title: RBS 15

text: Development of the RBS 15 Mk. III began in the mid-1990s. It is produced by Saab in co-operation with Diehl Defence of Germany. Emphasis was put on increased range (due to larger fuel capacity and new fuel the range has been increased to some 200 km), improved accuracy (integrated GPS) and selectable priority targeting, which improved the weapon system's flexibility. The Mk. III was selected for the German Navy's s. Finnish truck maker Sisu produces missile launch trucks for RBS 15. The Mk. III has been in production since 2004.


title: RBS 15

text: In March 2017 Saab received an order for a new generation anti-ship missile to replace the RBS 15, valued at 3.2 billion SEK. The following year, SAAB unveiled the RBS 15 Mk. IV Gungnir, again produced with Diehl. Unlike Mk. III, the Mk. IV Gungnir can be fired from a truck, making it capable of launching from air, sea, or land. Gungnir missiles have been ordered for the Swedish Navy, with the first weapons scheduled for delivery in the mid-2020s.


title: RBS 15

text: The missile was developed from the RB 04 missile that was used by the Swedish air force. The front of the missile was retained, including the warhead, but the rear received new wings and a turbofan engine replaced the rocket previously used. The RBS 15 underwent trials on the missile FAC from 1983 and became operational with the Swedish Navy in 1985. The s were to have four vertical missile launch tubes for RBS 15 missiles in an extended hull, canceled due to budget constraints and to not fitting the way Swedish submarines operated.


title: RBS 15

text: Range , Navigation INS and Anti-Jam GPS, Target seeker J-band active radar, Launchable from air, land and sea


title: RBS 15

text: Ordered in March 2017 by Sweden. Has better range, a better seeker and lower weight. It has the ability to knock out a wide range of sea and land targets, all-weather capability and a modular design that allows for future upgrades. To be carried by Visby-class corvettes and JAS Gripen E. Will be delivered between 2017 and 2026 and fully operational in the mid-2020s. RBS 15Mk4 and RBS Mk4 Air was earlier known as RB 15Mk3+ & RB 15F-ER, RBS 15 Gungnir is the system level name


title: RBS 15

text: Primary weapon of the Croatian Navy for its five guided missile boats and three coastal systems mounted on Tatra trucks. In total, 48 Mk.I units are in service. Plans for upgrading 21 missiles to a standard incorporating elements from both the Mk.II and the Mk.III versions was cancelled in 2009 due to budget restraints but light software upgrades were continuously executed and have improved the missiles' navigation, precision and electronic defence. The latest of this upgrades was conducted in 2010 as part of usual service works. Unexpectedly though, in August 2014 the Croatian government decided to send at least 20 Croatian RBS 15 missiles through an overhaul program so as to keep them operational and current for another 10 years. The missiles are to receive upgrades to increase their range to about 90–100 km as well as to improve their guidance, precision and survivability against jamming. The missiles were successfully launched and destroyed their targets in live fire naval exercises in 2015, 2016 and 2018.


title: RBS 15

text: The Finnish Navy operates RBS 15SF-III (Mk. IIs, designation MTO 85) that have undergone various upgrades during their lifetime. The missiles are carried by the s and the s. Finland also operates the missiles from Sisu trucks for mobile coastal defense.


title: RBS 15

text: The German Navy has chosen the Mk. III to equip its s. Saab has received an order from its German partner Diehl Defence for the RBS 15 anti-ship missile for provision to the German Navy. The order value is approximately 1.7 BSEK with deliveries between 2022 and 2026.


title: RBS 15

text: The Polish Navy has chosen the Mk. III to equip both its and its upcoming "Arrowhead-140PL" frigates. The Mk. IV is also under consideration for the frigates.


title: RBS 15

text: The Swedish Navy operates the missiles from its, ands. The Swedish Coastal Artillery was also equipped with RBS 15Ms, which were mounted on Scania trucks. Four missile batteries were planned, but in the end only one battery was ever ordered serving from 1995 to 2000 when the coastal artillery was disbanded. The vehicles in the battery were then scattered. The Swedish Air Force operates the RBS 15F.


title: RBS 15

text: As a part of its Gripen procurement program, the Royal Thai Air Force ordered the air-launch version, the RBS 15F, to equip its Gripen fighter aircraft.


title: RBS 15

text: In August 2022 the Bulgarian government decided to purchase RBS 15 Mk. III for the two future patrol ships of the Bulgarian navy. The first ship is under construction and will be commissioned in 2025.


title: RBS 15

text: Some RBS 15s were delivered during the late 1980s for the new Yugoslavian Navy FACs to replace existing Russian-built missiles, but the project was never finalized due to the Croatian War of Independence. Missiles were captured by the Croatian Navy.


