title: Fokker D.VII

text: The earliest production D.VIIs were equipped with 170–180 hp Mercedes D.IIIa. Production quickly switched to the intended standard engine, the higher-compression 134 kW (180–200 hp) Mercedes D.IIIaü. Some early production D.VIIs delivered with the Mercedes D.IIIa were later re-engined with the D.IIIaü.


title: Fokker D.VII

text: By mid-1918, some D.VIIs received the "overcompressed" 138 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa, the first product of the BMW firm. The BMW IIIa followed the SOHC, straight-six configuration of the Mercedes D.III but incorporated several improvements. Increased displacement, higher compression and an altitude-adjusting carburettor produced a marked increase in speed and climb rate at high altitude. Because the BMW IIIa was overcompressed, using full throttle at altitudes below risked premature detonation in the cylinders and damage to the engine. At low altitudes, full throttle could produce up to 179 kW (240 hp) for a short time. Fokker-built aircraft with the new BMW engine were called D.VII(F), the suffix "F" standing for Max Friz, the engine designer.


title: Fokker D.VII

text: BMW-engined aircraft entered service with "Jasta" 11 in late June 1918. Pilots clamored for the D.VII(F), of which about 750 were built. Production of the BMW IIIa was limited and the D.VII continued to be produced with the 134 kW (180 hp) Mercedes D.IIIaü until the end of the war.


title: Fokker D.VII

text: D.VIIs flew with different propeller designs from different manufacturers. Despite the variations there is no indication these propellers gave disparate performance. Axial, Wolff, Wotan, and Heine propellers have been noted.


title: Fokker D.VII

text: The D.VII entered squadron service with "Jasta" 10 in early May 1918. When the Fokker D.VII appeared on the Western Front in April 1918, Allied pilots at first underestimated the new fighter because of its squarish, ungainly appearance but quickly revised their view. The type quickly proved to have many important advantages over the Albatros and Pfalz scouts. Unlike the Albatros scouts, the D.VII could dive without any fear of structural failure. The D.VII was also noted for its high manoeuvrability and ability to climb, its remarkably docile stall and reluctance to spin. It could "hang on its prop" without stalling for brief periods of time, spraying enemy aircraft from below with machine gun fire. These handling characteristics contrasted with contemporary scouts such as the Camel and SPAD, which stalled sharply and spun vigorously.


title: Fokker D.VII

text: Several aircraft suffered rib failures and fabric shedding on the upper wing. Heat from the engine sometimes ignited phosphorus ammunition until additional cooling louvers were installed on the metal sides of the engine cowling panels and fuel tanks sometimes broke at the seams. Aircraft built by the Fokker factory at Schwerin were noted for their lower standard of workmanship and materials. Despite faults, the D.VII proved to be a remarkably successful design, leading to the familiar aphorism that it could turn a mediocre pilot into a good one and a good pilot into an ace.


title: Fokker D.VII

text: Richthofen died days before the D.VII began to reach the "Jagdstaffeln" and never flew it in combat. Other pilots, including Erich Löwenhardt and Hermann Göring, quickly racked up victories and generally lauded the design. Aircraft availability was limited at first, but by July there were 407 in service. Larger numbers became available by August, by which point D.VIIs had achieved 565 victories. The D.VII eventually equipped 46 "Jagdstaffeln". When the war ended in November, 775 D.VII aircraft were in service.


title: Fokker D.VII

text: The Allies confiscated large numbers of D.VII aircraft after the Armistice. The United States Army and Navy evaluated 142 captured examples. Several of these aircraft were re-engined with American-built Liberty L-6 motors, very similar in appearance to the D.VII's original German power plants. France, Great Britain and Canada also received numbers of war prizes.


title: Fokker D.VII

text: Other countries used the D.VII operationally. The Polish deployed approximately 50 aircraft during the Polish-Soviet War, using them mainly for ground attack missions. The Hungarian Soviet Republic used a number of D.VIIs, both built by MAG and ex-German aircraft in the Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919.


title: Fokker D.VII

text: The Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian air forces also operated the D.VII. The aircraft proved so popular that Fokker completed and sold a large number of D.VII airframes that he had smuggled into the Netherlands after the Armistice. As late as 1929, the Alfred Comte company manufactured eight new D.VII airframes under license for the Swiss "Fliegertruppe".


title: Fokker D.VII

text: Many modern D.VII reproductions have been built. Most flyable examples are powered by 7.2 litre (440 cu. in.) American Ranger, or 9.2 litre (560 cu. in.) displacement British Gipsy Queen inverted-six cylinder inline engines, both of which are substantially smaller in displacement than either the Mercedes or BMW engines that powered wartime D.VIIs. A few flying reproductions, such as the one at New York State's Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, are equipped with original Mercedes D.IIIa engines.


title: Uwe Seeler

text: Uwe Seeler (; 5 November 1936 – 21 July 2022) was a German footballer and football official. As a striker, he was a prolific scorer for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the West Germany national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in German football history, Seeler was named one of FIFA's 100 greatest living players by Pelé in 2004. He was the first football player to be awarded the Great Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.


title: Uwe Seeler

text: Seeler followed in his father's footsteps as a player for Hamburger SV, making his first team debut in 1954 in a DFB-Pokal match, aged just under 18, scoring four goals (8–2 vs. Holstein Kiel). In later years, despite tempting offers from Italian and Spanish clubs, he remained loyal to Hamburg, working on a second career as a merchant besides playing football.


title: Uwe Seeler

text: Seeler was a gifted, powerful, and prolific striker who, among other things, was most of all renowned for his leadership, consistency, overhead kicks, and aerial ability. He scored 137 times in 239 Bundesliga games, 43 times in 72 international games for the German national team, and 21 times in 29 European club tournament games. He was captain of both his club team and the national team for many years. He and his club won the German championship in 1960 and the DFB-Pokal in 1963. He was top scorer of the first Bundesliga season in 1963–64 and German Footballer of the Year in 1960, 1964, and 1970. During the 1960–61 season, Seeler, alongside his brother Dieter, helped to lead Hamburger SV to the semi-finals of the European Cup, where they narrowly missed out on the final against Benfica, losing out to Barcelona in a play-off match. During the 1967–68 season, Seeler also helped Hamburg to reach the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, finishing the competition as top scorer, only to lose out to AC Milan.


title: Uwe Seeler

text: In 1978, he and his former teammate Franz-Josef Hönig played for Cork Celtic F.C. in a one-off sponsored event. Seeler had ended his active playing career in 1972. However, this match turned out to be an official League of Ireland one and Uwe scored twice. Thus, his overall record of goals scored in league and championship matches adds up to 446 (Hamburger SV 444, Cork Celtic 2).


title: Uwe Seeler

text: His 404 goals in German Oberliga and Bundesliga league games is a record that stands as of today, his 406 goals in league games overall making him the second-best German goalscorer behind Gerd Müller.


title: Uwe Seeler

text: Seeler participated in the same four FIFA World Cups as Pelé did: 1958, 1962, 1966, and 1970. Of those West German World Cup teams, the 1966 side reached the final, where they lost to host nation England 4–2 in extra time. In 1958, the German team finished in fourth place; in 1970 the West German team finished in third after being eliminated by European rivals Italy in the semi-finals, following a closely fought 4–3 extra-time loss, a match often referred to as the "Game of the Century". In the previous round, a backward second-half header against England tied the score 2–2, a game West Germany went on to win 3–2.


title: Uwe Seeler

text: Although Seeler never won a World Cup (his involvement as a player in the tournament started four years after West Germany won their first World Cup (1954) and ended four years before they won their second (1974)), he had a prolific career in the tournament; he was the first player ever to appear in 20 World Cup matches (he retired with 21 matches played, tied for third all-time); the first ever to score in four World Cups (beating Pelé by only a few minutes), and the first player to score at least two goals in each of four World Cups (matched in 2014 by his compatriot Miroslav Klose). He also ranks third in all-time minutes played in World Cups, with 1,980, behind Paolo Maldini and Lothar Matthäus. In total, he scored nine goals across the four World Cups in which he played, as well as three goals in World Cup Qualifying matches; he scored 43 times in 72 international appearances between 1954 and 1970. A photo of a dejected Seeler leaving the field having just been defeated in the 1966 World Cup Final was voted as "Photo of the Century" by "kicker" magazine.


title: Uwe Seeler

text: He had a two-and-a-half-year tenure as president of Hamburger SV, which began in 1995, and ended in resignation in 1998 due to a financial scandal, for which he took responsibility. Seeler, however, was not himself implicated in the irregularities.


title: Uwe Seeler

text: Seeler was a tremendously popular player due to his fairness and modesty and is still widely called "Uns Uwe" (West Low German: "Our Uwe") in Hamburg and the surrounding area. The DFB (German FA) made him the second honorary captain of the German national team in 1972 (the first being Fritz Walter). In 2003, he became an honorary citizen of his hometown Hamburg; the first time the honor was bestowed on a sportsman. That year he also published his memoirs "Danke, Fußball" ("Thank you, football"). 2005 saw the unveiling of a giant monument in front of the Hamburger SV stadium depicting his right foot.


title: Uwe Seeler

text: Seeler appeared in a cameo role in the popular 1972 Heinz Erhardt comedy "Willi wird das Kind schon schaukeln" (English title: "Willi Manages the Whole Thing"), playing himself.


title: Uwe Seeler

text: Seeler died on 21 July 2022, aged 85, in his home in Norderstedt. He was honoured later in the day with a moment of silence before the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 quarter-final between Germany and Austria. The following second matchday of the 2. Bundesliga, where Hamburg played a home match against Hansa Rostock, as well as the first round of the DFB-Pokal also began with a minute of silence in Seeler's tribute. The Bundesliga home game of HSV featured supporters dressed in black displaying a banner reading "loyal and modest – the greatest of all time" (""Loyal und bescheiden - der Größte aller Zeiten") in honor of Seeler's club career.


title: Sreeleela

text: Sreeleela (alternatively spelt as Sree Leela; born July 14, 2001) is an American actress of Indian origin who predominantly appears in Kannada-language and Telugu-language films. She made her debut in 2019 with "Kiss", for which she won Best Female Debut – Kannada at the SIIMA Awards. She has also appeared in the films "Bharaate" (2019), "Pelli SandaD" (2021), and "By Two Love" (2022), among others.


