title: Trump tariffs

text: On March 1, 2018, Trump announced his intention to impose a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports. In a tweet the next day, Trump asserted, "Trade wars are good, and easy to win." On March 8, he signed an order to impose the tariffs effective after 15 days. The EU, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and South Korea were temporarily exempted from the order under a carve-out provision. Canada, Mexico, and the EU became subject to the steel and aluminium tariffs later in an announcement on May 31, 2018. The U.S., Canada, and Mexico would reach a deal to remove the steel and aluminum tariffs in May 2019, almost a year after going into effect.


title: Trump tariffs

text: In December 2019, Trump tweeted that he would impose tariffs on Brazilian and Argentine metals, effective immediately, alleging the countries were manipulating their currencies to make their products more attractive in global markets. Economists disagreed the countries were devaluing their currencies, attributing the declines to global market forces. After speaking with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, Trump days later backed down from his threat against Brazil, but made no mention of Argentina.


title: Trump tariffs

text: While the 25% steel tariff as a rule applies to all countries worldwide, four countries have successfully negotiated a permanent exemption from it. Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull successfully lobbied President Trump to get an exemption at the 2017 G20 Hamburg summit, arguing "[w]e do this steel that's specialty steel. We're the only one that produces it in the world. You've got to let us out. You've got a $40 billion trade surplus with us. We're military allies with you. We're in every battle with you." However, On December 2, 2019, President Donald Trump reinstated steel and aluminium tariffs against Brazil, later backed down, and Argentina.


title: Trump tariffs

text: The legal basis cited in Trump's tariff order is Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 which under certain circumstances allows the president to impose tariffs based on the recommendation from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce if "an article is being imported into the United States in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten or impair the national security." This section is rarely used, and has never been invoked since the World Trade Organization was established in 1995.


title: Trump tariffs

text: China initiated a WTO complaint against the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs on April 9, 2018. The EU opened a similar WTO case on June 1, 2018.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On June 9, 2018, Trump tweeted a statement addressing Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau in which he said American tariffs targeting Canada "are in response to his [tariffs] of 270% on dairy!" In the tweet, Trump did not cite national security, the legal basis for implementing the tariff.


title: Trump tariffs

text: In December 2022, the WTO ruled against the United States in steel and aluminum cases brought by China, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey, saying that there was no national security emergency that justified U.S. invocation of the exception. The United States has blocked appointment of judges to the WTO appeals court, so its appeal prevents the ruling from being adopted. Cases brought by Russia and India remain unresolved.


title: Trump tariffs

text: A survey of leading economists by the Initiative on Global Markets at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business showed a consensus that imposing new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum will not improve Americans' welfare. Economists say the tariffs will lead to more harm than gains, as the price for steel increases, which will harm consumers and Americans working in manufacturing industries that use steel (these jobs outnumber those who work in steel-producing sectors by 80 to 1). The big winners of the tariffs are some American steel- and aluminum-producing industries; some of the producers (especially small- and middle-sized ones) who are reliant on foreign inputs may struggle as a result of the tariffs. A study of the proposal indicated that it would lead to an estimated loss of 146,000 jobs. Studies of the 2002 steel tariffs enacted by the Bush administration show that they caused more job losses than job gains. Jobs losses could be even greater if other countries retaliate against the United States with their own tariffs on various American products.


title: Trump tariffs

text: Scholars warned that the Trump administration's use of "national security" rationales (these have not been commonly used by past administrations) for the tariffs could undermine the international trading order, as other states could use the same rationales for their own tariffs. The WTO allows states to take actions necessary to ensure their national security, but this provision has been sparsely used, given that it could be abused. Whereas national security reasons were cited for the tariffs, it has been noted that tariffs primarily harm American allies, not enemies; the United States imports very little steel and aluminum from China directly. Trade experts furthermore noted that the United States already produces more than two-thirds of its own steel.


title: Trump tariffs

text: Forty-five U.S. trade associations are urging Trump not to impose tariffs on China, warning it would be "particularly harmful" to the U.S. economy and consumers.


title: Trump tariffs

text: The National Retail Federation has been vocal in its opposition of the tariffs. The NRF also launched an ad campaign with Ben Stein, who reprised his role as the economics teacher from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" arguing that tariffs are bad economics and hurt consumers.


title: Trump tariffs

text: General Motors announced closure of plants in Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario, and cutting over 14,000 jobs, citing steel tariffs as a factor. Trump expressed frustration with the decision.


title: Trump tariffs

text: Domestically, reactions from elected officials often varied among regional lines rather than ideological lines. The tariffs have seen widespread criticism from conservatives and Republicans. However, the Republican-controlled Congress has thus far declined to take any action to counter Trump's imposition of tariffs. Speaker Paul Ryan said Congress would not pass any tariff legislation that Trump would veto.


title: Trump tariffs

text: Reception was mixed among Democratic officials, with Democrats from Rust Belt states voicing support for tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.


title: Trump tariffs

text: The AFL–CIO, the largest labor union in the U.S., praised Trump for the tariffs, as did Democratic Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who said the action would be a boon for "steel plants across Ohio". Many congressional Republicans expressed fear that the tariffs might damage the economy or lead to retaliatory tariffs from other countries. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged Trump to rethink his proposal or to target the tariffs more narrowly so as to avoid "unintended consequences and collateral damage". House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, while calling for strategic and targeted actions against "trade cheaters," criticized Trump's rollout of the tariffs, calling it "chaotic" and saying it was "maximizing the collateral damage to American workers, consumers and our international alliances". The proposal drew comparisons to a tariff imposed by his Republican presidential predecessor, George W. Bush; in 2002 the U.S. imposed heavy steel tariffs that were largely seen as ineffectual or even harmful to the U.S., and were withdrawn after 18 months.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On March 6, 2018, Gary Cohn, chair of the National Economic Council, announced his intention to resign; the announcement followed Trump's cancellation of a meeting with end-users of steel and aluminum that Cohn had arranged in an attempt to dissuade the president from the planned tariffs.


title: Trump tariffs

text: A March 2018 Quinnipiac University poll showed widespread disapproval of the tariffs, with only 29% of Americans agreeing with a "25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports" if it raised their cost of living.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On June 13, 2019, 661 American companies sent a letter to Trump urging him to resolve the trade dispute with China. The letter was one of many sent on behalf of Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, an organization of over 150 trade groups representing agriculture, manufacturing, retailing and technology companies.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On May 17, 2019, the U.S. reached a deal to lift the steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Lifting the tariffs were seen as helping pave the way for further ratification of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement. According to a joint statement, the Canadian and the U.S. governments said the U.S. will scrap the metals duties within two days of the deal. Canada will remove tariffs levied on American goods in retaliation for the steel and aluminum duties. The countries will also drop all pending litigation in the World Trade Organization related to the tariffs, set up measures to "prevent the importation of aluminum or steel that is unfairly subsidized and/or sold at dumped prices" and "prevent the transshipment of aluminum and steel made outside of Canada or the United States to the other country" and make an "agreed-upon process for monitoring aluminum and steel trade between them". In a separate statement, the Mexican government also said it would remove retaliatory tariffs it put on the U.S. and cease pending litigation. Mexico also said it would set up measures to stop unfair trade practices in the aluminum and steel markets and to monitor trade of the metals in North America.


title: Trump tariffs

text: In 2021, the Biden Administration reached settlements with the United Kingdom and Japan to remove the tariffs.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On March 22, 2018, Trump signed a memorandum under the Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, instructing the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to apply tariffs of $50 billion on Chinese goods. Trump said the tariffs would be imposed due to Chinese theft of U.S intellectual property. Trump said his planned tariffs on Chinese imports would make the United States "a much stronger, much richer nation". However, the steps toward imposing the tariffs led to increased concerns of a global trade war.


title: Trump tariffs

text: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 724 points, or 2.9%, after the tariffs were announced due to concerns over a trade war. Corporations that traded with China, such as Caterpillar Inc.and Boeing, suffered large losses in their stock price.


title: Trump tariffs

text: In response, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China announced plans to implement its own tariffs on 128 U.S. products. 120 of those products, such as fruit and wine, will be taxed at a 15% duty while the remaining eight products, including pork, will receive a 25% tariff. China implemented their tariffs on April 2, 2018.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On April 3, 2018, the U.S. Trade Representative's office published an initial list of 1,300+ Chinese goods to impose levies upon, including products like flat-screen televisions, weapons, satellites, medical devices, aircraft parts and batteries. Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai responded by warning the U.S. that they may fight back, saying "We have done the utmost to avoid this kind of situation, but if the other side makes the wrong choice, then we have no alternative but to fight back."


title: Trump tariffs

text: On April 4, 2018, China's Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council decided to announce a plan of additional tariffs of 25% on 106 items of products including automobiles, airplanes, and soybeans. Soybeans are the top U.S. agricultural export to China.


title: Trump tariffs

text: The increased tit-for-tat tariff announcements stoked fears that the two countries are inching closer to a trade war. On April 4, 2018, President Trump responded to speculation tweeting: "We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!" The next day Trump directed the USTR to consider $100 billion in additional tariffs.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On May 9, 2018, China cancelled soybean orders exported from United States to China. Zhang Xiaoping, Chinese director for the U.S. Soybean Export Council, said Chinese buyers simply stopped buying from the U.S.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On June 15, Donald Trump released a list of $34 billion of Chinese goods to face a 25% tariff, starting on July6. Another list with $16 billion of Chinese goods was released, with an implementation date of August 23.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On July 10, the United States Trade Representative, in reaction to China's retaliatory tariffs that took effect July6, requested comments, gave notice of public hearings and issued a proposed list of Chinese products amounting to an annual trade value of about $200 billion that would be subjected to an additional 10% in duties on top of what those imported articles would normally pay.