title: Frank Kelly

text: Francis Kelly (28 December 1938 – 28 February 2016) was an Irish actor, singer and writer, whose career covered television, radio, theatre, music, screenwriting and film. He is best remembered for playing Father Jack Hackett in the Channel 4 sitcom "Father Ted".


title: Frank Kelly

text: Kelly was born, in 1938, in Blackrock, south County Dublin, where he lived most of his life. His parents were Kathleen and Charles E. Kelly, cartoonist and founder of the satirical magazine "Dublin Opinion". He was educated at Blackrock College and went on to study law at University College Dublin and tried journalism, working for years as a subeditor at Irish newspapers, before moving on to acting. He worked at Dublin's Eblana Theatre with Cecil Sheridan and as a feed to Jack Cruise. Other work included pantomime and reviews.


title: Frank Kelly

text: Kelly's first film role, which was uncredited, was as a prison officer in "The Italian Job" (1969), escorting Charlie Croker (Michael Caine) out of prison in the film's opening sequence.


title: Frank Kelly

text: He starred in the popular RTÉ children's programme "Wanderly Wagon" alongside Eugene Lambert and Nora O'Mahoney from 1968 to 1982, playing a number of different characters and writing many of the scripts. It was Kelly's work on "Hall's Pictorial Weekly" (1970–1982) that established him as one of Ireland's most recognisable faces. He memorably portrayed councillor Parnell Mooney, a send-up of a backward local authority figure in rural Ireland. In 1974, Kelly won a Jacob's Award for his work on the series.


title: Frank Kelly

text: In the early 1980s, he was featured in the RTÉ television programme for those learning Irish "Anois is Aris". At the end of the programme he spoke into a telephone, gradually introducing Irish phrases. In 1988, he appeared in the Irish thriller film "Taffin".


title: Frank Kelly

text: Kelly was best known outside Ireland for playing Father Jack Hackett in the comedy series "Father Ted", which aired in the United Kingdom from April 1995 to May 1998. Father Jack is an old, alcoholic and offensively rambunctious priest who usually shouts only "feck!", "arse!", "drink!" and "girls!" and the occasional scream of "what!" and "women's knickers".


title: Frank Kelly

text: For his role in "Father Ted", he wore contact lenses (to show Father Jack's cataract). People would not eat lunch with him during filming if he was in his Father Jack make-up because the false flaky skin he was wearing would fall off into the food.


title: Frank Kelly

text: Interviewing Kelly in 1997 for "The Irish Times", Deirdre Falvey said of him: "In person he could not be further from Father Jack. Urbane, articulate, thoughtful, fit (he swims and hikes), charming company, full of stories, and quite serious, though his conversation is punctuated by the occasional burst of laughter—he is reputably a great slagger with colleagues, and is very well liked." Kelly himself said:


title: Frank Kelly

text: I like humour—but I'm very suspicious of people who laugh all the time, because they never listen to what you're saying, they always—have another agenda and they generally have no sense of humour. The most untrustworthy body language I know is that of the person who laughs all the time. That terrifies me. People with no sense or a very limited sense of humour I am very wary of too, because it's not a sign of great intelligence to be without a sense of humour. If you've no sense of irony you haven't a great decision making capacity because you must see the possibilities of the downside of any decision. Without perspective you can't have any wisdom, so it frightens me when I meet captains of industry or whatever who have virtually no sense of humour. That's the kind of person I find dismaying.


title: Frank Kelly

text: From 1999 to 2001, Kelly starred in "Glenroe" as Maurice and played Henry Doyle (father of Pierce Brosnan's Desmond Doyle) in "Evelyn" (2002). He appeared in the film "Rat" in 2000, as a priest called Father Pickle in the TV series "Lexx" (2001), and also in a short film, "Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom", in 2003. That same year, he had a major role as John Smith, leader of the Labour Party, in the UK Television drama "The Deal".


title: Frank Kelly

text: In 2007, he acted in the TG4 political drama "Running Mate", about an election campaign. He also appeared in the TG4 series "Paddywhackery".


title: Frank Kelly

text: On 29 September 2010, it was announced that Kelly had joined ITV1 soap "Emmerdale", playing the role of Dermot, Declan Macey's father. Kelly left the soap after five months of filming because he missed his family in Ireland.


title: Frank Kelly

text: A regular stage actor, Kelly toured extensively in the United States and Canada. He provided voice-overs and in his television advertising work, appeared with "Mr Tayto" in an advertising campaign for Tayto crisps.


