title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: In late September 2019, during the battle in the courts over prorogation of Parliament, Jean-Claude Juncker remarked that in a no-deal Brexit, a British animal entering the Northern Ireland territory could in theory then transit the Republic of Ireland and from thence enter the continental EU, if there were no border controls. "This will not happen," he said, "we have to preserve the health and the safety of our citizens".


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: Lars Karlsson, former director of the World Customs Organization and deputy director general of Swedish Customs, proposed how such a 'Smart Border 2.0' might operate.


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: After becoming Prime Minister on 24 July 2019, Boris Johnson sought to remove the backstop; this was refused by the EU, who wanted a legally operational solution. After Johnson's chief negotiator David Frost met EU officials on 28 August, the two sides agreed to meet twice a week.


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: On 2 October, Johnson presented a potential replacement for the 2018 Irish backstop, proposing that Northern Ireland stay aligned with the EU on product standards but remain in the UK customs territory. This would necessitate product checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but no customs checks for goods expected to stay within the UK. For the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, his proposal would entail customs checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic (potentially assisted by technology implemented distantly from the border) but no product and safety standard checks within the island of Ireland. This was rejected by the EU.


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: On 10 October, Johnson and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar held "very positive and very promising" talks that led to a resumption in negotiations, and a week later, on 17 October, Johnson and Jean-Claude Juncker announced that they had reached agreement (subject to ratification) on a new Withdrawal Agreement which replaced the backstop with a new protocol on Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland.


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: This new protocol has been dubbed by some as "Chequers for Northern Ireland", due to its similarity with the UK-wide Chequers future relationship plan proposed by Theresa May, which had previously been rejected by the EU and criticized by Johnson.


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: According to the UK's implementation plan (July 2020), a system for checks on goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will need three types of electronic paperwork, as detailed in an eleven-page document.


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: On 8 December 2020, UK Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove announced that the British government would withdraw all controversial clauses from the Internal Market Bill. Gove and Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič announced "an agreement in principle" on all issues of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, including the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, border checks, food and medicine supplies and "clarification" on state subsidy rules.


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: The "de facto" border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland bore criticism from Lord Empey, the Ulster Unionist Party’s chief negotiator during the Good Friday Agreement and former Stormont minister. He described the border on the Irish Sea as "the most significant change that has taken place since partition" and that "Northern Ireland’s centre of gravity could gradually move in a Dublin/Brussels direction. This cannot be without constitutional consequences.”


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: On 17 December 2020, the Joint Committee (led by Gove and Šefčovič) agreed a set of documents to give practical effect to the agreement. The documents include amendments to the original agreement (No 3/2020); determination of "goods not at risk" of entering the EU (includes temporary easements) (No 4/2020); maximum state support and "level playing field" (No 5/2020); practical working arrangements for EU inspectors at ports and airports (No 6/2020); and establishment of an arbitration panel for dispute resolution (No 7/2020).


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson first threatened to invoke Article 16 of the Protocol in a speech to Parliament on 13 January 2021, and again on 3 February. He once more did so in a TV interview in April 2021.


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: The Von der Leyen Commission threatened to advise the European Council to invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol on 30 January 2021 over a dispute with AstraZeneca on the contractual details of COVID-19 vaccine and whether the Anglo-Swedish manufacturer was or was not providing its "best efforts" to supply the EU with its product. After frank representations from the Irish and British governments, the Commission rapidly withdrew the threat and apologised for its error of judgement.


title: Brexit and the Irish border

text: In June 2022, the UK government introduced a Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which seeks unilaterally to change how the Northern Ireland Protocol is applied. In a strongly-worded letter, 52 of the 90 Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly advised the Prime Minister that his proposed action would be contrary to the wishes of the majority of people in Northern Ireland. The Democratic Unionist Party (25 MLAs) welcomed the Bill.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: The Stelvio Pass ( , "Giogo dello Stelvio" ; ; ) is a mountain pass in northern Italy bordering Switzerland at an elevation of above sea level. It is the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps, below France's Col de l'Iseran ().


title: Stelvio Pass

text: The pass is located in the Ortler Alps in Italy between Stilfs ("Stelvio" in Italian) in South Tyrol and Bormio in the province of Sondrio. It is about from Bolzano and 200 m from the Swiss border. The Umbrail Pass runs northwards from the Stelvio's western ramp, and the "Three Languages Peak" "(Dreisprachenspitze)" above the pass is so named because this is where the Italian, German, and Romansh language-speaking areas meet.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: The road connects the Valtellina with the Vinschgau valley and the town of Meran. Adjacent to the pass road there is a large summer skiing area. Nearby mountains include Thurwieserspitze, Piz Umbrail, Piz Cotschen, and to the east, the mighty Ortler.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: The original road was built in 1820–25 by the Austrian Empire to connect the former Austrian province of Lombardy with the rest of Austria, covering a climb of . The engineer and project manager was (1775–1845). Since then, the route has changed very little. Its seventy-five hairpin turns, 48 of them on the northern side numbered with stones, are a challenge to motorists. Stirling Moss went off the road here during a vintage car event in the 1990s, with an onboard video of his incident being shown on satellite TV.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: Before the end of World War I, it formed the border between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Italian Kingdom. The Swiss had an outpost and a hotel (which was destroyed) on the "Dreisprachenspitze" (literally, Three-Language-Peak). During World War I, fierce battles were fought in the ice and snow of the area, with gun fire even crossing the Swiss area at times. The three nations made an agreement not to fire over Swiss territory, which jutted out in between Austria (to the north) and Italy (to the south). Instead they could fire down the pass, as Swiss territory was up and around the peak. After 1919, with the expansion of Italy, the pass lost its strategic importance.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: The Stelvio Pass remains important for sport when it is open from May through November. Countless cyclists and motorcyclists struggle to get to the highest stretch of road in the Eastern Alps. It is the highest finish of any Grand Tour. The Giro d'Italia often crosses the Stelvio Pass (it was crossed by the Giro for the first time in 1953, when Fausto Coppi beat Hugo Koblet). As the highest peak, it has been named the Cima Coppi in each edition. The last winner on the pass was Jai Hindley in 2020. Every year, the pass is closed to motor vehicles on one day in late August when about 8,000 cyclists ride and around 25 runners run to the top of the Stelvio.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: Bormio regularly hosts World Cup ski racing, usually in late December for a men's downhill event; its "Pista Stelvio" is among the most challenging courses on the circuit.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: The Stelvio Pass was also picked by the British automotive show "Top Gear" as its choice for the "greatest driving road in the world". This conclusion was reached in the first episode of the show's 10th series after the team went in search of a road that would satisfy every "petrolhead's" driving fantasies. "Top Gear" later decided that the Transfăgărășan Highway in Romania was a superior driving road.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: In 2008, Moto Guzzi started selling a Stelvio model, named after the pass. Alfa Romeo debuted its Stelvio crossover SUV at the 2016 Los Angeles Motor Show.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: The Stelvio Pass Glacier in Italy, at an altitude of , normally permits skiing year-round, but was closed to skiing for the first time in 90 years in August 2017 due to a heatwave.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: Stelvio National Park is the largest in the Italian Alps. It was established in 1935, and covers the Ortles-Cevedale massif, as well as some minor chains that flank it. Wildlife in the park include deer, chamois, ibex, and wolves. Hiking in the park is possible with numerous trails and mountain huts and hiking trails.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: Each year on the last Saturday of August or the first Saturday of September the Stelvio National Park administration organizes the Stelvio Bike Day. On that day the roads from Bormio and Prad to the pass, as well as the road from Santa Maria Val Müstair to the Umbrail Pass are closed to all traffic except for bicycles. On average around 12,000 cyclists participate in the Bike Day, with the majority taking the road from Prad to the pass and the descent over the Umbrail pass to Val Müstair.


title: Stelvio Pass

text: Since 2017 there has also been a Stelvio Marathon for runners, from Prad to Glurns, back to Prad and thence through Stilfs (Stelvio village) to the pass. The first was held on June 17, 2017, with over 300 participants. The second was held on June 16, 2018 and the third on August 31, 2019.


title: Lee Loughnane

text: Lee David Loughnane (pronounced LOCK-nain; born October 21, 1946) is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago.


title: Lee Loughnane

text: Lee David Loughnane was born in Elmwood Park, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, to Philip and Juanita Loughnane. Lee is the second-oldest of five children. He began playing trumpet at age 11, using the same instrument played by his dad when he was in the Army Air Force. Lee attended St. Mel High School, an all-boys school operated by the Christian Brothers, because it had a concert band, jazz band and marching band. By the time he graduated in 1964, he knew that he wanted to be a professional musician. "There was nothing else that I wanted to do. I had no other calling." He met his future Chicago bandmates during his freshman year at DePaul University.


title: Lee Loughnane

text: Through his friendship with guitarist Terry Kath, Loughnane met drummer Danny Seraphine and saxophone/woodwind player Walter Parazaider. Parazaider, who was trying to form a rock band with horns, encouraged Loughnane to sit in on rehearsals. Loughnane has been a member of Chicago since its inception. At first, the group was known as The Big Thing. Eventually it was renamed The Chicago Transit Authority with the addition of Peter Cetera on vocals and bass. The band was later renamed simply "Chicago."


title: Lee Loughnane

text: Loughnane's songwriting contributions to Chicago have included the hit singles "Call on Me" from "Chicago VII" and "No Tell Lover" from "Hot Streets", as well as album cuts such as "Take a Chance" from "Hot Streets", "Together Again" on "Chicago X", "This Time" on "Chicago XI" and "America" on "". A copy of the latter song, released on July 4, 2014, was sent to every member of Congress. Lee described how he brought his first songwriting effort to the band, which became the Top 10 single Call On Me, "By the time I came up with an original song the band was very well established with six albums and major success. So I sort of came in with, 'you wanna hear my song,' very timid. I didn't know if they wanted to do it. I didn't think it was good enough. My personality, 'I'm not good enough,' and you know, 'I'm just trying."