title: Trump tariffs

text: In 2018 China ended its domestic ownership rules for auto companies and financial institutions. The rules required that auto companies and financial institutions in China be at least 50 percent owned by Chinese companies. The change was seen as benefitting U.S. auto companies including Tesla.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On May 9, 2019, Trump said the tariffs are "paid for mostly by China, by the way, not by us." Economic analysts concluded this was an incorrect assertion as American businesses and consumers ultimately pay the tariffs as real-world examples of tariffs working as intended are rare, and consumers of the tariff-levying country are the primary victims of tariffs, by having to pay higher prices. "It is inaccurate to say that countries pay tariffs on commercial and consumer goods—it is the buyers and sellers that bear the costs," said Ross Burkhart, a Boise State University political scientist. "Purchasers pay the tariff when they buy popular products. Sellers lose market share when their products get priced out of markets," Burkhart added.


title: Trump tariffs

text: During the June 2019 G20 Osaka summit, China and America agreed to resume stalled trade talks, with Trump announcing he would suspend an additional $300 billion in tariffs that had been under consideration after talks failed the previous month, and asserting China had agreed to buy a "tremendous amount" of American farm products, although there were no specifics or confirmation of this by China. People familiar with the negotiations later said China made no explicit commitment as Trump had described.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On March 28, 2018, the United States and South Korea announced major changes to the bilateral United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) in response to the numerous tariffs and the proposed North Korean-United States diplomatic meeting. The 25 percent tariff on South Korean trucks will be extended until 2041, adding twenty years to the current 2021 target phase out date. No South Korean auto manufacturer exports trucks to the United States. The United States exempted South Korea from its steel tariffs, but imposed an import quota of about 2.68 million tonnes. South Korea was temporarily exempted from aluminum tariffs as well, but the exemption was removed effective May 1, 2018.


title: Trump tariffs

text: China, Canada, and the European Union responded negatively to the initial announcement (which did not mention any temporary exemptions). Canada supplies 16% of U.S. demand for steel, followed by Brazil at 13%, South Korea at 10%, Mexico at 9%, and China at 2%.


title: Trump tariffs

text: Trump invoked national security grounds as justification for imposing steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the idea "that Canada could be considered a national security risk to the United States" was "absurd" and "inconceivable" and called the tariffs "totally unacceptable." Trudeau announced $16.6 billion in retaliatory tariffs, saying "American people are not the target... We hope eventually that common sense will triumph. Unfortunately the actions taken today by the United States government do not appear headed in that direction."


title: Trump tariffs

text: On July 1, 2018, Canada implemented retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports. The value of the Canadian tariffs were set to match the value of the U.S. tariffs dollar-for-dollar and cover 299 U.S. goods, including steel, aluminum, and a variety of other products, including inflatable boats, yogurt, whiskies, candles, and sleeping bags before the tariffs were lifted on May 20, 2019.


title: Trump tariffs

text: The Chinese government placed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. China threatened to curb imports of U.S. soybeans.


title: Trump tariffs

text: A June 2019 analysis conducted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that China had imposed the same 8% average tariffs on all countries in January 2018, but by June 2019 average tariffs on American exports had increased to 20.7% while those on other countries had declined to 6.7%


title: Trump tariffs

text: Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, condemned U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs and announced that a legal challenge at the World Trade Organization would follow. The EU filed the WTO challenge against the United States on June 1, once the tariffs took effect.


title: Trump tariffs

text: Retaliatory tariffs from the European Union took effect on June 22, 2018, imposing tariffs on 180 types of products, in total worth over $3 billion of U.S. goods. Affected products include steel and aluminum, agricultural goods (including orange juice and cranberry juice), clothing, washing machines, cosmetics, and boats. European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström stated: "The rules of international trade, which we have developed... with our American partners, cannot be violated without a reaction from our side. Our response is measured, proportionate and fully in line with WTO rules." Among the U.S. manufacturers affected by the EU's responsive tariffs is Harley-Davidson, which announced that it would move some of their manufacturing out of the United States. Another is the James E. Pepper whiskey distillery in Kentucky, which, due to raised prices, lost most of its foreign business; as of mid-2021, the business had not recovered.


title: Trump tariffs

text: The ongoing conflict between American aircraft manufacturer Boeing and European manufacturer Airbus over government subsidies had been going on for more than two decades. After the World Trade Organization gave the U.S. a green light to impose tariffs because of subsidies from the governments of Spain, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to Airbus, European Commission spokesperson Daniel Rosario threatened retaliatory measures if the United States imposes a US$7.5 billion (€6.823 billion) tariff on products such as olives, whiskey, wine, cheese, yogurt, and airplanes. The tariffs were in addition to those imposed in 2018. they were in effect.


title: Trump tariffs

text: Under President Joe Biden, the United States embarked on an effort to settle several trade disputes with allies, including both ones originating under President Trump and longer-standing ones. The United States and the European Union announced on October 31, 2021, in a joint statement that tariffs on steel and aluminium would be lifted under a certain volume and replaced by bilateral tariff-rate quotas that would allow for historical volumes of trade. European tariffs on American metal and iconic American exports would also end and further European retaliatory tariffs that would be implemented on December 1 were forestalled. The steel and aluminium have to be entirely produced in the EU to qualify for duty-free status. A similar system of duty-free quotas was announced on March 22, 2022, for steel and aluminium products from the United Kingdom within historical volumes. An audit regime was agreed upon for Chinese-owned steel companies. In return British retaliatory tariffs would be lifted. The United States announced a suspension for the duration of one year placed on tariffs on Ukrainian steel on May 9, 2022, in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On June 16, 2019, India imposed retaliatory tariffs on 28 U.S. products, $240 million worth of goods, with some levies reaching 70 percent. Affected products include apples, almonds, walnuts, lentils, and some chemical products; India is the largest buyer of U.S. almonds, paying $543 million for more than half of the imports. It's also the second-largest buyer of U.S. apples, buying $156 million worth in 2018. The tariffs were in response to the U.S.'s refusal to exempt India from higher tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and in response to the U.S. withdrawing India from the Generalized System of Preferences on June 5. India had announced retaliatory tariff increases totaling $235 million on U.S. goods in June 2018, but trade talks had delayed their implementation.


title: Trump tariffs

text: In response to the imposition of U.S. tariffs, Mexico implemented retaliatory tariffs on around US$3 billion (MXN $58.6 billion) worth of U.S. goods. These Mexican tariffs, which went into effect on June 5, 2018, were imposed on U.S. steel, pork, cheese, whiskey, and apples, among other goods before being lifted on May 20, 2019.


title: Trump tariffs

text: During his presidential campaign, Trump said he would impose tariffs—between 15 and 35%—on companies that moved their operations to Mexico. Trump proposed a 35% tariff on "every car, every truck and every part manufactured in Ford's Mexico plant that comes across the border". Tariffs at that level would be far higher than the international norms (which are around 2.67% for the U.S. and most other advanced economies and under 10% for most developing countries). After the European Union threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs should a tariff on steel and aluminum be imposed, on March 3, 2018, Trump countered with a threat to impose tariffs on European car manufacturers. In May 2019, Trump threatened to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on automobiles and parts on the basis that a weakening internal U.S. economy constituted a national security threat, but delayed the imposition of the tariffs for six months to allow for trade talks with the European Union and Japan.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On May 30, 2019, Trump unexpectedly announced that he would impose a 5% tariff on all imports from Mexico on June 10, increasing to 10% on July 1, and by another 5% each month for three months, "until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP." Hours later, Republican senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, commented, "This is a misuse of presidential tariff authority and counter to congressional intent. Following through on this threat would seriously jeopardize passage of USMCA, a central campaign pledge of President Trump's and what could be a big victory for the country." That same day, the Trump administration formally initiated the process to seek congressional approval of USMCA. Trump's top trade advisor, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, opposed the new Mexican tariffs on concerns it would jeopardize passage of USMCA. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trump senior advisor Jared Kushner also opposed the action. Grassley, whose committee is instrumental in passing USMCA, was not informed in advance of Trump's surprise announcement. An array of lawmakers and business groups expressed consternation about the proposed tariffs. With 2018 imports of Mexican goods totaling $346.5 billion, a 5% tariff constitutes a tax increase of over $17 billion.


title: Trump tariffs

text: On the evening of June7, Trump announced that the planned Mexico tariffs were "indefinitely suspended" after Mexico agreed to take stronger measures to curb immigration across the border of the U.S. According to the deal, Mexico agreed to deploy 6,000 of its National Guard troops throughout the country, with a focus on its southern border with Guatemala. Mexico also agreed to house migrants seeking asylum in the U.S.—including housing, offering jobs, health care and education—while the U.S. agreed to accelerate asylum claims. If the deal does not have the "expected results," then the two nations will meet again in 90 days. Trump also tweeted that Mexico had agreed to "immediately" begin buying agricultural products from U.S. farmers, although the communique between the countries did not mention any such deal and Mexican officials were reportedly not aware of such discussions; American officials declined to comment. "The New York Times" reported the next day that Mexico had already agreed to most of the actions months prior. On June 9, as critics continued to downplay the significance of the deal, Trump called "The New York Times" report "false", tweeting "We have been trying to get some of these Border Actions for a long time... but were not able to get them, or get them in full, until our signed agreement with Mexico." The "Times" stood by its reporting. Trump also threatened that he could return to using tariffs as a tactic if desired. Mexico's ambassador to the U.S., Martha Bárcena Coqui, addressed Trump's defense of the deal on CBS, saying "There are a lot of details that we discussed during the negotiations... that we didn't put into the declaration because there are different paths that we have to follow," adding that adjustments will be made as the situation on the border evolves.


