrated" to proclaim Fleck as "the best new hire" for 2013, if only for generating interest in the program.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: Fleck's first season as Broncos head coach resulted in a final record of 1–11 (1–7 Mid-American Conference (MAC)). It was the program's worst season since 2004, when the Broncos went 1–10 (0–7 MAC). Injuries, youth and inexperience, discipline, and execution led to poor play. Low-lights included a home loss to Nicholls State, a blowout loss to Iowa, and a homecoming loss to Buffalo. The team improved their play late in the season, with a road win against UMass, and close home losses to in-state rivals Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: Despite the on-field difficulties in 2013, Fleck and his staff succeeded off the field by signing a highly ranked recruiting class. Observers noted that it was possibly the best recruiting class in WMU history, and the best in the MAC since 2000. Rivals.com had the WMU class ranked highest among "mid-major" programs for 2014, with 247Sports.com ranking the class 36th-best nationally for 2015.


title: P. J. Fleck

text: By 2015, Fleck was one of seven FBS head coaches with NFL playing experience: Jim Harbaugh, Steve Spurrier, Jeff Brohm, Joey Jones, Kliff Kingsbury, and Kyle Whittingham.