title: Lee Loughnane

text: Loughnane made his lead vocal debut on the Terry Kath composition "Song of The Evergreens" on "Chicago VII". He provides background vocals on several Chicago songs, and the occasional lead vocal such as on "Together Again" from "Chicago X", "This Time" on "Chicago XI", "Let it Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" from "" and "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and "Rockin' and Rollin' on Christmas Day" from "". In concert, Lee sings "Colour My World."


title: Lee Loughnane

text: Aside from his musical contributions to Chicago, Loughnane is reported to be a peacemaker and problem-solver within the band. He handles most of the media interviews and has produced several recent Chicago albums, including "" which was recorded entirely on the road, using a traveling studio that Loughnane put together with engineer Tim Jessup.


title: Lee Loughnane

text: The lanky (6'3") Loughnane had a small speaking role as a pig farmer on a hippie commune in the 1973 film "Electra Glide in Blue", starring Robert Blake. Peter Cetera, Terry Kath and Walt Parazaider also appear in the film, which was directed by James Guercio, Chicago's producer at the time. Loughnane played a motorcycle cop in the 1984 music video "Stay The Night" by Chicago. Lee, along with his fellow founding Chicago members Robert Lamm and James Pankow, have a cameo appearance as themselves in the 2013 Larry David comedy "Clear History".


title: Lee Loughnane

text: Lee Loughnane, Walt Parazaider and Jimmy Pankow play on two tracks of the Bee Gees' album "Spirits Having Flown", "Stop (Think Again)" and "Too Much Heaven". On "Too Much Heaven", Lee plays the flugelhorn and Walt plays the flute, according to the liner notes of the 2003 reissue of "Hot Streets". In return, the Gibb brothers sang back-up on the Chicago song "Little Miss Lovin'". The bands became friendly when they were both recording at Criteria Studios in Miami.


title: Lee Loughnane

text: The Chicago horn section also performed on several tracks of Leon Russell's "Americana", most notably "Let's Get Started."


title: Lee Loughnane

text: Lee Loughnane is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and was given the National Citation as well as recognition as Signature Sinfonian along with fellow Chicago members and Sinfonians on August 26, 2009.


title: Lee Loughnane

text: Elmwood Park dedicated "Lee Loughnane Way" near his childhood home on Sunset Drive in 2012. Chicago was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6438 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California in 1992.


title: Chel Diokno

text: Jose Manuel Tadeo "Chel" Icasiano Diokno (, born February 23, 1961) is a Filipino lawyer, educator, and human rights advocate. He serves as chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), the founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law (now Tañada-Diokno College of Law), and the chairman of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation. He has served as a special counsel of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.


title: Chel Diokno

text: Diokno was born on February 23, 1961 in Pasay City as the eighth of the ten children of human rights lawyer Jose W. Diokno, who would later become Senator, and Carmen "Nena" Icasiano. He is the great-grandson of Ananías Diokno, the leader of the Visayans during the Philippine–American War, and the grandson of Ramón Diokno, a nationalist who served as Senator and Supreme Court Associate Justice.


title: Chel Diokno

text: Diokno completed his elementary and secondary education at La Salle Green Hills. He was student council leader and was a member of the varsity basketball team and developed an interest in cycling and aikido, earning a black belt in the martial art. Afterwards, in 1982, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy at the University of the Philippines Diliman, studied Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines College of Law for a year until 1983 and then studied law at Northern Illinois University (NIU) in the United States, where he graduated Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, in 1986. He passed the Bar of the State of Illinois in 1987, and after his father's death went back to the Philippines where he took the Bar Examinations of 1988. He passed the examinations and started his law practice the following year.


title: Chel Diokno

text: Diokno passed the bar examination in the State of Illinois and then in the Philippines. Upon his return to the Philippines in 1987, he served as a lawyer and a human rights advocate. Diokno is a member and the current chairman of FLAG. Other than handling landmark cases, he has also been a regular amicus curiae in the Supreme Court.


title: Chel Diokno

text: In the 1990s, Diokno served in the Commission on Human Rights under Presidents Cory Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos. He was also a member of the Committee on Human Rights and Due Process at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).


title: Chel Diokno

text: In 2001, Diokno was the private prosecutor in the impeachment proceedings against then-President Joseph Estrada. That same year, he became General Counsel of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (the Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigation) under Senator Joker Arroyo. In 2004, he was appointed Special Counsel at the Development Bank of the Philippines.


title: Chel Diokno

text: Until 2019, Diokno served as the Presidential Adviser on Human Rights at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and was a member of the Panel of Arbitrators at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.


title: Chel Diokno

text: In 2006, Diokno set up the Diokno Law Center providing legal training to agencies such as the Comelec, the Public Attorney's Office, the Philippine National Police, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of Customs, and the IBP.


title: Chel Diokno

text: In the Philippine general election of 2019, Diokno launched a campaign for a seat in the Senate under Otso Diretso, a coalition that was against the purported human rights violations of President Rodrigo Duterte; he lost, placing 21st with 6,308,065 votes.


title: Chel Diokno

text: On July 19, 2019, the PNP–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed charges against Diokno and other members of the opposition for "sedition, cyber libel, libel, "estafa", harboring a criminal, and obstruction of justice". On February 10, 2020, he was cleared of all charges.


title: Chel Diokno

text: On June 12, 2021, he was named among the six nominees of 1Sambayan, a coalition that will put up one lone candidate against President Duterte's handpicked successor in the 2022 Philippine presidential election, for president and vice president. Fellow Otso Diretso senatorial candidate Samira Gutoc earlier said in 2019 that he can be an opposition standard bearer. However, he said that he was very honored by the nomination, although he never aspired for those positions as he is focused on his Free Legal Helpdesk, and hopes to serve the country, especially the youth and the ordinary Filipino, in justice, accountability, and relief from the pandemic.


title: Chel Diokno

text: On September 15, 2021, he announced that he would be running again for senator in 2022. He filed his candidacy on October 7 as a new member of the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KANP) party. He was among those named in the senatorial slate of presidential aspirant and Vice President Leni Robredo, as well as the Labor and Ecology Advocates for Democracy (LEAD) senatorial slate of another presidential aspirant Leody de Guzman as a guest candidate. However, he was defeated once again, placing 19th with 10,020,008 votes.


title: Chel Diokno

text: He advocated human rights in his law practice with the Free Legal Assistance Group, as counsel to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, and in his role as the founding Dean of the De La Salle University Tañada-Diokno College of Law.


title: Chel Diokno

text: As the descendant of former Senator and Martial Law critic Jose W. Diokno, Chel Diokno has taken a stand against the historical negationism and denialism regarding the Philippines' Martial Law era under Ferdinand Marcos.


title: Chel Diokno

text: Diokno has written three books: "Diokno On Trial: The Techniques And Ideals Of The Filipino Lawyer (The Complete Guide To Handling A Case In Court)," published by the Diokno Law Center in 2007 and considered the main staple in trial courses; "Civil And Administrative Suits As Instruments Of Accountability For Human Rights Violations," published by the Asia Foundation in 2010, and "Model Pleadings of Jose W. Diokno Volume 1: Supreme Court" published by the Diokno Law Center in 2020. He has also written news articles on forensic DNA, electronic evidence, anti-terrorism legislation, media law, and judicial reform.


title: Chel Diokno

text: Diokno is the son of Filipino nationalist Senator Jose W. "Ka Pepe" Diokno, the acknowledged father of human rights in the Philippines and intellectual leader against the Marcos regime. His sister, Maris Diokno, is a senior administrator in the University of the Philippines system and is a former chair of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Diokno married a writer named Divina Aromin; their eldest son is the filmmaker Pepe, who was named after his grandfather.


title: One man, one vote

text: "One man, one vote", or "one person, one vote", expresses the principle that individuals should have equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of political equality to refer to such electoral reforms as universal suffrage, proportional representation, and the elimination of plural voting, malapportionment, or gerrymandering.


title: One man, one vote

text: The violation of equal representation in the various systems of proportional representation can be measured with the Loosemore–Hanby index, the Gallagher index or the amount of unrepresented vote. A Gallagher index above 5 (%) is seen by many experts as violating the "One man, one vote" principle. In case of plurality voting, the wasted vote can be measured. Additionally, the percentage of spoilt vote and percentage of disfranchisement can be measured to detect violations of the equal representation principle.


title: One man, one vote

text: The phrase surged in english-language usage around 1880, thanks in part to British trade unionist George Howell who used the phrase "one man, one vote" in political pamphlets. During the mid-to-late 20th-century period of decolonisation and the struggles for national sovereignty, this phrase became widely used in developing countries where majority populations sought to gain political power in proportion to their numbers. The slogan was notably used by the anti-apartheid movement during the 1980s, which sought to end white minority rule in South Africa.


title: One man, one vote

text: In the United States, the "one person, one vote" principle was invoked in a series of cases by the Warren Court in the 1960s during the height of related civil rights activities. Applying the Equal Protection Clause of the constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion (5–4) led by Chief Justice Earl Warren in "Reynolds v. Sims" (1964) ruled that state legislatures, unlike the U.S. Congress, needed to have representation in both houses that was based on districts containing roughly equal populations, with redistricting as needed after censuses. Some had an upper house based on an equal number of representatives to be elected from each county, which gave undue political power to rural counties. Many states had neglected to redistrict for decades during the 20th century, even as population increased in urban, industrialized areas. In the 1964 "Wesberry v. Sanders" decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that equality of voting—one person, one vote—means that "the weight and worth of the citizens' votes as nearly as is practicable must be the same", and ruled that states must also draw federal congressional districts containing roughly equal represented populations.