title: Trump tariffs

text: The Trump administration's tariffs were received negatively by the majority of economists and analysts, with general consensus among experts—including U.S. Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow—being that the tariffs either had no direct benefits on the U.S. economy and GDP growth or they had a small to moderately negative impact on the economy. In a March 2018 Reuters survey, almost 80% of 60 economists believed the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports would be a net harm to the U.S. economy, with the rest believing the tariffs would have little or no effect; none of the economists surveyed believed the tariffs would benefit the U.S. economy. In May 2018, more than 1,000 economists wrote a letter warning Trump about the dangers of pursuing a trade war, arguing that the tariffs were echoing historical policy errors, such as the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, which helped lead to the Great Depression.


title: Trump tariffs

text: A study published in fall 2019 in the "Journal of Economic Perspectives" found that by December 2018, Trump's tariffs resulted in a reduction in aggregate U.S. real income of $1.4 billion per month in deadweight losses, and cost U.S. consumers an additional $3.2 billion per month in added tax. The study's authors noted that these were conservative measures of the losses from the tariffs, because they did not take account of the tariffs' effects in reducing the variety of products available to consumers, or the tariff-related costs attributable to policy uncertainty or the fixed costs incurred by companies to reorganize their global supply chains. A study by Federal Reserve Board economists found that the tariffs reduced employment in the American manufacturing sector.


title: Trump tariffs

text: An April 2019 working paper by economists found that the tariffs on washing machines caused the prices of washers to increase by approximately twelve percent in the United States. A 2019 paper by Federal Reserve Board economists found that the steel tariffs led to 0.6% fewer jobs in the manufacturing sector than would have happened in the absence of the tariffs; this amounted to approximately 75,000 jobs.


title: Trump tariffs

text: In May 2019, analyses from varying organizations were released. A May 2019 Goldman Sachs analysis found that the consumer price index (CPI) for tariffed goods had increased dramatically, compared to a declining CPI for all other core goods. A CNBC analysis that month found that Trump had "enacted tariffs equivalent to one of the largest tax increases in decades," while Tax Foundation and Tax Policy Center analyses found the tariffs could offset the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 for many households. The Tax Foundation found that if all existing and proposed tariffs were fully implemented, the benefits of the Trump tax cut would be completely eliminated for all taxpayers through the 90th percentile in earnings. Another May 2019 analysis conducted by the National Taxpayers Union warned that the existing and proposed additional tariffs, if fully implemented, would constitute the largest tax increase of the post-war era. According to an analysis by Peterson Institute for International Economics economists, American businesses and consumers paid more than $900,000 a year for each job that was created or saved as a result of the Trump administration's tariffs on steel and aluminum. The cost for each job saved as a result of the administration's tariffs on washing machines was $815,000.


title: Trump tariffs

text: Analysis conducted by Deutsche Bank estimated that Trump's trade actions had resulted in foregone American stock market capitalization of $5 trillion through May 2019.


title: Trump tariffs

text: Trump announced on August 1, 2019, that he would impose a 10% tariff on $300 billion of Chinese imports beginning September1; four days later the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced that China was halting imports of all American agricultural goods. American Farm Bureau Federation data showed that agriculture exports to China fell from $19.5 billion in 2017 to $9.1 billion in 2018, a 53% decline. The figure was $21.4 billion in 2016.


title: Trump tariffs

text: A September 2019 Federal Reserve study found that tariffs Trump imposed through mid-2019, combined with the policy uncertainty they created, would reduce the 2020 real GDP growth rate by one percentage point.


title: Trump tariffs

text: A study by four economists published in October 2019 by the "Quarterly Journal of Economics" estimated that U.S. consumers and firms who buy imports lost $51 billion (0.27% of GDP) as a result of the 2018 tariffs. After accounting for increases in government tariff revenue and gains to U.S. producers, the study authors estimated the aggregate U.S. real income loss to be $7.2 billion (0.04% of GDP). The study found that "retaliatory tariffs resulted in a 9.9% decline in U.S. exports within products." The study also found that workers in heavily Republican counties suffered the most from the trade war, because retaliatory tariffs focused on agricultural products.


title: Trump tariffs

text: Between the time Trump took office in 2017 through March 2019, the U.S.'s trade deficit grew by $119 billion, reaching $621 billion, the highest it had been since 2008. As of January 2020, the Trump administration had imposed tariffs on 16.8% of all goods imported into the U.S. (measured as a share of the value of all U.S. imports in 2017). The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published its estimate of the U.S. economic impact from Trump's trade policies:


title: Trump tariffs

text: Studies have found that the tariffs adversely affected Republican candidates in elections. A study by the University of Warwick's economists found that the tariffs negatively impacted the electorate in districts that swung to Trump (relative to Mitt Romney's 2012 performance), and that as a result of the retaliatory tariffs, Republican candidates fared worse by between 1.4 and 2.7 percentage points in counties in the top decile of the exposure distribution implied by the Chinese, Canadian and Mexican retaliation. The analysis also found that the retaliatory tariffs implemented by the EU were carefully structured so as to not harm the EU itself, whereas China implemented tariffs that harmed industries both in China and in the U.S. A 2021 study found that Chinese retaliatory tariffs systematically targeted Republican counties in swing congressional districts, and that voters in such counties became more aware of the trade war, its adverse impact, and that they assigned Republicans responsibility for escalating the trade dispute.


title: Trump tariffs

text: The Asian Trade Centre argued that Trump's usage of trade policy as a tactic to push non-trade related political initiatives, particularly his May 2019 threat to levy Mexican imports until they crackdown on illegal immigration, set a negative precedent for future U.S. presidents and damaged the credibility of the U.S. as a reliable trade partner.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: The title was released in place of an aborted attempt to port the 2006 game "Sonic the Hedgehog" to the Wii. Producer, writer, and director Yojiro Ogawa conceived "Secret Rings" to tap into the Wii Remote's capabilities. He chose the theme of "Arabian Nights", using many elements of the stories in the game's setting, characters, and Middle Eastern-influenced music. Sega changed the title of the game several times, originally being announced as "Sonic Wild Fire", before settling on "Sonic and the Secret Rings" to tie in the theme of "Arabian Nights".