title: Sreeleela

text: Sree Leela was born on July 14, 2001 into a Telugu family in the United States and was brought up in Bangalore, India. Her mother, Swarnalatha, is a gynecologist based in Bangalore. Swarnalatha was married to industrialist Surapaneni Subhakara Rao, and Leela was born to Swarnalatha after the couple's separation.


title: Sreeleela

text: Leela began her training in Bharatanatyam dance as a child. She aspires to become a doctor and as of 2021, was in the final year of her MBBS.


title: Sreeleela

text: Director A. P. Arjun came across Leela's pictures, taken by cinematographer Bhuvan Gowda, on social media and cast her in his 2019 film, "Kiss". The actress has stated that she chose to start her career in Kannada-language films as she grew up in Bangalore, despite having contacts in Telugu cinema.


title: Sreeleela

text: Filming for "Kiss" began in 2017, while Leela was in the first year of her pre-university course. The film was released in 2019 and proved successful at the box office. A. Sharadhaa of "The New Indian Express" stated that Leela made a confident debut, writing, "Sreeleela looks stylish and garners equal attention." "Times of India" critic Vinay Lokesh echoed the sentiment by stating that Leela shined in her role. A month later, her second film, "Bharaate", opposite Sriimurali, was released. Reviewing her performance for "The News Minute", Aravind Shwetha wrote: "Leela is good and holds her own along with Sri Murali when it comes to acting and screen presence." Sharadhaa of "The New Indian Express" wrote that, "This is Sreeleela's second film, and she seems to be getting comfortable with being in front of the camera, and delivers what the role demands."


title: Sreeleela

text: In 2021, Leela was cast in the romantic musical film "Pelli SandaD", marking her debut in Telugu cinema. The actress described her character as a "role to die for". While the film received negative reviews, Leela's role garnered appreciation from critics. Sangeetha Devi of "The Hindu" called the film a "costly showreel" of the lead pair, Roshan and Leela, opining that they looked fresh and effervescent but lacked chemistry.


title: Sreeleela

text: In 2022, Leela starred in the Kannada romantic comedy "By Two Love". Appreciating her performance, Sunayana Suresh of "The Times of India" stated: "Sreeleela steals the show with a role that offers her to be more than just eye candy in a film. She shines especially in the emotional scenes." Sharadhaa of "The New Indian Express" felt it was "a delight to watch" her in the film. A review from "Deccan Herald" opined that while she was impressive, Leela's Kannada pronunciation had room for improvement.


title: Sreeleela

text: Following the success of "Pelli SandaD", Leela received multiple offers in Telugu films. The actress has signed on to four projects that are in various stages of production, including the Ravi Teja-starrer "Dhamaka". She has been cast in the Telugu-Kannada bilingual film "Junior", opposite G. Janardhana Reddy's son Kireeti, and a Telugu film directed by Vakkantham Vamsi, opposite Nithiin.


title: Xbox system software

text: The Xbox system software is the operating system developed exclusively for the Xbox consoles. Across the four generations of Xbox consoles, the software has been based on a version of Microsoft Windows and incorporating DirectX features optimized for the gaming console. The user interface, the Xbox Dashboard, provides access to games, media players, and applications, and integrates with Xbox Live for online functionality.


title: Xbox system software

text: Though initial iterations of the software for the original Xbox and Xbox 360 were based on heavily modified versions of Windows, the newer consoles feature operating systems that are highly compatible with Microsoft's desktop operating systems, allowing for shared applications and ease-of-development between personal computers and the Xbox line.


title: Xbox system software

text: Across all four generations of the Xbox platform, the user interface of the system software has been called the Xbox Dashboard. While its appearance and detailed functions have varied between console generations, the Dashboard has provided the user the means to start a game from the optical media loaded into the console or off the console's storage, launch audio and video players to play optical media discs, or start special applications for the Xbox such as streaming media services from third parties. The Dashboard also provides a menu of settings and configuration pages for the console that the user can adjust.


title: Xbox system software

text: The Dashboard has supported integration with the Xbox Live service since November 2002. Xbox Live provides online functionality to the Xbox, including friends list, game achievement tracking, matchmaking support for online games, in-game communications, and a digital game storefront. While some portions of the Xbox Live service are free, a subscription-tier Xbox Live Gold is generally required to play most multiplayer games on the console.


title: Xbox system software

text: Starting with the Xbox 360 and continuing through its current consoles, Microsoft has offered a means for users to opt into a beta test version of the console's system software. When first launched for the Xbox 360 in September 2010, this was called the Xbox Live Preview Program, and initially required an invitation from Microsoft after applying for the program. On the release of the Xbox One in 2014, the program was renamed to Xbox Preview Program, and Microsoft made this program open to all rather than restricting through invitation. Later in November 2016 rebranded to the Xbox Insider Program, corresponding to the similar Windows Insider program for those testing its computer operating system. With the Xbox Insider Program, testing not only included updates to the system software but upcoming game and application patches from both first and third-parties.


title: Xbox system software

text: Each iteration of the Xbox software has brought some form of backward compatibility to the newer console. On the Xbox 360, selected original Xbox console games could be played through emulation after downloading an emulation profiles to local storage. The Xbox One was not initially shipped with backward compatibility support, but was later added by January 2015 by another emulator to support selected Xbox 360 games, with hundreds of titles added over the following years. A similar emulator was developed and released in October 2017 for the Xbox One for a limited selection of original Xbox console games. Achieving Xbox One-backward compatibility on the Xbox Series X and Series S was a target goal for the newer consoles, and as such, these new consoles are fully backward compatible with all games in the Xbox One library with the exception of those requiring Kinect support. The supported list includes the Xbox and Xbox 360 games that were playable via emulation on the Xbox One.


title: Xbox system software

text: The original Xbox runs a custom operating system which is based on a heavily modified version of Windows 2000, an approach that Microsoft engineer Don Box called "fork and run". It exports APIs similar to those found in Microsoft Windows, such as Direct3D. While Windows 2000 was built for multitasking of multiple applications including memory paging, the Xbox console was planned to only run one application at a time, and these features were removed for the Xbox software. When loading a game, the operating system would unload itself to give all of the console's resources to the game, and then when the player left the game, the operating system would load back up again.


title: Xbox system software

text: Xbox Live support was not originally part of the system software as shipped in 2001, but added later in November 2002. While the Xbox was still being supported by Microsoft, the Xbox Dashboard was updated via Live several times to reduce cheating and add features.


title: Xbox system software

text: Microsoft released a dynamic background for its current Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S system software in May 2021 that is based on the original Xbox system software appearance.


title: Xbox system software

text: The Xbox 360 system software was also a modified version of Windows 2000, expanding beyond the original Xbox console's operating system. This would prove troublesome for Microsoft from multiple directions. For the Xbox division, it made it difficult to bring in other Microsoft applications like Internet Explorer and Silverlight which had to be modified to work on the Xbox software. For Microsoft, the separate fork of these apps for the Xbox 360 and for the versions they were developing for the mobile-based Windows CE environment became difficult to maintain. These complexities led Microsoft towards its "Windows Everywhere" approach around 2010, reviewing all the dependencies within the desktop, Xbox, and mobile versions of Windows atop the MinWin process and creating a CoreSystem that contained the basic functionality of Windows that could be ported to other systems.


title: Xbox system software

text: Microsoft released the Xbox 360 console on November 22, 2005, a whole year earlier than both the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii. Having the advantage of the lead, Microsoft was able to experiment with various customization options for the consumer's individual consoles. The ability to customize the way the console looked with various themes to fit the front and sides of it was something very different for home console users. In system, the Xbox 360 Dashboard had the ability to have multiple profiles with password on the same console with each user being able to customize the dashboard to exactly fit their own unique style. There were premium themes available for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace apart from the default styles. Originally there were five tabs or sections known as the "blades" for the Xbox 360 menu, namely the Marketplace, Xbox Live, Games, Media and System. In scrolling from left to right, each section would have a different-colored background signifying its own unique area but users also had the option to change all sections to one background color as well.


title: Xbox system software

text: In 2008 however, when the gaming scene changed dramatically because of the competitions with the PlayStation 3 and the Wii, a new Xbox Dashboard titled the New Xbox Experience (NXE) was launched, which features major changes in both the user interface and other functionalities. The new user interface had a navigation system similar to that of Windows Media Center. It contained a New pop-up/in-game Live Guide, using a redesigned version of the "blades" interface, a tabbed interface that featured five "blades". Also, users were able to create personalized Avatars, essentially mini characters of themselves. Furthermore, selecting an avatar is now required by the Xbox Live service. A slightly modified version of NXE was released in 2010 alongside the Kinect to provide support for motion-sensing controls of the Dashboard.


title: Xbox system software

text: A full reworking of the interface was released in late 2011 based on the Metro design inspired by Windows Phone. The many enhancements that were included with this update pushed the system to a more modernized interface and improved features that pushed the envelope for social gaming and media.


title: Xbox system software

text: While the Xbox 360 console is primarily designed to play games just like other video game consoles, it can be used as a media player too. Similar to the PlayStation 3 from Sony, Xbox 360 has media center capabilities built in, so it is relatively easy to set up. With the Xbox 360 users can also copy videos directly to the hard drive, or play via a USB stick. There are two ways to watch videos on Xbox 360. The first is to download videos from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Some of these videos are available for free while others have to be paid. Microsoft is in control of what videos are available through the Xbox Live Marketplace. The second is to stream videos from a Windows Media Center PC by using Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender. In this way users are in control of what videos they want to watch, however there are restrictions on what kind of video they can play back. More specifically, it only supports playback of DVR-MS, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and WMV videos. Every Xbox 360 can play DVD movies out of the box using the built-in DVD drive, with no additional parts necessary, although the user may control everything with an optional remote. There are other improvements to the experience on the Xbox 360 over the original Xbox too, including the ability to upscale the image so it will look better. Progressive scan is another feature of the DVD output in the Xbox 360 that produces smoother output when playing movies on televisions that support high definition, although using a dedicated DVD player would offer even more features and sound quality.


