title: Isaac Babel

text: According to Nathalie Babel Brown, "Babel came to Paris in the summer of 1935, as part of the delegation of Soviet writers to the International Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture and Peace. He probably knew this would have been his last chance to remain in Europe. As he had done numerous times during the last ten years, he asked my mother to return with him to Moscow. Although he knew the general situation was bad, he nevertheless described to her the comfortable life that the family could have there together. It was the last opportunity my mother had to give a negative answer, and she never forgot it. Perhaps it helped her later on to be proven completely right in her fears and her total lack of confidence in the Soviet Union. My mother described to me these last conversations with my father many times."


title: Isaac Babel

text: On May 15, 1939, Antonina Pirozhkova was awakened by four NKVD agents pounding upon the door of their Moscow apartment. Although surprised, she agreed to accompany them to Babel's dacha in Peredelkino. Babel was then placed under arrest. According to Pirozhkova: "In the car, one of the men sat in back with Babel and me while the other one sat in front with the driver. 'The worst part of this is that my mother won't be getting my letters', and then he was silent for a long time. I could not say a single word. Babel asked the secret policeman sitting next to him, 'So I guess you don't get too much sleep, do you?' And he even laughed. As we approached Moscow, I said to Babel, 'I'll be waiting for you, it will be as if you've gone to Odesa... only there won't be any letters...' He answered, 'I ask you to see that the child not be made miserable.' "But I don't know what my destiny will be." At this point, the man sitting beside Babel said to me, "We have no claims whatsoever against you." We drove to the Lubyanka Prison and through the gates. The car stopped before the massive, closed door where two sentries stood guard. Babel kissed me hard and said, "Someday we'll see each other..." And without looking back, he got out of the car and went through that door.


title: Isaac Babel

text: According to Nadezhda Mandelstam, Babel's arrest became the subject of an urban legend within the NKVD. NKVD agents, she explains, were fond of "telling stories about the risks they ran" in arresting "enemies of the people". Babel had, according to NKVD lore, "seriously wounded one of our men" while "resisting arrest". Mrs. Mandelstam contemptuously declared, "Whenever I hear such tales I think of the tiny hole in the skull of Isaac Babel, a cautious, clever man with a high forehead, who probably never once in his life held a pistol in his hands."


title: Isaac Babel

text: According to Peter Constantine, from the day of his arrest, Isaac Babel "became a nonperson in the Soviet Union. His name was blotted out, removed from literary dictionaries and encyclopedias, and taken off school and university syllabi. He became unmentionable in any public venue. When the film director Mark Donskoi's famous Gorky trilogy premiered the following year, Babel, who had worked on the screenplay, had been removed from the credits."


title: Isaac Babel

text: According to his file, "Case #419, Babel, I.E.", the writer was held at the Lubyanka and Butyrka Prisons for a total of eight months as a case was built against him for Trotskyism, terrorism, and spying for Austria and France. At his initial interrogations, "Babel began by adamantly denying any wrongdoing, but then after three days he suddenly 'confessed' to what his interrogator was suggesting and named many people as co-conspirators. In all likelihood, he was tortured, almost certainly beaten." His interrogators included Boris Rodos, who had a reputation as a particularly brutal torturer, even by the standards of the time, and Lev Schwartzmann, who tortured the renowned theatre director, Vsevolod Meyerhold. Among those he accused of conspiring with him were his close friends Sergei Eisenstein, Solomon Mikhoels, and Ilya Ehrenburg.


title: Isaac Babel

text: Despite months of pleading and letters sent directly to Beria, Babel was denied access to his unpublished manuscripts. In October 1939, Babel was again summoned for interrogation and denied all his previous testimony. A statement was recorded, "I ask the inquiry to take into account that, though in prison, I committed a crime. I slandered several people." This led to further delays as the NKVD frantically attempted to salvage their cases against Mikhoels, Ehrenburg, and Eisenstein.


title: Isaac Babel

text: On 16 January 1940, Beria presented Stalin with a list of 457 'enemies of the party and the soviet regime' who were in custody, with a recommendation that 346, including Isaac Babel should be shot. According to Babel's daughter, Nathalie Babel Brown, his trial took place on January 26, 1940, in one of Lavrenti Beria's private chambers. It lasted about twenty minutes. The sentence had been prepared in advance and without ambiguity: death by firing squad, to be carried out immediately. He was shot at 1.30 am on 27 January 1940.


title: Isaac Babel

text: Babel's last recorded words in the proceedings were, 'I am innocent. I have never been a spy. I never allowed any action against the Soviet Union. I accused myself falsely. I was forced to make false accusations against myself and others... I am asking for only one thing—let me finish my work.' He was shot the next day and his body was thrown into a communal grave. All of this information was revealed in the early 1990s.


title: Isaac Babel

text: According to Simon Sebag Montefiore, Babel's ashes were buried with those of Nikolai Yezhov and several other victims of the Great Purge in a common grave at the Donskoy Cemetery. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a plaque was placed there which reads, "Here lie buried the remains of the innocent, tortured, and executed victims of political repressions. May they never be forgotten."


title: Isaac Babel

text: According to the early official Soviet version, Isaac Babel died in the Gulag on March 17, 1941. Peter Constantine, who translated Babel's complete writings into English, has described the writer's execution as "one of the great tragedies of 20th century literature."


title: Isaac Babel

text: On December 23, 1954, during the Khrushchev thaw, a typed half sheet of paper ended the official silence. It read, "The sentence of the military collegium dated 26 January 1940 concerning Babel, I.E., is revoked on the basis of newly discovered circumstances and the case against him is terminated in the absence of elements of a crime." Babel's works were once again widely published and praised. His public rehabilitation as a writer was initiated with the help of his friend and admirer Konstantin Paustovsky, and a volume of Babel's selected works was published in 1957 with a laudatory preface by Ilya Ehrenburg. New collections of selected works by Babel were published in 1966, 1989 and 1990. Still, certain "taboo" parts such as mentions of Trotsky were censored until the glasnost period shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The first collections of the complete works of Babel were prepared and published in Russia in 2002 and 2006.


title: Isaac Babel

text: After his rehabilitation, Antonina Pirozhkova spent almost five decades campaigning for the return of Babel's manuscripts. These included Babel's translations of Sholem Aleichem's writings from Yiddish into Russian, as well as several unpublished short stories and novellas. According to Pirozhkova, As Babel put it, he worked on Sholem Aleichem to "feed his soul." Other "food for the soul" came from writing new stories and the novella "Kolya Topuz." He told me, "I'm writing a novella in which the main character is a former Odesa gangster like Benia Krik. His name is Kolya Topuz and so far, at least, that's also the name of the novella. I want to show how this sort of man adapts to Soviet reality. Kolya Topuz works on a collective farm during collectivization, and then he goes to work in a Donbas coal mine. But since he has the mentality of a gangster, he's constantly breaking out of the limits of normal life, which leads to numerous funny situations." Babel spent a great deal of time writing, and he finished many works. Only his arrest prevented his new works from coming out."


title: Isaac Babel

text: However, even requests by Ilya Ehrenburg and the Union of Soviet Writers produced no answers from the Soviet State. The truth was not revealed until the advent of Perestroika.


title: Isaac Babel

text: According to Pirozhkova, "In 1987, when so much was changing in our country, I again made an official request that the KGB search for Babel's manuscripts in its underground storage areas. In response to my request, I was visited by two KGB agents who informed me that the manuscripts had been burned. 'And so you've come in person to avoid giving me a written response to my request, am I correct?' 'How could you think such a thing? We came here to commiserate. We understand how precious Babel's manuscripts would be.'"


title: Isaac Babel

text: After her husband's return to Moscow in 1935, Yevgenia Gronfein Babel remained unaware of his other family with Antonina Pirozhkova. Based upon statements made by Ilya Ehrenburg, Yevgenia further believed that her husband was still alive and living in exile. In 1956, however, Ehrenburg told her of her husband's execution while visiting Paris. After also informing Mrs. Babel of her husband's daughter with Antonina Pirozhkova, Ehrenburg asked Yevgenia to sign a false statement attesting to a pre-war divorce from her husband. Enraged, Yevgenia Babel spat in Ehrenberg's face and then fainted.


title: Isaac Babel

text: Her daughter, Nathalie Babel Brown, believes that Ehrenburg did this under orders from the KGB. With two potential contenders for the role of Babel's widow, the Soviet State clearly preferred Babel's common-law wife Antonina to his legal wife Yevgenia, who had emigrated to the West.


title: Isaac Babel

text: Although she was too young to have many memories of her father, Nathalie Babel Brown went on to become one of the world's foremost scholars of his life and work. When W.W. Norton published Babel's Complete Works in 2002, Nathalie edited the volume and provided a foreword. She died in Washington, D.C. in 2005.


title: Isaac Babel

text: Lydia Babel, the daughter of Isaac Babel and Antonina Pirozhkova, also emigrated to the United States and currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland.


title: Isaac Babel

text: Although Babel's play "Maria" was very popular at Western European colleges during the 1960s, it was not performed in Babel's homeland until 1994. The first English translation appeared in 1966 in a translation by Michael Glenny in "Three Soviet Plays" (Penguin) under the title "Marya". "Maria"'s American premiere, directed by Carl Weber, took place at Stanford University in 2004.


title: Isaac Babel

text: Several American writers have valued Babel's writings. Hubert Selby has called Babel "the closest thing I have to a literary influence." James Salter has named Babel his favorite short-story writer. "He has the three essentials of greatness: style, structure, and authority." George Saunders, when asked for a literary influence said "There's a Russian writer named Isaac Babel that I love. I can drop in anywhere in his works, read a few pages, and go, Oh yeah, language. It's almost like if you were tuning a guitar and you heard a beautifully tuned one and you say, Yeah, that's what we want. We want something that perfect. When I read him, it recalibrates my ear. It reminds me of the difference between an OK sentence and a really masterful sentence. Babel does it for me."