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: Upon release, "Secret Rings" received average reviews. Reviewers praised its visual style and considered the game as a whole to be an improvement from prior entries, but were critical of its controls, which some claimed took time to get used to, and its inconsistent difficulty. Sega released a sequel in 2009, "Sonic and the Black Knight"; the two form what is known as the "Sonic Storybook" series. "Sonic and the Secret Rings" was de-listed from retailers in 2010, following Sega's decision to remove all "Sonic" titles with sub-average Metacritic scores in order to increase the value of the brand.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: "Sonic and the Secret Rings" is a three-dimensional platform and action game featuring an on-rails style of movement. Sonic the Hedgehog, the series' main character, is the game's only player character. He is controlled exclusively with the Wii Remote, which is held horizontally like a traditional gamepad. Players adjust his forward movement by tilting the controller. He runs along a predesignated path; players jump and brake using corresponding face buttons. Thrusting the Wii Remote forwards allows Sonic to perform a homing attack, a mid-air move that targets and damages enemies in his path.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: Like in other games in the series, Sonic collects rings scattered throughout levels; contact with certain obstacles and enemies scatters them away, and Sonic dies if he touches an enemy without any rings. Unlike previous titles, "Secret Rings" does not feature a life counter or game over screen, but instead Sonic reappears at the last visited checkpoint after dying, although the player will have to restart a mission if they fail a specified objective. The game contains 110 missions (including boss battles) over the course of eight levels. New missions, cutscenes, and sometimes new levels are unlocked by completing missions. Successful missions earn Sonic experience points, which advance him levels.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: Sonic has 104 special moves called "skills" that are unlocked upon leveling up or reaching certain points in the story. The player can distribute these skills to four "Skill Rings", which the player selects before starting a mission. Skills can provide Sonic with improved movement, offensive, and defensive capabilities, as well as special attacks. Skills are generally used by depleting the "Soul Gauge", which is slowly filled by collecting pearls scattered throughout the levels. Notable skills Sonic can obtain are the "Speed Break", which greatly increases his speed, and "Time Break" which slows down time, allowing the player to dodge obstacles more easily.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: "Secret Rings" features three game modes: "Adventure", "Party", and "Special Book". The story is played in the Adventure mode. The Party mode features multiplayer gameplay for up to four players simultaneously, in which players spar in a turn-based tournament of motion control-based minigames. The "Special Book" mode displays the game's 225 unlockable bonuses, won by completing levels quickly and collecting "Fire Souls"—small fiery objects scattered throughout the levels. These bonuses are development documentaries, interviews, concept art, in-game cutscenes, and game music.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: Sonic is the game's protagonist, and his sidekick throughout the game is Shahra, "Genie of the Ring". Their enemy is Erazor Djinn, a genie who aspires to erase the entirety of the "Arabian Nights" book. He was once the Genie of the Lamp from the story of "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp", who was punished for misdeeds and imprisoned in his lamp until he granted the wishes of one thousand people. Erazor did so, gaining a renewed hatred of humanity and deciding to take over the world. Several "Sonic" series characters appear in the form of figures from "Arabian Nights", such as Miles "Tails" Prower as Ali Baba, Knuckles the Echidna as Sinbad the Sailor, and Dr. Eggman as Shahryār. Though Sonic recognizes them as old acquaintances, they do not recognize him, and Shahra insists that Sonic's perception is mistaken.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: After reading the "Arabian Nights", Sonic falls asleep, only to be awoken by Shahra. She explains that Erazor is erasing the pages of the "Arabian Nights" and asks Sonic to help her, to which he agrees. He dons a ring that makes him Shahra's master and grants him the ability to ask for any wishes within her power; he then enters the book. Sonic and Shahra encounter Erazor inside; he tells them of his intent to search for seven artifacts called the World Rings, which Shahra claims do not exist. Erazor shoots an arrow of fire at Shahra, but Sonic takes it for her. Erazor opportunistically tells Sonic that he will remove the arrow if Sonic gathers the World Rings for him. If Sonic does not do so before the flame goes out, his "life is forfeit". Sonic and Shahra embark on a quest to retrieve the World Rings. Over the course of this quest, they learn that whoever collects the rings must be sacrificed to create a link between the "Arabian Nights" world and the real world, also that the rings themselves are sealed with different emotions. Elsewhere in the quest, Shahra gives Sonic Erazor's lamp to use as a last resort.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: After Sonic manages to obtain the World Rings, Erazor convinces Shahra to give them to him. To try and keep them out of Erazor's hands, Sonic wishes for Shahra to do what she truly thinks is right, and she collapses on the ground as her mind cracks due to her conflicting emotions. Erazor attempts to sacrifice Sonic in order to open the gateway between worlds, but in a move of altruistic suicide, Shahra interrupts the attack, saving Sonic and asking for his forgiveness before dying in his arms. Without Sonic as the proper offering, Erazor mutates into the monstrous Alf Layla wa-Layla, now intent on remaking the "Arabian Nights" in his image before moving on to Sonic's world. Sonic absorbs the World Rings of Sadness, Rage and Hatred -emotions he was feeling at the time- and transforms into Darkspine Sonic, a darker, more violent version of Super Sonic, granting him the power to defeat Alf Layla wa-Layla, but Erazor subsequently boasts that he is immortal and will always return. Sonic then reveals that he possesses Erazor's lamp, and wishes for Erazor to bring Shahra back to life, restore the book to its original state, and be trapped in his lamp for all eternity. Erazor refuses to do so, but is helpless against the power of his lamp. After granting the third wish, Erazor pleads for Shahra to stop Sonic and save him, but she refuses, leaving him to be sucked into his lamp. Shahra then bursts into tears, and Sonic wishes for a mountain of handkerchiefs to help her through her crying. Sonic then disposes of the lamp in a pit of lava in a previously explored level. Sonic runs through the book until he finds a way home. Shahra states that his story will be forever remembered in the pages of the "Arabian Nights", and the credits roll. A title image of "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" in the book then changes to the title of the game itself.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: "Sonic and the Secret Rings" (originally codenamed "Sonic Wildfire") was developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. Sega had initially planned to release a port of the 2006 Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game "Sonic the Hedgehog" as the first "Sonic" game for the Wii. Citing lengthy development times for a port, Sega switched plans and conceived of a "Sonic" game that would use the capabilities of the Wii Remote. Producer, writer, and director Yojiro Ogawa, who had previously worked on "Sonic Adventure", "already had this basic idea (of Sonic constantly moving forward) in [his] mind", and immediately imagined its compatibility with the Wii.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: He later decided that this could be done by using the "Arabian Nights"—a compilation of Middle-Eastern fables—as the game's setting. This inspired the use of "Sonic" characters as figures from "Arabian Nights". Sega removed "some of the extraneous elements" of recent "Sonic" games to "get ... back to basics". Storyboard director Zachary G. Brown stated that, "This game could put Sonic the Hedgehog in a whole new light. He could reach the top of the charts once more." The game's art and setting were heavily influenced by the games "Shadow of the Colossus", "Prince of Persia", and "God of War". Its cutscenes consistently feature hand-painted, static imagery resembling classic art through paint on parchment. On a technical level, "Secret Rings" uses the PhysX engine. Sega improved the game's camera system to address criticisms of prior "Sonic" games.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: On January 19, 2006, IGN staff writer Matt Casamassina revealed that "sources close to Sega" had informed IGN of an upcoming Revolution-exclusive "Sonic" game, which was two months in development. Sega officially announced Sonic Wild Fire at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2006, then as Hyper Sonic at a Nintendo press conference and again as "Sonic Wild Fire" in its trailers. Sega changed the title to "Sonic and the Secret of the Rings", then slightly modified it to "Sonic and the Secret Rings" in August 2006. Sega preferred "Wild Fire" over "Secret Rings", but the latter better fit the game's story and "Arabian Nights".


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: The music of "Sonic and the Secret Rings" was composed by Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani, Seirou Okamoto and Hideaki Kobayashi of Wave Master. Steve Conte and Runblebee performed the vocal tracks. The music maintains the guitar-based rock style of previous "Sonic" titles, adding elements of traditional Middle Eastern music to complement the game's theme and aesthetic. Sega released a video game soundtrack album, "Seven Rings in Hand: Sonic and the Secret Rings Original Sound Track", on March 15, 2007. The main theme and album title track of "Secret Rings" is "Seven Rings in Hand".


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: "Sonic and the Secret Rings" received a score of 69/100 on review aggregator Metacritic; the site classifies its score as "mixed or average". The game charted well; it was the eleventh best-selling game of February 2007 worldwide, and third for the Wii. It proved the best-selling Wii game and fifth among all platforms in the United Kingdom. In North America, it was thirteenth overall, and fourth for the Wii, with 83,000 copies. In June, July, and August 2007, the game was the fourth, third, and seventh best-selling game for the Wii, respectively. The game received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: Critics felt "Secret Rings" was a general improvement over recent "Sonic" games, whose popularity and critical reception had declined. According to "Empire", which gave the game 3/5 stars, "Secret Rings" "reclaims the bewildering blend of platforming and racing that made the series famous" while "fixing the erratic stop-start gameplay that marred recent editions" and showcasing "the best graphics the Wii has to offer this side of "Zelda"." However, "the occasionally sluggish controls and spasmodic in-game camera mean Sonic's Wii debut is far from perfect." "Electronic Gaming Monthly" stated that it "does a decent job at stopping the bleeding caused by the recent 360/PS3/PSP Sonics", and "1UP.com"s Shane Bettenhausen wrote that the "Sonic" series was "definitely on the mend" after suffering progressively-worse games after the release of "Sonic Adventure". "GameSpy"s Patrick Joynt agreed, writing that Sonic had been "reanimated to a lurching existence". "IGN"s Matt Casamassina, "Nintendo Power"s Chris Shepperd, and "GameSpot"s Greg Mueller named "Secret Rings" the best 3D "Sonic" game, but criticized the 3D titles in general. "Eurogamer"s Rob Fahey praised the game for employing Sonic as the only playable character.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: The game's level design received mixed reviews. Joynt preferred fast levels and felt that the ones requiring players to "move carefully" detracted from the experience. Bettenhausen praised the visual appeal of "Secret Rings" and compared it to that of "Resident Evil 4", a game which critics acclaimed for its visuals. Casamassina agreed that the "Sonic Team has done a lot with [the seven levels]", and praised the varying missions and levels' aesthetic contrast. However, he criticized the placement of obstacles. Fahey denounced levels' "avoidable blind spots and leaps of faith", and found the number of stages and their re-use over multiple missions "a little bit disconcerting". He conceded that it added to the game's replay value, comparing the levels to tracks in racing games.


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: Control and camera movement concerned reviewers. Bettenhausen called the controls "a tad reckless at first – Sonic's momentum takes some getting used to, and trying to go in reverse is a pain – but become more natural and fluid as you get acclimated to the fast-paced, twitchy action." Casamassina and Mueller offered similar opinions, while Shepperd criticized the game's low camera angle and arbitrary targeting system. Bettenhausen dismissed the game's multiplayer mode as a failed adaptation of the "Mario Party" series. Fahey concurred, adding that a multiplayer racing mode would have been preferable to "lame" minigames. Casamassina compared the games to those in "": "only a handful of them really stand out and some are downright pointless, but overall gamers will probably be happy that they were included." Shepperd agreed, but decried the necessity to "play the story mode extensively to unlock some of the party mode's best features."


title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

text: To mark Sonic's introduction in the 2008 Wii game "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", Nintendo used "Seven Rings in Hand" and other "Sonic" series music as backing for the "Green Hill Zone" stage. Sonic Team and Sega later created "Sonic and the Black Knight", a sequel to "Secret Rings" released on March 3, 2009. The two form the "Storybook" series; "Secret Rings" is based on "Arabian Nights", and "Black Knight" casts Sonic into the world of King Arthur. On March 18, "Secret Rings" and "" were compiled in a Wii release titled "Sega Fun Pack: Sonic and the Secret Rings & Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz".


title: Melanie Mayron

text: Melanie Joy Mayron is an American actress and director of film and television. Mayron is best known for portraying the role of photographer Melissa Steadman on the ABC drama "thirtysomething" for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1989. In 2018, the Santa Fe Film Festival honored Mayron for her outstanding contributions to film and television.


title: Melanie Mayron

text: Mayron was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Norma (née Goodman), a real estate agent, and David Mayron, a pharmaceutical chemist. Her family is Jewish; Mayron's father is from a Sephardic background (the original surname was "Mizrahi"), while her mother is of Russian Jewish descent. She trained as an actress at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.


title: Melanie Mayron

text: Mayron was in a long-term relationship with screenwriter and producer Cynthia Mort, with whom she shared co-parenting of their two children.


title: Melanie Mayron

text: Mayron appeared in the 1974 film "Harry and Tonto", the 1976 movies "Gable and Lombard" and "Car Wash", and the 1977 films "The Great Smokey Roadblock" and "You Light Up My Life", and starred in 1978's "Girlfriends". In the mid-1970s, she played Brenda Morgenstern's best friend, Sandy Franks, on three episodes of the sitcom "Rhoda". In 1982, she played Terry Simon, the photographer, in director Costa-Gavras' political drama "Missing".


title: Melanie Mayron

text: In 1988, she co-wrote and co-produced the comedy film "Sticky Fingers". In 1995, Mayron directed "The Baby-Sitters Club", a film based upon the book series of the same name. She also directed the television movie "Toothless" (1997) starring Kirstie Alley and the movie "Slap Her... She's French" (2002), starring Piper Perabo (which appeared on television as "She Gets What She Wants"). In 2006, she appeared as a judge in the reality show "Looking for Stars" on the Starz! channel.