title: Frank Kelly

text: In September 2015, Kelly published an autobiography called "The Next Gig". His reminiscences include those of acting colleagues including Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine.


title: Frank Kelly

text: Many of his radio sketches originated from his weekday RTÉ radio show "The Glen Abbey Show" in the 1970s until the 1990s. Kelly played the part of a culchie, "Gobnait O'Lúnasa", the sketches typically started with the sound of him putting coins in an old freckle coin box, and when the phone rang and was answered, his words were, "Hello! Guess who? Is that you Nuala?" Kelly acted the part of an English BBC reporter interviewing rural inhabitants about local customs, such as watching bacon being sliced, or "ha-hooing" (shouting a rebel yell) competitions. The village was called Ballykilferret and described by the BBC man as being in "the Republic of Eer-ah" (a mispronunciation of Éire).


title: Frank Kelly

text: In 1982, Kelly released a single, "Christmas Countdown", a comedy monologue based on the Christmas song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and credited to the pseudonymic Gobnait O’Lúnasa. It reached number eight in the Irish Singles Chart in 1982, and peaked at number 26 in the UK Singles Chart and number 15 in Australia in 1984.


title: Frank Kelly

text: He performed the single live on "Top of the Pops" on 5 January of that year. The single was the opening track on the later album "Comedy Countdown".


title: Frank Kelly

text: In 2000 he released "Comedy Countdown", an album featuring some of his sketches taken from "The Glen Abbey Show". Tracks included the "Ayatollah Ceili Band" (a pun on The Tulla Céilí Band), "Magnum Farce", "Incoming Call", "Festive Spirit", "Hymn of Praise", "Call of the Wild", "Festive Note" and "Siege Mentality".


title: Frank Kelly

text: Kelly died on 28 February 2016, after suffering a heart attack. He revealed he had Parkinson's disease in October 2015, and was recovering from bowel cancer. He had previously survived skin cancer.


title: Frank Kelly

text: His death came exactly 18 years after the death of his "Father Ted" co-star Dermot Morgan. Speaking at Kelly's funeral, Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland, said, "He will forever be remembered for his roles in the theatre and will be recalled with great affection and fondness for his roles on television, including in "Wanderly Wagon", "Glenroe" and the much-loved "Hall's Pictorial Weekly"."


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr are the original people of the Coffs Harbour region.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Coffs Harbour's economy was once based on timber and agriculture. Over recent decades, tourism has become an increasingly important industry for the city. Once part of a region known as the Bananacoast, today the tourist city is part of a wider region known as the Coffs Coast.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The city has a campus of Southern Cross University, and a campus of Rural Faculty of Medicine University of New South Wales, a public and a private hospital, several radio stations, and three major shopping centres. Coffs Harbour is near numerous national parks, including a marine national park.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: There are regular passenger flights each day to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane departing from Coffs Harbour Airport. Coffs Harbour is also accessible by road, by NSW TrainLink, and by regular bus services.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Coffs Harbour is a regional city along the Pacific Highway between Newcastle and the Gold Coast. It has become a major service centre for those living between South West Rocks in the south and Grafton to the north.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Sawtell, south along Hogbin Drive from the city has become a satellite suburb of Coffs Harbour; it is increasingly referred to as being part of the city instead of its own entity as a town.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The surrounding region is dominated by coastal resorts and apartments with hinterland hills and mountains covered by forests, banana and blueberry plantations, and other farms. It is the only place in New South Wales where the Great Dividing Range meets the Pacific Ocean.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The traditional inhabitants of the Coffs Harbour region are the Gumbaynggirr people, who have occupied the land for thousands of years, forming one of the largest coastal Aboriginal nations in New South Wales. Their nation stretches from the Nambucca River in the south to around the Clarence River in the north and to the Great Dividing Range in the west.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: By the early 1900s, the Coffs Harbour area had become an important timber production centre. Before the opening of the North Coast railway line, the only way to transport large items of heavy but low value, such as timber, was by coastal shipping. This meant sawmillers on the North Coast were dependent on jetties either in rivers or off beaches for exporting their timber. Timber tramways were constructed to connect the timber-getting areas, the sawmills and jetties built into the ocean at Coffs Harbour.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Coffs Harbour owes its name to John Korff, who named the area Korff's Harbour when he was forced to take shelter from a storm in the area in 1847. The name was accidentally changed by the surveyor for the crown when he reserved land in the area during 1861.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: According to the 2016 Census the population of the suburb of Coffs Harbour is 25,752. This is an increase from 24,581 in 2011. 52.5% of the population is female in contrast to the national average of 50.7%. The average age is 43, which is higher than the national average of 38. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.6% of the population.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: 75.5% of residents reported being born in Australia; higher than the national average of 66.7%. Other than Australia the most common countries of birth are England (3.2%), New Zealand (1.3%), Myanmar (1.1%), India (0.9%) and Germany (0.5%). 62.2% of residents also reported both their parents being born in Australia, considerably higher than the national average of 47.3%. 82.1% of people spoke only English at home.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The top religious affiliations in Coffs Harbour are Catholic 20.0%, Anglican 17.9% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.9%. 29.3% declared no religion and 11.1% did not submit a response.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Coffs Harbour has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa" according to the Köppen climate classification system) with marked seasonality of rainfall. The city is relatively sunny, receiving 122.1 clear days annually, higher than Brisbane and Cairns but not as sunny as Townsville. Summers are moderately hot, wet and humid. Winters are mild with moderate rainfall.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Coffs Harbour was the hub for a thriving banana industry. One of the biggest attractions is the Big Banana, one of the first of Australia's Big Things (it celebrated its 50th birthday in 2015), with the World's Largest Banana celebrating the region's best-known export. There is also a popular underwater diving spot on a small natural reef.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The Coffs Harbour Jetty is an historically important timber wharf where coastal shipping once moved the timber from the hinterland. It was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register on 25 June 2021, recognising its significance "as the longest coastal timber jetty built by the Harbours and Rivers Section of the NSW Public Works department in the 19th century." The jetty area is the subject of planning from 2018 by Council and consultants to develop a cultural precinct and rejuvenated residential area.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Nearby, the Solitary Islands Marine Park preserves a diverse underwater ecosystem that mirrors the terrestrial biodiversity, covering the southern limit of northern tropical species and the northern limits of the southern temperate species. Muttonbird Island is accessible by walking along the breakwater from the harbour, with the nature reserve protecting a significant wedge-tailed shearwater breeding site. The Muttonbird Island footpath leads to a viewing platform where whales are often spotted between June and November.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The town's water supply comes from the nearby Orara River at Cochranes Pool and is supplemented by the Nymboida River. The city hosts the Coffs Harbour Regional Botanic Garden.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Coffs Harbour is home to the Coffs Harbour Education Campus (CHEC) which is a partnership between the Southern Cross University, TAFE and the Coffs Harbour Senior College.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Other universities include the University of New South Wales Rural Clinical School located on the Coffs Harbour Health Campus. Australian Catholic University, Rural Education (REZ).