title: Xbox system software

text: The Xbox One console system software contains a heavily modified Hyper-V hypervisor (known as NanoVisor) as its host OS and two partitions. One of the partitions, the "Exclusive" partition is a custom virtual machine (VM) for games; the other partition, the "Shared" partition is a custom VM for running multiple apps including the OS.


title: Xbox system software

text: As part of its ongoing "Windows Everywhere" approach, Microsoft revamped the operating system in the Xbox One to be closer to its current Microsoft Windows products to provide greater compatibility between personal computers and the Xbox line. The OS was based on Windows 8 Core at the Xbox One launch in 2013. The UI maintained the same "Metro" design that had been used in the last Xbox 360 update, and which resembled the desktop Windows 8 interface.


title: Xbox system software

text: In November 2015, Microsoft released the "New Xbox One Experience" which replaced the base system with Windows 10 Core, allowing Universal Windows Platform apps to be available on Xbox One. According to the current head of Microsoft's Gaming division, Phil Spencer, "The importance of entertainment and games to the Windows ecosystem has become really prevalent to the company". The program that Microsoft launched allows developers to build a single app that can run on a wide variety of devices, including personal computers and Xbox One video game consoles. According to "Polygon", Microsoft removed the distinction between Xbox One and Windows PC, and the software has been called "Windows 10 on Xbox One".


title: Xbox system software

text: Since 2016, all Xbox One consoles could be updated to include a development kit for universal Windows applications on Xbox One, with official support for the platform and Cortana coming in summer 2016.


title: Xbox system software

text: As Microsoft continued to refine Windows 10 with the Fluent Design System, the Xbox One interface was also modified to reflect these changes by 2017. Microsoft has since continued to refine this interface to add and remove integrated features, such as inclusion of Xbox Game Pass support and removal of Cortana voice commands. Ahead of the release of the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles in November 2020, Microsoft updated the Xbox One software to reflect changes in the Dashboard that would also be present in the newer consoles. This included improved performance in some of the storefront features and readability improvements to the interface, which were also propagated across Xbox Game Pass and mobile apps.


title: Xbox system software

text: The system software's interface uses a geometrical placement of squares and rectangular items that scrolls as a continuous vertical line, using the Metro design language that is also seen in Windows 8, Windows 10, and other Microsoft products. By default, the dashboard is divided into "Home", "Community", "Mixer", "Game Pass" and "Store" sections; the "Home" section contains a recent apps and games list. The "Community" section allows users to view their friends' in-game activities and captures, post status updates, as well as view trending content. The "Mixer" section shows an overview on streams on Microsoft's own Mixer service, while the "Store" section serves as a portal to the games, video, music, and app marketplaces. In general, the top level menu of the Xbox One feels a lot less cluttered than the Xbox 360's dashboard. For example, the friends tab has been removed and replaced with a dedicated app that users can load up to see what their connections are doing. There are a couple of columns for settings options and an area for "pinned" favorites, a "main" screen showing current and recent apps and games that the user played or used, and a small "What's New" section highlighting some recently added content. In total, the interface is very clean and sparse. Microsoft also introduced a new way to multitask called Snap, which allows Xbox One users to open multiple panes in a single window.


title: Xbox system software

text: When Microsoft upgraded the Windows 8-based Core to a Windows 10-based one, they made a tour of the new user interface up on Xbox Wire, promising faster, easier navigation, improved community features and, the return of Xbox Avatars. The UI includes a HOME screen, consisting of the top bar, the screenshot viewer ("Album") Icons, and shortcuts to the Microsoft Store, News, and Settings. The main feature on the home screen is a list of the most recently played games. Selecting any given title will give users more information about announcements, achievements, social activity and so forth. It is also more focused on the actual games they are playing, which is part and parcel of the company's new direction under Phil Spencer, the current head of Microsoft's Xbox division.


title: Xbox system software

text: While like other video game consoles the Xbox One is primarily designed for playing games, it is more than a game console. It is an entertainment hub for games, television, music, and videos. Mainly the console focuses on functionality and entertainment as a whole. At Gamescom 2014 Microsoft unveiled a new plan to remedy this and make earnest on the Xbox One's label as the "all-in-one entertainment" solution by way of expanding its media support. The Xbox One's media player is quite similar to the Xbox 360's playback suite in terms of form and function, however the newer console now supports more than 30 formats including the MKV container and GIF files. The Xbox One console also does some unique things. For example, its owners can control their television broadcasts using the device, as well as use it as a functioning DVR. Apart from streaming music and videos via Play (Charms > Devices > Play), there is also a networked approach. There are two primary ways to do this. The first is to stream media from a computer or tablet, and the second is to play it directly off of a USB flash drive. The advantage of this method over the Play system is that users can do it all from wherever they sit via the Xbox One, instead of sending the video from a PC to their console. Aside from multimedia files, Xbox One plays CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, and it also comes with DLNA and MKV support, which means that downloaded video files can be streamed via the PC or transported via external hard drive and USBs. Meanwhile, the interactive TV Guide allows users to turn on and control a television with their voice. Furthermore, the system comes with a comprehensive range of applications related to multimedia features. In the United States, video channels include Amazon Instant Video, Crackle, Hulu Plus and Netflix. Microsoft announced that the Xbox One was awarded for its multimedia capabilities at the 66th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards in early 2015, and the prize was given for the Xbox One's television-on-demand functions.


title: Xbox system software

text: Microsoft aims to release frequent updates to the Xbox One console, mainly containing new or improved features and faster installation and loading times for games and apps. Along with introducing improvements and fixes for native console apps and software, the monthly updates to the Xbox One system software introduce major features that are voted on or requested by the community, though some months have included more than one update. Starting in February 2014, beta releases of updates are tested before going live to check for unwanted bugs and stability.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur district and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth most populpus city in Bihar.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: Muzaffarpur is famous for Shahi lychees and is known as the Lychee Kingdom. Shahi litchi is set to become the fourth product from Bihar, after jardalu mango, katarni rice and Magahi paan (betel leaf) to get the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. It is situated on the banks of the perennial Budhi Gandak River, which flows from the Someshwar Hills of the Himalayas.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: The current city was established in 1875 during the British Raj for administrative convenience, by dividing the Tirhut district and was named after an "aumil", Muzaffar Khan; thus the city came to be known as "Muzaffarpur".


title: Muzaffarpur

text: The city was founded by Muẓaffar Khan in the 18th century and was constituted a municipality in 1864. A major road and rail hub, it is a trade centre on the route between Patna (south) and Nepal (north).Lychee,sweet corn,Mango,Vegetables Rice and sugar milling alongside cutlery manufacturing are the chief industries.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: Muzaffarpur is located at . The city lies in a highly active seismic zone of India. In the disastrous earthquake on 15 January 1934, much of the town suffered severe damage and many lives were lost. It has an average elevation of 47 meters (154 feet). This saucer shaped, low-centered town lies on the great Indo-Gangetic plains of Bihar, over Himalayan silt and sand brought by the glacier-fed and rain-fed meandering rivers of the Himalayas.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: Muzaffarpur has humid subtropical climate (Cwa) under Köppen climate classification. The summer, between April and June, is extremely hot and humid (28/40 °C, 90% max.) and winter is pleasantly cool, around 06/20 °C. Rainfall in Muzaffarpur City is comparatively less to the other parts of Bihar.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: As of the 2011 India census, Muzaffarpur had a population of 393,724. Males constituted 52.96% (208,509) of the population and females 47.04% (185,215). Muzaffarpur had a literacy rate of 74.74%. Male literacy was 77.99%, and female literacy was 71.08%.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: As per 2011 census data, there are total 275,233 Hindus whereas 74,680 Muslims and 1,352 Christians along with other small minorities.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Muzaffarpur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 36 districts in Bihar currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).


title: Muzaffarpur

text: The lychee crop, which is available from May to June, is mainly cultivated in the districts of Muzaffarpur and surrounding districts. Cultivation of litchi covers approximately an area of about 25,800 hectares producing about 300,000 tonnes every year. Litchi are exported to big cities of India like Mumbai, Kolkata, and even to other countries. India's share in the world litchi market amounts to less than 1%. The names of the litchi produced in Muzaffarpur are "Shahi" and "China". The fruits are known for excellent aroma and quality.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: Bihar has emerged as a brewery hub with major domestic and foreign firms setting up production units in the state. Vijay Mallya's group, United Breweries Group, is setting up a production unit to make litchi-flavoured wine, in Muzaffarpur in 2012. The company has leased litchi gardens.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: Muzaffarpur Junction railway station (MFP) is a main A1 Category railway junction in Sonpur Division of East Central Railway, having total 8 platforms, with three suburban stations, Ram Dayalu Nagar, Narayanpur Anant (Sherpur) and Jubba Sahni. More than 200 trains regularly visits this 136+ year old railway junction.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: National Highway 57 (India) comes via Gorakhpur, Motihari, Mehsi and crosses Muzaffarpur and National Highway 57 (India) goes to Darbhanga, Purnia. The East–West Corridor crosses Muzaffarpur thus connecting it to all the major towns and cities in India. National Highway 22 (India) starting from Hajipur passes through Muzaffarpur and connects Muzaffarpur to Sitamarhi. National Highway 28 (India) connects Mehsi and Muzaffarpur to Barauni, all 6 National Highways having junction there.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: Muzaffarpur Airport (IATA: MZU, ICAO: VEMZ) is located in Patahi of Muzaffarpur city (besides NH 722 Muzaffarpur - Chhapra (Rewa Ghat)) in the state of Bihar, India. It was operable from 1967 to 1982, on a regular basis. Currently it is not in operations, commercially.


title: Muzaffarpur

text: Darbhanga Airport is the nearest domestic airport roughly 64 km away by road. Patna Airport is the nearest customs airport roughly 70 km from the city.


title: Virabhadra

text: Virabhadra (), also rendered Veerabhadra, Veerabathira, and Veerabathiran, is a fierce form of the Hindu god Shiva. He is created by the wrath of Shiva, when the deity hurls a lock of his matted hair upon the ground, upon hearing of the self-immolation of his consort, Sati, at the Daksha yajna.