title: Isaac Babel

text: A memorial to Isaac Babel was unveiled on the north-west corner of the intersection of (V)ulitsa Rishelyevskaya and (V)ulitsa Zhukovskogo in Odesa in early September 2011, and, in conjunction with the inauguration of the memorial, a commemorative reading of three of his stories held, with musical interludes from the works of Isaac Schwartz, in the Philharmonic Hall in (V)ulitsa Pushkinskaya on September 6, 2011. The city also has an already existing (V)ulitsa Babelya ("Babel Street") in the Moldavanka.


title: Isaac Babel

text: British writer Bernard Kops wrote a poem, and later a play, about Babel: "Whatever Happened to Isaac Babel?"


title: Isaac Babel

text: Brazilian writer Rubem Fonseca wrote a novel about the search for a lost manuscript from Babel: "Vastas emoções e pensamentos imperfeitos" (1988).


title: Isaac Babel

text: American author Travis Holland wrote his debut novel "The Archivist's Story” about an archivist, Pavel Dubrov, in Lubyanka Prison who has to authenticate a Babel manuscript. In the novel his meeting with Babel prompts him to save the story at great risk to himself.


title: Incredicoaster

text: Incredicoaster is a steel roller coaster at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California. Manufactured by Intamin, it opened to the public as California Screamin' in 2001. It is the only roller coaster at the Disneyland Resort with an inversion, and is the fastest at the park with a top speed of . At 6,072 feet long, is the 6th longest sit down roller coaster in the world as of 2022. At 122 feet high, it is the tallest roller coaster of any Disney resort.


title: Incredicoaster

text: California Screamin' closed on January 8, 2018, and reopened as the Incredicoaster on June 23, 2018, inspired by the 2004 computer-animated film "The Incredibles" and its 2018 sequel "Incredibles 2". Its opening coincided with the debut of the newly revamped Pixar Pier section of the park, where the roller coaster is located. The tubes through which the coaster shoots serve two purposes: In addition to concealing the scenes with characters, they enable the coaster to comply with Orange County sound ordinances, projecting the screams of the riders out of the tube in the direction of the park, away from the rest of Anaheim and the nearby city of Garden Grove.


title: Incredicoaster

text: In October 1998, Disney announced that a new theme park would be built next to Disneyland. Themed after the history and culture of California, it would include a steel roller coaster that would feature a linear induction motor (LIM) launch system, a maximum speed of , and a vertical loop in the signature shape of Mickey Mouse's head. The steel coaster would also be designed to look like a classic wooden roller coaster. Construction of the attraction began later that year.


title: Incredicoaster

text: California Screamin' debuted with the park's grand opening on February 8, 2001. Designed by Werner Stengel and built by Intamin, it is the eighth-longest coaster in the world (and third-longest steel coaster in the United States behind Fury 325 at Carowinds and Millennium Force at Cedar Point), at long. Materials used to build the attraction included of concrete for the footers, of electric cables, of conductors and of steel. It also became the longest roller coaster in the world to feature an inversion after the vertical loop on Son of Beast at Kings Island was removed in 2006.


title: Incredicoaster

text: The coaster uses an LIM launch to propel the train up the first hill as well as on the main lift midway through the ride. These motors are used in lieu of a traditional lift hill chain. The coaster is one of Disney Parks' fastest attractions, accelerating guests from zero to in four seconds at the launch. Since the resort was located next to a residential area, Disney had installed tunnels throughout the ride to block the screams from riders and reduce noise complaints from nearby residents of Anaheim and neighboring Garden Grove.


title: Incredicoaster

text: Like most other coasters in Disney Parks, California Screamin' featured an onboard audio soundtrack during the ride, created by Gary Hoey and George Wilkins. On January 3, 2007, as part of the "Rockin' Both Parks" campaign, the audio track was temporarily replaced by a remixed version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Around the World," and the attraction was renamed Rockin' California Screamin'. This was promoted along with Rockin' Space Mountain, a similar change made to Space Mountain in Disneyland, though that ride's audio was changed to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' cover version of "Higher Ground". The standard audio track was restored when the campaign ended.


title: Incredicoaster

text: The original safety announcements were recorded by Dee Bradley Baker. On November 5, 2010, the announcements were updated with the voice of Neil Patrick Harris. Baker and Harris also recorded audio for the launch, counting down for guests. There are 108 acoustic devices to play the onboard audio aboard each train, including high-range speakers in the headrests, mid-range speakers near riders' ears, and subwoofers under each rider's seat.


title: Incredicoaster

text: After the refurbishment of Disney California Adventure, from 2008 to 2009 the Mickey Mouse head located behind the vertical loop was changed to a sunburst icon with the Paradise Pier logo.


title: Incredicoaster

text: On July 15, 2017, Disney announced a complete renovation of Paradise Pier, renaming it Pixar Pier. Meanwhile, rumors began to circulate that California Screamin' would be rethemed to Pixar Animation Studios' "The Incredibles". On November 2, it was confirmed that the ride would be remodeled. California Screamin' closed on January 8, 2018 for the transformation into Incredicoaster. The remodel would include a new queue line, engineering reboots of the existing launch system, new storyline, enclosed scream tunnels and a new soundtrack. The new trains were unveiled in April. Incredicoaster opened on June 23, 2018 to coincide with the release of "Incredibles 2".


title: Incredicoaster

text: Guests enter as TV screens display news footage of the Incredibles and Edna Mode being interviewed for the coaster's rebranding as Incredicoaster. While they are being interviewed, Jack-Jack uses his unpredictable superpowers, much to his family's frustration and Edna's amusement. As the riders board the cars and take off from the station, Elastigirl asks Edna to look after Jack-Jack. The riders pass by the VIP room showing Edna with Jack-Jack as he teleports around. Moments later, Edna announces that Jack-Jack has escaped. The Incredibles then take off throughout the ride trying to catch Jack-Jack as he uses his vast array of super powers to "attack" certain points on the ride as the coaster arrives in the launch area.


title: Incredicoaster

text: After Dash gives the countdown, the train is launched at 55 mph into the first tunnel, accompanied by a stream of water jets that glow red to simulate Dash's super speed. In the first tunnel, Dash tries to use his super speed to catch Jack-Jack, while Jack-Jack shoots lasers from his eyes. The train then exits the tunnel as it descends the drop and rises uphill onto the first block brake and then navigates a right hand turn around Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind before passing under the outbound track and climbing up the main lift, which uses LIMs to propel the train. This is the first use of Linear Induction Motor (LIM) technology that allows a roller coaster vehicle to travel on an inclined angle.


title: Incredicoaster

text: As the train crests the hill, it enters the second tunnel, where Elastigirl tries using her stretching powers to grab Jack-Jack while he is phasing in and out of the tunnel wall. Past the crest of the hill, Mr. Incredible has used his super strength to smash through the wall and is trying to catch Jack-Jack by offering him a cookie, after which the train drops out of the tunnel. Exiting this tunnel, the ride goes through a three-quarter turn before diving into the vertical loop. Following this, the train dives through the third tunnel, which Jack-Jack has set ablaze with his fire powers, forcing Violet to put an invisible forcefield around the tunnel to put out the flames and keep the riders safe as they make another loop around the Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind.


title: Incredicoaster

text: After hitting the second block brake section, the track passes through a series of airtime filled bunny hop hills as it passes over Toy Story Midway Mania, where Jack-Jack uses his ability to multiply to make dozens of Jack-Jacks pop up everywhere. The train then rises into the third and final block brake section. After dropping off the block brakes the train traverses through a 270 degree downward spiral that leads into a straight section of track with one last bunny hop. Which is followed by a final 100 degree left turn into the final brake run, as Jack-Jack makes it back safely. This time he has increased in size, but Edna manages to keep him calm by giving him a cookie.


title: Incredicoaster

text: In August 2001, Dr. David Heber, a Milwaukee surgeon, suffered a neurological disorder and whiplash after his restraint locked at eye level. He sued Disney in 2003, alleging equipment failure, lack of lubrication and ride operators failing to notice his unlocked restraint. However, Heber lost.


title: Incredicoaster

text: On July 29, 2005, 25 guests were injured when the purple train rear-ended the red train. Of the 48 guests aboard the two trains, 15 were taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The accident occurred on the section of track about short of the loading station. A full ride stop was activated with the red train stopped. The brake segment that was supposed to have stopped the purple train failed, and the purple train continued until it collided with the stopped red train. An investigation showed that a faulty brake valve, installed a few days earlier by Disney (not by the ride manufacturer Intamin) was the cause.


title: Incredicoaster

text: On July 22, 2011, 23 people were rescued from California Screamin' by firefighters when a rider's backpack fell out of a train and landed on the track, causing the orange train to valley between the loop and the next block section. It reopened two days later after the train was winched up the next hill, had its damaged wheels replaced and was allowed to complete the circuit.


title: Incredicoaster

text: On August 6, 2016, passengers on the ride were stranded for 45 minutes before being rescued when a fallen purse triggered an automatic stop.


title: Rowdy Rebel

text: Chad Marshall (born November 24, 1991), known professionally as Rowdy Rebel, is an American rapper from Brooklyn who is signed to GS9 and Epic Records. He is a member of the Brooklyn-based GS9 crew alongside rapper Bobby Shmurda. Rowdy Rebel appeared in Shmurda's video for "Hot Nigga" and was featured on an official remix of the song alongside Fabolous, Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss, and Yo Gotti.


title: Rowdy Rebel

text: Marshall grew up in a neighborhood known as "the 90s" in Brooklyn's East Flatbush area. People in his neighborhood referred to him as "rowdy" as a child, which is the genesis for his stage name. Many members of GS9 (including Shmurda) originated in the same East Flatbush locale. He is of Bajan descent.