title: One man, one vote

text: This phrase was traditionally used in the context of demands for suffrage reform. Historically the emphasis within the House of Commons was on representing "areas": counties, boroughs and, later on, universities. The entitlement to vote for the Members of Parliament representing the constituencies varied widely, with different qualifications over time, such as owning property of a certain value, holding an apprenticeship, qualifying for paying the local-government rates, or holding a degree from the university in question. Those who qualified for the vote in more than one constituency were entitled to vote in each constituency, while many adults did not qualify for the vote at all. Plural voting was also present in local government, whereby the owners of business property qualified for votes in the relevant wards.


title: One man, one vote

text: Reformers argued that Members of Parliament and other elected officials should represent citizens equally, and that each voter should be entitled to exercise the vote once in an election. Successive Reform Acts by 1950 had both extended the franchise eventually to almost all adult citizens (barring convicts, lunatics and members of the House of Lords), and also reduced and finally eliminated plural voting for Westminster elections. Plural voting for local-government elections outside the City of London was not abolished until the Representation of the People Act 1969.


title: One man, one vote

text: The City of London had never expanded its boundaries. Following the replacement of many residential dwellings by businesses, and the destruction of The Blitz, after the Second World War, the financial district had barely five thousand residents. The system of plural voting was retained for electing the City of London Corporation, with some modifications.


title: One man, one vote

text: When Northern Ireland was established in 1921, it adopted the same political system then in place for the Westminster Parliament and British local government. But the Parliament of Northern Ireland did not follow Westminster in changes to the franchise from 1945. As a result, into the 1960s, plural voting was still allowed not only for local government (as it was for local government in Great Britain), but also for the Parliament of Northern Ireland. This meant that in local council elections (as in Great Britain), ratepayers and their spouses, whether renting or owning the property, could vote. Company directors had an extra vote by virtue of their company's status. However, unlike the situation in Great Britain, non-ratepayers did not have a vote in local government elections. The franchise for elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland had been extended in 1928 to all adult citizens who were not disqualified, at the same time as the franchise for elections to Westminster. But, university representation and the business vote continued for elections to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland until 1969. They were abolished in 1948 for elections to the UK House of Commons (including Westminster seats in Northern Ireland). Historians and political scholars have debated the extent to which the franchise for local government contributed to unionist electoral success in controlling councils in nationalist-majority areas.


title: One man, one vote

text: Based on a number of inequities, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was founded in 1967. It had five primary demands, and added the demand that each citizen in Northern Ireland be afforded the same number of votes for local government elections (as stated above, this was not yet the case anywhere in the United Kingdom). The slogan "one man, one vote" became a rallying cry for this campaign. The Parliament of Northern Ireland voted to update the voting rules for elections to the Northern Ireland House of Commons, which were implemented for the 1969 Northern Ireland general election, and for local government elections, which was done by the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1969, passed on 25 November 1969.


title: One man, one vote

text: The United States Constitution requires a decennial census for the purpose of assuring fair apportionment of seats in the United States House of Representatives among the states, based on their population. Reapportionment has generally been conducted without incident with the exception of the reapportionment that should have followed the 1920 Census, which was effectively skipped pending resolution by the Reapportionment Act of 1929. State legislatures, however, initially established election of congressional representatives from districts that were often based on traditional counties or parishes that had preceded founding of the new government. The question then arose as to whether the legislatures were required to ensure that House districts were roughly equal in population and to draw new districts to accommodate demographic changes.


title: One man, one vote

text: Some U.S. states redrew their House districts every ten years to reflect changes in population patterns; many did not. Some never redrew them, except when it was mandated by reapportionment of Congress and a resulting change in the number of seats to which that state was entitled in the House of Representatives. In many states, both North and South, this inaction resulted in a skewing of influence for voters in some districts over those in others, generally with a bias toward rural districts. For example, if the 2nd congressional district eventually had a population of 1.5 million, but the 3rd had only 500,000, then, in effect – since each district elected the same number of representatives – a voter in the 3rd district had three times the voting power of a 2nd-district voter.


title: One man, one vote

text: Alabama's state legislature resisted redistricting from 1910 to 1972 (when forced by federal court order). As a result, rural residents retained a wildly disproportionate amount of power in a time when other areas of the state became urbanized and industrialized, attracting greater populations. Such urban areas were under-represented in the state legislature and underserved; their residents had difficulty getting needed funding for infrastructure and services. Such areas paid far more in taxes to the state than they received in benefits in relation to the population.


title: One man, one vote

text: The Constitution incorporates the result of the Great Compromise, which established representation for the U.S. Senate. Each state was equally represented in the Senate with two representatives, without regard to population. The Founding Fathers considered this principle of such importance that they included a clause in the Constitution to prohibit any state from being deprived of equal representation in the Senate without its permission; see Article V of the United States Constitution. For this reason, "one person, one vote" has never been implemented in the U.S. Senate, in terms of representation by states.


title: One man, one vote

text: When states established their legislatures, they often adopted a bicameral model based on colonial governments or the federal government. Many copied the Senate principle, establishing an upper house based on geography - for instance, a state senate with one representative drawn from each county. By the 20th century, this often resulted in state senators having widely varying amounts of political power, with ones from rural areas having votes equal in power to those of senators representing much greater urban populations.


title: One man, one vote

text: Activism in the Civil Rights Movement to restore the ability of African Americans in the South to register and vote highlighted other voting inequities across the country. In 1964–1965, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed, in part to enforce the constitutional voting rights of African Americans. Numerous court challenges were raised, including in Alabama, due to the lack of reapportionment for decades.


title: One man, one vote

text: In the United States Supreme Court held in a 4-3 plurality decision that left to the legislature of each state the authority to establish the time, place, and manner of holding elections for representatives.


title: One man, one vote

text: However, in the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren overturned the previous decision in Colegrove holding that malapportionment claims under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment were not exempt from judicial review under , as the equal protection issue in this case was separate from any political questions. The "one person, one vote" doctrine, which requires electoral districts to be apportioned according to population, thus making each district roughly equal in population, was further affirmed by the Warren Court in the landmark cases that followed "Baker", including , which concerned the county unit system in Georgia; which concerned state legislature districts; , which concerned U.S. Congressional districts; and which concerned local government districts.


title: One man, one vote

text: The Warren Court's decision was upheld in . , said states may use total population in drawing districts.


title: One man, one vote

text: Under the 'M.P.V. System', however, no one person or voter has more than one effective vote for one office. No voter's vote can be counted more than once for the same candidate. In the final analysis, no voter is given greater weight in his or her vote over the vote of another voter, although to understand this does require a conceptual understanding of how the effect of a 'M.P.V. System' is like that of a run-off election. The form of majority preferential voting employed in the City of Ann Arbor's election of its Mayor does not violate the one-man, one-vote mandate nor does it deprive anyone of equal protection rights under the Michigan or United States Constitutions.


title: One man, one vote

text: The "one man, one vote" election system has been successfully implemented in many developing countries, most notably India and South Africa.


title: One man, one vote

text: The term "One man, one vote, one time" has been applied to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Belarus, Russia where representative elections were successfully held that were relatively free of corruption and violence. In each case, a strongman came to power and effectively ended free and equitable voting.


The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM was established in 1922, and has its operational headquarters at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and its legal seat in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the counterpart of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).


title: World Organization of the Scout Movement

text: The WOSM's current stated mission is "to contribute to the education of young people, through a value system based on the Scout Promise and Scout Law, to help build a better world where people are self-fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role in society". WOSM is organized into regions and operates with a conference, committee and bureau.


text: The WOSM is associated with three World Scout Centres. The World Scout Jamboree is held roughly every four years under the auspices of the WOSM, with members of WAGGGS also invited. WOSM also organises the World Scout Moot, a Jamboree for 17- to 26-year-olds, and has organised the World Scout Indaba, a gathering for Scout leaders. The World Scout Foundation is a perpetual fund governed by a separate Board of Governors and supported by donations for the development of WOSM associated Scouting programs throughout the world.


text: WOSM is a non-governmental organization with General Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).


text: As a result of an international conference held during the first World Scout Jamboree at Olympia, London in 1920, leaders there agreed to create a Boy Scouts International Bureau (BSIB). An office was established at 25, Buckingham Palace Road, London, and the then International Commissioner of The Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom, Hubert S. Martin, was appointed as Honorary Director. The first task of the bureau was to co-ordinate the discussions and to prepare a second international conference in Paris in 1922. At the 1922 Paris conference The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement, its committee and BSIB were constituted by the founding member organizations. In 1961 The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement reconstituted the organization introducing the name World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement became the WOSM's World Scout Conference, its International Committee became the World Scout Committee and the Boy Scouts International Bureau became the WOSM's World Scout Bureau.


text: The World Scout Conference (WSC) is the governing body and meets every three years, preceded by the World Scout Youth Forum. The World Scout Conference is the general assembly of Scouting and is composed of six delegates from each of the member Scout associations. If a country has more than one association, the associations form a federation for coordination and world representation. The basis for recognition and membership in the World Scout Conference includes adherence to the aims and principles of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, and independence from political involvement on the part of each member association.


text: The Conference meets every three years and is hosted by a member association. At the World Scout Conference basic cooperative efforts are agreed upon and a plan of mutual coordination is adopted.