title: Virabhadra

text: He appears in the Puranas as a vengeful being, attacking the deities who had attended the Daksha yajna with Bhadrakali. In the ensuing melee, Bhaga's eyes are plucked out, Yama's staff is broken, Pushan's teeth are knocked out, Indra is trampled, and Agni, Mitra, and Chandra are also accosted. The fate of Daksha himself varies from text to text: Virabhadra either decapitates him, urges him to beg forgiveness from Shiva, or is saved by Vishnu, who defeats Virabhadra.


title: Virabhadra

text: According to Shaivism, Virabhadra's origins are described follows: Sati was the youngest daughter of Daksha. While growing up, she had her heart set on Shiva and worshipped him. During the svayamvara of Sati, Daksha invited all the devas and princes except Shiva. Sati cast her garland into the air, calling upon Shiva to receive it, and beheld him to be standing in the midst of the court, with the garland about his neck. Daksha had no choice but to accept the marriage of his daughter to Shiva.


title: Virabhadra

text: One day, Daksha invited all the deities, as well as all of his children and grandchildren, in order to perform a ritual sacrifice, deliberately not inviting Sati and Shiva. Sati's urge to attend the event, due to her affection towards her parents, overpowered the social etiquette of not going to an uninvited ceremony. When Shiva refused to accompany her, Sati insisted on attending the ritual without him. Upon her arrival, Daksha started to humiliate her husband and she, expressing his hatred for Shiva in front of the entire assembly of people. Unable to bear the ignominy, the furious Sati leapt into the sacrificial fire, immolating herself with her yogic abilities. When Shiva heard of these tidings, he tore a clump of his matted hair, from which Virabhadra and Bhadrakali emerged. Shiva instructed Virabhadra to lay waste to the sacrifice, and destroy all of its participants.


title: Virabhadra

text: The Padma Purana identifies Virabhadra as the fierce form of Mangala (Mars). Virabhadra is born when Shiva, due to his anguish regarding the death of Sati, perspires, and his perspiration falls upon the earth. This gives birth to the fierce Virabhadra, who destroys the sacrifice. In the aftermath, Shiva calms him down and makes him Angaraka, the planet Mars.


title: Virabhadra

text: The Skanda Purana states that ill-omens immediately started to surface when Shiva's forces started to march upon the Daksha yajna, describing a rain of blood and meteor showers. Finding these phenomena to be foreboding, Daksha sought the protection of Vishnu, who agreed to offer it, while also according blame to the former for his disrespect. The forces consisted of the Navadurga, rakshasas, yakshas, pishachas, a host of bhutas, thousands of ganas, as well as yoginis and guhyakas. These forces were commanded by the three-eyed Virabhadra, bearing a thousand arms, entwined with great serpents, with his chariot drawn by two thousand horses and a million lions. Indra and the devas were assisted by Bhrigu in routing the first wave of gana attacks. Angered, Virabhadra marshalled his forces in a counterattack, and wielding their battle-axes and iron clubs, they started to massacre the devas. The sages begged Vishnu to defend the sacrifice from the attackers, and the deity prepared to fight against Virabhadra. While Virabhadra offered his obeisance to the preserver deity, he accused him of seeking a share of the offerings of the sacrifice, and warned him against staying there. Vishnu laughed, and informed him that he had a duty to shield his devotees, and would leave after he had had his fill of Virabhadra's missiles. Indra chose to challenge Virabhadra, and struck him with his vajra. In retaliation, Virabhadra attempted to swallow Indra as well as his mount, Airavata. Vishnu intervened, saving Indra, and obstructing the assault of Virabhadra. He also summoned the Ashvins, who healed the fallen devas with their medicine. Enraged, Virabhadra confronted Vishnu. The preserver deity employed his Sudarshana Chakra against Virabhadra, which the latter swallowed whole. After retrieving his celestial discus, satisfied that he had turned the tide of the battle, Vishnu returned to his abode. Not satisfied with the carnage, Virabhadra accosted Bhrigu, Pushan, and when he saw the terrified Daksha cowering beneath the altar, he beheaded him, offering his head to the fire as a sacrifice. The disturbed Brahma visited Shiva, and begged him to put and end to the bloodshed. Shiva arrived at the Dakha yajna, conversed with Virabhadra, and restored life to Daksha by placing the head of a deformed animal upon his neck. The resurrected Daksha offered his obeisance to Shiva, which ended the conflict.


title: Virabhadra

text: Various scriptures, coloured by their traditions, offer variations of the conflict, and Virabhadra's role in the legend. The Kurma Purana has Virabhadra realise that Vishnu and Shiva are the same deity, and proclaim that the world was created by Narayana. In the Harivamsha, Vishnu gains the upper hand in his fight against Virabhadra.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: The 100 seats in the United States Senate are divided into three classes for the purpose of determining which seats will be up for election in any two-year cycle, with only one class being up for election at a time. With senators being elected to fixed terms of six years, the classes allow about a third of the seats to be up for election in any presidential or midterm election year instead of having all 100 be up for election at the same time every six years. The seats are also divided in such a way that any given state's two senators are in different classes so that each seat's term ends in different years. Class 1and 2 consist of 33 seats each, while class3 consists of 34 seats. Elections for class1 seats took place most recently in 2018, class2 in 2020, and the elections for class3 seats in 2022.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: The three classes were established by ArticleI, Section 3, Clause2 of the U.S. Constitution. The actual division was originally performed by the Senate of the 1st Congress in May 1789 by lot. Whenever a new state subsequently joined the union, its two Senate seats were assigned to two different classes by a random draw, while keeping the three classes as close to the same number as possible.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: The classes only apply to the regular fixed-term elections of the Senate. A special election to fill a vacancy, usually either due to the incumbent resigning or dying while in office, may happen in any given year regardless of the seat's class.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: A senator's description as junior or senior senator is also not related to their class. Rather, a state's senior U.S. senator is the one with the greater seniority in the Senate, which is mostly based on length of service.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: The U. S. Constitution sets the fixed term of senators to six years and staggers their elections into three cycles, so that a third of the Senate was up for election every two years. This allows at least some Senate elections to be held during any presidential or midterm election year, as the U.S. President is elected to a fixed term of four years and members of the U.S. House of Representatives are elected to fixed terms of two years. The objective is to promote stability in the Senate, and encourage senators to deliberate measures over time, rather than risk a rapid turnover of the entire chamber every six years. At the same time, it is provided for more frequent elections as opposed to waiting every six years, to prevent senators from permanently combining for "sinister purposes".


title: Classes of United States senators

text: The allocation took place in May 1789, several weeks after the first Senate assembled. Only twenty senators from ten states were present; North Carolina and Rhode Island had not yet ratified the U.S. Constitution, and New York, because of its late ratification, had not yet selected its senators. To decide on how to implement the division into classes, on May 11 the Senate appointed a committee consisting of Senators Ellsworth, Carroll, and Few. In accordance with their recommendation, on May 14 the Senate divided the members into three classes:


title: Classes of United States senators

text: On the next day, May 15, the term expiration of each class was determined by drawing lots. Lot 1 was drawn by Dalton, 2by Wingate, and 3by Langdon.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: Upon the expiration of a senator's term of any length, someone starts a new six-year term as senator (based on election by the state legislatures until the Seventeenth Amendment required direct popular election of senators).


title: Classes of United States senators

text: When a new state is admitted to the Union, its two senators have terms that correspond to those of two different classes. Which two classes is determined by a scheme that keeps the three classes as close to the same size as possible; one that avoids the largest class differing by more than one senator from the smallest class. A random draw determines which new senator enters which of the classes selected to be expanded. This means at least one of any new state's first pair of senators has a term of more than two and up to six years, and the other has a term that is either two or four years shorter.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: New York, which held its first Senate elections in July 1789, was the first state to undergo this process after the original May 1789 draw by the first Senate. Among the new senators, Philip Schuyler drew the lot for class1 (whose term would end in 1791) while Rufus King drew class3 (whose term would end in 1795). This made class1 have 8 senators while classes 2and 3 have 7 senators each. North Carolina was then assigned classes 2and 3 after holding its first Senate elections in November 1789, making all three classes have 8 seats each.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: When the last state, Hawaii, was admitted in 1959, its first Senate elections had candidates run either for "seat A" or "seat B". The new senators Hiram Fong and Oren E. Long, in a process managed by the Secretary of the Senate, drew lots to determine which of the two would join the class1 (whose term would end in five-and-a-half years), and which would join class3 (whose term would end in three-and-a-half years).


title: Classes of United States senators

text: Should a 51st state be admitted, it would receive senators in classes 1and 2, at which point all three classes would have 34 senators.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: Because each state is represented by two senators, regardless of population, each class varies in electorate and populace. Since the early 19th century it so happens Class2 senators cumulatively co-represent 50–60% of the population; senators from each of the other two classes: 70–75% of the population of the United States. (Because each state has two senators, the sum total of these figures is 200%, not 100%.) Relatively populous states California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio have their senators in classes 1and 3, provoking this imbalance.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: The only times when both of a state's Senate seats could be up for election in the same year are when either a new state joins the union (as mentioned above), or when one of the seats is involved in a special election to fill a vacancy, usually either due to the incumbent resigning or dying while in office. A special election can be held during either presidential, midterm, or odd-numbered "off-year" elections regardless of the seat's class.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: States with a class 1 senator: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: States with a class 2 senator: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: States with a class 3 senator: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.


title: Classes of United States senators

text: "This table is re-sorted every two years so that the next scheduled election year appears at the top."


title: Classes of United States senators

text: The following table lists the senators by state and by class, including the states' Cook Partisan Voting Index ratings, which indicate the party direction in which a state tends to lean and the extent of that lean.


title: Piter De Vries

text: Piter De Vries is a fictional character from the "Dune" universe created by Frank Herbert. He is primarily featured in the 1965 novel "Dune", but also appears in the "Prelude to Dune" prequel trilogy (1999–2001) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.


title: Piter De Vries

text: De Vries is portrayed by Brad Dourif in David Lynch's 1984 film "Dune", by Jan Unger in the 2000 "Dune" miniseries, and by David Dastmalchian in the 2021 Denis Villeneuve film "Dune".