title: Rowdy Rebel

text: Marshall achieved fame in 2014 with the rise of his GS9 cohort, Bobby Shmurda. He was signed to Epic Records in July 2014 just two weeks after Shmurda signed his deal with Epic. Marshall was featured on a remix of Shmurda's hit single "Hot Nigga" with big-name acts like Fabolous, Jadakiss, Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes, and Yo Gotti. Marshall also released several singles, including "Computers" which was featured on GS9's "Shmoney Shmurda (Shmixtape)". In October 2014, he released a single entitled "Beam Jawn" which did not include any features from the GS9 crew or other artists.


title: Rowdy Rebel

text: In June 2020, he was featured on the single "Make It Rain" by the late rapper Pop Smoke, marking his first music release in three years. The track debuted at number 51 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, marking Marshall's first charting single.


title: Rowdy Rebel

text: Following his release from prison in December 2020, Rowdy was interviewed by "Complex" and revealed that he was planning on releasing music straight away, however his team convinced him to work more on a forthcoming full-length project, possibly titled "Rowdy vs. Rebel". He also stated that he is still signed to Epic Records.


title: Rowdy Rebel

text: On December 17, 2014, Marshall was arrested by the NYPD for conspiracy, attempted murder, attempted assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon. Bobby Shmurda and 13 others associated with GS9 were also arrested for various charges including drug dealing. Marshall pleaded not guilty to all charges. He pleaded guilty in exchange for a deal that sentenced him to 6–7 years in prison. Due to time served awaiting his trial, Marshall was given almost two years credit for time served. Rebel had a parole hearing scheduled for August 2020, which approved his release in December 2020. Marshall was released from prison after serving 6 years on December 15, 2020. To celebrate his release, fellow rapper Young Thug gave him a YSL chain.


title: Rowdy Rebel

text: Much of Marshall's music contains references to the block where he grew up. Rowdy has noted that he and other GS9 members talk about friends from the neighborhood "to keep their names alive."


title: Lamashtu

text: In Mesopotamian mythology, Lamashtu (; Akkadian "La-maš-tu"; Sumerian "Dimme" "Dim-me" or "Kamadme") was a female demon, monster, malevolent goddess or demigoddess who menaced women during childbirth and, if possible, kidnapped their children while they were breastfeeding. She would gnaw on their bones and suck their blood, as well as being charged with a number of other evil deeds. She was a daughter of the Sky God Anu.


title: Lamashtu

text: Lamashtu is depicted as a mythological hybrid, with a hairy body, a lioness' head with donkey's teeth and ears, long fingers and fingernails, and the feet of a bird with sharp talons. She is often shown standing or kneeling on a donkey, nursing a pig and a dog, and holding snakes. She thus bears some functions and resemblance to the demon Lilith in Jewish mythology.


title: Lamashtu

text: Lamashtu's father was the Sky God Anu. Unlike many other usual demonic figures and depictions in Mesopotamian lore, Lamashtu was said to act in malevolence of her own accord, rather than at the gods' instructions. Along with this her name was written together with the cuneiform determinative indicating deity. This means she was a goddess or a demigoddess in her own right.


title: Lamashtu

text: She bore seven names and was described as seven witches in incantations. Her evil deeds included (but were not limited to): slaying children, unborns, and neonates; causing harm to mothers and expectant mothers; eating men and drinking their blood; disturbing sleep; bringing nightmares; killing foliage; infesting rivers and lakes; and being a bringer of disease, sickness, and death.


title: Lamashtu

text: Pazuzu, a god or demon, was invoked to protect birthing mothers and infants against Lamashtu's malevolence, usually on amulets and statues. Although Pazuzu was said to be bringer of famine and drought, he was also invoked against evil for protection, and against plague, but he was primarily and popularly invoked against his fierce, malicious rival Lamashtu.


title: Lamashtu

text: An Akkadian incantation and ritual against Lamashtu is edited in "Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments" vol. 2 (1988)


title: Lamashtu

text: The prescribed ritual involves a Lamashtu figurine. A sacrifice of bread must be placed before the figurine and water must be poured over it. A black dog must be made to carry the figurine. Then it is placed near the head of the sick child for three days, with the heart of a piglet placed in its mouth. The incantation must be recited three times a day, besides further food sacrifices. At dusk on the third day, the figurine is taken outdoors and buried near the wall.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Rockstar (stylized as ROCKST★R or ЯR) is an energy drink created in 2001, which, , has a 0.3% market share of the US non-alcoholic beverage market. Rockstar is based in Purchase, New York. , Rockstar Energy Drink was available in more than 20 flavors and in more than 30 countries. In March 2020, PepsiCo announced it had agreed to acquire Rockstar for $3.85 billion.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Founded in 2001 by Russ Weiner, the son of right-wing radio show host Michael Savage. Rockstar launched into what was the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. beverage market at the time, energy drinks. In addition to featuring different ingredients, which it claimed were "scientifically formulated to speed the recovery time of those who lead active and exhausting lifestyles—from athletes to rock stars," Rockstar sought to differentiate itself from the market leader, Red Bull, by using a 16 oz can size as opposed to Red Bull's 8 oz can, and by marketing itself as "twice the size of Red Bull for the same price"


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: By 2007, Rockstar was one of the top three energy drink brands in North America, with a 155% growth in sales in 2004, reaching $48 million" "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" and had sold over a billion cans. It had 14% of the US energy drink market in 2008, and as of 2009 was available in over 20 countries, . Among those countries are Sold: in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Mexico, Malta, New Zealand, Argentina, the Netherlands, Finland, Morocco and Colombia. in addition to the United States. Rockstar switched distributors from The Coca-Cola Company to PepsiCo in the summer of 2009.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Production and distribution for the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland was franchised to Irn Bru owners A.G. Barr until 2027, though this was terminated in 2020 following the PepsiCo acquisition.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Members of the LGBT community have supported a boycott because the company's founder and chief executive officer is the son of right-wing radio personality Michael Savage and because its former chief financial officer, Janet Weiner, is Savage's wife and CFO of his production company. The boycott was motivated by allegations that Savage had made homophobic, racist, antisemitic, and discriminatory comments. In May 2009, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom returned a $25,000 donation which Rockstar had made to his 2010 re-election campaign.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: During an interview with the "San Francisco Chronicle", Newsom aide Eric Jaye stated the money was returned because "there was some statements made during (Weiner's) 1998 campaign in the GOP primary which conflicted with the mayor's position and we're returning the check," he said.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: In a later interview Weiner told "SF Gate": "I still wish Gavin well. I always will." But he said that with the donation rejected, "I'm taking this money and I'm donating it to charity. We're telling them to name a charity of their choosing, and if they don't want it, we'll donate it to Project Open Hand."


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Janet Weiner stepped down from her role as CFO of Savage Productions "as an apparent statement of solidarity with equality advocates" which had not been requested as part of the agreement.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Rockstar, saying that the "truthaboutrockstarenergydrink.com" domain name was registered and used in bad faith, obtained control of that site under a decision from the National Arbitration Forum.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Rockstar products in the US have two levels of caffeine content: either 10 mg of caffeine per ounce, or 15 mg of caffeine per ounce. Rockstar Energy Drink Original contains 160 mg of caffeine per 16 ounce can, while the Rockstar Punched energy drink contain 240 mg of caffeine per 16 ounce can.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Besides caffeine and sugar, Rockstar Energy Drink contains a variety of herbs, including panax ginseng, ginkgo biloba, milk thistle extract, and guarana seed. The amount of guarana used to be higher, but "after being criticized for including guarana once health concerns about the herb were publicized, the amount in the drink was significantly reduced". It also includes 1000 mg of taurine.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Rockstar can cause jitteriness and anxiety. Sugar may be present, which could cause high blood sugar levels. If mixed with alcohol, it may also mask the level of alcohol intoxication. There are no known side effects if used in moderation.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Several alcoholic versions of Rockstar are available in Canada; an alcoholic version in the US was discontinued in 2007, possibly in response to criticism that young people were confusing the alcoholic version with the regular one.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Rockstar Original was named Worst Energy Drink by "Men's Health" magazine for having 280 calories due to 67.5 grams of sugar. Monster Energy Lo-Carb, with 20 calories, was suggested as a replacement.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Rockstar has introduced a line of low calorie energy drinks that include electrolytes called Rockstar Recovery, partially in response to these concerns.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Like its competitors Red Bull and Monster Energy, Rockstar sponsors a range of action sports and music events, including the Mayhem Festival, a metal and rock festival touring the United States in July and August; the Uproar Festival, a rock festival touring the United States in September and October; and the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. Both the Mayhem and Uproar events were discontinued in 2015.


title: Rockstar (drink)

text: Rockstar also sponsors a large number of action sports competitors, such as the Husqvarna factory motorcycle riders Gautier Paulin, Graham Jarvis and Pablo Quintanilla, motorcycle road racer Jorge Lorenzo (2011-2012), flat track rider Bryan Smith, rallycross drivers Tanner Foust and Scott Speed, off-road truck driver Rob MacCachren, and drifter Fredric Aasbø.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: The Leopard 2PL is a main battle tank used by the Polish Armed Forces, and is a modernized version of the older Leopard 2A4 tank, phased out by Germany and first acquired by Poland in the 2000s. The modernisation is currently being carried out in cooperation with Rheinmetall and the Polish Armaments Group ().