title: Melanie Mayron

text: In addition to her role as a primary cast member on "thirtysomething", she also directed episodes of the show, as well as episodes of "In Treatment", "The Fosters", "Providence", "Dawson's Creek", "Ed", "State of Grace", "Nash Bridges", "Wasteland", "Tell Me You Love Me" and "The Naked Brothers Band"; the latter series was created and showran by Mayron's former "thirtysomething" co-star Polly Draper.


title: Melanie Mayron

text: In 2015, she directed and released on YouTube "The Living Room Sessions", a collection of videos of up-and-coming musical artists performing acoustic sets in her living room.


title: Melanie Mayron

text: Mayron has directed an episode of the Netflix original series "GLOW", an episode of "SEAL Team", an episode of "The Enemy Within", and multiple episodes of the 2018 "Charmed" reboot, as well as "Jane the Virgin".


title: Freddie Kitchens

text: Charles Frederick Kitchens Jr. (born November 29, 1974) is an American football coach who is a senior analyst for South Carolina. He was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and an assistant coach for the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Mississippi State Bulldogs, North Texas Mean Green (University of North Texas), LSU Tigers and Glenville State College Pioneers. He was head coach during the Browns' disappointing 2019 season after many analysts pegged the team to make the playoffs. After going 6-10, the Browns fired Kitchens after one season.


title: Freddie Kitchens

text: Freddie Kitchens was a quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1993 to 1997, during which time he threw for 4,668 passing yards and 30 touchdowns. In his three seasons as a starter, Alabama won the 1995 Citrus Bowl, and the 1997 Outback Bowl.


title: Freddie Kitchens

text: At the time of his departure, he ranked third in the school's history in career passing attempts, fourth in career passing yards, and fifth in career completions.


title: Freddie Kitchens

text: During his time at Alabama, Kitchens was given the nickname Thick by offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.


title: Freddie Kitchens

text: Following his college coaching career, he served as an assistant coach for several college teams, before joining the Dallas Cowboys staff as tight ends coach in 2006 under Bill Parcells.


title: Freddie Kitchens

text: Kitchens then worked on the Arizona Cardinals staff for 11 years, from 2007 to 2017. In 2008, Kitchens' 2nd year with the team, the Cardinals appeared in Super Bowl XLIII, their first Super Bowl in franchise history but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-23. He coached multiple positions, including tight ends, quarterbacks, and running backs.


title: Freddie Kitchens

text: On October 29, after week 8 of the season, the Browns fired head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Gregg Williams was named interim head coach, and Kitchens was promoted to offensive coordinator. The Browns finished the season with a 5–3 record, after a 2–5–1 start under Jackson. Kitchens was credited for the improvement of the Browns offense and was also acknowledged for helping Baker Mayfield have a successful rookie season. Mayfield was the runner-up for NFL rookie of the year.


title: Freddie Kitchens

text: On January 12, 2019, Kitchens was promoted to the head coaching position by the Cleveland Browns. He was the 17th head coach in Browns history, and the ninth since the franchise's reactivation in 1999.


title: Freddie Kitchens

text: On September 8, 2019, the Browns lost to the Tennessee Titans by a score of 43–13 in Kitchens' head coaching debut. The loss marked the 15th consecutive week one without a win for the Browns. Kitchens was fired a few hours after the final game of the season, a 33-23 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Browns finished the season with a disappointing 6-10 record.


title: Freddie Kitchens

text: On January 27, 2020, the New York Giants hired Kitchens as their tight ends coach. His hiring was strongly supported by newly hired Giants head coach Joe Judge, who had worked with Kitchens at Mississippi State. The two are reportedly good friends. When Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Giants' Sunday night game against the Cleveland Browns, Kitchens' former team, Kitchens was named offensive coordinator and play-caller for the game. The Giants would go on to lose to the Browns 20-6. It was announced for the 2021 season he would switch positions and become senior offensive assistant. Following the firing of Jason Garrett, Kitchens was named interim offensive coordinator for the Giants. Kitchens was released after the 2021 season following the firing of Judge.


title: Peyer's patch

text: Peyer's patches (or aggregated lymphoid nodules) are organized lymphoid follicles, named after the 17th-century Swiss anatomist Johann Conrad Peyer. They are an important part of gut associated lymphoid tissue usually found in humans in the lowest portion of the small intestine, mainly in the distal jejunum and the ileum, but also could be detected in the duodenum.


title: Peyer's patch

text: Peyer's patches had been observed and described by several anatomists during the 17th century, but in 1677 Swiss anatomist Johann Conrad Peyer (1653–1712) described the patches so clearly that they were eventually named after him. However, Peyer regarded them as glands which discharged, into the small intestine, some substance which facilitated digestion. It was not until 1850 that the Swiss physician Rudolph Oskar Ziegler (1828–1881) suggested, after careful microscopic examination, that Peyer's patches were actually lymph glands.


title: Peyer's patch

text: Peyer's patches are observable as elongated thickenings of the intestinal epithelium measuring a few centimeters in length. About 100 are found in humans. Microscopically, Peyer's patches appear as oval or round lymphoid follicles (similar to lymph nodes) located in the mucosa layer of the ileum and extend into the submucosa layer.


title: Peyer's patch

text: In the distal ileum, they are numerous and they form a lymphoid ring. At least 46% of Peyer's patches are concentrated in the distal 25 cm of ileum in humans. It is important to note that there are large variations in size, shape, and distribution of Peyer's patches from one individual to another one.


title: Peyer's patch

text: In adults, B lymphocytes are seen to dominate the follicles' germinal centers. T lymphocytes are found in the zones between follicles. Among the mononuclear cells, CD4+/CD25+ (10%) cells and CD8+/CD25+ (5%) cells are more abundant in Peyer's patches than in the peripheral blood.


title: Peyer's patch

text: Peyer's patches are characterized by the follicle-associated epithelium (FAE), which covers all lymphoid follicles. FAE differs from typical small intestinal villus epithelium: it has fewer goblet cells therefore mucus layer is thinner, and it is also characterized by the presence of specialized M cells or microfold cells, which provide uptake and transport of antigens from lumen. Moreover, basal lamina of follicle-associated epithelium is more porous compared to intestinal villus. Finally, follicle-associated epithelium is less permeable for ions and macromolecules, basically due to higher expression of tight junction proteins.


title: Peyer's patch

text: Because the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract is exposed to the external environment, much of it is populated with potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Peyer's patches thus establish their importance in the immune surveillance of the intestinal lumen and in facilitating production of the immune response within the mucosa.


title: Peyer's patch

text: Pathogenic microorganisms and other antigens entering the intestinal tract encounter macrophages, dendritic cells, B-lymphocytes, and T-lymphocytes found in Peyer's patches and other sites of gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). Peyer's patches thus act for the gastrointestinal system much as the tonsils act for the respiratory system, trapping foreign particles, surveilling them, and destroying them.


title: Peyer's patch

text: Peyer's patches are covered by a special follicle-associated epithelium that contains specialized cells called microfold cells (M cells) which sample antigen directly from the lumen and deliver it to antigen-presenting cells (located in a unique pocket-like structure on their basolateral side). Dendritic cells and macrophages can also directly sample the lumen by extending dendrites through transcellular M cell-specific pores. At the same time the paracellular pathway of follicle-associated epithelium is closed tightly to prevent penetration of antigens and continuous contact with immune cells. T cells, B-cells and memory cells are stimulated upon encountering antigen in Peyer's patches. These cells then pass to the mesenteric lymph nodes where the immune response is amplified. Activated lymphocytes pass into the blood stream via the thoracic duct and travel to the gut where they carry out their final effector functions. The maturation of B-lymphocytes takes place in the Peyer's patch.


title: Peyer's patch

text: Although important in the immune response, excessive growth of lymphoid tissue in Peyer's patches is pathologic, as hypertrophy of Peyer's patches has been closely associated with idiopathic intussusception.


title: Peyer's patch

text: Having too many or larger than normal Peyer's patches is associated with an increased risk of prion diseases.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Originally having participated in Olympics as the delegation of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1924 (Summer Olympics) to 1976 (Winter Olympics), China competed at the Olympic Games under the name of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the first time in 1952, at the Summer Games in Helsinki, Finland, although they only arrived in time to participate in one event. That year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed both the PRC and ROC (Republic of China) (which fled to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War) to compete, although the latter withdrew in protest. Due to the dispute over the political status of China, the PRC did not participate in the Olympics again until the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States. Their first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games after 1952 was the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. The People's Republic of China staged boycotts of the Games of the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne Australia, Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome Italy, Games of the XVIII Olympiad in Tokyo Japan, Games of the XIX Olympiad in Mexico City Mexico, Games of the XX Olympiad in Munich Germany, and Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal Canada. China also boycott the Games of the XXII Olympiad in Moscow USSR due to the American-led boycott and the ongoing Sino-Soviet split, together with the other countries.


title: China at the Olympics

text: As of 2022, China has finished first in the Summer Olympics once, second three times, third twice and third once in the Winter Olympics. With the nation's 11th appearance at the Summer and 12th appearance at the Winter Olympics, China is the most successful country overall in the Asia–Oceania region, making them the 5th most successful country in Olympics history, after the US, the Soviet Union, Germany and Great Britain.


title: China at the Olympics

text: The Chinese Olympic Committee in its current form was recognized in 1979. Before the Chinese Civil War, athletes competed as the Republic of China (ROC) at the Olympics. The ROC continued to compete from 1952 (Summer Olympics) to 1976 (Winter Olympics), but only representing athletes from the island of Taiwan (although the football team members of ROC in the 1960 Olympic Games were overwhelmingly Hong Kongers). The dispute over use of the name "China" resulted in the PRC boycotting the Games completely during these years. In 1979, the International Olympic Committee passed a resolution for the ROC team to be designated "Chinese Taipei", and this opened the door for the PRC to finally join the Olympic movement.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Hong Kong has had a distinct National Olympic Committee since 1950 and has competed at the Games since 1952. After the territory was returned to the PRC and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was created in 1997, this arrangement has continued, with Hong Kong competing independently from the rest of the nation under the name "Hong Kong, China".