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Local state and private high schools include Coffs Harbour, Woolgoolga, Orara, Toormina, John Paul College, Coffs Harbour Christian Community, Bishop Druitt College and the Coffs Harbour Senior College.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Primary schools include; Boambee, Bonville, Coffs Harbour Public, Coramba, Corindi, Crossmaglen, Karangi, Kororo, Lowanna, Mullaway, Nana Glen, Narranga, Upper Orara, Sandy Beach, Sawtell, Toormina, Tyalla, Ulong, William Bayldon and Woolgoolga Public School. Private primary schools in the area include; Mary Help of Christians, St Augustine's and St Francis Xavier's.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Special schools are public schools designed for children or youth with chronic disabilities or who for other reasons cannot be accommodated in the comprehensive school system. Coffs Harbour Learning Centre is available for these students.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The Pacific Highway cuts through the centre of the city. Work has commenced to build a deviation. The project was approved in November 2020.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Beaumonts, Busways, Forest Coach Lines, Newcombe and Sahdras all run service throughout Coffs Harbour and the surrounding areas. Greyhound Australia and Premier Motor Service long-distance coach services which run along the east coast also stop at Coffs Harbour.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Forest Coach Lines runs frequent buses to the northern suburbs of Coffs Harbour and some less frequent services to Grafton.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Most of the Beaumonts buses in 2011 were bought by Newcombe, originally Beaumonts bus service ran in the Orara Valley carrying high school and primary school students from the city of Coffs Harbour to their rural homes.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Coffs Harbour is serviced by NSW TrainLink. Three northbound and three southbound XPT trains stop at Coffs Harbour station each day.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Coffs Harbour Airport is regularly serviced by Fly Corporate, Qantas, Virgin Australia and Regional Express. The passenger terminal is accessible via Hogbin Drive.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The Coffs Harbour Aero Club on Aviation Drive supports private pilots. Flying lessons and discovery flights, as well as air-work and charter flights are available from the club, which is also working closely with local high schools to provide flying training for students.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The most popular sport in Coffs Harbour is Rugby league. The city has four clubs in the Country Rugby League of NSW's Group 2 rugby league competition; Coffs Harbour Comets, Sawtell Panthers, Woolgoolga Seahorses, and Orara Valley Axemen. All clubs offer entries in age groups ranging from under-7s to first grade. The Sawtell Panthers are the current champions in first grade and under-18s, and Woolgoolga Seahorses were runners up to the Port Macquarie Sharks in reserve grade.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: There is a local Australian rules football competition with three clubs in the city; Coffs Harbour, Northern Beaches-Woologoolga and Sawtell Saints.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: There is also a men's and women's soccer league, two rugby union clubs (Coffs Harlequins and Southern Cross University), junior and senior basketball competitions and the representative Coffs Suns, field hockey and netball competitions.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: In 2001, Coffs Harbour hosted the Oceania region's qualification matches for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. One these matches played at Coffs Harbour was the Australia 31–0 American Samoa game, which set a new world record for international association football's biggest-ever win.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Pacific Bay Resort hosted 'Camp Wallaby' throughout the 2000s, in which the Wallabies called Coffs Harbour home.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The city is home to the Coffs Harbour International Stadium, which has hosted FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and a Women's 2008 Beijing Olympics Qualification fixtures for the Matildas in soccer as well as some National Rugby League (NRL) pre-season fixtures and domestic one day cricket matches. Coffs Harbour is also known for a great place to skydive due to the hinterland views where The Great Dividing Range meets the sea.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: The region has hosted international rallying through the 1970s through to the early 1980s. After that time, the events became part of the Australian Rally Championship and NSW Rally Championships. It was the host city for Rally Australia, a round of the World Rally Championship in 2011. The rally used roads from the neighboring Bellingen, and Nambucca shires in addition to Coffs Harbour. The rally returned permanently to Coffs Harbour in 2013. In 2016, the rally was run in November with a Super special Stage at the Coffs Jetty. It was last held in 2018.