title: Leopard 2PL

text: When the Land Forces took over the first Leopard 2A4 tanks from the Bundeswehr's resources in 2002, it was realized that their modernization was a necessity, but the first works on the development of the plan and the scope of their modernization started only in mid-2012. then developed the initial requirements for the modernization of Leopard tanks. The program was called "Leopard 2PL". As a result of the conducted works, two variants of modernization were defined. The first one, basic, included the introduction of an electric turret drive and gun stabilization (in place of hydraulic one), installation of the APU, modernization of the optoelectronic system through e.g. installation of new thermal Imaging cameras, modernization of the driver's seat and a new anti-explosion, fire and mine protection package. The second, more extended variant, in addition to the works proposed in the first modernization version, was extended to include the BMS combat management system, installation of a remote-controlled shooting module on the turret of the tank, new types of ammunition, air conditioning systems in the driver and combat compartment, and modernization of the electronics cooling system.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: Finally, modernization program was included in the "Technical Modernization Plan of the Polish Armed Forces for 2013-2022" () in December 2012. At the beginning of March 2013, invitations were sent to interested parties regarding the technical dialogue, which was carried out from March to August. In October 2013, a tender was announced to select a contractor for the program. Three bidders: a consortium consisting of Wojskowe Zakłady Motoryzacyjne from Poznań, Wojskowe Zakłady Łączności Nr. 2 and Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH; Consortium Zakłady Mechaniczne Bumar Łabędy, OBRUM company and Polski Holding Obronny (PHO) and the last consortium consisting of PCO and ASELSAN Elektronik. However, the final offer was submitted by the consortium of Zakłady Mechaniczne, OBRUM and PHO, thus it was with them that the Armament Inspectorate started negotiations. The foreign partner was Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. In December 2014, the consortium submitted the final proposal based on the solutions of the foreign partner, but in 2015 the procedure to select the contractor was terminated due to formal deficiencies and the low participation of Polish industry in the program. The same year, a decision was made to commission the modernization of the Polish Armaments Group. The final offer was submitted in November 2015, thus starting negotiations.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: On December 28, 2015, an agreement was signed between the Armament Inspectorate () and a consortium consisting of PGZ and Zakłady Mechaniczne Bumar-Łabędy for the modernization of 128 Leopard 2 tanks with an option for another 14 units. The German partner of the consortium was the German company Rheinmetall Landsysteme, which in the past co-produced Leopard 2 tanks. The contract amount was 2.415 billion PLN. On June 20, 2018, an annex was signed using the option to upgrade 14 tanks, i.e. all Leopard 2A4 tanks used by the Army. The cost of the contract increased to 2.721 billion PLN. The contract originally assumed that all copies of the base order would be transferred by 2020 and those from options for 14 machines by 2021.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: The original work schedule assumed that the entire work process would be divided into five stages. In the first stage for 2016, preparation of all infrastructure and resources needed for modernization were anticipated. The second stage predicted that from November 2016 to the end of 2017, dismantling of the machines and preparation for the modernization process would be carried out, while in the third stage, falling in 2018, technology transfer and staff training on a trial batch of tanks. From June 2018 to March 2019, the process of starting production and delivery of the pre-series machine to the recipient was to begin, and the last fifth stage lasting from January 2019 to November 2020 was to begin serial modernization of machines and deliveries (only machines from the first contract, i.e. 128 pieces). However, the original modernization process envisaged that the prototype in the number of one piece would be delivered by the third quarter of 2018, the test batch in the number of 5 pieces (the process of training Polish specialists and technology transfer) made in Germany would be delivered by the end of 2018, the test patria comprising 12 machines already completed in Poland, it will be delivered by the end of the first quarter of 2019, and serial production of the other machines under the basic contract is to be carried out from the second quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2020.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: On February 18, 2016, a detailed agreement was signed with a German partner, which specified the terms of cooperation between ZM Bumar-Łabędy and Rheinmetall. The contract assumed that the German company would be responsible for: developing the tank modernization project, preparing the necessary technical documentation together with Polish partners, making a prototype of the 2PL version car and tanks of the trial batch (five of which includes the process of training Polish specialists and technology transfer to Poland), providing ZM Bumar-Łabędy with the necessary technical support in starting production of serial wagons, providing necessary tools and transferring know-how technology. During the Eurosatory 2018 trade fair, representatives of Rheinmetall announced the completion of factory tests of the Leopard 2PL prototype tank.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: In August 2018, the vehicle was sent to the Military Armored and Automotive Institute in Sulejówek, where it underwent further national tests in Poland. In 2018, Reinmetall handed over to ZM Bumar-Łabędy the first pre-series copies, which opened the way to the modernization of machines already in Poland, after the positive completion of testing the prototype vehicle. The prototype tests were prolonged, which influenced the modernization of further copies and their delivery to the recipient. During the prototype testing there were also problems with the chassis, the repair of which prolonged the testing process, which meant that serial production could not be started.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: The prototype was completed on May 8, 2020. On May 28, 2020, the Polish Land Forces received the first copies from the pre-series party. The contract was extended until the end of July 2023.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: The contract was annexed five times, this was mainly due to not taking into account the restoration of efficiency of some tank elements, which turned out to be necessary and the different state of wear of individual copies. The final cost of the program increased to 3.29 billion PLN.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: Leopard 2PL is a third generation Main Battle Tank, made in cooperation with Polish Armaments Group and Rheinmetall Landsystems. The tank is designed to master and maintain the area, and support fire from deck weapons of mechanized and motorized subunits, in all weather conditions, both during the day and at night.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: As a result of the work, two versions of the vehicles were developed: the Leopard 2PL version, which is currently supplied to the military, and the Leopard 2PLM1, which was created by decision in 2018. The German partner is responsible for the production of the prototype variant of the Leopard 2PLM1. The vehicle was delivered in January 2021, and its tests began in February 2021.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: The differences in the field of tanks in the Leopard 2PL and Leopard 2PM1 versions are that the machines in the 2PLM1 version are equipped with an EGPT compartment warning system, a system protecting the network electronics against the start-up time, modification operating modes of the laser rangefinder, an additional socket for batteries and the PIX combination, allows the commander to automatically rotate the optoelectronic head of the PERI observation and aiming device to the "six o'clock" and "twelve o'clock" position relative to the tank's hull.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: The modernization of the Leopard 2A4 to the 2PL standard includes the strengthening of the ballistic resistance of the turret to a level exceeding that of the machines in the Leopard 2A5 version. Additional external armor modules are mounted around the vehicle turret. It was not decided to reinforce the hull and vehicle chassis due to the significant increase in vehicle weight and cost reduction. Special anti-splinter liners have been installed inside the vehicle to protect the crew inside the vehicle against splashes and armor fragments in the event of a puncture or hit.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: The main armament of the tank remained the Rheinmetall Rh-120 smoothbore gun in the L/44 version, but it was modified to adapt to the use of new types of ammunition, i.e. DM63 armor-piercing shell and programmable DM11 ammunition. Left and right resistors, return, recoil indicator and container for shell bottom were replaced, in order to use DM11 ammunition, a programming system was introduced in the cannon's falling-block action, as well as a fire control system and electronic cannon trigger assembly. A new on-board computer was installed with new ballistic tables. MG-3 machine guns were not exchanged for another model. The two plane gun stabilizer system of the cannon and turret drives were changed from hydraulic to purely electric.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: The gunner's sight and sights of the gunner and the commander were modernized by adding Polish thermal imaging cameras of the third generation KLW-1 Asteria made by Polish PCO. Driver awareness has also been improved by installing a KDN-1 Nyks day / night reversing camera also PCO production. A monitor-control panel for the commander was installed, which enables: alternative image transmission from the modernized EMES 15 sight and PERI R17A3L4 CP instrument and performing a full test of tower systems in cooperation with the modernized RPP testing block and control of tower systems from the level of the commander, which allows operation in hunter-killer mode.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: Tank propulsion units were subjected to general repairs, an auxiliary power unit (APU) with a power of 17 kW was installed, in addition to the installation of anti-shrapnel liners, crew safety was improved by the use of an explosion-proof system with cylinders with Deugen-N extinguishing agent and the fire system was modernized by adding a new control panel and cylinders with extinguishing agent, additional transport baskets were mounted outside the turret and adaptation of the evacuation equipment to the tank combat weight increased to 60 tons.


title: Leopard 2PL

text: The first Leopard 2PL tanks were delivered to military units in May 2020. First six vehicles were delivered to the Leopard Training Center () in Świętoszów from 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade () and other two tanks were delivered to 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade () in Wesoła. By the end of 2020, 12 Leopard 2PL tanks were delivered to the army. By the end of 2021 the 1st Armored Brigade is the first unit to have a full company in its structures (14 tanks). Previously, the unit had a tank company in the Leopard 2A4 version of the 1st Tank Battalion. By December 2021, 20 machines were delivered.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move which Serbia rejects. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state and continues to claim it as the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. Initially there were no relations between the two; however, in the following years there has been increased dialogue and cooperation between the two sides.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Negotiations facilitated by the European Union resulted in the 2013 Brussels Agreement on the normalization of relations between the governments of Kosovo and Serbia. The agreement pledged both sides not to block the other in the EU accession process, defined the structure of the police and local elections in all parts of Kosovo, and also established the proposal of the Community of Serb Municipalities.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: The United States-mediated diplomatic talks agreed on the interconnection of air, train and road traffic, while both parties signed the 2020 agreement on the normalisation of economic relations. Kosovo and Serbia are expected to become part of the single market, known as Open Balkan.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Serbia strongly opposed Kosovo's declaration of independence, which was declared on 17 February 2008. On 12 February 2008, the Government of Serbia instituted an Action Plan to combat Kosovo's anticipated declaration, which stipulated, among other things, recalling the Serbian ambassadors for consultations in protest from any state recognising Kosovo, which it has consistently done. Activities of ambassadors from countries that have recognised independence are limited to meetings with Foreign Ministry lower officials. The Serbian Ministry of the Interior issued an arrest warrant against Hashim Thaçi, Fatmir Sejdiu and Jakup Krasniqi on 18 February 2008 on charges of high treason.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 8 March 2008, the Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica resigned, dissolving the coalition government, saying it was too divided over the Kosovo situation to carry on. A pre-term parliamentary election was held on 11 May 2008, together with local elections. President Boris Tadić stated that the government fell "because there was no agreement regarding further EU integration".