title: China at the Olympics

text: The People's Republic of China has hosted the Games on two occasions. Beijing is the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics.


title: China at the Olympics

text: The exceptions are triathlon, equestrian, rugby, skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing and water polo.


title: China at the Olympics

text: A former Chinese doctor named Xue Yinxian has claimed the occurrence of alleged systematic doping of Chinese athletes in the Olympic Games (and other international sport events) in 2012 and 2017. She claims more than 10,000 athletes in China were doped in the systematic Chinese government doping program and that they received performance-enhancing drugs in the 1980s and 1990s. She claims that all international medals (both in the Olympics and other international competitions) that were won by Chinese athletes in the 1980s and 1990s must be revoked. This is contrary to previous statements by the Chinese government that had denied involvement in systematic doping and claimed that athletes doped individually. The International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency investigated these allegations with no conclusions or actions taken.


title: China at the Olympics

text: After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, PRC sent a delegation to the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. The Chinese delegation (including athletes and officials) consisted of 38 men and 2 women, including the men's football team, the men's basketball team, and one swimmer. Only the swimmer arrived in time to take part in the official competition, and the football team played two friendly matches. The Chinese stayed ten days in Helsinki and participated in the closing ceremony. The Republic of China's (ROC) team withdrew from the Games on July 17 in response to the IOC's decision to allow both PRC and ROC sportsmen and women to compete. This marked the beginning of the "two Chinas" conflict in the Olympic Movement, which resulted in the Chinese Olympic Committee's withdrawal from the IOC in August 1958.


title: China at the Olympics

text: In the 1970s, China normalized her relations with the United States through Ping Pong Diplomacy, and established diplomatic relations with the United States on January 1, 1979. The normalization finally led to the Chinese Olympic Committee's return to the IOC on October 25, 1979.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Till 2012, China won three-quarters of their gold medals (152 out of 201) and two-thirds of their medals (311 out of 473) in six sports: table tennis, badminton, diving, gymnastics, weightlifting, and shooting.


title: China at the Olympics

text: China recently dominated the gold medals in three of them, table tennis, badminton and diving. China won all golds four times in table tennis and one time in badminton, and won three-quarters of all diving golds since 1992.


title: China at the Olympics

text: The total dominance in table tennis and badminton also leads to negative consequences. Due to the low participations among non-Asian countries, these two sports may lose their positions in the Summer Olympics just like baseball and softball did after 2008.


title: China at the Olympics

text: While through the years, Chinese athletes got many breakthroughs in other sports that are traditionally China's weak sports. Among them, swimming is the potential one that may get into top five sports of China in the near future.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Xu Haifeng won the first-ever gold medal for China in the shooting event of "50 m Pistol". It was called "a break through zero" – an event that brought great joy to the whole Chinese nation.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Li Ning won six medals in gymnastics, 3 golds, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze, earning him the nickname "Prince of Gymnasts" in China. Six medals in a single Olympics is still the record for any Chinese athlete.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Chinese women's volleyball team defeated USA women's team in the final and won China's first ball-game gold medal.


title: China at the Olympics

text: China also won first medals in rowing. A silver in "women's coxed fours" and a bronze in "women's eights"


title: China at the Olympics

text: Chinese female swimmers glittered with 4 golds and 5 silvers. But the success was later shadowed by the doping incident of Chinese swimmers just two years later at the 1994 Asian Games, although none of the medalists in 1992 was involved in the 1994 incident.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Deng Yaping won two table tennis golds in "women's singles" and "women's doubles". IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch presented the gold medal to her after a promise made a year ago at 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Chinese women's basketball team lost final to Unified team, winning silver medal, China's best result in basketball.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Fu Mingxia won two diving golds in "women's 3 m springboard" and "women's 10 m platform", becoming the first female diver to accomplish this feat since 1960.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Deng Yaping won two golds in table tennis again, making her the first Chinese athlete to defend two events and win four Olympic gold medals. IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch presented the gold medal to her again after a promise made four years ago at 1992 Olympics.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Liu Guoliang also won two table tennis golds in men's events. China won all four golds in table tennis for the first time.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Chinese women's football team lost final to the USA team, winning silver medal, China's first medal in football.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Liu Xiang became the first Chinese male athlete to win gold medal in an Olympic track event, "110 m hurdles", equaling the world record of 12.91 seconds. He became the China's flag bearer at the closing ceremony. Liu broke the world record with 12.88 seconds two years later in Lausanne, Switzerland.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Wang Yifu participated the Olympics for the record six consecutive times. He won gold in "10 m air pistol", his second gold and fourth medal in the event.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Chinese women's volleyball team come back from 0–2 deficit to defeat Russia women's team 3–2 in the final, winning China's second ball-game gold medal after 20 years.


title: China at the Olympics

text: As host country, China won 48 golds, 22 silvers and 30 bronze, total 100 medals, ranked 1st at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Guo Jingjing won two golds in diving, becoming the first Chinese diver to defend two events successfully.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Zhang Yining won two golds in table tennis, becoming the second Chinese table tennis player to defend two events successfully after Deng Yaping.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Ma Lin also won two table tennis golds in men's events. China won all four golds in table tennis for the third time.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Zhong Man won China's first men's fencing gold in "men's sabre", 24 years after Luan Jujie won China's first women's fencing gold in 1984.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Zhang Juanjuan won China's first archery gold in "women's individual", breaking the long-time Korean dominance in the sport.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Chinese gymnasts won 11 golds, the best in history. Zou Kai won 3 golds in one team event and two individual events.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Sun Yang, the men's 1500 m freestyle world-record-holder before the Olympics, became the first Chinese male swimmer to win gold in Olympics. He won two golds in "men's 400 m freestyle" and "men's 1500 m freestyle", breaking the Olympic record and his own world record respectively.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Ye Shiwen became the first Chinese female swimmer to win two golds in a single Olympics. She won golds in "women's 200 m medley" and "women's 400 m medley", breaking the Olympic record and world record respectively.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Chen Ding won gold in "men's 20 km walk", becoming the second Chinese male athlete to win Olympic athletics gold medal after Liu Xiang did in 2004.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Chen Ruolin won two golds in diving, becoming the second Chinese diver to defend two events successfully after Guo Jingjing.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Wu Minxia won diving gold in "women's sync 3m springboard", becoming the only Chinese athlete to win three gold medals in a single event. She also won gold in "women's 3m springboard", giving her all three medals in three participations in this event after silver in 2004 and bronze in 2008.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Zou Kai won two golds in gymnastics, becoming the only Chinese athlete to win five gold medals in Olympics.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Xu Lijia won gold in "women's laser radial class", China's first gold medal in the sailboat event of sailing. She later became the China's flag bearer at the closing ceremony.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Lin Dan won badminton gold in "men's singles", becoming the first athlete to defend the men's singles title in Olympic badminton history.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Zhao Yunlei won two golds in two badminton double events, becoming the only athlete to win two badminton gold medals in a single Olympics.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Chinese table tennis team won all four golds for the fourth time. Chinese badminton team won all five golds for the first time, but was a little shadowed by the disqualification of China's top seed women's double duo for not using best efforts.


title: China at the Olympics

text: China's top star Liu Xiang pulled out of the first round of "110 m hurdles" due to injury again. Two of his three pull-outs in 12 years' career came from two Olympics first round heats.


title: China at the Olympics

text: No Chinese ball-game teams entered the final four, the worst performance in Chinese Summer Olympics history.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Sun Yang won a gold medal in men's 200 m freestyle, becoming the only Chinese male swimmer to have won gold in 2 Olympic games.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Dong Bin set a new personal best (17.58 meters) in the men's triple jump event and won a bronze medal. This was China's first medal from Olympic triple jump events.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Wu Minxia defended her Women's 3m Synchro event for the fourth time, becoming the only Chinese athlete to ever do so. This also makes her the most successful Chinese athlete of all time, with 5 Golds, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze.


title: China at the Olympics

text: China won 38 gold, 32 silver, 18 bronze medals and ranked 2nd at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan in August 2021.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Su Bingtian finished the men's 100 m semi-final with a new Asian Record at 9.83 seconds, and became the first Chinese athlete and second Asian athlete to compete in a 100 m final, in which he finished as the 6th place. He was also the flag bearer in the closing ceremony. With him, Chinese relay team won China's first medal in athletic relays.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Gong Lijiao won a gold medal in women's shot put and become the first ever Chinese athlete to won a gold medal in any field events and the first Asian to win an Olympic gold medal in women's shot put.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Liu Shiying won a gold medal in women's javelin throw. She became the first Asian and Chinese to win a gold medal in Olympic javelin throw events.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Lü Xiaojun lifted a combined weight of 374 kg to win a gold medal in the men's 81 kg weightlifting event. This was his third Olympic medal. He also became the oldest weightlifter champion (37 years and 4 days) in modern Olympics. He became the first ever Chinese athlete to win three gold medals in an individual event, after promoted a gold medal.


title: China at the Olympics

text: China won medals in only 6 of the 15 Winter Olympics sports. Most of the golds and half of the medals come from short track speed skating.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Chen Lu won consecutive bronze medals in 1994 and 1998, becoming the first Chinese figure skater to medal at the Winter Olympic Games.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Yang Yang (A) won first Winter Olympics gold medal in short track speed skating, as the first gold medal for Team China in Olympic Winter Games.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo finally won figure skating gold in the event of "pair skating" after four participations.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Wang Bingyu and her team (Yue Qingshuang, Liu Yin, Zhou Yan and Liu Jinli) created history by winning the first curling Olympic medal for China in the women's tournament.