title: Piter De Vries

text: In the service of the ruthless Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, De Vries is a Mentat—a human specially trained to perform mental functions rivaling computers, which are forbidden universe-wide, after the Butlerian Jihad. In addition, De Vries has been "twisted" into an amoral sadist by the Tleilaxu.


title: Piter De Vries

text: When De Vries is introduced in the novel, he is first described as "a slender, short man with effeminate face", and when Jessica meets him for the first time, he is described as "tall, though slender, and something about him suggested effeminacy". De Vries is described in the novel "Dune" (though not portrayed on screen) as being addicted to the drug melange, which colors both the sclera and irises of users a deep blue. He also has the ruby red lips characteristic of sapho-drinkers.


title: Piter De Vries

text: De Vries is so loyal to Harkonnen that he continues to serve the Baron with great enthusiasm even though his Mentat abilities and great intelligence confirm his suspicions that his master plans to eventually kill him. As he says in "Dune":


title: Piter De Vries

text: In "Dune", it is established that De Vries had pioneered a type of toxin called "residual poison" which remains in the body for years and requires an antidote to be administered regularly. One such fatal poison is secretly administered by the Harkonnens to Thufir Hawat, the Mentat of House Atreides, in order to guarantee Hawat's allegiance to the Harkonnens, who alone possess the antidote. De Vries is the architect of the plan to destroy House Atreides, longtime enemy of the Harkonnens, while restoring the Baron's stewardship over the planet Arrakis. Dr. Wellington Yueh, personal physician to House Atreides, has undergone Suk conditioning, which renders him incapable of inflicting harm on his patients. De Vries breaks this conditioning through torture and psychological manipulation, and Yueh eventually betrays House Atreides. De Vries originally plans to claim Lady Jessica, the concubine of Duke Leto Atreides, as his slave, but accepts an offer to become governor of Arrakis instead. However, Yueh has given the captured Leto a false tooth filled with poison gas. When Leto crushes the tooth, the intended victim Baron Harkonnen escapes, but Leto and De Vries die.


title: Piter De Vries

text: In "" (published in 2001 and the third novel in the "Prelude to Dune" prequel series by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson), Piter De Vries discovers the Harkonnen heritage of Lady Jessica and her newborn son Paul, and attempts to kidnap and ransom the infant. The plot is thwarted and the secret preserved—the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam kills the Mentat and arranges for his corpse to be shipped home to Giedi Prime. An enraged Baron is left with no choice but to order a duplicate from the Bene Tleilax: the Mentat De Vries featured in Herbert's original novel "Dune".


title: Piter De Vries

text: De Vries is portrayed by Brad Dourif in David Lynch's 1984 film "Dune", Jan Unger in the 2000 "Dune" miniseries, and David Dastmalchian in Denis Villeneuve's 2021 film "Dune".


title: Taxus

text: Taxus is a genus of coniferous trees or shrubs known as yews in the family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of , with trunk girth averaging . They have reddish bark, lanceolate, flat, dark-green leaves long and broad, arranged spirally on the stem, but with the leaf bases twisted to align the leaves in two flat rows either side of the stem. The oldest known fossil species are from the Early Cretaceous.


title: Taxus

text: The seed cones are highly modified, each cone containing a single seed long partly surrounded by a modified scale which develops into a soft, bright red berry-like structure called an aril, long and wide and open at the end. The arils are mature 6–9 months after pollination, and with the seed contained are eaten by thrushes, waxwings and other birds, which disperse the hard seeds undamaged in their droppings; maturation of the arils is spread over 2–3 months, increasing the chances of successful seed dispersal. The male cones are globose, across, and shed their pollen in early spring. Yews are mostly dioecious, but occasional individuals can be variably monoecious, or change sex with time.


title: Taxus

text: All of the yews are very closely related to each other, and some botanists treat them all as subspecies or varieties of just one widespread species; under this treatment, the species name used is "Taxus baccata", the first yew described scientifically. Other sources, however, recognize 9 species, for example the Plant List.


title: Taxus

text: "Taxus" species appear similar. Attempts at taxonomy vary from describing all yews as subspecies of "T. baccata", as did RKF Pilger in 1903, to splitting species by even very small morphological differences, as did R. W. Spjut in 2007 with 25 species and over 50 varieties. Some species have traditionally been recognized by geographic distribution, but Asian species have been more difficult to classify. "T. contorta" in the Western Himalaya and "T. sumatrana" in Malesia are now generally agreed upon, but overlapping ranges in the Eastern Himalaya, China, and subtropical southeast Asia have led to greater confusion, with the species "T. chinensis", "T. mairei", and "T. wallichiana" being elucidated only in the 21st century with the aid of molecular phylogenetics.


title: Taxus

text: The most distinct is the Sumatran yew ("T. sumatrana", native to Sumatra and Celebes north to southernmost China), distinguished by its sparse, sickle-shaped yellow-green leaves. The Mexican yew ("T. globosa", native to eastern Mexico south to Honduras) is also relatively distinct with foliage intermediate between Sumatran yew and the other species. The Florida yew, Mexican yew and Pacific yew are all rare species listed as threatened or endangered.


title: Taxus

text: All species of yew contain highly poisonous taxine alkaloids, with some variation in the exact formula of the alkaloid between the species. All parts of the tree except the arils contain the alkaloid. The arils are edible and sweet, but the seed is dangerously poisonous; unlike birds, the human stomach can break down the seed coat and release the toxins into the body. This can have fatal results if yew 'berries' are eaten without removing the seeds first. Grazing animals, particularly cattle and horses, are also sometimes found dead near yew trees after eating the leaves, though deer are able to break down the poisons and will eat yew foliage freely. In the wild, deer browsing of yews is often so extensive that wild yew trees are commonly restricted to cliffs and other steep slopes inaccessible to deer. The foliage is also eaten by the larvae of some Lepidopteran insects including the moth willow beauty.


title: Taxus

text: Yews occur around the globe in temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, northernmost in Norway and southernmost in the South Celebes. Some populations exist in tropical highlands. Yews typically occur in the understory or canopy of moist temperate or tropical mountain forests. Elevation varies by latitude from in tropical forests to near sea level in its northernmost populations.


title: Taxus

text: Yews are common in landscape architecture, giving rise to widespread naturalized populations in the United States. There, both "T. baccata" and "T. cuspidata" are common ornamental shrubs.


title: Taxus

text: "T. baccata" appears throughout Europe and into western Asia. "T. cuspidata" occurs over much of East Asia, in China, Japan, Korea, and Sakhalin. "T. brevifolia" ranges in the United States from California to Montana and Alaska, while "T. canadensis" appears in the northeastern United States and southeast Canada.


title: Taxus

text: All parts of a yew plant are toxic to humans with the exception of the yew berries (which however contain a toxic seed); additionally, male and dioecious yews in this genus release cytotoxic pollen, which can cause headaches, lethargy, aching joints, itching, and skin rashes; it is also a trigger for asthma. These pollen granules are extremely small, and can easily pass through window screens. Male yews bloom and release abundant amounts of pollen in the spring; completely female yews only trap pollen while producing none.


title: Taxus

text: Yews in this genus are primarily separate-sexed, and males are extremely allergenic, with an OPALS allergy scale rating of 10 out of 10. Completely female yews have an OPALS rating of 1, and are considered "allergy-fighting".


title: Taxus

text: Yew wood is reddish brown (with whiter sapwood), and is very springy. It was traditionally used to make bows, especially the longbow.


title: Taxus

text: Latin taxus "yew tree," is probably borrowed, via Greek, from "Taxša", the Scythian word for yew (and bow) (cognate of Persian تخش "Taxš", meaning bow).


title: Taxus

text: British yews tend to be too gnarly, and thus the wood for English longbows used at the Battle of Agincourt was imported from Spain or northern Italy. Ötzi, the Chalcolithic mummy found in 1991 in the Italian Alps, carried an unfinished bow made of yew wood. Consequently, it is not surprising that in Norse mythology, the abode of the god of the bow, Ullr, had the name Ydalir (Yew Dales). Most longbow wood used in northern Europe was imported from Iberia, where climatic conditions are better for growing the knot-free yew wood required. The yew longbow was the critical weapon used by the English in the defeat of the French cavalry at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415.


title: Taxus

text: It is suggested that English parishes were required to grow yews and, because of the trees' toxic properties, they were grown in the only commonly enclosed area of a village – the churchyard. The yew tree can often be found in church graveyards and is symbolic of sadness. Such a representation appears in Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem "In Memoriam A.H.H." (2.61–64).


title: Taxus

text: The yew can be very long-lived. The Fortingall Yew has been considered to be the oldest tree in Europe, at something over 2,000 years old. Tradition has it that Pontius Pilate slept under it while on duty before 30 AD. This has been topped by a tree in the churchyard of a small Welsh village called St Cynog. It has been dated to 5,000 years old by dendrologist Janis Fry. Such old trees usually consist of a circular ring of growths of yew, since their heart has long since rotted away.


title: Taxus

text: The Eihwaz rune is named after the yew, and sometimes also associated with the "evergreen" world tree, Yggdrasil.


title: Taxus

text: Yews are widely used in landscaping and ornamental horticulture. Over 400 cultivars of yews have been named, the vast majority of these being derived from European yew ("Taxus baccata") or Japanese yew ("Taxus cuspidata"). The hybrid between these two species is "Taxus" × "media". A popular fastigiate selection of the European yew ("Taxus baccata" 'Fastigiata') is often called the Irish yew, illustrating the difficulties with common names. A few cultivars with yellow leaves are collectively known as golden yews.


title: Taxus

text: The Pacific yew ("Taxus brevifolia"), native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, and the Canada yew ("Taxus canadensis") of Eastern and Central North America were the initial sources of paclitaxel or Taxol, a chemotherapeutic drug used in breast and lung cancer treatment and, more recently, in the production of the Taxus drug eluting stent by Boston Scientific. Over-harvesting of the Pacific yew for paclitaxel led to fears that it would become an endangered species, since the drug was initially extracted from the bark of the yew, the harvesting of which kills the tree. On January 18, 2008, the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (representing botanic gardens in 120 countries) stated that "400 medicinal plants are at risk of extinction, from over-collection and deforestation, threatening the discovery of future cures for disease." These included yew trees, whose bark is used for the cancer drug paclitaxel.


title: Taxus

text: However, methods were developed to produce the drug semi-synthetically from the leaves of cultivated European yews. Those can be sustainably harvested without the need to further endanger wild populations, and the Pacific yew is no longer at risk. The more common Canada yew is also being successfully harvested in northern Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, and has become another major source of paclitaxel. Other yew species contain similar compounds with similar biochemical activity. Docetaxel, an analogue of paclitaxel, is derived from the European yew ("Taxus baccata").


title: Taxus

text: The yew tree is a frequent symbol in the Christian poetry of T. S. Eliot, especially his "Four Quartets".