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 24 March 2008, Slobodan Samardžić, Minister for Kosovo and Metohija, proposed partitioning Kosovo along ethnic lines, asking the United Nations to ensure that Belgrade can control key institutions and functions in areas where Serbs form a majority but other members of the Government and the President denied these claims. On 25 March 2008, the outgoing Prime Minister, Vojislav Koštunica stated that membership in the EU should be "left aside," until Brussels stated whether it recognised Serbia within its existing borders.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 24 July 2008, the Government decided to return its ambassadors to EU countries. Other ambassadors were returned following the positive outcome of the vote in the UN General Assembly. Serbia has expelled diplomatic representations of all neighboring countries that subsequently recognised Kosovo's independence: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 15 August 2008, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić filed a request at the United Nations seeking a non-legally binding advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of whether the declaration of independence was in breach of international law. The United Nations General Assembly adopted this proposal on 8 October 2008. In July 2010, the ICJ issued its opinion which found that Kosovo's declaration of independence "did not violate international law".


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Since the declaration of independence, Serbia refused to deal directly with the Republic of Kosovo, but only through the international intermediaries UNMIK and EULEX. However, there has been some normalisation; beginning in 2011, an EU team persuaded Serbia to discuss some minor border issues with Kosovo; in February 2013, the presidents of Kosovo and Serbia met in Brussels. Liaison officers are also being exchanged. Belgrade and Pristina are urged to continue talks in Brussels, but Serbia is not obliged to recognize Kosovo at any point in the process.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 27 March 2012, four Kosovo Serbs, including the mayor of Vitina, were arrested by Kosovo Police while attempting to cross the disputed border at Bela Zemlja back into Kosovo with campaign materials for an upcoming election. They were subsequently charged with "incitement to hatred and intolerance among ethnic groups".


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: The following day, trade unionist Hasan Abazi was arrested with fellow unionist Adem Urseli by Serbian police manning the Central Serbia/Kosovo crossing near Gjilan. Abazi was charged with espionage and Urseli with drug smuggling. Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić stated of the arrests that "Serbian police did not wish to take this approach, but the situation obviously could no longer go on without retaliation... If someone wants to compete in arrests, we have the answer". According to his lawyer, Abazi was then held in solitary confinement.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 30 March, the Serbian High Court in Vranje ordered Abazi to be detained for thirty days on espionage charges dating to an incident in 1999 in which Abazi allegedly gave information to NATO. Abazi's arrest was protested by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as "arbitrary" and "retaliatory".


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 19 October 2012, normalisation talks mediated by the European Union began in Brussels with Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić and Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, where the two PMs sat at the table and initiated talks on normalising relations between Pristina and Belgrade. Reaching such a deal was a necessary condition of Serbia's EU candidacy.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: The governments slowly reached agreements and deals on various areas, such as freedom of movement, university diplomas, regional representation and on trade and international customs. In Brussels, Serbia and Kosovo agreed that implementation of the border agreement would start on 10 December 2012. A historic meeting took place on 6 February 2013, when Serbian president Tomislav Nikolić and Kosovar President Atifete Jahjaga sat at the same table for the first time since Kosovo declared independence.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Following a December 2012 agreement, the two nations swapped liaison officers who worked at EU premises in the two capitals. Pristina referred to these officers as "ambassadors", but Belgrade rejected such a designation.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Serbia's top officials met with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton in Brussels, on 11 March 2013, Serbian president Nikolić said that Serbia and Kosovo were very close to signing an agreement which would improve their relations.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 19 April 2013, the two governments completed the Brussels Agreement that was hailed as a major step towards normalising relations, and would allow both Serbia and Kosovo to advance in European integration. The agreement is reported to commit both states not to "block, or encourage others to block, the other side's progress in the respective EU paths." Serbia can block Kosovo in international organizations, but it cannot stand in the way of Kosovo's European integration process. Amongst other measures the deal establishes a special police commander (Commander will be appointed by Pristina from a list submitted by Serbs) and appeal court (Under Pristina laws and procedures) for the Serb minority in Kosovo, but does not amount to a recognition of Kosovo's independence by Belgrade. There were no Special provisions in the agreement given to Serb communities in North Kosovo as all municipalities have the same rights and status. In news reports Ashton was quoted as saying, "What we are seeing is a step away from the past and, for both of them, a step closer to Europe", whilst Thaçi declared "This agreement will help us heal the wounds of the past if we have the wisdom and the knowledge to implement it in practice."


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Kosovo–Serbia negotiations encountered difficulties in the wake of the agreement reached in Brussels.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 7 August 2013, an agreement was announced between the two governments to establish permanent border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo throughout 2014. These are complex, highly emotive issues the details of which can be worked out gradually, in step with Kosovo's and Serbia's EU accession processes. For five member states, the question of Kosovo's independence is not about Kosovo per se: it is a question of local politics.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 9 September 2013, an agreement was reached to allow Kosovo to apply for its own international dialling code. Two days later, the Serbian government announced the dissolution of the Serb minority assemblies it created in northern Kosovo in order to allow the integration of the Kosovo Serb minority into the general Kosovo population. In order to facilitate the integration of the Serb minority in the north into Kosovar society, the Kosovo parliament passed an amnesty law pardoning for past acts of resistance to Kosovo authorities. This principle was put into effect in early December, as the governments of Serbia and Kosovo agreed to the appointment of a Kosovo Serb as chief of police in the Serbian area of Northern Kosovo. The two governments also reached agreement in principle to allow Kosovo to apply for its own international dialing code once the Serbian government begins EU accession talks. On 19 September, a EULEX officer was killed in the Serb area of Kosovo in a drive by shooting, this murder viewed as an act by opponents of reconciliation.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: In late 2014, Kosovo–Serbia negotiations reached standstill owing to the change of government in Kosovo which now advocated a more hardline approach towards Serbia. More difficulties arose in December 2014, as President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic went against the position of the government by stating that any decision on Kosovo must be submitted to a referendum.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 26 August 2015, Kosovo and Serbia signed a series of agreements in key areas, in a major step towards normalizing ties. Kosovo's foreign minister claimed it was a "de facto" recognition of independence, while Serbia's prime minister said it ensured representation for ethnic-Serbs in Kosovo. As a result of the agreements, Serbia can now move forward with its negotiations to join the EU. However, the Serbian government still opposes any initiative by the government of Kosovo joining UN agencies, and Kosovo's initiative regarding UNESCO membership was met with protest by Belgrade.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 13 December 2016, at the 3511th Council of the European Union meeting, the delegates urged "Kosovo to swiftly implement in good faith its part of all past agreements, in particular the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities and to engage constructively with Serbia in formulating and implementing future agreements".


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 29 December 2016, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić noted the significance of maintaining the dialogue and implementing all agreements, primarily those that apply to establishing the Community of Serb Municipalities. On 30 December 2016, Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi had stated that he hopes the questions of the Community would be resolved at the beginning of 2017. That never occurred, and deep divisions followed within the government.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: In January 2017, a train painted in Serbian flag colors and with the words "Kosovo is Serbia" was prevented from crossing into Kosovo. Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić stated that Serbia would send its army to Kosovo if Kosovo Serbs are attacked. Kosovo viewed the train as a provocation. Both Serbia and Kosovo mobilized their military forces along the Kosovo-Serbian border.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Kosovar special police arrested Serbian politician Marko Đurić visiting Northern Mitrovica in March 2018. Despite being banned from entering Kosovo and warnings by the Kosovo police, Đurić decided to visit the northern part of Mitrovica. The Kosovo police armed with rifles followed by EULEX entered premises where local Serb politicians were having a meeting and arrested Đurić, who according to Pacolli is banned from entering as he "encourages hatred". Commenting on the event, President Vučić called the Kosovo state and police terrorists, and that they were out to take over northern Kosovo.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 6 November 2018, Kosovo announced a 10% tax on goods imported from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The official justification for the new tariff was unfair trade practices and destructive behaviour aimed at Kosovo.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 21 November 2018, Kosovo announced an increase in the tax rate to 100%. It is believed that the new policy was a response to Kosovo's third failed bid for Interpol membership, a result widely blamed on Serbian campaigning by Kosovar public officials. On the day of the announcement, the Deputy Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj publicly tweeted: "Serbia is continuing its aggressive campaign against Kosovo in the int’l stage. [...] To defend our vital interest, [the] Government of Kosovo has decided today to increase the customs tariff to 100%. [...]”


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 20 January 2020, Serbia and Kosovo agreed to restore flights between their capitals for the first time in more than two decades. Eurowings, the no-frills subsidiary of German flag-carrier Lufthansa, will fly between Belgrade and Pristina. The deal came after months of diplomatic talks by Richard Grenell, the United States ambassador to Germany, who was named special envoy for Serbia-Kosovo relations by President Donald Trump the year before.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: In April 2020 Kosovo's Transmission System Operator, KOSTT, was formally separated from Elektromreža Srbije through a vote by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, ENTSO-E, which paved the way for Kosovo to become an independent regulatory zone for electricity.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: The agreement was criticized in Serbia, who accused Pristina and Tirana of pursuing a "Greater Albania of energy". Marko Djuric, the Serbian government's liaison for Kosovo released a statement saying that "Serbia is the owner and builder of the power grids in Kosovo and Metohija, for which there is abundant evidence".