text: The World Scout Committee is the executive body of the World Scout Conference and is composed of elected volunteers and one appointed Secretary General. The World Scout Committee represents World Scout Conference between the meetings of the full conference. The World Scout Committee is responsible for the implementation of the resolutions of the World Scout Conference and for acting on its behalf between its meetings. The Committee meets twice a year, usually in Geneva. Its Steering Committee, consisting of the Chairman, two Vice-Chairmen, a Youth Advisor and the Secretary General, meet as needed.


text: The committee has 21 members. Twelve, each from a different country, are elected for three-year terms by the World Scout Conference. The members, elected without regard to their nationality, represent the interests of the movement as a whole, not those of their country. The Secretary General, the Treasurer of WOSM and a representative member of the board of the World Scout Foundation and the chairmen of the regional Scout committees are "ex-officio" members of the committee. The six Youth Advisors to the WSC are elected by the World Scout Youth Forum are participating in all of the WSC meetings and are also part of the governing structure between the meetings.


text: The World Scout Committee has set up work streams to address the top strategic priorities, as defined by the World Scout Conference, which at present include:


text: The Bronze Wolf Award is the only distinction awarded by WOSM, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting. It was first awarded to Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell by a unanimous decision of the then-"International Committee" on the day of the institution of the Bronze Wolf in Stockholm in 1935.


text: The World Scout Bureau (WSB, formerly the International Bureau) is the secretariat that carries out the instructions of the World Scout Conference and the World Scout Committee. The WSB is administered by the secretary general, who is supported by a small staff of technical resource personnel. The bureau staff helps associations improve and broaden their Scouting by training professionals and volunteers, establishing finance policies and money-raising techniques, improving community facilities and procedures, and assisting in marshaling the national resources of each country behind Scouting.


text: The staff also helps arrange global events such as the World Scout Jamborees, encourages regional events, and acts as a liaison between the Scouting Movement and other international organizations. A major effort in the emerging nations is the extension of the universal Good Turn into an organization-wide effort for community development.


text: The Bureau was first established in London, England in 1920 and moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1959. The International Conference directed the move of the Bureau from Ottawa to Geneva on 1 May 1968. In August 2013, WOSM announced the relocation of the World Scout Bureau Central Office (WSB-CO) to Kuala Lumpur where it is now located.


text: This list includes Secretaries General and their deputies from the World Organization of the Scout Movement and members of the World Scout Bureau. From 1920 to 1968, this function was called Director


text: "World Scout Centre" is a brand of the WOSM but the two World Scout Centres are operated by regional divisions of WOSM and an independent body:


text: The "Better World Framework" combines the Scouts of the World Award, Messengers of Peace and World Scout Environment Programmes as programme initiatives administered by the World Scout Bureau.


text: The WOSM emblem and membership badge is the World Scout Emblem, a purple, circular logo with a fleur-de-lis in the center, surrounded by a length of rope tied with a reef knot (also called a square knot). Baden-Powell used a fleur-de-lis badge awarded to British Army scouts and subsequently adopted and modified the badge for Scouting. The arrowhead represents the North point on a compass, and is intended to point Scouts on the path to service and unity. The three points on the fleur-de-lis represent the three parts of the Scout Promise: - service to others, duty to God and obedience to the Scout Law. The two five-point stars stand for truth and knowledge, with the ten points representing the ten points of the Scout Law. The bond at the base of the fleur-de-lis symbolizes the family of Scouting. The encircling rope symbolizes the unity and family of the World Scout Movement.


text: The needs of Scout youth in unusual situations has created some interesting permutations, answerable directly to the World Scout Bureau. These permutations fall generally into three categories:


text: Both the Boy Scouts of United Nations and the International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone have long since disbanded, and the only remaining directly registered Troop is the International Boy Scouts, Troop 1 located in Yokohama, Japan.


text: In addition to these three groups a temporary recognition was extended by the BSIB to Scouts in displaced persons camps after World War II. In 1947 at the 11th International Conference the "Displaced Persons Division" of the BSIB was established to register and support Scouts in displaced person camps in Austria, Northern Italy, and Germany. These Scouts did not receive the right of membership in the Boy Scouts International Conference but gained recognition as Scouts under the protection of the Bureau until they took up residence in a country that had a recognized National Scouting Organization, which they then could join. The D.P. Division was closed on 30 June 1950.


text: The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement decided to admit and recognise the exile Russian Scout group as the "Representatives of Russian Scouting in Foreign Countries" on 30 August 1922 and the Armenian Scouts in France were recognized as a "National Movement on Foreign Soil" on 30 April 1929.


text: The Boy Scouts of the United Nations began in 1945, and for years there was an active Boy Scouts of the United Nations with several troops at Parkway Village in New York City, with but 14 members in 1959.


text: The International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone, a group in Panama with Scouts that claimed British and not Panamanian nationality was originally placed under the American Scouting overseas of the BSA but, in 1947, was transferred under the International Bureau. In 1957 the group had over 900 members and existed as a directly registered group until the late 60s.


text: The third category in the directly registered groups, the "mixed-nationality troops", were registered after discussions concerning such troops took place at the 3rd International Conference of 1924 at which the BSIB was authorized to directly register such groups. It seems that the discussion at the 1924 International Conference was, at least in part, prompted by a letter to Baden-Powell from the Scoutmaster of one such troop in Yokohama, Japan. Janning's troop became the first troop directly registered by the BSIB. Only a few troops were directly registered as soon the practice was discontinued and new "mixed" groups were encouraged to join the National Scout Association of their country of residence. In 1955 only two such groups were still active, a troop in Iraq that disbanded that year, and the first group to be registered, the International Troop 1 in Yokohama. The international troop in Yokohama is the only remaining active troop of the small group of the originally directly registered mixed-nationality troops.


text: The Inter-religious Forum of World Scouting serves as a working-group for the religions and beliefs represented in Scouting. There are eight main religious groups represented in the Inter-religious Forum of World Scouting:


title: Trevor Story

text: Trevor John Story (born November 15, 1992) is an American professional baseball second baseman and shortstop for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Colorado Rockies. He made his MLB debut in 2016. On April 8, 2016, Story set an MLB record for a rookie by hitting home runs in each of his first four games, and tied the MLB rookie record for home runs in the month of April. Story was named the National League's Rookie of the Month for April 2016. He led the NL in strikeouts in 2017, and in power-speed number, extra base hits, and longest home run of the season in 2018. After six seasons with the Rockies, he entered free agency and signed a six-year contract with the Red Sox.


title: Trevor Story

text: Story attended Irving High School in Irving, Texas. He played for the Tigers baseball team as a shortstop and pitcher, reaching with his fastball. He also played for the football team as a quarterback, but stopped playing football after his sophomore year of high school so that he could focus more on baseball. He committed to attend Louisiana State University (LSU) on a college baseball scholarship.


title: Trevor Story

text: The Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB) selected Story as a shortstop in the first round, with the 45th overall selection, of the 2011 MLB draft. Story signed with the Rockies, receiving a $915,000 signing bonus, rather than attending LSU. After he signed, he played for the Casper Ghosts of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, where he batted .268. In 2012, Story played for the Asheville Tourists of the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL), and was named a SAL Postseason All-Star after batting .277 with 18 home runs, 63 runs batted in (RBIs), and 43 doubles, which led all SAL players. Prior to the 2013 season, Story was ranked as the 99th-best prospect in baseball by MLB.com. Story played for the Modesto Nuts of the Class A-Advanced California League in 2013, and he struggled, recording a .233 batting average with 12 home runs and 65 RBIs. In 2014, after spending a short time with the Class A Short Season Tri-City Dust Devils and excelling in Modesto, with a .322 batting average and 20 stolen bases, the Rockies promoted Story to the Tulsa Drillers of the Class AA Texas League in June. He struggled with Tulsa, batting .205.


title: Trevor Story

text: With Troy Tulowitzki playing shortstop for the Rockies, Story began to gain experience as a second baseman and third baseman. He began the 2015 season with the New Britain Rock Cats of the Class AA Eastern League, and had a .281 batting average in 300 plate appearances before was promoted to the Albuquerque Isotopes of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League on July 1. During the 2015 season, the Rockies traded Tulowitzki, and Story appeared in the All-Star Futures Game. He finished the 2015 season with a .350 on-base percentage and 20 home runs for New Britain and Albuquerque. The Rockies added Story to their 40-man roster after the 2015 season.


title: Trevor Story

text: With José Reyes suspended for the beginning of the 2016 season, Story competed with Cristhian Adames to become the Rockies' starting shortstop during spring training in 2016. He had a .340 batting average during spring training and made the Rockies' Opening Day roster.


title: Trevor Story

text: Making his major league debut on Opening Day, April 4, as the Rockies' starting shortstop against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Story recorded his first career hit, a three-run home run off Zack Greinke, in his second major league at bat. He hit another home run in his next plate appearance, becoming the seventh player to hit two home runs in one game against Greinke, the first National League player to hit two home runs in his debut and the first Major League Baseball player to hit two home runs in his debut on Opening Day. The following day, Story hit another home run, becoming only the third player ever to hit three home runs in his first two games, following Charlie Reilly and Joe Cunningham. On his third day in the major leagues, he hit a two-run home run off Arizona's Patrick Corbin, becoming the first player in MLB history to hit a home run in each of his first three games and a home run in each of his first four hits.


title: Trevor Story

text: In his fourth game, Story hit two home runs against the San Diego Padres, becoming the first rookie to hit home runs in his first four games, and the first player in major league history to hit six home runs in the first four games of any season. He hit another home run in his sixth game, off Brandon Maurer, setting the MLB record for the most home runs (7) in a team's first six games, eclipsing the previous record of six home runs in six games set by Larry Walker, Mike Schmidt and Willie Mays. Story won the National League Player of the Week Award for the first week of the season. With ten home runs in April, Story tied the MLB rookie record, previously set by José Abreu of the Chicago White Sox. After finishing the month leading all MLB rookies with 10 home runs, 19 runs scored, 20 runs batted in and three triples, Story won the National League Rookie of the Month Award for April.