title: Coffs Harbour

text: Coffs Harbour is home to three locally grown sporting events attracting thousands of competitors each year: the Coffs Harbour Triathlon (bcu Coffs Tri), the Coffs Harbour running festival and the Coffs Ocean Swims, all raising money to local children's charities.


title: Indigenous peoples of South America

text: The Indigenous peoples of South America or South American Indigenous peoples, are the pre-Colombian peoples of South America and their descendants. These peoples contrast with South Americans of European ancestry and those of African descent.


title: Indigenous peoples of South America

text: In Spanish, Indigenous people are often referred to as "indígenas" or "pueblos indígenas" (lit. Indigenous peoples). They may also be called "pueblos nativos" or "nativos" (lit. Native peoples). The term "aborigen" (lit. aborigine) is used in Argentina and "pueblos aborígenes" (lit. aboriginal peoples) is commonly used in Colombia. The English term "Amerindian" (short for "Indians of the Americas") is often used in the Guianas. Latin Americans of mixed European and Indigenous descent are usually referred to as mestizos (Spanish) and mestiços (Portuguese). While those of mixed African and Indigenous ancestry are referred to as zambos.


title: Indigenous peoples of South America

text: It is believed that the first human populations of South America either arrived from Asia into North America via the Bering Land Bridge and migrated southwards or alternatively from Polynesia across the Pacific. The earliest generally accepted archaeological evidence for human habitation in South America dates to 14,000 years ago, the Monte Verde site in Southern Chile. The descendants of these first inhabitants would become the indigenous populations of South America.


title: Indigenous peoples of South America

text: Before the Spanish colonization of the Americas, many of the indigenous peoples of South America were hunter-gatherers and indeed many still are, especially in the Amazonian area. Others, especially the Andean cultures, practised sophisticated agriculture, utilized advanced irrigation and kept domesticated livestock, such as llamas and alpacas.