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 4 September 2020, under a deal brokered by the United States, Serbia and Kosovo agreed to normalise economic relations. The deal will encompass freer transit, including by rail and road, while both parties agreed to work with the Export–Import Bank of the United States and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and to join the Mini Schengen Zone, but also to commence rail links between them such as Niš-Pristina and Pristina-Merdare and to connect the Belgrade-Pristina rail network with a deep seaport on the coast of the Adriatic Sea They will also conduct a feasibility study with the U.S. Department of Energy concerning the shared Gazivoda Lake, which straddles the border between the two states. In addition to the economic agreement, Serbia agreed to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv starting in June 2021 and Israel and Kosovo agreed to mutually recognise each other.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 7 September, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti met for talks in Brussels hosted by Josep Borrell under the auspices of the European Union. At a press conference after the talks EU Special Representative for the Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, stated that "full progress" had been made in the areas of economic cooperation, missing persons and displaced people. Vučić and Hoti were supposed to meet again in Brussels on 28 September 2020 where they would discuss arrangements for minority communities, the settlement of mutual financial claims and property and will attempt to make progress towards a more comprehensive agreement. The second meeting was later postponed, in part due to Kosovo's refusal to discuss the formation of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 31 July, sirens in northern Kosovo sounded which resulted in Kosovo Serbs blocking the road near the Jarinje border crossing (located in the municipality of Leposavic). Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said to the media, that Serbia has "never been in a more complex and difficult situation [regarding Kosovo] than it is today".


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: On 27 August, EU-facilitated dialogue between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo settled the dispute regarding identification documents. Serbia agreed to abolish entry and exit documents for Kosovo ID holders whilst Kosovo committed to refrain from implementing such measures for Serbian ID holders. Serbian President Aleksander Vučić stated that the ID card issue was “a tiny problem”, but the licence plate one was “much more complicated”.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Kosovo is a full member of several international sporting organizations; this has caused conflict and tension when events are hosted in Serbia when Kosovo is to officially compete as its own country.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Kosovo's boxing team was denied entry into Serbia at border control, shutting them out of the tournament.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: World Athletics, Kosovo, and Serbia reached a compromise where Kosovo would be allowed to compete but a blank space would be displayed instead of Kosovo's flag on all official materials (including websites and stadium screens).


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: In July 2022, competitors from Kosovo were prevented from participating in the European Youth Table Tennis Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Since the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, a large portion of Kosovo Serbs have been displaced from their homes, like other minorities throughout the province. A significant portion of Serbian Orthodox churches, as well as Serbian cemeteries and homes, have been demolished or vandalised.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: The Serbian Government promised suspended Serb prison workers from Lipljan money if they were to leave the Kosovo institutions, which they were working in, so they did. However they were never paid, so staged a continued a blockade of the Co-ordination Centre in Gračanica. They claim that Belgrade, the Kosovo Ministry specifically, has not paid them money promised for leaving the Kosovo institutions.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: In September 2013, the Serb government dismantled the Serb minority assemblies in North Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zvečan and Zubin Potok as part of an agreement with the government of Kosovo. At the same time, the President of Kosovo signed a law that granted amnesty to ethnic Serbs in Kosovo for past acts of resistance to Kosovo law enforcement authorities.


title: Kosovo–Serbia relations

text: Kosovo pays considerable attention to the Albanian minority in Serbia. The Albanian minority in Serbia has voiced support for more rights in line with the rights of Serbs in Kosovo. In 2013, Isa Mustafa, then one of the leaders of opposition in Kosovo, referring to the Brussels Agreement said that "Once the programme for implementing the agreement is finished, Kosovo and Serbia have to open a discussion about the issue of the rights that Albanians who live in Preševo and in Serbia enjoy".


title: Northern Germany

text: Northern Germany () is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the three city-states Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen. It contrasts with Southern Germany, Western Germany and Eastern Germany.


title: Northern Germany

text: Northern Germany generally refers to the "Sprachraum" area north of the Uerdingen and Benrath line isoglosses, where Low German dialects are spoken. These comprise the Low Saxon dialects in the west (including the Westphalian language area up to the Rhineland), the East Low German region along the Baltic coast with Western Pomerania, the Altmark and northern Brandenburg, as well as the North Low German dialects.


title: Northern Germany

text: Although from the 19th century onwards, the use of Standard German was strongly promoted especially by the Prussian administration, Low German dialects are still present in rural areas, with an estimated number of five to eight million active speakers. However, since World War II and the immigration of expellees from the former eastern territories of Germany, its prevalence has steadily reduced. Besides which, Frisian is spoken in East and North Frisia, as well as Danish (Standard and South Jutlandic) in parts of Schleswig. From a linguistic and cultural perspective, Northern Germany is linked to the Netherlands, Scandinavia and England. For example, the German word for butcher is "Fleischer" or "Metzger" in the middle, east or south of Germany but is called a "Schlachter" in Northern Germany, resembling the Scandinavian terms for butcher, "slagter/slakter". Other examples are the word for potato, which has historically been "Erdapfel" in much of Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but "Kartoffel" in Northern Germany and in Danish; the North German verb "kieken" (meaning to look), resembling the Danish "kikke/kigge", or Norwegian "kikke" (to look); or the word for the fruit orange, which is "Orange" in standard German, but "Apfelsine" in Northern Germany, similarly to the Dutch ("appelsien/Sinaasappel"), Frisian ("aapelsiin") and Scandinavian languages ("appelsin/apelsin"). Additionally, Jansen/Janssen, Hansen, and Petersen are the most common surnames in the far north of Germany (Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein), which are also some of the most common surnames in Denmark (albeit with "Jensen" for Jansen). Hansen is the single most common surname in Norway, the third most common surname in Denmark, and the third and fifth most common surname in the North German federal states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, respectively.


title: Northern Germany

text: The key terrain feature of Northern Germany is the North German Plain including the marshes along the coastline of the North and Baltic Seas, as well as the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the ground moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs and "Luch".


title: Northern Germany

text: These features were formed during the Weichselian glaciation and contrast topographically with the adjacent Central Uplands of Germany to the south, such as the Harz and Teutoburg Forest, which are occasionally counted as part of Northern Germany.


title: Northern Germany

text: Northern Germany has traditionally been dominated by Protestantism, especially Lutheranism. The two northernmost provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony have the largest percentage of self-reported Lutherans in Germany. Exceptions are the Catholic districts Emsland, Cloppenburg and Vechta in the west, traditionally linked to the Catholic region of Westphalia in the south, and the southernmost part of Lower Saxony, around the city Duderstadt, traditionally being part of the Catholic enclave region Eichsfeld.


title: Northern Germany

text: Culturally and socially, Northern Germany is characterized by higher levels of income equality and gender equality than southern and south-western Germany. While the national federal Gini coefficient for Germany stands at around 30, the southern states have a Gini coefficient of 30.6 whereas for the Northern states the Gini coefficient stands at 27.5 which is closer to the Scandinavian average of 25. Traditional society in the western part of Northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and some parts of North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt) until the early 20th century was based on well-off, literate and landowning yeoman farmers owning relatively large pieces of land, making a living growing grain crops and raising dairy cattle and pigs, and a large and educated middle class in the towns and cities working in the civil service, or as businessmen, artisans, blue-collar workers and skilled workers. Thus, the proportion of serfs, landless labourers, semi-skilled industrial workers and large landlords was relatively smaller, making for a more stable society than elsewhere in Germany like the Rhineland region and the region east of the Elbe river. Additionally, Northern cities like Hamburg, Bremen and Rostock have always been economic powerhouses of trade and commerce and have had a long tradition of innovation and creativity in business and industry.


title: Northern Germany

text: The traditional Northern German daily diet is centered around boiled potatoes, rye bread, dairy products, cabbages, cucumbers, berries, jams, fish, and pork and beef. A breakfast specialty is the Crispbread or "Knäckebrot", eaten with a variety of toppings such as ham, soft cheese, cucumber, tomatoes, and liver paste. Lentil stews and soups are very popular as a working lunch. Regional specialties in Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony include "Blutwurst" or Blood sausage and a variety of Blood puddings commonly eaten for brunch. Another Northern German regional specialty are "Hackbraten", meatloaves, made from a mixture of ground pork and beef and served with mashed potatoes, brown sauce and lingonberry jam. Many traditional meat-based lunch dishes are served with boiled or mashed potatoes and brown sauce. Eating brunch is very popular during weekends in the larger towns and cities. In regions nearer to the coast, fish is very popular, with Pickled herring and salmon being delicacies.


title: Northern Germany

text: Coffee drinking is strongly rooted in Northern Germany and the Northern provinces on average consume around 8 kilograms of coffee per capita annually. This is fairly more than the 6 kilograms of coffee per capita consumed in the south. Coffee is frequently drunk four times a day : with breakfast, after lunch, in the evening at around 4, and after dinner. Many working people also drink a coffee at the workstation with the start of the day's work, and/or a coffee break with colleagues around an hour before or after lunch. Besides, there is a strong tradition of taking coffee breaks and visits to the café with friends and acquaintances. In places like publicly funded Universities where free coffee is not available to students, it is not uncommon for students to bring their own hot coffee in insulated flasks and drink from it intermittently. Cafés usually offer medium-fat milk and sugar cubes along with filter coffee. Commonly eaten desserts include waffles with ice cream, pancakes, the sweet bun roll with cream known as "Heißwecke", and "Heidelbeerkuchen" or blueberry pie with vanilla cream.


title: Northern Germany

text: The northwesternmost region of East Frisia is an exception insofar as tea is largely preferred over coffee there, to the extent that East Frisians drink about 300 litres of tea per capita and year, more than in any particular country.


title: Northern Germany

text: Lunch at workplaces and educational institutions in Northern Germany begins very early – usually between 11:45 am and 12:15 pm, and dinner is usually eaten between 7 and 8 in the evening. This is because the workday/schoolday starts pretty early at 8 am sharp. Lunches eaten at home during holidays and weekends usually start later – around 1 pm.