title: Trevor Story

text: Story was selected as one of the five choices for the All-Star Final Vote. On August 2, Story was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a torn ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb. He had surgery on the thumb and missed the rest of the season. He finished his rookie season with 101 hits, 67 runs scored, 27 home runs, and 72 RBI.


title: Trevor Story

text: Story's 2017 season became somewhat less consistent as he finished the year with a .239 batting average, 32 doubles, 24 home runs, and 82 RBI. He also struck out an NL-leading 191 times.


title: Trevor Story

text: Batting .284 with 17 home runs and 62 RBIs, Story was named to the 2018 MLB All-Star Game. At the end of the 2018 season, Story was first in the NL in power-speed number (31.2) and had a .276 BA, with 42 doubles (4th), 37 home runs (2nd in the NL), 168 strikeouts (4th), 108 RBIs (4th), and 27 stolen bases (6th). On September 5, Story hit three home runs, the second of which was initially measured at , but was later measured at .


title: Trevor Story

text: On May 24, 2019, Story hit his 100th and 101st home runs, the 101st being a walk off to propel the Rockies to an 8–6 win over the Baltimore Orioles. He became the fastest shortstop to reach this mark, surpassing Alex Rodriguez, doing so in his 448th game. For the 2019 season, Story batted .294 with 35 home runs and 85 RBIs, and was again named to the All-Star team.


title: Trevor Story

text: In 2020, Story made more defensive errors at shortstop (10) than any other major league shortstop. In 59 games, Story led the team with 11 home runs and finished second on the team with 28 RBIs. Story also led the National League with 15 stolen bases and four triples, and finished 11th in NL MVP voting.


title: Trevor Story

text: Story's production declined slightly in 2021, though not by much. In 142 games played, he had a .251/.329/.471 slash line with 24 home runs, including a walk-off homer against the Diamondbacks on May 23.


title: Trevor Story

text: On November 17, Story declined an $18.4 million qualifying offer from the Rockies, rendering him a free agent within a stacked shortstop market that included Carlos Correa, Corey Seager and Javier Baez. Later that week, he met with the Texas Rangers, his hometown team. Overall in six seasons with the Rockies, Story appeared in 745 games while batting .272 with 158 home runs and 450 RBIs.


title: Trevor Story

text: On March 23, 2022, Story signed a six-year, $140 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. He began the season as the team's regular second baseman. On May 19, Story had three home runs and seven RBIs in a 12–6 win over the Mariners. On July 16, he was placed on the injured list due to a contusion to his right hand sustained on July 12 when he was hit by a pitch in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays. He remained on the injured list until being activated on August 27. Story returned to the injured list on September 22 due to a left heel contusion. In 94 games with Boston, Story batted .238 with 16 home runs and 66 RBIs.


title: Trevor Story

text: On November 16, 2018, Story married his high school sweetheart, Mallie Crow, in Grapevine, Texas. Two days after he signed for the Red Sox, Story and Crow welcomed their first child. Story is a Christian.


title: Trevor Story

text: Story's father, Ken, is a retired fireman and paramedic, and his mother, Teddie, was the chief executive officer of a local food pantry. His older brother, Tyler, played baseball at Irving and for the University of Texas at Austin.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: Manny Pacquiao launched the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League on August 29, 2017, starting off as a semi-professional league. According to Pacquiao, the league is not intended to be a competitor to the Philippine Basketball Association, the country's top professional basketball league. The MPBL was intended to feature both a regional commercial and barangay-level league with teams on the commercial side to have a home locality in addition to a corporate sponsor.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: In the first months, the league hosted teams from Luzon with future plans to expand to accommodate teams based in Visayas and Mindanao like the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association. It is planned that an expanded MPBL will have two conferences, North and South, where the best teams from both divisions will face in the finals similar to the format of the National Basketball Association of the United States.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: The league was planned to start as early as September 23, 2017 with at least six teams. A pre-season was held with the Bulacan Kuyas finishing as champions.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: The inaugural cup of the MPBL, the Anta Rajah Cup commenced on January 25, 2018, and was participated in by ten teams. In the opening game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Parañaque Patriots secured a 70–60 victory over the Caloocan Supremos. The first tournament ran until April 19, 2018, where the Batangas City Athletics crowned as the league's first-ever champion.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: After its inaugural cup, the 2018 Anta Rajah Cup, the MPBL had expanded its roster of teams to 26. All teams are expected to play in the next cup. After the ten expansion teams were admitted into the league, it closed its doors for new applicants from Luzon. This was done to leave room for future Visayas and Mindanao teams. A meeting in Cebu was held on April 28 for potential Visayas and Mindanao teams. Davao Occidental Tigers became the first MPBL team from the Visayas-Mindanao region.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: In December 2019, Chooks-to-Go of Bounty Agro Ventures became the title sponsor of the league under a five-year deal. The 2019–20 season was postponed on March 12, 2020, after the second game of the Division Finals, but resumed play for the game threes of the Division Finals on March 10, 2021, almost exactly a year after, when it announced the resumption through a bubble in Subic. With this, the 2020–21 season was also cancelled altogether due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2021, Chooks-to-Go took over the operations of the league.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: On November 9, 2021, it was announced that the MPBL will turn into a professional league. They have also lift the restrictions for Fil-foreign and ex-professional players. On December 9, 2021, the MPBL was granted professional status by the Games and Amusements Board.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: The MPBL originated with 10 charter teams on its inaugural season. After its first successful season, it attracted a lot of teams across the Philippines to join.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: Similar to the defunct Philippine Basketball League and the former Shakey's V-League prior to 2016, MPBL employs its own in-house broadcast team.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: ABS-CBN Sports and ABS-CBN Regional Network Group were the inaugural official broadcasters of the league. It last aired games through A2Z; previously, it aired games of the MPBL through S+A Channel 23 and S+A HD Channel 166 with Liga providing cable television coverage on Channels 86 and 166 on SkyCable and select provincial providers. Selected national finals games aired on ABS-CBN. The broadcasting deal was announced on January 11, 2018. The games aired internationally via The Filipino Channel. Additionally, scheduled Monday games were aired on Fox Sports Asia until the 2019 championship.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: The games were also available via livestreaming through the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Facebook page, ABS-CBN Sports Website and iWant TFC.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: However, their contract with the network's sports division were initially left in jeopardy due to the ABS-CBN franchise renewal controversy, which led to the sports division's dissolution on August 31. Nevertheless, with the resumption of the stalled playoffs in March 2021, ABS-CBN remained the broadcast partner of the league, through A2Z.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: In December 2021, starting with the Invitationals, the league's media coverage transferred to the IBC and TAP Sports. The livestreaming of games were also carried over to the Chooks-to-Go Facebook page and on TAP Go. IBC did not extend their contract with the MPBL in 2021.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: On April 25, 2022, the media coverage of the league began to exclusively air on One PH, instead of One Sports because the sports channel had no more available slots. It thus made One PH carry sports program aside from being a Tagalog news channel. Selected matches are also streamed on league's social networks, including Facebook, YouTube, and Kumu.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: At least for the 2021 MPBL Invitationals, the Filipino-foreigners height limit for Filipino-foreigners would be lifted.


title: Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

text: At least for the 2021 MPBL Invitationals, it was announce that the cap on ex-pros and requirement to field homegrowns will be scrapped.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë (; ) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some above sea level, surrounded by the Morava Mountains.


title: Korçë

text: The area of the Old Bazaar, including Mirahori Mosque, is considered as the urban core of the city. Founded by a local Ottoman Albanian lord, Ilias Bey Mirahori, the urban area of Korçë dates back to the late 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, however its actual physiognomy was realized in the 19th century, during a period that corresponds with the rapid growth and development of the city. The Old Bazaar has played a dominant role in Albania's market history. Korçë is the largest city of eastern Albania and an important cultural and industrial centre.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë is named differently in other languages: ; Serbian, Bulgarian and Macedonian: Горица, "Goritsa"; , "Korytsa"; ; .


title: Korçë

text: The current name is of Slavic origin. The word "gorica" means "hill" in South Slavic languages, and is a very common toponym in Albania and Slavic countries (e.g. Podgorica in Montenegro, Gorizia, Dolna Gorica in the Pustec municipality, and so on). It is diminutive of the Slavic toponym "gora", meaning mountain, which is also found in placenames throughout Slavic countries as well as non-Slavic countries like Albania, Greece and Italy.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë's foundation is closely related with the actions of Ilias Bey Mirahori, a Muslim Albanian convert born in the village of Panarit in the Korçë area, who acquired large properties in the location of present-day Korçë. Ilias Bey was the 'Master of the Stables' of Sultan Bayezid II, and the first equerry and conqueror of Psamathia in the Ottoman capture of Constantinople. In 1484 Ilias Bey received, as a reward from the Sultan, seven villages located in the Korçë area: Leshnja, Vithkuq, Peshkëpi, Boboshtica, Panariti, Treska, and Trebicka. This accord was finalized gradually through four firmans. In the first firman Leshja and Vithkuq were accorded to Ilias Bey as mülk (land tenure). However he met difficulties while collecting the incomes and after twelve years these villages turned into their earlier status of timars, being substituted through a second firman in the year 1497 by the locality "Piskopiye", which included two sections. In the third firman (1497) the boundaries of Piskopiye were defined, establishing its demarcation between Mborje, Barç and Bulgarec, a site area corresponding to the territory of today's Korçë city. As a product of this process, the town of Korçë dates from the end of the 15th century.