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: The siege of Dubrovnik () was a military engagement fought between the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Croatian forces defending the city of Dubrovnik and its surroundings during the Croatian War of Independence. The JNA started its advance on 1 October 1991, and by late October, it had captured virtually all the land between the Pelješac and Prevlaka peninsulas on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, with the exception of Dubrovnik itself. The siege was accompanied by a Yugoslav Navy blockade. The JNA's bombardment of Dubrovnik, including that of the Old Town—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—culminated on 6 December 1991. The bombardment provoked international condemnation, and became a public relations disaster for Serbia and Montenegro, contributing to their diplomatic and economic isolation, as well as the international recognition of Croatia's independence. In May 1992, the JNA retreated to Bosnia and Herzegovina, less than from the coast in some places, and handed over its equipment to the newly formed Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). During this time, the Croatian Army (HV) attacked from the west and pushed back the JNA/VRS from the areas east of Dubrovnik, both in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and by the end of May linked up with the HV unit defending the city. Fighting between the HV and Yugoslav troops east of Dubrovnik gradually died down.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: The siege resulted in the deaths of 194 Croatian military personnel, as well as 82–88 Croatian civilians. The JNA suffered 165 fatalities. The entire region was recaptured by the HV in Operation Tiger and the Battle of Konavle by the end of 1992. The offensive resulted in the displacement of 15,000 people, mainly from Konavle, who fled to Dubrovnik. Approximately 16,000 refugees were evacuated from Dubrovnik by sea, and the city was resupplied by blockade-evading runabouts and a convoy of civilian vessels. More than 11,000 buildings were damaged and numerous homes, businesses, and public buildings were looted or torched.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: The operation was part of a plan drawn up by the JNA aimed at securing the Dubrovnik area and then proceeding north-west to link up with the JNA troops in northern Dalmatia via western Herzegovina. The offensive was accompanied by a significant amount of war propaganda. In 2000, Montenegrin president Milo Đukanović apologized for the siege, eliciting an angry response from his political opponents and from Serbia. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted two Yugoslav officers for their involvement in the siege and handed a third over to Serbia for prosecution. The ICTY indictment stated that the offensive was designed to detach the Dubrovnik region from Croatia and integrate it into a Serb-dominated state through an unsuccessful proclamation of the Dubrovnik Republic on 24 November 1991. In addition, Montenegro convicted four former JNA soldiers of prisoner abuse at the Morinj camp. Croatia also charged several former JNA or Yugoslav Navy officers and a former Bosnian Serb leader with war crimes, but no trials have yet resulted from these indictments.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: In August 1990, an insurrection took place in Croatia, centred on the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around the city of Knin, parts of the Lika, Kordun, and Banovina regions, and settlements in eastern Croatia with significant Serb populations. These areas were subsequently named the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) and after declaring its intention to integrate with Serbia, the Government of Croatia declared the RSK a rebellion. By March 1991, the conflict had escalated and the Croatian War of Independence erupted. In June 1991, Croatia declared its independence as Yugoslavia disintegrated. A three-month moratorium followed, after which the decision came into effect on 8 October. The RSK then initiated a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Croat civilians, expelling most non-Serbs by early 1993. By November 1993, fewer than 400 ethnic Croats remained in the United Nations (UN) protected area known as Sector South, and a further 1,500 – 2,000 remained in Sector North.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: As the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) increasingly supported the RSK, and the Croatian Police were unable to cope with the situation, the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) was formed in May 1991. In November, the ZNG was renamed the Croatian Army (HV). The development of the military of Croatia was hampered by a UN arms embargo introduced in September, while the military conflict in Croatia continued to escalate with the Battle of Vukovar, which started on 26 August.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: Dubrovnik is the southernmost major Croatian city. It is located on the Adriatic Sea coast. The walled city centre, known as the Old Town, is a site of historical monuments and heritage buildings largely dating to the Republic of Ragusa; the city has been placed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 1991, the city had a population of approximately 50,000, of whom 82.4% were Croats and 6.8% were Serbs. Croatian territory surrounding the city stretches from the Pelješac peninsula to the west and the Prevlaka peninsula in the east at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor on the border with Montenegro. This territory is very narrow, especially near Dubrovnik itself, and consists of a wide coastal strip of land.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: In mid-1991, top JNA commandersincluding Yugoslav Federal Defence Minister General Veljko Kadijević, JNA Chief of the General Staff General Blagoje Adžić and deputy defence minister Vice Admiral Stane Brovetplanned a military offensive entailing an attack on the Dubrovnik area followed by a westward JNA advance towards western Herzegovina to link up with the JNA 9th Knin Corps in northern Dalmatia once the area was secured. General Jevrem Cokić submitted the plan of the Dubrovnik offensive to Adžić for his approval.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: In September 1991, the JNA and the leaders of Montenegro said that Dubrovnik should be attacked and neutralized to ensure Montenegro's territorial integrity, to prevent ethnic clashes and to preserve the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović stated that Croatian borders needed be revised, attributing the existing border line to "poorly educated Bolshevik cartographers". The propaganda, compounded by JNA Colonel General Pavle Strugar's allegations that 30,000 Croatian troops and 7,000 terrorists and Kurdish mercenaries were about to attack Montenegro and seize the Bay of Kotor, led many in Montenegro to believe that Croatia had actually started an invasion. The newspaper "Pobjeda" was the most significant media source that contributed to the spread of the propaganda. In July 1991, high-ranking Serbian official Mihalj Kertes said at a political rally in Nikšić that a Serbian state was to be established west of Montenegro extending to the Neretva River with Dubrovnikrenamed Nikšić-at-Seaas its capital.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: On 16 September 1991, the JNA mobilized in Montenegro citing the deteriorating situation in Croatia. Despite a radio broadcast appeal by the JNA 2nd Titograd Corps on 17 September, considerable numbers of reservists refused to respond to the call-up. On 18 September, Đukanović threatened harsh punishment of deserters and those refusing to respond to the mobilization. The mobilization and propaganda were in contrast with assurances from the Yugoslav federal authorities in Belgrade that there would be no attack against Dubrovnik. The JNA's strategic plan to defeat Croatia included an offensive to cut off the southernmost parts of Croatia, including Dubrovnik, from the rest of the country.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: On 23 September, JNA artillery attacked the village of Vitaljina in the eastern part of Konavle and Brgat to the east of Dubrovnik. Two days later, the Yugoslav Navy blockaded maritime routes to the city. On 26 September, the JNA renamed its Eastern Herzegovina Operational Group the 2nd Operational Group and subordinated it directly to the Federal Ministry of Defence and the JNA General Staff. Cokić was appointed the first commanding officer of the 2nd Operational Group but was replaced by General Mile Ružinovski on 5 October following the shooting down of Cokić's helicopter. Strugar replaced Ružinovski on 12 October.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: The JNA tasked the 2nd Titograd Corps and the 9th Boka Kotorska Military-Maritime Sector (VPS)both of which were elements of the 2nd Operational Groupwith cutting off and capturing the Dubrovnik area. The 2nd Titograd Corps deployed the 1st Nikšić Brigade while the 9th Boka Kotorska VPS employed the 5th and the 472nd Motorized Brigades. The Corps boundary running north-to-south near Dubrovnik was set. The 2nd Operational Group also commanded the 16th Border Patrol Detachment and 107th Coastal Artillery Group, and mobilised Territorial Defence units from Herceg-Novi, Kotor, Tivat, Budva, Bar, Mojkovac, Bijelo Polje and Trebinje. Strugar was in overall command of the 2nd Operative Group while the 9th Boka Kotorska VPS was commanded by Vice Admiral Miodrag Jokić. Jokić replaced Admiral Krsto Đurović, who had died in uncertain circumstances hours before the offensive began. Major General Nojko Marinović, once commanding the 472nd Motorized Brigade and subordinate of Đurović, said that the JNA had killed the admiral because he opposed the offensive. Marinović resigned his post on 17 September and joined the Croatian ZNG. The JNA 2nd Operational Group initially deployed 7,000 troops and maintained similar troop levels throughout the offensive.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: The defences of Dubrovnik were almost non-existentat the outset of hostilities there were 480 troops in the city area, out of which only 50 had some training. The only regular military unit was a platoon armed with light infantry weapons that was stationed in the Napoleonic era Fort Imperial atop the Srđ Hill overlooking Dubrovnik. The rest of the troops in the area were poorly armed because the Croatian Territorial Defence had been disarmed by the JNA in 1989. Unlike elsewhere in Croatia, there had been no JNA garrisons or storage depots in Dubrovnik since 1972 and thus very few arms and munitions captured during the September Battle of the Barracks were available to defend Dubrovnik. On 26 September 200 rifles and four artillery pieces captured from the JNA on the island of Korčula were sent to reinforce the city. The guns were a mix of 76 mm and 85 mm Soviet World War II-era divisional guns. In addition, an improvised armoured vehicle was supplied to the city. Dubrovnik also received additional HV, Croatian Police and Croatian Defence Forces troops from other parts of Croatia. This brought the number of Croatian troops in Dubrovnik to 600. By November, about 1,000 Croatian troops were defending the city. On 19 September, Marinović was appointed commanding officer of the defences in Dubrovnik, at which time he assessed them as inadequate. The troops, initially organized as the Territorial Defence of Dubrovnik, were reorganized into the HV 75th Independent Battalion on 28 December 1991 and were later reinforced with elements of the 116th Infantry Brigade to form the 163rd Infantry Brigade on 13 February 1992. The Armed Boats Squadron Dubrovnik, a volunteer military unit of the Croatian Navy consisting of 23 vessels of various sizes and 117 volunteers, was established on 23 September to counter the Yugoslav Navy blockade.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: On 1 October, the JNA started its offensive towards Dubrovnik, moving the 2nd Titograd Corps west through the Popovo field north of the city. The JNA 2nd Corps destroyed the village of Ravno before turning south towards Dubrovačko Primorje area, aiming to envelop Dubrovnik from the west. The second axis of the JNA advance was assigned to the 9th Boka Kotorska VPS. It originated in the Bay of Kotor about south-east of Dubrovnik and was directed through Konavle. The advance started at 5 am after preparatory artillery fire against Vitaljina and other targets in Konavle. The advance, using several roads in the region, was supported by the Yugoslav Navy and the Air Force. Croatian defences were nonexistent in Konavle and light in Dubrovačko Primorje—the only JNA casualties of the day occurred during a successful ZNG ambush in Čepikuće village. On the first day of the offensive, JNA artillery attacked Srđ Hill and the Žarkovica promontory just to the north and east of Dubrovnik, while Yugoslav Air Force MiG-21s raided Komolac in Rijeka Dubrovačka to the west, destroying supplies of electricity and water to Dubrovnik. Until the end of December, Dubrovnik relied on fresh water supplied by boats and electricity from a few electric generators.<ref name="UNSC 28 December 1994 Section VI/B"></ref>