title: Northern Germany

text: The drinking culture in the North is more or less similar to that of the rest of the country, heavily based on beer with Pale lagers and pilsners being favourites. Unlike Bavaria, Austria and Central Germany, dark beers or dark lagers are not at all popular in Northern Germany. The North has a slightly stronger tradition of hard liquor, such as Korn, vodka, and schnapps. Binge drinking is far more common in the North – almost 70% of binge drinking hospitalizations on weekends happen in the eight Northern provinces and states containing just 40% of the population. As in all of Germany, mulled wine is a popular alcoholic drink during the Christmas season.


title: Northern Germany

text: In the Early Middle Ages, Northern Germany was the settlement area of the Saxon tribes, which were subjugated by the Frankish ruler Charlemagne in the Saxon Wars from 772 onwards, whereafter the Imperial Duchy of Saxony was established in 804. In the 10th century the Saxon lands, enlarged by the Saxon Eastern March, became the cradle of the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, when the dukes of the Ottonian dynasty were elected King of the Romans and crowned Holy Roman Emperors.


title: Northern Germany

text: From 1500 onwards, the former Saxon territories (except for Westphalia) were incorporated into the Lower Saxon Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. The Hanseatic League is also part of the common history and culture of the cities in northern Germany.


title: Northern Germany

text: Northern Germany corresponds to the territory of the North German Confederation in the 19th century. The boundary between the spheres of political influence of Prussia (Northern Germany) and Austria (Southern Germany) within the German Confederation (1815–1866) was known as the "Main line" ("Mainlinie", after the river Main), Frankfurt am Main being the seat of the federal assembly. The "Main line" did not follow the course of the river Main upstream of Frankfurt, rather corresponding to the northern border of the Kingdom of Bavaria.


title: Northern Germany

text: Cultural or political east–west divisions have existed in northern Germany since at least the early modern period, when


title: Northern Germany

text: During the Cold War of the second half of the 20th century, a cultural division of northern Germany into an Eastern and a Western part has become more pronounced due to the 1949–1990 division of all of Germany into West Germany and East Germany, where identities based upon the former Iron Curtain and mutual prejudices regarding what once was the other side may still persist today.


title: Northern Germany

text: Some Scottish and English Lutheranism Families went from 1683 - 1709 to Northern Germany, and settled there, so many Germans in Northwest Germany have Scottish and English roots


title: Northern Germany

text: The term Northern German States is always used to refer to the following coastal Federal States of Germany:


title: Northern Germany

text: Northern Germany as a region or as a historical landscape includes additional federal states (see geography above). North Western Germany is usually considered to be part of Northern Europe both culturally and geographically where as the southern states are much closer to Central European cultures.


title: Northern Germany

text: The German Football Association was founded in Leipzig in 1900. Several cities in Northern Germany have hosted matches of the 1974 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 1988 and 2006 FIFA World Cup.


title: Northern Germany

text: The Nordderby ("Northern derby") is played between Hamburger SV and SV Werder Bremen, whereas the Hamburg derby is played between Hamburger SV and FC St. Pauli. Other notable men's football clubs include Hertha Berlin, VfL Wolfsburg, Hannover 96, Eintracht Braunschweig, F.C. Hansa Rostock, 1. FC Magdeburg. Hamburger SV won the 1982–83 European Cup and six German championships, whereas Werder Bremen won the German championship four times and Hertha Berlin twice.


title: Northern Germany

text: In women's football, the VfL Wolfsburg won the Bundesliga three times and the UEFA Women's Champions League twice, whereas 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam won the Bundesliga six times and the UEFA Champions League twice.


title: Northern Germany

text: Notable Basketball Bundesliga teams include Alba Berlin, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig, Hamburg Towers and EWE Baskets Oldenburg.


title: Northern Germany

text: Notable Eishockey-Bundesliga teams include Eisbären Berlin, Grizzlys Wolfsburg, Hamburg Freezers, Hannover Scorpions and Fischtown Pinguins.


title: Northern Germany

text: Notable handball teams include GWD Minden, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, TuS Nettelstedt-Lübbecke, THW Kiel, Handball Hamburg, SC Magdeburg, Buxtehuder SV, VfL Oldenburg and HSG Blomberg-Lippe.


title: Northern Germany

text: Notable marathon races include the Berlin Marathon (one of the World Marathon Majors), Hamburg Marathon, Hannover Marathon.


title: Northern Germany

text: The Olympiastadion in Berlin has hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics, 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics and Internationales Stadionfest.


title: Eva Hart

text: Eva Miriam Hart MBE (31 January 1905 – 14 February 1996) was a British woman who was one of the last remaining survivors of the sinking of RMS "Titanic" on 15 April 1912.


title: Eva Hart

text: Eva Hart was born on 31 January 1905 in Ilford, Essex (now part of Greater London), England, to a Jewish family. Her parents were Benjamin Hart and his wife Esther (née Bloomfield). Eva was their only child. Esther had been previously married and had nine children from her first marriage. Eva was educated at St. Mary's Convent (later St. Mary's Hare Park) in Gidea Park, London. In early 1912, Benjamin decided his family would emigrate to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was influenced by his brother, who already lived there and economic recessions at that time in England, in his decision to emigrate.


title: Eva Hart

text: Eva was seven years old when she and her parents boarded "Titanic" as second-class passengers on April 10, 1912. They had originally been booked on the SS "Philadelphia", but a coal strike at Southampton that spring kept her from sailing and many of her passengers were transferred to "Titanic". Eva's mother allegedly felt uneasy about "Titanic" and feared that some catastrophe would happen; the hubris of calling a ship unsinkable was, in her mind, flying in the face of God. With such fear, Eva's mother slept only during the day and stayed awake in their cabin at night fully dressed.


title: Eva Hart

text: Eva was sleeping when "Titanic" struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm on 14 April. Her mother was awake at the time and felt "a slight bump." She immediately asked her husband to investigate the disturbance and he reluctantly left the cabin. Upon his return, he alerted her and Eva to the collision and, after wrapping Eva in a blanket, he carried her to the boat deck. Eva's father placed his wife and daughter in Lifeboat No. 14 and told her to "be a good girl and hold Mummy's hand". It was the last thing he ever said to her and the last time she ever saw him; he perished in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified.


title: Eva Hart

text: Eva and her mother were rescued the following morning by the rescue ship RMS "Carpathia". Soon after arriving in New York City on 18 April, Eva and her mother returned to the UK, because her mother never wanted to set sail for New York in the first place. Eva was plagued with nightmares and upon the death of her mother in 1928, when Hart was 23, she confronted her fears head-on by booking a ticket on a passenger ship heading to Singapore, upon which she locked herself in her cabin for four straight days until the nightmares went away.


title: Eva Hart

text: In April 2012, an audio walking guide to "Titanic" memorials in Southampton was produced, featuring audio clips of Hart talking about her experience. The guide takes the listener on a walking route around Southampton, where "Titanic" set sail on her maiden voyage. Being seven years old at the time of the sinking, she maintained several vivid memories:


title: Eva Hart

text: Hart had several jobs during her life. She was a professional singer in Australia, a Conservative Party organiser, and a magistrate. As a volunteer in the Second World War, Hart organised entertainment for the troops and distributed emergency supplies to people after The Blitz. She was a member of Soroptimist International of East London from 1962 until her death, serving as club president during 1970–71 and as a member for 34 years.


title: Eva Hart

text: In the 1974 New Year Honours, Hart was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for political and public services in London." It was presented to her by the Duke of Kent during the Three-Day Week.


title: Eva Hart

text: Hart frequently criticised the White Star Line for failing to provide enough lifeboats for all aboard "Titanic": "If a ship is torpedoed, that's war. If it strikes a rock in a storm, that's nature. But just to die because there weren't enough lifeboats, that's ridiculous." The official report of the British Inquiry suggests, however, that additional boats would not necessarily have made any difference; the crew did not properly launch all of the boats it had in the available time, and there was no boat drill and no advance information given to the crew on what should be done in the event of emergency.


title: Eva Hart

text: Hart insisted in interviews that the ship had broken in half, a widely debated rumour that was later proven to be true after the discovery of the wreck site by Robert Ballard in 1985. She was also adamant regarding the controversy surrounding SS "Californian", a ship that was only a few miles from "Titanic" and yet failed to respond to distress rockets and calls for help. Hart claimed the vessel was less than from "Titanic", not as was previously believed:


title: Eva Hart

text: When salvaging efforts at the wreck site began in 1987, Hart was quick to note that "Titanic" was a gravesite and should be treated as such. She often decried the "insensitivity and greed" and labelled the salvagers "fortune hunters, vultures, pirates, and grave robbers." In "Titanic: The Complete Story", she stated:


title: Eva Hart

text: Hart remained active in "Titanic"-related activities well into her 80s. In 1982, she returned to the US and joined several other survivors at a Titanic Historical Society convention commemorating the 70th anniversary of the sinking. She participated in three more conventions in 1987, 1988, and in 1992. In 1994, she wrote an autobiography, "Shadow of the Titanic – A Survivor's Story", in which she described her experiences aboard the ship and the lasting implications of its sinking. On 15 April 1995, the 83rd anniversary of the disaster, she and fellow second-class "Titanic" survivor Edith Brown dedicated a memorial garden plaque on the grounds of the National Maritime Museum in London.


title: Eva Hart

text: Hart died from cancer on 14 February 1996 in a hospice in London, two weeks after her 91st birthday. Her death left eight remaining survivors. In her memory, a Wetherspoon's pub in Chadwell Heath is named 'The Eva Hart'.


title: Eva Hart

text: Hart's connection to the "Titanic" and her active involvement in later years made her popular in numerous forms of media, including mentions in non-fiction books, museums and exhibitions.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: The Donation of Constantine () is a forged Roman imperial decree by which the 4th-century emperor Constantine the Great supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the Pope. Composed probably in the 8th century, it was used, especially in the 13th century, in support of claims of political authority by the papacy. In many of the existing manuscripts (handwritten copies of the document), including the oldest one, the document bears the title "Constitutum domini Constantini imperatoris". The "Donation of Constantine" was included in the 9th-century collection "Pseudo-Isidorean Decretals".