title: Indigenous peoples of South America

text: In the present day, there are two South American countries where indigenous peoples constitute the largest ethnic group. These are Peru, where 45% are indigenous and Bolivia, where 62% of people identify as feeling a part of some indigenous group.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Anthony Michael Rendon (, ; born June 6, 1990) is an American baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and was a member of the Nationals' 2019 World Series champion team over his hometown Houston Astros.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon played college baseball for the Rice University Owls, where he won the 2010 Dick Howser Trophy. Rendon was selected sixth overall in the 2011 MLB draft by the Nationals. Rendon made his MLB debut in 2013. He is an All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon is the second son of Rene and Bridget Rendon. His parents say Rendon started playing baseball at a very early age, hitting pine cones with sticks as early as the age of three. Rendon grew up on the southwest side of Houston and excelled in both academics and sports. He was a star basketball player, track athlete, and baseball player at Hodges Bend Middle School. For the first two and a half years of high school, Rendon attended George Bush High School, before transferring to Lamar High School. As a senior, he was a first-team 5A all-state shortstop and an All-Greater Houston selection by the "Houston Chronicle" after he hit .570 with eight home runs, 17 doubles, 56 runs batted in, 56 runs, and 13 stolen bases. Out of high school, Rendon was drafted in the 27th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Atlanta Braves. He turned down their signing bonus to play for Rice University and head coach Wayne Graham.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: As a freshman in 2009, Rendon was named "Baseball America's" Freshman of the Year, All-America, Freshman All-American, NCBWA's District VII Player of the Year, NCAA All-Regional Team, Conference USA Player of the Year, All-Conference USA (first team), Conference USA All-Tournament Team, and MVP of the Silver Glove Series with cross-town rival, University of Houston. As a true freshman, he hit .388 with 20 home runs and 72 runs batted in, starting in all 61 of the Owls' games. Rendon was also nominated for both the Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award in his first season at the college level. He led the conference in numerous offensive categories, including batting average, slugging percentage and home runs, setting a new Rice freshman record. He added 31 walks to his already gaudy offensive numbers, giving him a .496 on-base percentage. In addition to his batting prowess, he stole nine bases in eleven attempts, two away from leading the team, and showed defensive ability at third base as well; ending the year with a .945 fielding percentage. However, in Rice's last game, in the Baton Rouge Super Regional, Rendon suffered an ankle injury that required surgery.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: As a sophomore in 2010, he was the winner of the Dick Howser Trophy and was "Baseball America's" College Player of the Year, becoming the first underclassman in a decade to win the award. Additionally, he was named the Rawlings Sporting Goods National Player of the Year, Conference USA Male Athlete of the Year, District VII Player of the Year, First Team All-American, All-south Region, Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Austin Regional, All-Conference USA, All-Conference USA Tournament, and Conference USA Academic Honor Roll. He is also only the second player to be named Conference USA Player of the Year twice. He finished the season hitting .394 with 26 home runs and 85 runs batted in, again starting in every one of the Owls' 63 games. Rendon's 26 home runs were the second-highest single season total in school history; the only other Owl to hit more home runs in a year was Lance Berkman. In his sophomore campaign, Rendon hit more home runs (26) than he struck out (22), and his walks (65) nearly tripled his strikeout total. Again, Rendon flashed the leather, raising his fielding percentage to .978, making only four errors at third base. After his Rice season ended, Rendon was invited to represent his country playing on the international circuit for Team USA. He suffered another right ankle injury in the first game against South Korea.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Houston mayor Annise Parker declared June 29, 2010, to be "Anthony Rendon Day" in Houston. Rendon was a member of Wiess College while at Rice.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: The Washington Nationals selected Rendon in the first round, with the sixth overall selection, of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. Following the 2012 season, many scouts rated Rendon as the best prospect in the Nationals organization and one of the top prospects in MLB.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon started the 2013 season with the Double-A Harrisburg Senators. He was called up by the Washington Nationals on April 20 when Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the disabled list. Rendon was optioned back to the Harrisburg Senators when Zimmerman came off the disabled list on May 3.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon was recalled by the Nationals on June 4, 2013, and replaced second baseman Danny Espinosa. Days later, on June 15, Rendon clubbed his first major league home run off Vinnie Pestano of the Cleveland Indians. The ninth-inning solo shot put the Nationals on top and they won 7–6.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon finished the season with the Nationals, putting up a .265/.329/.396 triple slash with seven home runs across 98 games with the major league club.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: After playing mostly second base the previous year, Rendon was moved back to his "natural position" as the Nationals' third baseman in the 2014 season. The year would be a breakout one for Rendon, who led the National League in runs scored, with 111, while putting up a .287/.351/.473 slash line, hitting 21 home runs and stealing 17 bases over the course of the season. Rendon placed fifth in National League Most Valuable Player voting and was awarded a Silver Slugger for his performance as a top-hitting third baseman. He ranked second among National League position players in wins above replacement, just behind Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: While Rendon emerged as a key cog in the Nationals' offense during the season, his prowess in the playoffs was noteworthy as well, as he hit .368 in the 2014 National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee early during spring training in 2015, and then strained an oblique muscle while on a rehab assignment with the Class-AA Harrisburg Senators, being shut down on May 4. Rendon finally returned to major league action on June 4, 2015, but found himself moved back to second base, with the job of everyday third baseman being held down by new acquisition Yunel Escobar.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon was part of a spectacular defensive play in an August 15, 2015, game against the San Francisco Giants. A sharp grounder off the bat of Brandon Crawford was deflected off the glove of first baseman Clint Robinson, caroming high into the air. Playing deep on the infield shift, Rendon made a barehand grab on the deflected ball and fired to pitcher Felipe Rivero, who gloved it while diving across the first base bag to retire Crawford. Giants broadcasters Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow described the play as one of the greatest they had ever seen.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: All in all, Rendon played in just 80 regular-season games in 2015 and put up a .264/.344/.363 slash line. His power was noticeably sapped following the oblique injury, as he hit just five home runs over the course of the season.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon returned to form with a batting line over the course of the 2016 season closely mimicking his 2014 campaign, hitting .270/.348/.450 with 20 home runs. He avoided spending any time on the disabled list, appearing in all but six regular-season games for the Nationals and exclusively playing third base, with Escobar traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim during the off-season.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: On September 6, 2016, Rendon hit his first career grand slam off Williams Perez, which provided the Nationals with a winning margin of victory over the division rival Atlanta Braves in the 9–7 contest.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: For his improved performance during the season, Rendon was named the National League Comeback Player of the Year.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: On April 30, 2017, Rendon went six-for-six with three home runs and 10 RBI in a 23–5 win over the division rival New York Mets. He became the 13th major leaguer with 10 or more RBI in one game while setting a Nationals record. He became the third player in major league history to attain both six hits and ten RBI in the same game, following Jim Bottomley (1924) and Walker Cooper (1949).