title: Korçë

text: The name "Gorica" corresponded to an older fortified settlement, and was later attached to Piskopiye, which was a separate community, and as suggested by its name, a bishop's residence. Ilias Bey founded his works of charity in Piskopiye, building a mosque, an imaret and a muallim-hane and a hammam. Built between 1484 and 1495, the mosque, named after him, represents one of the most important examples of Islamic architecture of Albania and its second oldest mosque after the Sultan's Mosque of Berat. The name "Episkopi" in Greek signifies a sacred place for the Orthodox faith, however, it is not certain if it was a coincidence or an intended strategy to built a mosque on the site of an older Orthodox church or monastery. With the establishment of the religious, educational and charitable institutions in the area, Ilias Bey must have planned to make the village a local Islamic centre and to raise it to the rank of "kasaba" ("town"), through the registration of its inhabitants as citizens instead of farmers. Being subjected to the Kaza of Korça, the villages of Episkopi, Boboshtica, Leshnja and Vithkuq were used in 1505 as sources of income on behalf of the five institutions of Ilias Bey's vakfa. The vakfa he founded also served the purpose of organizing the settlement of Muslim inhabitants in an area that was recently abandoned by the original Christian inhabitants.


title: Korçë

text: The new town must have been dominated initially by the old castle of Mborje. Throughout the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century the castle was maintained by the Ottomans. The Tapu Defter of 1519 records a cemaat of Christian "müsellems" in the castle. According to this document the village of Mborje ("Emboryo"), which depended on Korçë ("Görice"), numbered 88 households of Christians and 18 households of Muslims.


title: Korçë

text: Korça was divided into two great neighborhoods: Varosh and Kasaba. In the 16th century Muslims constituted the 21% of the population of the town and inhabited Kasaba, which was subdivided into the smaller neighborhoods of Çarshi, Ratak, Qoshk and Dere, including the institutions established by Ilias Bey. The Christian population inhabited Varosh, which was subdivided in Varosh i Sipërm (Upper Varosh) and Varosh i Poshtëm (Lower Varosh). Varosh i Sipërm was further subdivided into the smaller neighborhoods of Mano, Barç, Jeni-Mahallë, Qiro, Penço, Manço, Manto and Kala, while Varosh i Poshtëm consisted only of Katavarosh, which was known also as "Lagja e Shën Mërisë", named after the Church that was located there.


title: Korçë

text: When the nearby town of İskopol (Moscopole or Moschopolis or Voskopojë) was destroyed by Ali Pasha's men in 1789, some of its commerce shifted to Görice (Korçë) and Arnavud Belgrad (Berat). Korçë grew as part of its population came from nearby Moscopole. Greek sources (Liakos and Aravandinos) have noted of the Korçë Aromanian populations' origins that in addition to many being from Moscopole, others settled during a time of calm and were from the village of Shalës, Kolonjë and established the market district of Korçë known as Varosh. Aromanians from the Arvanitovlach subgroup that in the early 19th century arrived to the Korçë area played a significant role in establishing the Korçë Christian urban class. In Psalidas' work "Geography" from 1830 noted that in the district of Varosh in Korçë, 100 Aromanian families lived there.


title: Korçë

text: According to French diplomat François Pouqueville there were 1,300 families living in the city in 1805 with two thirds of them being Christian. Korçë went from having a population of 8,200 (1875) to 18,000 (1905) and of those 14,000 adhered to Orthodox Christianity. Of those considered as "Greek" in Korçë, this was because they adhered to Orthodox Christianity, but Michael Palairet argues that most were Aromanians (Vlachs). Other sources however have characterized the population as primarily ethnic Albanian in the early 20th century, while others as Greek. Greek was the language of the elite and the majority of the Aromanian population engaged in commerce, crafts and international trade becoming one of the wealthiest communities in Epirus and Macedonia. Albanians of Korçë engaged mostly in stockbreeding, agriculture and were poor. The inhabitants of the city spoke both Albanian and Greek.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë's cultural isolation was reduced due to Greek schools, the first one being founded in the city at 1724. Subsequently, Muslim Albanian revolutionary intellectuals from the city emerged in the 1840s that wanted to preserve a Muslim Albania within a reformed Ottoman state. Due to increasing Hellenisation by the 1870s, those sentiments became replaced with the concept of an Albanian nation based on linguistic and cultural factors through struggle against a collapsing Ottoman Empire. During the late Ottoman era, Orthodox Albanians involved in the Albanian National Awakening came mainly from Korçë and its surrounding areas. On the other hand, the city council of Korçë, known as demogerontia (), and the metropolitan bishop of the city who identified as Greeks sent a secret memorandum to the foreign office department of Greece suggesting various ways to tackle activities by Albanian nationalists. In 1885, Jovan Cico Kosturi became the founder of a committee called the Albanian Cultural Society, along with co-founders Thimi Marko and Orhan Pojani, but the formation of the organization was suppressed by both the Ottoman and Orthodox Church authorities, so it went underground and carried on its activities as the Secret Committee of Korça (), and two years later, in March 1887, with the help of the Frashëri brothers, the Secret Committee set up the first Albanian school.


title: Korçë

text: In the late Ottoman period, inhabitants from Korçë and surrounding areas emigrated abroad for economic opportunities, often by the Orthodox community who mainly as qualified craftsmen went to Romania, Greece and Bulgaria while Muslims went to Istanbul performing mainly menial labour work. Late nineteenth century Albanian migration to the United States consisted mainly of Orthodox Albanians from Korçë and surrounding areas who went to work there, save money and intending to eventually return home.


title: Korçë

text: At beginning of the 18th century the inhabitants of Korçë attended the schools of nearby Moscopole. The first school, a Greek language school, in the city was established in 1724 with the support of residents of nearby Vithkuq. This school was destroyed during the Greek War of Independence but it reopened in 1830. In 1857 a Greek school for girls was operating in the city. During the 19th century various local benefactors such as Ioannis Pangas and Anastas Avramidhi-Lakçe donated money for the promotion of Greek education and culture in Korçë, such as the Bangas Gymnasium. Greek education was also financed by members of the diaspora in Egypt. Similarly, kindergartens, boarding and urban schools, were also operating in the city during this period. Under these developments, a special community fund, named the Lasso fund, was established in 1850 by the local Orthodox bishop Neophytos, in order to support Greek cultural activity in Korçë. At the eve of the Balkan Wars (1912) the total number of students attending Greek education in the city numbered 2,115.


title: Korçë

text: Around 1850, Naum Veqilharxhi created an Albanian alphabet in which a few small books were published and the script briefly flourished in Korçë. At the end of the 19th century local Albanians expressed a growing need to be educated in their native language. The Albanian intellectual diaspora from Istanbul and Bucharest initially tried to avoid antagonism towards the notables of Korçë, who were in favor of Greek culture. Thus they suggested the introduction of Albanian language in the existing Greek Orthodox schools, a proposal which was discussed with the local bishop and the city council, the "demogeronteia", and finally rejected by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. In the late 1870s the Albanian Committee of Patriots devised a Latin-based Albanian script which was also adopted by British and U.S. Protestant missionaries


title: Korçë

text: The Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights founded in the late 1870s promoting Albanian cultural development set up an Albanian secondary school for boys. The founding in 1884 of the boy's secondary school is regarded as the first Albanian school in Korçë and established in 1887 by the "Drita" () organization and funded by notable local individuals. Its first director was Pandeli Sotiri. Naim Frashëri, the national poet of Albania played a great role in the opening of the school. As a high-ranking statesman in the ministry of education of the Ottoman Empire he managed to get official permission for the school. The Ottoman authorities gave permission only for Christian children to be educated in Albanian, but the Albanians did not follow this restriction and allowed also Muslim children to attend. It survived until 1902 under the teachers Leonidis and Naum Naça who were arrested and declared as traitors by Ottoman authorities at the request of Greek clergy with the school being closed down, vandalised and wrecked. Albanian efforts for an Albanian school are represented in Greek sources as a failure due to weak demand and limited funding, but Palairet notes that Greek interference undermined the school. In the late 1880s Gjerasim Qiriazi began his Protestant mission in the city. He and fellow members of the Kyrias family established Albanian speaking institutions in Korçë, with his sister Sevasti Qiriazi founding the first Albanian girls school in 1891. It was started by Gjerasim Qiriazi and later run by his sisters, Sevasti and Parashqevi Qiriazi, together with Polikseni Luarasi (Dhespoti). Later collaborators were the Rev. & Mrs. Grigor Cilka and Rev & Mrs. Phineas Kennedy of the Congregational Mission Board of Boston. Both schools were closed by the Ottoman authorities during 1902–1904.


title: Korçë

text: When the city was under French administration in 1916 (the Republic of Korçë), Greek schools were closed and 200 Albanian schools were opened. In the city of Korçë itself, four primary schools opened, and one secondary school opened and functioned quite successfully. A plebiscite was held and voters indicated that they wanted the Albanian schools to stay open. However, a few months later Greek schools were reopened as a reward and result of Greece's adherence to the Entente alliance along with France. Particularly relevant was the opening in 1917 of the Albanian National Lyceum.


title: Korçë

text: The rule of the Ottoman Empire over Korçë lasted until 1912 when Albania declared its independence. The city and its surroundings were supposed to become part of the Principality of Bulgaria, according to the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878, while the Treaty of Berlin of the same year returned the area to Ottoman rule. In 1910, the Church Alliance of local Orthodox Albanians led to the proclamation of an Albanian church by Mihal Grameno, but this effort was too isolated to affect the population. Korçë's proximity to Greece, which claimed the entire Orthodox population as Greek, led to its being fiercely contested in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. Greek forces captured Korçë from the Ottomans on 6 December 1912 and afterwards proceeded to imprison the Albanian nationalists of the town.