title: Donation of Constantine

text: Lorenzo Valla, an Italian Catholic priest and Renaissance humanist, is credited with first exposing the forgery with solid philological arguments in 1439–1440, although the document's authenticity had been repeatedly contested since 1001.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: The text is purportedly a decree of Roman Emperor Constantine I, dated 30 March—a year mistakenly said to be both that of his fourth consulate (315) and that of the consulate of Gallicanus (317). In it "Constantine" professes Christianity ("confessio") and entitles to Pope Sylvester several imperial insignia and privileges ("donatio"), as well as the Lateran Palace. Rome, the rest of Italy, and the western provinces of the empire are made over to the papacy.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: The text recounts a narrative founded on the 5th-century hagiography the "Acts of Sylvester". This fictitious tale describes the sainted Pope Sylvester's rescue of the Romans from the depredations of a local dragon and the pontiff's miraculous cure of the emperor's leprosy by the sacrament of baptism. The story was rehearsed by the "Liber Pontificalis"; by the later 8th century the dragon-slayer Sylvester and his apostolic successors were rewarded in the "Donation of Constantine" with temporal powers never in fact exercised by the historical Bishops of Rome under Constantine"."


title: Donation of Constantine

text: In his gratitude, "Constantine" determined to bestow on the seat of Peter "power, and dignity of glory, vigor, and imperial honor," and "supremacy as well over the four principal sees: Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Constantinople, as also over all the churches of God in the whole earth". For the upkeep of the church of Saint Peter and that of Saint Paul, he gave landed estates "in Judea, Greece, Asia, Thrace, Africa, Italy and the various islands". To Sylvester and his successors he also granted imperial insignia, the tiara, and "the city of Rome, and all the provinces, places and cities of Italy and the western regions".


title: Donation of Constantine

text: The "Donation" sought reduction in the authority of Constantinople; if Constantine had elevated Sylvester to imperial rank before the 330 inauguration of Constantinople, then Rome's patriarch had a lead of some fifteen years in the contest for primacy among the patriarchates. Implicitly, the papacy asserted its supremacy and prerogative to transfer the imperial seat; the papacy had consented to the "translatio imperii" to Byzantium by Constantine and it could wrest back the authority at will.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: It has been suggested that an early draft of the "Donation of Constantine" was made shortly after the middle of the 8th century, in order to assist Pope Stephen II in his negotiations with Pepin the Short, who then held the position of Mayor of the Palace (i.e., the manager of the household of the Frankish king). In 754, Pope Stephen II crossed the Alps to anoint Pepin king, thereby enabling the Carolingian family to supplant the old Merovingian royal line. In return for Stephen's support, Pepin gave the pope the lands in Italy which the Lombards had taken from the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. It is also possible it originated in the chancery of Stephen's immediate successor Paul I. These lands would become the Papal States and would be the basis of the papacy's temporal power for the next eleven centuries.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: Another interpretation holds that the "Donation" was not an official forgery directed at Constantinople, but was instead a ploy in Roman ecclesiastical politics to bolster the status of the Lateran, which does have historical Constantinian connections, against the rising status of the Vatican, and it may have been composed by a Greek monk working in a Roman monastery. In one study, an attempt was made at dating the forgery to the 9th century, and placing its composition at Corbie Abbey, in northern France.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: German medievalist Johannes Fried draws a distinction between the "Donation of Constantine" and an earlier, also forged version, the "Constitutum Constantini", which was included in the collection of forged documents, the False Decretals, compiled in the later half of the ninth century. Fried argues the "Donation" is a later expansion of the much shorter "Constitutum". Christopher B. Coleman understands the mention in the "Constitutum" of a donation of "the western regions" to refer to the regions of Lombardia, Veneto, and Istria.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: What may perhaps be the earliest known allusion to the "Donation" is in a letter of 778, in which Pope Hadrian I exhorts Charlemagne – whose father, Pepin the Short, had made the Donation of Pepin granting the Popes sovereignty over the Papal States – to follow Constantine's example and endow the Roman Catholic church. Otto III's chancery denied its authenticity.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: The first pope to directly invoke the decree was Pope Leo IX, in a letter sent in 1054 to Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople. He cited a large portion of the document, believing it genuine, furthering the debate that would ultimately lead to the East–West Schism. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the "Donation" was often cited in the investiture conflicts between the papacy and the secular powers in the West.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: The document's contents contradicted the Byzantines' notion that Constantine's "translatio imperii" transferred the seat of imperial authority from Rome to his foundation of Constantinople, named the "New Rome". Consequently, the "Donation" featured in the east–west dispute over ecclesiastical primacy between the patriarchal sees of Rome and New Rome. Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida also issued a version of the document to support the papacy's claims against the eastern emperors' and patriarchs' primacy.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: By the 12th century the text existed in Greek translation, of which a 14th-century manuscript survives, and Byzantine writers were also using the "Donation" in their polemics; John Kinnamos, writing in the reign of eastern emperor Manuel I Komnenos, criticized western Staufer emperors as usurpers and denied the popes had the right to bestow the imperial office. Theodore Balsamon justified Michael Cerularius's behaviour in 1054 using the "Donation" as a rationale for his dismissal of the papal legation and the mutual excommunications that followed.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: In 1248, the Chapel of St Sylvester in the Basilica of the Santi Quattro Coronati was decorated with fresco showing the story of the Roman baptism and "Donation" of Constantine.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: During the Middle Ages, the "Donation" was widely accepted as authentic, although Holy Roman Emperor Otto III did possibly raise suspicions of the document "in letters of gold" as a forgery, in making a gift to the See of Rome. It was not until the mid-15th century, with the revival of Classical scholarship and textual criticism, that humanists, and eventually the papal bureaucracy, began to realize that the document could not possibly be genuine. Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa declared it to be a forgery and spoke of it as an apocryphal work.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: Later, the Catholic priest Lorenzo Valla argued in his philological study of the text that the language used in manuscript could not be dated to the 4th century. The language of the text suggests that the manuscript can most likely be dated to the 8th century. Valla believed the forgery to be so obvious that he suspected that the Church knew the document to be inauthentic. Valla further argued that papal usurpation of temporal power had corrupted the church, caused the wars of Italy, and reinforced the "overbearing, barbarous, tyrannical priestly domination."


title: Donation of Constantine

text: This was the first instance of modern, scientific diplomatics. Independently of both Cusa and Valla, Reginald Pecocke, Bishop of Chichester (1450–57), reached a similar conclusion. Among the indications that the Donation must be a fake are its language and the fact that, while certain imperial-era formulas are used in the text, some of the Latin in the document could not have been written in the 4th century; anachronistic terms such as "fief" were used. Also, the purported date of the document is inconsistent with the content of the document itself, as it refers both to the fourth consulate of Constantine (315) as well as the consulate of Gallicanus (317).


title: Donation of Constantine

text: Pope Pius II wrote a tract in 1453, five years before becoming pope, to show that though the "Donation" was a forgery, the papacy owed its lands to Charlemagne and its powers of the keys to Peter; however, he did not publish it.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: Contemporary opponents of papal powers in Italy emphasized the primacy of civil law and civil jurisdiction, now firmly embodied once again in the Justinian "Corpus Juris Civilis". The Florentine chronicler Giovanni Cavalcanti reported that, in the very year of Valla's treatise, Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, made diplomatic overtures toward Cosimo de' Medici in Florence, proposing an alliance against the pope. In reference to the "Donation", Visconti wrote: "It so happens that even if Constantine consigned to Sylvester so many and such rich gifts – which is doubtful, because such a privilege can nowhere be found – he could only have granted them for his lifetime: the empire takes precedence over any lordship."


title: Donation of Constantine

text: Later, scholars further demonstrated that other elements, such as Sylvester's curing of Constantine, are legends which originated at a later time. Wolfram Setz, a recent editor of Valla's work, has affirmed that at the time of Valla's refutation, Constantine's alleged "donation" was no longer a matter of contemporary relevance in political theory and that it simply provided an opportunity for an exercise in legal rhetoric.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: The bulls of Nicholas V and his successors made no further mention of the "Donation", even when partitioning the New World, though the doctrine of "omni-insular" papal fiefdoms, developed out of the "Donation"'s vague references to islands since Pope Nicholas II's grant of Sicily to Robert Guiscard, was deployed after 1492 in papal pronouncements on the overlapping claims of the Iberian kingdoms in the Americas and Moluccas, including "Inter caetera", a bull that resulted in the Treaty of Tordesillas and the Treaty of Zaragoza. Valla's treatise was taken up vehemently by writers of the Protestant Reformation, such as Ulrich von Hutten and Martin Luther, causing the treatise to be placed on the index of banned books in the mid-16th century.


title: Donation of Constantine

text: The "Donation" continued to be tacitly accepted as authentic until Caesar Baronius in his "Annales Ecclesiastici" (published 1588–1607) admitted that it was a forgery, after which it was almost universally accepted as such. Some continued to argue for its authenticity; nearly a century after "Annales Ecclesiastici", Christian Wolff still alluded to the "Donation" as undisputed fact.


title: Point spread function

text: The point spread function (PSF) describes the response of a focused optical imaging system to a point source or point object. A more general term for the PSF is the system's impulse response; the PSF is the impulse response or impulse response function (IRF) of a focused optical imaging system. The PSF in many contexts can be thought of as the extended blob in an image that represents a single point object, that is considered as a spatial impulse. In functional terms, it is the spatial domain version (i.e., the inverse Fourier transform) of the optical transfer function (OTF) of an imaging system. It is a useful concept in Fourier optics, astronomical imaging, medical imaging, electron microscopy and other imaging techniques such as 3D microscopy (like in confocal laser scanning microscopy) and fluorescence microscopy.