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Despite leading all National League position players in wins above replacement during the first half of the season, Rendon was not selected to participate in the All-Star Game. He was one of the options in the "final vote" but lost out to Justin Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite the All-Star snub, Rendon was named as Player of the Week in the National League on July 17, 2017, for the week abbreviated by the All-Star break. It was his first time so honored. Rendon hit .636 during the week with three home runs to earn the award. In 2017, he batted .301/.403/.533 with 25 home runs.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: In 2018, Rendon batted .308 (4th in the NL)/.374/.535 (7th in the NL) with 24 home runs, and led the National League with 44 doubles.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Prior to the 2019 season, Rendon indicated a willingness to sign an extension with the Nationals. In September 2019, the Nationals reportedly offered him a seven-year extension worth $210-$215 million.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon was selected to the 2019 MLB All-Star Game for the first time in his career. Rendon said he was honored to be chosen, but opted not to attend the game in Cleveland in order to recover from minor injuries.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: In 2019, Rendon batted .319/.412/.598 with 34 home runs, led the NL with 44 doubles for the second year in a row, and led the majors in RBIs (126). He had the best walks/strikeouts ratio in the NL (0.93), and made contact with the highest percentage of pitches he swung at (88.3%) of all NL batters. He also hit for a 1.003 OPS in the postseason to help lead the Nationals to their first World Series championship. He hit key home runs in Games 6 and 7 of the World Series and his 8 RBIs for the 2019 World Series were the most by a Nationals player.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Following the 2019 World Series, Rendon and Nationals star pitcher Stephen Strasburg both entered free agency. Owner Mark Lerner had indicated that the team would not be able to afford to sign both players.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: On December 11, 2019, Rendon agreed to a 7-year, $245 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels, two days after Nationals signed Strasburg to a similar deal. He was formally introduced as an Angel on December 14, 2019. Rendon's 6.7 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in 2019 ranked only behind Mike Trout's 8.4 WAR and above all Angels' players except Trout from 2012 to 2019.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: On July 28, 2020, Rendon made his Angels debut in the shortened 60 game season. In Rendon's first 12 games with the Angels, he went 28 plate appearances without getting a hit. He ended the hitless streak on August 10, 2020, hitting a home run off of Sean Manaea of the Oakland Athletics. That same night, he recorded his 1000th MLB career hit.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: In 52 games in 2020, Rendon batted .286/.418/.497 with 9 home runs and 31 RBIs, and tied for the AL lead by grounding into 10 double plays.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: On April 12, Rendon was placed on the 10-day injured list after suffering a groin strain. On May 5, Rendon was placed on the 10-day injured list for the second time after suffering a left knee contusion. On June 7, Rendon notched his 600th career RBI with an RBI single off of Kansas City Royals starter Jackson Kowar. On July 6, Rendon was placed on the injured list for the third time after suffering a left hamstring strain. The Angels would later announce on August 4 that Rendon would have season ending surgery to repair a right hip impingement. He finished the season batting .240/.329/.382 in 58 games.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: On May 10, 2022, during Reid Detmers' no-hitter, Rendon hit his first left-handed home run, against position player pitcher Brett Phillips. This was also the first time Rendon batted left-handed in a major league game. For the next game, Angels manager Joe Maddon listed Rendon as a switch hitter. On June 17, the Angels stated that Rendon would undergo surgery on his right wrist, for which he was expected to miss the remainder of the season. On June 26, Rendon was part of a bench-clearing brawl between the Angels and Seattle Mariners. After Mariners outfielder Jesse Winker was hit by a pitch thrown by Andrew Wantz, Winker charged the Angels' dugout. During the ensuing brawl, Rendon struck Winker in the face with his non-injured left hand while wearing a cast on his right hand. He received a five-game suspension for his involvement in the brawl. Despite the original expectation that Rendon would be out for the remainder of the 2022 season, the Angels activated him from the injured list on September 28 and he began serving his suspension. He returned to the Angels lineup on October 3 to play the final three games of the season against the Oakland Athletics. He finished the season batting .229 with five home runs and 24 RBIs in 47 games.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon is frequently described by sports media as quiet and modest, qualities that when combined with his strong all-around offensive and defensive performance as an infielder for the Washington Nationals have led some, including 2016–17 Nationals manager Dusty Baker, to dub him one of the most "underrated" players in Major League Baseball. Explaining his philosophy on baseball to "The Washington Post" during spring training in 2017, Rendon said, "Obviously, I want to win, but at the same time, at the end of the day, it’s a game and that’s what I’m going to treat it as." He claimed in a 2014 interview with the "Post" that he prefers watching the History channel to baseball, calling the sport "too long and boring".