title: Korçë

text: Its incorporation into Albania in 1913 was disputed by Greece, who claimed it as part of the region called Northern Epirus, and resulted in a rebellion by the Greek population residing in the region of Korçë, who asked the intervention of the Greek army. This rebellion was initially suppressed by the Dutch commanders of the Albanian gendarmerie, that consisted of 100 Albanians led by the Orthodox Albanian nationalist Themistokli Gërmenji, and as a result the local Greek-Orthodox bishop Germanos and other members of the town council were arrested and expelled by the Dutch.


title: Korçë

text: However, under the terms of the Protocol of Corfu (May 1914), the city became part of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus inside the borders of the principality of Albania, while on 10 July 1914 the Greek Northern Epirote forces took over the city. Under Greek occupation, for the purpose of convincing the Congress of London of Greek expansionist claims, the Greek authorities took a census, which counted 15,453 inhabitants in the city, of which 11,453 were Greeks and the rest 4,000 Albanians; however according to Lampros Psomas the census did not inquire about ethnicity, but rather instead explicitly had all Christians renamed "Greeks" and all Muslims changed to "Albanians", by religious criteria alone.


title: Korçë

text: At the time, even ethnographers sympathetic to the Greek claims considered the city Albanian. Since the passes over the Pindus mountain range were much difficult, the Greeks wished to retain this city after the 1914 occupation of parts of southern Albania because only Korçë granted the successful maintenance of communications by land between the territories of Epirus and Macedonia that were acquired by Greece in 1913.


title: Korçë

text: In October 1914 the city came again under Greek administration. During the period of the National Schism (1916) in Greece, a local revolt broke out, and with military and local support Korçë came under the control of Eleftherios Venizelos' Movement of National Defence, overthrowing the royalist forces. However, due to developments in the Macedonian Front of World War I the city came soon under French control (1916–1920).


title: Korçë

text: The French initially awarded control of Korçë and the surrounding area to Greek allies, but Albanian "çeta" guerilla bands led by Themistokli Gërmenji and Sali Butka fought against Venizelist forces for Albanian self-administration. Those Albanian bands burned Moscopole and threatened that Korcë would share the same fate. Meanwhile, the Venizelos Movement of National Defence was unable to dispatch reinforcements to the region, but also French General Sarrail demanded for strategic reasons the withdrawal of the local Greek garrison.


title: Korçë

text: After coming to the conclusion that the local Albanians thoroughly disliked the Greek administration of the area, on December 8, 1916, Sarrail cabled that French military policy should change to support the Albanian nationalist uprising; by converting the Albanian uprising to the Allied cause, Sarrail hoped to protect his left flank and enable it to join up with the Italians in Vlorë and discourage the Austrians from trying to advance through Albania. Furthermore, a peaceful and stable allied Korçë under French influence would reduce the number of troops the French army needed to commit to hold the area.


title: Korçë

text: On the 10th of December 1916, fourteen Albanian delegates, including seven Muslims and seven Christians, proclaimed the Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë. The French agreed to these demands and the fourteen representatives of Korçë and Colonel Descoins signed a protocol that proclaimed the Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë under the military protection of the French army and with Themistokli Gërmenji as president. The French pursued policies which strengthened expressions of Albanian nationalism. Greek schools were closed down, Greek clergy and pro-Greek notables expelled while allowing Albanian education and promoting Albanian self-government through the autonomous Korçë republic, although Greek schools were reopened after a year and two months in February 1918. Another factor that reinforced Albanian sentiments among the population was the return of 20–30,000 Orthodox Albanian emigrants mainly to Korçë and the surrounding region who had attained Albanian nationalist sentiments abroad. The change in French policy to support the Albanians did create some tensions between France and Italy; the French assured the Italians that they did not have any territorial claims on either Korçë; General Sarrail's reports insisted that the local Albanians had proclaimed the republic, then asked for it to be put under French protection, and that Descoins had merely complied with the wishes of the local population.


title: Korçë

text: On February 16, 1918, Sarrail's successor officially abrogated the proclamation, and following the re-entry of Greece into the war, made concessions to Greek interests including the reopening of Greek schools, but the Albanians were assured that this did not threaten their independence. The Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë remained a reality on the ground, continuing to rule its territory and fly its flag, while inter-religious cooperation was also maintained with both Muslims and Christians being grateful to the French for allowing them to continue their self-governance without much interference.


title: Korçë

text: The Autonomous Republic of Korçë was greatly important for the Albanian nationalist movement, as it demonstrated to the world a resurgence in power for Albanian nationalism in one of the areas where it had been the strongest before the war, and it also demonstrated the successful cooperation of Albanian Christians and Muslims in governance. The government is considered to have been a successful experiment in Albanian self-administration, as the French allowed the entity to "act as if it were an independent state", minting its own coinage, introducing its own flag, and printing its own stamps. According to Stickney, the republic gave Albanians the opportunity for self-government under the light tutelage of the French, and they were able to build a state in the absence of the great power rivalry that had beset King Wilhelm's earlier government. However, this French initiative of Albanian self-rule ended without success and the head of this Republic was shot as an Austrian spy.


title: Korçë

text: The Conference of ambassadors considering Albania's claims to the area commissioned a League of Nations report consisting of three on the ground commissioners in December 1921. One commissioner, Finnish professor J. Sederholm, according to Lambros Psomas based on biased pro-Albanian reports, noted in 1922 that Korçë's population was "entirely Albanian; the numbers of Greeks being insignificant" and continued that "there are, however, amongst the population two parties, — one nationalist and the other Grecophile" It ultimately remained part of Albania, as determined by the International Boundary Commission, which affirmed the country's 1913 borders. Although assurances were given in the Paris Peace Conference by Albanian officials for the recognition of the Greek minority, during the 1920s Greek speech was prohibited in local education, religious life and in private within Korçë. At November 1921 the Albanian authorities expelled the Greek Orthodox metropolitan bishop Jakob. This event triggered demonstrations by the Orthodox community of the city. Immigration quotas during 1922-4 restricted former migrants returning to the United States and Korçë residents instead migrated to Australia to Moora, Western Australia and Shepperton, Victoria working in farming and agriculture related employment.


title: Korçë

text: Italian forces occupied Korçë in 1939, along with the rest of the country. During the Greco-Italian War it became the main forward base of the Italian air force. Nevertheless, the city came under the control of the advancing Greek forces, on November 22, 1940, during the first phase of the Greek counter-offensive. Korçë remained under Greek control until the German invasion of Greece in April 1941. After Italy's withdrawal from the war in 1943, the Germans occupied the town until October 24, 1944.


title: Korçë

text: During the occupation, the city became a major centre of Communist-led resistance to the Axis occupation of Albania. The establishment of the Albanian Party of Labour—the Communist Party—was formally proclaimed in Korçë in 1941. Albanian rule was restored in 1944 following the withdrawal of German forces.


title: Korçë

text: Right after World War II many people fled to Boston, United States joining a community of the Albanian-Americans, who had previously emigrated there.


title: Korçë

text: After 1990 Korçë was one of the six cities where the New Democratic Party won all the constituencies. Popular revolts in February 1991 ended with the tearing down of Hoxha's statue. After the fall of communism, the city fell into disregard in many aspects. However following the 2000s, the city experienced a makeover as main streets and alleys started to be reconstructed, locals began to renovate their historic villas, a calendar of events was introduced, building façades painted, and city parks reinvigorated. The European Union is financing the renovation of the Korça Old Bazaar while the city centre was redesigned, and a watch tower constructed.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë lies mostly between latitudes 40° and 36° N and longitudes 20° and 46° E. The municipality of Korçë is encompassed in the County of Korçë within the Southern Region of Albania and consists of the adjacent administrative units of Drenovë, Lekas, Mollaj, Qendër Bulgarec, Vithkuq, Voskop, Voskopojë and Korçë as its seat.


title: Korçë

text: As of the Köppen climate classification, Korçë falls under the periphery of the warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) zone with an average annual temperature of . The warmest month of Korçë is August with an average temperature of . By contrast, the coldest month is January with an average temperature of . Korçë receives around annual precipitation with summer minimum and winter maximum. Temperatures generally remain cooler than western Albania, due to the middle altitude of the plain in which it is situated, but it receives about 2800 hours of solar radiation per year.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë is a municipality governed by a mayor–council government system with the mayor of Korçë and the members of the Korçë Municipal Council authorized for the administration of Korçë Municipality.


title: Korçë

text: During the Stalinist rule of Enver Hoxha, Korçë gained a substantial industrial capacity in addition to its historic role as a commercial and agricultural centre. Local industries include the manufacture of knitwear, rugs, textiles, flour-milling, brewing, and sugar-refining. The city is home to the nationally famous Birra Korça.


title: Korçë

text: According to official reports the city enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. The majority of foreign investment comes from Greek, as well as joint Albanian-Greek enterprises.


title: Korçë

text: The city is home to Fan Noli University, founded in 1971, which offers several degrees in the humanities, sciences and business. The university includes a school in Agriculture, Teaching, Business, Nursing, and Tourism.


title: Korçë

text: With the prohibition of Greek education in the city, at c. 1922, there was a constant demand for the reopening a Greek school. After the collapse of the Socialist Republic, part of the local communities expressed a growing need to revive their cultural past, in particular with the reopening of Greek language institutions. In April 2005 the first bilingual Greek-Albanian school opened in Korçë after 60 years of prohibition of Greek education. In addition, a total of 17 Greek language tutoring centres function in the city. Students of the local Greek minority attend either private Greek institutions or Albanian public schools.