title: China at the Olympics

text: China won 3 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze medals and ranked 12th at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in February 2014.


title: China at the Olympics

text: China won 1 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze medals and ranked 16th at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February 2018.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Wu Dajing became the first Chinese male short track speed skating Olympic champion by breaking the world record at the 500-metre event.


title: China at the Olympics

text: China won 9 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze medals and ranked 3rd at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China in February 2022, as the first ever home winter games.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Ailing Eileen Gu became the first ever freestyle skier to win three medals at one Olympic Game, the first female Chinese gold medalist in freestyle skiing, and the most successful freestyle skier ever in Olympic freestyle skiing event (with 2 gold medals and 1 silver medals).


title: China at the Olympics

text: Xu Mengtao finally won the first ever gold in women's aerial since the first silver medal won by Xu Nannan in Nagano 1998 and 5 silver medals & 2 bronze medals won by Team China in this event at former games.


title: China at the Olympics

text: Since Chinese athletes are more likely to compete in more than one event in the sport of diving, gymnastics, table tennis, swimming, and more likely to compete in several Olympic games in the sport of shooting, most multiple medalists listed in the following three tables come from these five sports.


title: China at the Olympics

text: This is a list of Chinese athletes who have won at least three gold medals or five medals at the Summer Olympics.


title: China at the Olympics

text: This is a list of Chinese athletes who have won at least two gold medals at a single Summer Olympics. Order first by golds, then by sports, then by year.


title: China at the Olympics

text: This is a list of Chinese athletes who have won at least three medals in a single event at Summer Olympics. Order first by medals, then by sport, then by golds.


title: China at the Olympics

text: This is a list of Chinese athletes who competed in at least four Summer Olympics. Still active athletes are marked in bold. Age 15- and 40+ are marked in bold.


title: China at the Olympics

text: This is a list of Chinese athletes who have won at least two gold medals or three medals at the Winter Olympics. Still active athletes are marked in bold.


title: China at the Olympics

text: This is a list of Chinese athletes who have won at least two gold medals at a single Winter Olympics. Order first by golds, then by sports, then by year.


title: China at the Olympics

text: This is a list of Chinese athletes who have won at least three medals in a single event at Winter Olympics. Order first by medals, then by sport, then by golds.


title: China at the Olympics

text: This is a list of Chinese athletes who competed in at least four Winter Olympics. Still active athletes are marked in bold.


title: China at the Olympics

text: The 2008 Summer Olympics marks the milestone for China, where this was the first time it hosting the Olympic Games. The country's capital, Beijing, was chosen as the host city. The motto of the Olympic Games at that time is "One World One Dream" (同一个世界 同一个梦想)


title: China at the Olympics

text: marks the second time China hosted the Olympics, but it was held in Nanjing. Its motto is "Share the Games, Share our Dreams" (分享青春, 共筑未来)


title: China at the Olympics

text: The upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics marks the third time China hosted the Olympics, and the second time held in Beijing. The new motto of this game is "Together for a Shared Future" (一起向未来) . Its previous motto was "Joyful Rendezvous Upon Pure Ice and Snow" (纯洁的冰雪 激情的约会)


title: Fred Claus

text: Fred Claus is a 2007 American Christmas comedy film directed by David Dobkin, screenplay by Dan Fogelman and a story by Dan Fogelman and Jessie Nelson, and starring Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, John Michael Higgins, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, and Kevin Spacey. The film was first announced in October 2005 with Mike Mitchell attached to direct. The film was released in the United States on November 9, 2007 by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is loosely based on the poem "A legend of Santa and his brother Fred" written by Donald Henkel. It received mixed to negative reviews from critics and grossed $97 million worldwide against the production budget of $100 million.


title: Fred Claus

text: A baby is born, and within a few minutes of his birth he starts saying "Ho Ho Ho!". Mrs. Claus calls her son Fred over to meet his new baby brother whom she names Nicholas and lovingly refers to the baby as her little Saint Nick. A rift starts among the brothers when Nick cuts down a tree that Fred often climbed up to confide his problems in a bird. But Nick accidently smashes the birdhouse it lived it which causes the bird to fly away.


title: Fred Claus

text: In the present, Nick has become the modern-day Santa Claus, delivering gifts to the children of the world. Fred has become a repossession agent in Chicago. Fred lives alone and is friends with orphan Samuel "Slam" Gibbons. After his girlfriend Wanda breaks up with him, Fred is arrested for impersonating a Salvation Army employee in an attempt to raise seed money for an illegal casino plan. Fred asks Nick for bail and seed money. Nick gives him the bail money but will only give him the seed money if Fred comes to the North Pole to work and earn the money.


title: Fred Claus

text: Head Elf Willie escorts Fred to the North Pole. Nick gives Fred the task of assigning children as "naughty" or "nice" based on their behavior. Efficiency expert Clyde Northcutt, from the agency which monitors the activities of supernatural entities, arrives to analyze the North Pole's dwindling performance on a three-strike assessment. Meanwhile, fed-up with the workshop's DJ Donnie playing nothing but "Here Comes Santa Claus", Fred enters Donnie's booth, stops the record, and tosses him into a cabinet. Nick, his wife Annette, and Northcutt enter the workshop to find Fred and the elves partying to Elvis Presley’s "Rubberneckin'", for which Northcutt gives Nick the first strike. Nick sandbags Fred into having dinner that evening with their parents (whom, to Nick's horror, have invited Northcutt), but Phyliss's constant praise of Nick causes Fred to leave.


title: Fred Claus

text: Later that night, Northcutt shreds the children's letters. Fred is blamed for "losing" the letters, and the lack of backup copies leads to a second strike. Not believing Fred's denials, Nick has Security abduct Fred, and bring him to an intervention, attended by their parents, Annette, Wanda, and a psychologist. Angered by Fred's self-centeredness and his prodding about the man she gave a parking ticket to (which Fred witnessed via the workshop's Snow Globe), Wanda leaves. After also storming out of the intervention, Fred sees Slam on the top spot of the Naughty List: he realizes that Slam's bad behavior is a consequence of being bullied at the orphanage (along with some bad advice from Fred), and that Slam is a good kid. Fred then returns to his office, and assigns every child as "nice".


title: Fred Claus

text: The brothers get into a fight over Fred's decision, with Nick injuring his back. Unable to now produce enough gifts for every good child, the North Pole falls far behind schedule, leading Northcutt to assign the third strike—shutting down the workshop. Fred leaves, taking his money and a gift from Nick. Back in Chicago, Fred attends a meeting with the siblings of other celebrities in an attempt to sort out his issues, then, after returning to his apartment, opens his gift: a replica of the birdhouse Chirp Chirp lived in and a note from Nick apologizing for cutting down the tree. With a change of heart, Fred uses the seed money to make his way back to the North Pole.


title: Fred Claus

text: Fred motivates the elves to make as many gifts as possible in 10 hours. Because of his injury, Nick is unable to deliver gifts. Feeling guilty, Fred decides to deliver the presents (as only a Claus can deliver the gifts). He reminds Nick that most of the "naughty" kids aren't bad, but good kids going through bad situations, and that every child deserves a gift on Christmas. Fred gets the workshop to quickly make simple gifts so that every child gets a toy. Fred and Willie begin to deliver the gifts, but Northcutt sabotages their efforts and fires the elves. Nick realizes that Northcutt was also bullied as a child, which caused him to become troubled. Nick apologizes to Northcutt for putting him at the top of the Naughty List in 1968 and gives him the Superman cape he had asked for as a child.


title: Fred Claus

text: Disguised as Santa, Fred visits Slam and gives him the dog he wanted for Christmas and tells Slam to become a better person. After every gift is delivered, Fred returns to the North Pole while Willie finally starts a relationship with the tall elf, Charlene. Fred and Nick make amends. Santa hires Northcutt to work at the North Pole. Slam is adopted. Fred reconciles with Wanda and takes her to Paris. The next Christmas, the Claus family is happily reunited including Chirp Chirp who now lives in the new birdhouse.


title: Fred Claus

text: The music score is composed by Christophe Beck, but some of the tracks used are taken from the movie "Mouse Hunt", composed by Alan Silvestri. In addition to his role, Ludacris performed a song called "Ludacrismas" for the film. The song also includes some interludes from "Here Comes Santa Claus". It also includes the 1969 Elvis Presley song Rubberneckin'.


title: Fred Claus

text: , "Fred Claus" holds an approval rating of on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus states: "A slew of talent is wasted in this contrived and overly sentimental Christmas film, which can't quite get the balance between slapstick humor and schmaltzy uplift." On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Fred Claus

text: Brian Lowry of "Variety" magazine said the film has many shortcomings but most of all Vaughn was miscast as his rapid-fire delivery and angry persona did not fit well with the story. Lowry describes it as following in the step of other feel-bad films, "movies so tone-deaf and disagreeable as to have completely worn out their welcome by the time that gush of last-act warmth arrives."


title: Fred Claus

text: The film grossed $18,515,473 in its first weekend, and closed on February 14, 2008 with a final gross of $72,006,777 in North America and another $25,831,572 in other territories for a total worldwide gross of $97,838,349. The film became number 1 in the UK on its first weekend, bringing in £1.93m. It held the top spot for one week until it was surpassed by "The Golden Compass".


title: Fred Claus

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 25, 2008. The special features includes 25 minutes of deleted scenes and an audio commentary by director David Dobkin. The Blu-ray release includes a music video for "Ludacrismas" by Ludacris in High Definition and also a bonus disc entitled "Fred Claus: Race to Save Christmas".


title: CHERUB

text: CHERUB () is a series of teenage spy novels written by English author Robert Muchamore, focusing around a fictional division of the British Security Service called CHERUB, which employs children, predominantly orphans, 17 or younger as intelligence agents.