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: Over the next three days, the JNA made slow progress. Its artillery attacked Srđ Hill, the Fort Imperial and Žarkovica on 2 October. The next day, the JNA shelled Dubrovnik's Belvedere Hotel, where a ZNG defence post was located, and the Yugoslav Air Force bombarded the city's Argentina Hotel. On 4 October, the JNA 2nd Corps captured Slano in Dubrovačko Primorje, interdicting the Adriatic Highway there and isolating Dubrovnik from the rest of Croatia. On 5 October, the Ploče district of Dubrovnik was shelled, followed by a Yugoslav Air Force strike on the Fort Imperial the next day.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: On 15 October, Croatia offered peace talks to Montenegro, but the President of Serbia Slobodan Milošević dismissed the offer. The offer was made to the Montenegrin officials because the offensive was first officially endorsed by the Montenegrin government on 1 October. Three days later, Serbia publicly distanced itself from the move, blaming Croatia for provoking the JNA. On the seventh day of the offensive, the Montenegrin parliament blamed the JNA for the attack. On 16 Octobera day after Milošević declined the Croatian offerthe JNA 9th Boka Kotorska VPS force captured Cavtat. The capture of Cavtat was supported by an amphibious landing operation approximately east of Dubrovnik and an airstrike on Ploče district of Dubrovnik on 18 October. The following day, a ceasefire was agreed but it was violated as soon as it came into effect. On 20 October, the Yugoslav Air Force attacked Dubrovnik and on 22 October, the Yugoslav Navy bombarded hotels housing refugees in the Lapad area of the city.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: On 23 October, the JNA started a sustained artillery bombardment of Dubrovnik, including the Old Town within the city walls, drawing a protest from the United States Department of State the next day. The JNA 9th VPS captured Župa Dubrovačka and Brgat on 24 October, while the Yugoslav Navy bombarded Lokrum Island. The next day, the JNA issued an ultimatum to the city, demanding its surrender and the removal of elected officials from Dubrovnik. On 26 October, the JNA captured the Žarkovica promontory south-east from the city centre, and took most of the high ground overlooking Dubrovnik by 27 October. The JNA 2nd Corps south-western drive towards Dubrovnik was slower. It destroyed a large portion of the Trsteno Arboretum. The JNA advance displaced about 15,000 refugees from the areas it captured. About 7,000 people were evacuated from Dubrovnik by sea in October; the rest took refuge in hotels and elsewhere in the city.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: The JNA continued its artillery strikes against Dubrovnik on 30 October and the bombardment continued until 4 November, targeting the western areas of DubrovnikGruž and Lapad—as well as the Babin Kuk and Argentina hotels, which were housing refugees. On 3–4 November, JNA troops attacked the Old Town and the Argentina Hotel using small arms and sniper fire from positions held by the 3rd Battalion of the JNA 472th Motorized Brigade, which occupied the positions closest to the city centre. The next day, Fort Imperial was bombarded once again. On 7 November, the JNA issued a new ultimatum demanding the surrender of Dubrovnik by noon. The demand was rejected and Jokić announced that the JNA would only spare the Old Town from destruction. The same day, fighting resumed near Slano.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: JNA artillery and the Yugoslav Navy resumed the bombardment of Dubrovnik between 9 and 12 November, targeting the Old Town, Gruž, Lapad and Ploče, as well as the Belvedere, Excelsior, Babin Kuk, Tirena, Imperial and Argentina hotels. Wire-guided missiles were used to attack boats in the Old Town harbour, while some larger ships at the port of Gružincluding the ferryboat "Adriatic" and the American-owned sailing ship "Pelagic", were set ablaze and destroyed by gunfire. Fort Imperial was attacked by the JNA on 9, 10 and 13 November. These attacks were followed by a lull which lasted until the end of November when the European Union Monitoring Mission (ECMM) mediated in negotiations between the JNA and Croatian authorities in Dubrovnik. The ECMM was withdrawn in mid-November after its personnel were attacked by the JNA, and the mediation was taken over by French State Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs Bernard Kouchner and UNICEF Mission Chief Stephan Di Mistura. The negotiations produced ceasefire agreements on 19 November and 5 December, but neither yielded any specific results on the ground. Instead, the JNA 2nd Corps units located in Dubrovačko Primorje, north-west of Dubrovnik, closed in on the city, reaching the farthest point of their advance on 24 November, as the city defences were pushed back to Sustjepan–Srđ–Belvedere Hotel line. That day, the JNA tried to establish the Dubrovnik Republic in the area it occupied, but the attempt ultimately failed.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: In November, Dubrovnik began receiving the largest deliveries of humanitarian aid since the beginning of the siege. The first successful attempt to sustain the city was the Libertas convoy—a fleet of civilian vessels, the largest being Jadrolinija's "Slavija"—which arrived in Dubrovnik on 31 October. The convoy sailed from Rijeka and made several port calls, growing to 29 vessels as it approached Dubrovnik. The convoywhich also carried the ECMM observers, at least 1,000 protesters, the President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia Stjepan Mesić and the former Prime Minister of Croatia Franjo Gregurićwas initially stopped by the Yugoslav frigate JRM "Split" between the islands of Brač and Šolta, and the next day by Yugoslav patrol boats off Korčula before the Armed Boats Squadron linked up with the fleet and escorted it to the Port of Dubrovnik in Gruž. On its return, the 700-capacity "Slavija" evacuated 2,000 refugees from Dubrovnik, although she had to sail to the Bay of Kotor first for inspection by the Yugoslav Navy.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: On 2–3 December, the JNA resumed infantry weapons fire against the Old Town, followed by mortar fire against Fort Imperial on 4 December. The heaviest bombardment of the Old Town started at 5:48 am on 6 December. The Old Town was struck by 48 missiles, 232 and 364 mortar shells, as well as 22 wire-guided missiles. Two impact craters indicated the use of heavier weapons. The bombardment was concentrated on Stradun—the central promenade of the Old Town—and areas north-east of Stradun, while other parts of the Old Town sustained relatively few impacts. The attack subsided at 11:30 am. It killed 13 civiliansthe heaviest loss of civilian life during the siege. The Dubrovnik Inter-University Centre library containing 20,000 volumes was also destroyed in the attack and the Libertas Hotel was bombarded by JNA artillery aiming to kill firefighters putting out fires caused by an attack earlier that day. The 6 December attack of the Old Town was met with strong protests from the international media, UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Cyrus Vance and the ECMM on the day of the bombardment. Later that day, the JNA issued a statement of regret and promised an inquiry. On 7 December, representatives of the JNA visited the Old Town to inspect the damage but no further actions were noted.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: All of the Croatian defences were away from the Old Town, except for Fort Imperial about to the north. The fortress was attacked at 5:50 amminutes after the bombardment of the Old Town began. The attack was executed by the 3rd Battalion of the JNA 472nd Motorized Brigade, advancing simultaneously from two directions. The primary attack consisted of a company-sized force, and the secondary of a platoon of infantrymenboth supported by T-55 tanks and artillery. By 8 am, the infantry reached Fort Imperial, forcing the defending force to retreat into the fortification and request help. Marinović ordered HV artillery to fire directly onto the fortress and dispatched a special police unit to reinforce the Fort Imperial garrison. By 2 pm, the JNA called off the attack. That day, "Sveti Vlaho"—the first vessel commissioned by the Armed Boats Squadron Dubrovnik and named after the patron saint of the city Saint Blaise—was sunk by a wire-guided missile.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: On 7 December 1991, another ceasefire was agreed and the JNA force besieging Dubrovnik became largely inactive. In January 1992, the Sarajevo Agreement was signed by representatives of Croatia, the JNA and the UN, and fighting was paused. The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was deployed to Croatia to supervise and maintain the agreement. Serbia continued to support the RSK. The conflict largely passed onto entrenched positions and the JNA soon retreated from Croatia into Bosnia and Herzegovina, where a new conflict was anticipated. The only exception was the Dubrovnik area, where the JNA attacked westward from Dubrovačko Primorje, pushing back elements of the HV's 114th and 116th Infantry Brigades and reaching the outskirts of Ston by the beginning of 1992.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: The capabilities of the HV increased dramatically in the first few months of 1992 because it acquired large stockpiles of JNA's weapons in the Battle of the Barracks. After the JNA disengaged in Croatia, its personnel prepared to set up a new Bosnian Serb army, later renamed the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). The move followed the Bosnian Serb declaration of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 January 1992, ahead of the 29 February–1 March 1992 referendum on Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence. The referendum would later be cited as a pretext for the Bosnian War, which commenced in early April 1992, when the VRS's artillery began shelling Sarajevo. The JNA and the VRS in Bosnia and Herzegovina were confronted by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), reporting to the Bosniak-dominated central government and the Bosnian Croat leadership respectively. The HV sometimes deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina to support the HVO.