title: Korçë

text: In 2009, a madrassa (Islamic highschool) was built in Korçë and is operated by the Muslim Community of Albania.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë is the 7th populous city in Albania and the largest city in the Korçë County. In 2007, the population of the city was about 86,176 inhabitants. According to the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), the city of Korçë include 51,683 (25,478 male; 26,205 female) people as of the 2011 Census. The city of Korçë was one of the major centres of the Greek minority in southern Albania, the other being Gjirokastër, A Greek minority still found in Korçë.


title: Korçë

text: Aromanians of Korçë live mainly in one neighborhood of the city where they speak Aromanian, have Aromanian cultural associations that are divided between pro-Romanian and pro-Greek factions, church liturgy in Aromanian and maintain cultural and economic connections to Romania and Greece.


title: Korçë

text: Romani also inhabit the city, in particular the "Kulla e Hirit" neighborhood and their presence in the city mainly dates to the early 20th century when they migrated from Turkey to Florina and ultimately Korçë.


title: Korçë

text: For centuries Korçë has been an important religious centre for both Orthodox Christians and Muslims, hosting a significant Orthodox community as well as significant Sunni and Bektashi communities in and around the city. The main centre of the Bektashis of the area is the Turan Tekke. In modern days, there are also smaller numbers of Catholics and Protestants in the city, as well the irreligious. The second Albanian Protestant church was opened in Korçë. In 1940, Korçë's Evangelical Church was closed down by the Italian fascist forces.


title: Korçë

text: Even before the foundation of the modern town, the Korçë district was initially part of the Metropolis of Kastoria (15th century), but in the early 17th century became the seat of an Orthodox bishop and in 1670 was elevated to metropolitan bishopric. The city remained entirely Christian until the first half of the 16th century. The Orthodox cathedral of saint George, a significant landmark in the city, was demolished by the authorities of the People's Republic of Albania during the atheistic campaign. Funding for the construction of an Orthodox church came from Romanian and Aromanian businessmen.


title: Korçë

text: Islam entered the city in the 15th century through Iljaz Hoxha, an Albanian jannissary, who actively participated in the Fall of Constantinople. One of the oldest mosques in Albania was built by Iljaz Hoxha in 1484, the Iliaz Mirahori Mosque. The Romani population of Korçë consists of Muslims, who in the 1920s maintained their own mosques in the city, while there are also Orthodox Christian Roma in the city's Varosh neighbourhood.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë is known as southern Albania's intellectual capital and is also regarded as the Albanian cultural metropolis. The city and its surrounding area are culturally distinct of all the regions in the Albanian ethnographic regions and maintain a rich variety of traditional and urban music.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë being one of the important cultural and economic centers in the country is known for its low houses and villas, paved with cobblestone. It is the home of the largest carnival in Albania that takes place before Orthodox Easter, a tradition dating back 40 years. Musically, the city is known for the local songs, called serenata. Organised by the Korçë municipality, the annual summer Lakror Festival () celebrating Lakror, the regional Albanian pie is held in Korçë or sometimes in a village of the wider area which is attended by locals and tourists.


title: Korçë

text: The city is the birth place of Albania's first women to work as professional painters, Androniqi Zengo Antoniu and Sofia Zengo Papadhimitri, whose father Vangjel Zengo was a notable icon painter.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë is referred to as the city of museums. The city hosts two major museums such as the National Museum of Medieval Art and National Museum of Archeology. The National Museum of Medieval Art has rich archives of about 7000 icons and 500 other objects in textile, stone and metal. The first Albanian School as well as the residence and gallery of painter Vangjush Mio function as museums. The Bratko Museum and the Oriental Museum are also located in the city.


title: Korçë

text: Korçë has a city theatre, the Andon Zako Çajupi Theatre, which started its shows in 1950 and has been working uninterruptedly since.


title: Korçë

text: One of Korçë's most popular sport is football. Its most popular soccer club is Skënderbeu Korçë and was formed on 15 April 1909 under the name Vllazëria by politician and poet Hilë Mosi. They were Albanian Champions in 1933 and recently, in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. In 2015 the club became the first Albanian side to reach the play-off round of the UEFA Champions League but they lost to Dinamo Zagreb and dropped into the UEFA Europa League, and became the first Albanian club to qualify for the group stage of European competition.


title: Cornetto (frozen dessert)

text: Cornetto (), meaning "little horn" in Italian, is an Italian brand of frozen dessert in the ice cream cone, which is manufactured and owned by parent company Unilever. Cornetto are sold as part of the Heartbrand product line, known internationally by different names, including Algida in Italy, Wall's in the UK, HB in the Republic of Ireland, Frigo in Spain, and Kwality Wall's in India. Several variations of the product exist, ranging from milk-based ice cream to vegetable fat-based dessert.


title: Cornetto (frozen dessert)

text: For a long time, the idea of selling frozen ice-cream cones had been impractical, as the ice cream would soak into the moist cone during the manufacturing process and make it soggy and unpalatable when served. In 1959, Spica, an Italian ice-cream manufacturer based in Naples, overcame this problem by insulating the inside of the waffle cone from the ice cream with a coating of oil, sugar, and chocolate. In 1976 the patent was acquired by Unilever, which began marketing the product in Italy through the Algida brand and abroad through other subsidiaries, including Wall's in the UK, HB in Ireland, Frigo in Spain and Kwality Wall's in India. They are sold in many different sizes throughout Europe in sizes ranging from 28-ml Miniatures to 260-ml King Cones, though the 90-ml and 125-ml sizes tend to be the most popular.


title: Cornetto (frozen dessert)

text: The product is available in a variety of flavours, including Strawberry, Mint Chocolate, Nut, Lemon, Whippy (yogurt flavour with a chewy chocolate), Valentine's Day flavours, and Cornetto Soft (soft ice cream that comes in chocolate chip, cookie dough, vanilla, chocolate, and double chocolate). Cornetto Soft is sold on the street by vendors and is made on the spot with an ice cream dispenser, but the other flavours are premade and factory packaged. Also, Cornetto Enigma is made, which consists of cookies and cream, raspberry and double chocolate flavours.


title: Cornetto (frozen dessert)

text: Unilever introduced a Cornetto chocolate confectionery into the UK market in 2013, following a licensing deal with Kinnerton Confectionery.


title: Cornetto (frozen dessert)

text: The brand was marketed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Brazil by successful advertising campaigns which placed the Neapolitan song "'O sole mio" into a variety of stereotypical Italian locations and situations, with its lyrics changed to:


title: Cornetto (frozen dessert)

text: In Britain and Ireland, the advertisements ran for 10 years during the 1980s and 1990s, with the song supposedly sung by former Italian waiter Renato Pagliari of one-hit wonders Renée and Renato. (However, this is claimed not to be the case by Pagliari's son, Remo.) In 2000, the commercial was ranked 23rd in Channel 4's UK poll of the "100 Greatest Adverts". The theme resurfaced in 2006, this time sung by pedestrians, drivers, office workers, and marathon runners in Central London.


title: Cornetto (frozen dessert)

text: In the Philippines, the "" () campaign was launched in 2008, relying on humour and focused on the product's affordability, with skits that centre on things one cannot afford with 20 pesos and suggesting that the audience should buy a Cornetto instead. "" () and "" () were used as slogans for the campaign.


title: Cornetto (frozen dessert)

text: By May 2011, 30 story-lines had been produced. In 2019, the price of Cornetto was 25 pesos. But in 2020, it became 20 pesos again.


title: Cornetto (frozen dessert)

text: The television advertisement entitled "Tugs", which is part of the campaign, was selected as the Adobo Ad of the Year for 2010 through online voting at the ad agency band night "Lakihan Mo Logo 14".


title: BKash

text: bKash () is a mobile financial service in Bangladesh operating under the authority of Bangladesh Bank as a subsidiary of BRAC Bank Limited. This mobile money system started as a joint venture between BRAC Bank Limited, Bangladesh and Money in Motion LLC, United States of America. As a mobile financial service (MFS) provider in Bangladesh through bKash users can deposit money into their mobile accounts and then access a range of services, in particular transferring and receiving money domestically, making payments. Services like mobile recharge or paying utility bills are also possible through bKash USSD (*247#) and bKash App. A user can receive money from overseas on bKash. In November 2021, bKash became the first ever Unicorn startup (a startup whose valuation is $1 billion or more) company in Bangladesh.


title: BKash

text: "Fortune magazine" ranked bKash among the top 50 companies in their "Change the World" list in 2017. According to Fortune, 22% of Bangladeshi adults use bKash with around 4.5 million daily transactions. "Asiamoney" magazine declared bKash as the Best Digital Bank(2018). World HRD Congress declared it as one of Asia's best employees in 2017.


title: BKash

text: bKash was launched by Kamal Quadir and Iqbal Quadir. In mid-2000s, mobile financial services had taken off in the Philippines, Kenya, and other emerging markets when the two Quadir brothers decided to bring it to Bangladesh. In need of a local partner, the Quadir brothers began to engage BRAC's founder, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, in 2008. Discussions between them and Abed continued over a two-year period. In 2010 they committed to establishing a joint venture between Money in Motion and BRAC Bank. bKash launched in July 2011 in Bangladesh, with basic services: Cash In, Cash Out and Send Money, keeping in mind that more than 70% of the population of Bangladesh lives in rural areas where access to formal banking services is difficult for people. More user-demanded services like airtime top-up, bills payment, train-movie ticket purchase were introduced over its span. Now it has its own mobile application, it has been recognized as the best innovation at the Financial Innovation Category in Bangladesh Innovation Award 2018 for its simplified and useful features.