title: CHERUB

text: Initially, the series follows James Choke, better known as James Adams (his adopted name at CHERUB), as he enters CHERUB and performs various missions. However, the focus later expands to other characters, such as James' sister Lauren and several other characters who work alongside him and in separate missions. The initial series of twelve novels runs from the recruitment of Adams aged eleven to his retirement from CHERUB at age seventeen. The second series of five novels, Aramov, follows Ryan Sharma, another CHERUB agent; James Adams reappears in this series as a CHERUB staff member.


title: CHERUB

text: Muchamore also wrote a seven-part series called "Henderson's Boys", which takes place during World War II and explains how CHERUB was founded, following the path of a twelve-year-old French orphan named Marc Kilgour who meets Charles Henderson and shows him how much help children can be to win the war. Henderson, following this, creates a small unit of children to be trained in espionage.


title: CHERUB

text: The series has achieved great critical success. Christopher Middleton of "The Times" called the series "convincing" and praised the way it allows readers to "grow up with the characters". After its release in the United Kingdom, the novels have been released in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia, and have been translated into several languages including: Polish, French, Danish, Spanish, Russian, Czech, Norwegian, Estonian, and Portuguese. On his website, Muchamore states that over 8 million copies have now been sold. A film adaptation was hinted at in 2009, but no further information was ever given. In 2018, Sony announced they were developing a TV series based on the CHERUB books.


title: CHERUB

text: The first series primarily follows James Adams, a twelve-year-old boy who is later joined at CHERUB by his sister Lauren, after their mother dies from drinking alcohol whilst on painkillers.


title: CHERUB

text: After the death of his mother, James Choke joins CHERUB. With the help of fellow trainee, Kerry Chang, he passes basic training. Meanwhile, James' half-sister Lauren Onions joins CHERUB following the imprisonment of her abusive father, Ron. A couple of months later, James goes on a mission to Wales to thwart an attack on an oil conference by eco-terrorist group Help Earth.


title: CHERUB

text: Titled "The Dealer" in the United States and "The Mission" for 5,000 copies. James, Kyle, Kerry, Nicole, and mission controllers Zara and Ewart Asker help to take down the cocaine supplier gang KMG. They move into a house on the same estate as Keith Moore and his children. James' duty is to befriend the head of KMG's son, Junior Moore, to attempt to get valuable information on his father's illegal activities. Things take an unexpected turn and a trip to Keith's holiday home in Miami is in order.


title: CHERUB

text: Many CHERUB missions have resulted in criminals being put behind bars, but one is now scheduled for James and Dave to bust someone out. James and Dave go undercover inside a maximum security prison in Arizona to break out Curtis Oxford, the son of an illegal arms dealer. Their hope is that Curtis will lead them to her.


title: CHERUB

text: James and Dave go to find out why a small-time crook called Leon Tarasov suddenly appears to become extremely rich, and they uncover a plot much larger than a robbery: the murder of Will Clarke.


title: CHERUB

text: James, Lauren and Dana investigate a religious cult named The Survivors in Australia with suspected links to the eco-terrorist organisation Help Earth.


title: CHERUB

text: When a mission in Russia goes wrong, CHERUB agent James tries to clear his name after being implicated in the deaths of two MI5 agents, while Lauren goes on a mission to expose a sex slave trafficking gang.


title: CHERUB

text: James and Bruce infiltrate a gang tussling with rivals for control of the Luton underworld after the collapse of KMG.


title: CHERUB

text: James' sister Lauren and Jake Parker go undercover to befriend a boy who claims that his father is responsible for a deadly plane crash in the Atlantic. Meanwhile, James is put into an uncomfortable situation as he is forced to do work experience with his ex-girlfriend.


title: CHERUB

text: After an uncomfortable break-up, James, Lauren, and other CHERUB agents join the SAS and play insurgents in a US army training exercise in Fort Reagen. However the odds are stacked against them and only a master plan from CHERUB instructor Yosyp Kazakov can win the war for the Brits. Kazakov and James also cheat casinos to win a lot of money using card counting.


title: CHERUB

text: James, Lauren and Dante Scott infiltrate a violent biker gang called the Brigands M.C trying to incriminate their ruthless leader, known only as "the Führer" for arms dealing charges, and to avenge the deaths of Dante's family years before.


title: CHERUB

text: James turns down a final mission at CHERUB guarding a politician, instead helping his best friend and retired CHERUB agent Kyle Blueman to expose the politician's wrongdoings.


title: CHERUB

text: This series involves an almost completely new cast of CHERUB agents, centred upon Ryan Sharma. However, characters from the original series appear occasionally. The first three books focus on a mission to dismantle the fictional Aramov Clan. As of December 2016, five novels have been announced.


title: CHERUB

text: Ryan investigates (and befriends) a young boy called Ethan whose extended family are the leaders of a Kyrgyzstan-based terrorist group known as the Aramov Clan.


title: CHERUB

text: Ryan is tasked with destroying the Aramov Clan after Ethan is kidnapped by his uncle who seeks to take over the business. Ethan gets sent to Africa and gets treated poorly but escapes


title: CHERUB

text: Ryan has to stop the biggest terrorist attack in US history as Aramov operations wind down, and James Adams returns to CHERUB campus. Meanwhile, they must find a way to stop Leonid once and for all and it's up to James and Leonid's ex-wife and son to put a stop to the ruthless mobster before he disappears forever.


title: CHERUB

text: Ryan infiltrates a drug gang. Ning befriends Fay, a girl whose mother was murdered by the gang and may have vital information on how the organisation works.


title: CHERUB

text: "New Guard" is the final novel in the CHERUB series. It features characters from both the first and second CHERUB series in one big mission to rescue two hostages from the Islamic state in a high stakes mission to end all.


title: CHERUB

text: Released for World Book Day, Rat and Andy go undercover to befriend a boy whose father is a member of Dark Sun, a criminal organisation dealing in nuclear weapons technology. Chronologically, the story fits in between "The Sleepwalker" and "The General".


title: CHERUB

text: "CHERUB: Ultimate Edition" consists of a map of CHERUB campus, a biography of Muchamore, and the novels "The Recruit" and "Class A".


title: CHERUB

text: The series' main location is CHERUB campus, the headquarters of the fictional titular British government agency CHERUB for which the children work. It was formed during World War II by Charles Henderson; a British spy who had used children during an operation in France. It is populated by around 350 adolescents and children, who live on the campus when not on a mission to help the police. No-one in the world knows where CHERUB campus is situated except its employees, members and certain police and high level members of the British government.


title: CHERUB

text: CHERUB began with a small number of boys which swelled in size as the government realised its worth. After several years of operation it took in a trial group of girls, which proved successful. Since then CHERUB campus has grown a significant amount, improving many of its facilities. The dojo was built on behalf of a successful operation that took place in Japan and the new mission preparation building was built by the chairman of the first 6 novels, Dr. McAfferty, better known as Mac. After retiring at the end of "Man Vs Beast", he is replaced by Zara Asker, who holds the role for ten years until stepping down to be replaced by husband Ewart Asker shortly before "New Guard".


title: CHERUB

text: After years of speculation, Muchamore said in the "Henderson's Boys" novel "Eagle Day" that CHERUB stood for Charles Henderson Espionage Research Unit B; this was later confirmed in "Secret Army" by Eileen McAfferty in a telegram.


title: Sergio Rico

text: Sergio Rico González (born 1 September 1993) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.


title: Sergio Rico

text: He began his career at Sevilla, where he twice won the Europa League while appearing in 170 competitive matches. He signed with Paris Saint-Germain in 2019, initially on loan, and permanently in 2020.


title: Sergio Rico

text: Rico made his senior international debut for Spain in 2016, and was chosen for the year's European Championship.


title: Sergio Rico

text: Rico was born in Seville, Andalusia. He played youth football with Sevilla, spending several of his first seasons as a senior with the reserves, in Segunda División B. On 1 July 2013, he signed a new two-year deal with the club.


title: Sergio Rico

text: On 14 September 2014, profiting from the injuries of both Beto and Mariano Barbosa, Rico made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, starting in a 2–0 home win against Getafe. He first appeared in the UEFA Europa League four days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a home victory over Feyenoord for the same scoreline.


title: Sergio Rico

text: In December 2014, Rico was definitely promoted to the main squad, overtaking Barbosa in the pecking order. He extended his contract with the "Rojiblancos" on the 16th, signing until 2017 and being awarded a place with the first team. He finished the campaign with 37 appearances in all competitions, including 11 in the Europa League which concluded with a 3–2 defeat of Dnipro in the final.


title: Sergio Rico

text: In 2015–16, Rico played in Sevilla's UEFA Champions League group stage elimination, but was replaced by fellow youth graduate David Soria as the team went on to win a third consecutive Europa League title. He was still first choice during 2017–18, but was also involved in altercations with manager Vincenzo Montella and a group of supporters.


title: Sergio Rico

text: On 9 August 2018, Rico was loaned to Fulham for one season. He made his Premier League debut on 27 October, in a 0–3 home loss against Bournemouth. He edged out homegrown player Marcus Bettinelli as the starter for the West London club, who were relegated to the Championship at the end of the campaign.


title: Sergio Rico

text: On 1 September 2019, Rico joined Paris Saint-Germain on a season-long loan deal which included an optional buyout clause. His maiden appearance in Ligue 1 took place two months later in the 2–1 victory at Brest, when Keylor Navas withdrew injured before kick-off.


title: Sergio Rico

text: On 29 June 2020, after the campaign had been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rico signed a two-month contract extension at the Parc des Princes. On 12 August, he came on as a substitute for the injured Navas late into an eventual 2–1 win over Atalanta in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and kept his place the following round against RB Leipzig (3–0 victory).