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: In April 1992, the JNA began offensive operations against the HV and the HVO in areas of western and southern Herzegovina near Kupres and Stolac. The 4th Military District of the JNA, commanded by Strugar, aimed to capture Stolac and most of the eastern bank of the Neretva River south of Mostar. The fighting around Mostar and JNA artillery attacks on the city started on 6 April. The JNA pushed the HV/HVO force from Stolac on 11 April and Čapljina came under JNA fire. A ceasefire was arranged on 7 May but the JNA and the Bosnian Serb forces resumed the attack the next day. The attack succeeded in capturing a large part of Mostar and some territory on the western bank of the Neretva River. On 12 May, the JNA forces based in Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of the VRS, and the JNA 2nd Operational Group was renamed as the 4th VRS Herzegovina Corps. Croatia saw the JNA moves as a prelude to attacks on southern Croatia specifically aimed at the Port of Ploče and possibly Split. To counter the threat, the HV appointed General Janko Bobetko to command the Southern Front, encompassing the Herzegovina and Dubrovnik areas. Bobetko reorganized the HVO command structure and assumed command of the HVO in the region and newly deployed HV units, the 1st Guards and the 4th Guards Brigades.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: The VRS and JNA attacked north of Ston on 11 April, pushing back elements of the HV 115th Infantry Brigade and elements of the arriving HV Guards Brigades for only modest territorial gain. The frontline stabilized by 23 April and the HV counterattacked and reclaimed some ground after 27 April. On 17 May, Bobetko ordered a major attack of the two full guards brigades. The 1st Guards Brigade was tasked with advancing to link up with the Ston Company guarding access to the Pelješac Peninsula and advance to Slano. The 4th Guards Brigade was ordered to secure the hinterland of the Dubrovačko Primorje by advancing along the rim of the Popovo field. At the same time, the JNA was pressured by the international community to pull back east of Dubrovnik to Konavle.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: The 1st Guards Brigade, supported by elements of the 115th Infantry Brigade, captured Čepikuće on 21 May and Slano on 22–23 May. The Armed Boats Squadron Dubrovnik landed troops in Slano the previous night, but they were repulsed by the JNA. On the night of 23–24 May, the JNA attacked Sustjepan and the northern outskirts of Dubrovnik. On 26 May, the JNA started to pull out of Mokošica and Žarkovica. The 163rd Infantry Brigade advanced from Dubrovnik; its 1st Battalion took positions in Brgat and Župa Dubrovačka, and the 2nd Battalion deployed to Osojnik. On 29 May, the 4th Guards Brigade recaptured Ravno. On 31 May, the 2nd Battalion of the 163rd Brigade pushed the JNA to the Golubov Kamen massif overlooking the Adriatic Highway section tracing around the Rijeka Dubrovačka embayment, but failed to capture the massif. The brigade was relieved by the 145th Infantry Brigade on 15 June. Dubrovnik was targeted by the JNA artillery continuously until 16 June, and then intermittently until 30 June. On 7 June, the 1st Guards and the 4th Guards Brigades ceased their advance in Dubrovačko Primorje in the vicinity of Orahov Do, a village to the north of Slano.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: Regardless of its military outcome, the siege of Dubrovnik is primarily remembered for the large-scale looting by JNA troops and the artillery bombardment of Dubrovnik, especially its Old Town. The reaction of the international media and media coverage of the siege reinforced an opinion, already taking shape since the fall of Vukovar, that the conduct of the JNA and the Serbs was barbaric and intent on dominating Croatia, regardless of the destruction of priceless cultural heritage that occurred in the process. Serbian authorities thought the international community had no moral grounds to judge because they did not interfere when hundreds of thousands of Serbs were killed in Croatian concentration camps during World War II. Besides the protests made by Mayor Zaragoza, Vance and the ECMM, 104 Nobel Prize laureates published a full-page advertisement in "The New York Times" on 14 January 1992 at the incentive of Linus Pauling, urging governments throughout the world to stop the unrestrained destruction by the JNA. During the siege, UNESCO placed Dubrovnik on its list of World Heritage in Danger. Because the siege shaped international opinion of the Croatian War of Independence, it became a major contributor to a shift in the international diplomatic and economic isolation of Serbia and rump Yugoslavia, which came to be viewed as an aggressor-state in the West. On 17 December 1991, the European Economic Community agreed to recognize the independence of Croatia on 15 January 1992.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: Between October and December 1991, the JNA captured approximately of territory around Dubrovnikall of which the HV recaptured in its May 1992 counterattack as the JNA pulled back east of Dubrovnik, and in subsequent HV offensivesOperation Tiger and the Battle of Konavle between July and October 1992. Between 82 and 88 Croatian civilians were killed in the siege, as were 194 Croatian military personnel. Ninety-four Croatian soldiers were killed between October and December 1991. A total of 417 were killed in all military operations around Dubrovnik by the end of October 1992. The JNA suffered 165 fatalities. Approximately 15,000 refugees from Konavle and other areas around Dubrovnik fled to the city, and about 16,000 refugees were evacuated by sea from Dubrovnik to other parts of Croatia. The JNA set up two prisoner-of-war camps to detain those it had captured, one at Bileća and the other at Morinj. During and after the offensive, 432 people, mainly civilians from Konavle, were imprisoned—292 in Morinj and 140 in Bileća—and subjected to physical and psychological abuse. The abuse was perpetrated by JNA personnel and paramilitaries, as well as civilians, and included beatings and mock executions. Many of the detainees were exchanged for prisoners of war held by Croatia on 12 December 1991. The two camps remained in operation until August 1992.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: 11,425 buildings in the region sustained damage; 886 were totally destroyed and 1,675 sustained damage. The cost of the damage was estimated at 480 million Deutsche Marks. Damage to the Old Town of Dubrovnik was observed by a UNESCO team which stayed in the city from 27 November until 20 December 1991. It was estimated that 55.9 percent of buildings were damaged, that 11.1 percent were heavily damaged and one percent were burned down. Seven burnt Baroque palaces were the greatest losses. Additional damage was caused by the JNA troops looting museums, businesses and private homes. All exhibits held by Vlaho Bukovac Memorial Museum in Cavtat were taken away by the JNA, as were contents of hotels in Kupari. The Franciscan monastery of St. Jerome in Slano was also targeted. The JNA admitted that looting took place, but Jokić said the property would be distributed to Serbian refugees by a special JNA administration set up on 15 December 1991. It is probable, however, that the looted property ended up in private homes or was sold on the black market. Dubrovnik's Čilipi Airport was also targeted and its equipment taken to Podgorica and Tivat Airports.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: Following attempts to justify the JNA offensive, authorities in Serbia and Montenegro tried to deny damage to the Old Town. Radio Television of Serbia said that smoke rising from the Old Town was the result of automobile tyres set on fire by the population of Dubrovnik, echoing Kadijević. Officials and media in Montenegro referred to the offensive as the "war for peace", or a blockade—applying the term to land operations and the naval blockade. According to a 2010 survey of public opinion in Serbia, 40 percent of those polled did not know who bombarded Dubrovnik, while 14 percent believed that no shelling occurred. In a June 2000 meeting with Croatian President Mesić, the President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović apologized to Croatia for the attack. The gesture was welcomed in Croatia, but it was condemned by Đukanović's political opponents in Montenegro and by authorities in Serbia.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: In 2007, Montenegrin filmmaker Koča Pavlović released a documentary entitled "Rat za mir" ("War for peace"), covering the role of propaganda in the siege, testimonies of Morinj camp prisoners and interviews with JNA soldiers. In 2011, Radio Television of Montenegro broadcast a documentary series using archive footage titled "Rat za Dubrovnik" ("War for Dubrovnik"), although an attempt to destroy records of warmongering television and "Pobjeda" newspaper reports had been made. In 2012, Aleksandar Črček and Marin Marušić produced a feature documentary titled "Konvoj Libertas" ("Libertas Convoy"), which was about the delivery of humanitarian aid to Dubrovnik through the naval blockade.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: Prosecutors of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), set up in 1993 and based on UN Security Council Resolution 827, indicted Milošević, Strugar, Jokić, the JNA 9th VPS chief of staff Captain Milan Zec and the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion of the JNA 472nd Motorized Brigade Captain 1st Class Vladimir Kovačević. The charges included allegations that the offensive against Dubrovnik aimed to detach the area from Croatia and annex it to Serbia or Montenegro. Jokić said that the offensive only aimed to blockade Dubrovnik, but that claim was later refuted by Cokić. Mihailo Crnobrnja, a former Yugoslav ambassador to the European Union, speculated that the siege was intended to force an end to blockades of JNA barracks in Croatia and to claim the Prevlaka Peninsula for Montenegro.


title: Siege of Dubrovnik

text: The trial of Slobodan Milošević was never completed because Milošević died on 11 March 2006 while in ICTY custody. Strugar was transferred to ICTY custody on 21 October 2001. The trial and appeals process was completed in 2008, with a final verdict of conviction of crimesincluding attacks on civilians, devastation not required by military necessity and violation of the laws and customs of war. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Strugar was granted an early release in 2009, seven years and four months after his transfer to the ICTY. Jokić was turned over to the ICTY on 12 November 2001. He pleaded guilty and was convicted of crimes including murder, cruel treatment, attacks on civilians and violations of laws of war. In 2004, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. The verdict was confirmed and became final in 2005. Jokić was transferred to Denmark to serve his sentence and was released on 1 September 2008. The ICTY withdrew charges against Zec on 26 July 2002. Kovačević was arrested in 2003 in Serbia and transferred to the ICTY. Following an insanity defence, he was provisionally released on 2 June 2004 and the proceedings were transferred to the judiciary in Serbia in 2007 and he underwent psychiatric treatment at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade. , Kovačević was considered unfit to stand trial by authorities in Serbia. The charges against him include murder, cruel treatment, devastation not required by military necessity and violations of laws of war.