title: Anthony Rendon

text: On July 26, 2018, Rendon and wife Amanda welcomed their first child, a daughter. Rendon took leave from the Nationals for several days to attend to the birth. They reside in Katy, Texas during the offseason, and in Newport Beach, California during the season.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: An avid basketball fan, Rendon follows the Houston Rockets, his hometown NBA team. He has maintained close ties to the Houston area. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, Rendon and then-Nationals teammate Matt Albers, a fellow Houstonian, set up a "YouCaring" fundraiser page to raise money for donations to the Houston Food Bank.


title: Anthony Rendon

text: Rendon is a practicing Christian. He stated in a 2018 interview, "at the end, I want to be more ‘Christian’ than ‘baseball player.’"


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: The Tajikistan national football team (, "Timi milliji futboli Toçikiston"; ) represents Tajikistan in international football and is controlled by the Tajikistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Tajikistan. Tajikistan's home ground is the Pamir Stadium in Dushanbe.


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan played its first match against Uzbekistan on 17 June 1992. It was not until 1994 that the Tajikistan National Football Federation was admitted to FIFA.


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: Tajikistan played its first official game on 11 April 1994 in Tashkent as part of a regional tournament. They lost that game against Kazakhstan 0–1. The first official competition the team entered was the qualifiers for the 1996 Asian Cup, when it was seeded in the three-team Group 8 with Uzbekistan and Bahrain. Bahrain later withdrew, leaving Tajikistan to a play-off against their Middle Asian neighbors. Tajikistan won the first game 4–0, but were beaten in the away game 0–5 after extra time. They did not enter a World Cup qualifying competition until the France 1998 edition, recording four victories in their preliminary group stage including a 5–0 triumph over Turkmenistan, and losing only to China, which placed them second behind their eastern neighbors, but out of the competition.


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: In a three-team qualifying section for Korea/Japan 2002, they had a record 16–0 win over Guam before losing 2–0 to Iran. After beating Bangladesh 4–0 on aggregate in the preliminary round of the qualifiers for Germany 2006, they held AFC Asian Cup semi-finalists and eventual group winners Bahrain to a goalless draw on 31 March 2004.


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: The team won its first international tournament, the inaugural AFC Challenge Cup, in 2006, beating Sri Lanka 4–0 in Dhaka.


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: Following Tajikistan's disappointing 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, Mubin Ergashev and his staff were relieved of their duties.


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: Tajikistan were drawn into a 2019 Asian Cup qualification group with the Philippines, Yemen and Nepal. Following their defeat to Philippines on 27 March 2018, confirming Tajikistan's failure to qualify for the Asian Cup, manager Khakim Fuzailov resigned.


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: Due to the unsuccessful performance of Tajikistan in recent years, Usmon Toshev, the Uzbek coach, was appointed to reinvigorate the Tajik side. Under Usmon, Tajikistan performed well in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying, managing to beat neighbor Kyrgyzstan 1–0 and holding the same opponent 1–1 away. However, Tajikistan suffered a heartbreaking shock 3–4 loss to minnows Myanmar away, in what was considered to be a shock given Myanmar's poor form in early games, thus putting Tajikistan into trouble. Ultimately, with the withdrawal of North Korea, Tajikistan paid dearly when its points against Mongolia were not counted, thus following Tajikistan 1–4 away loss to Japan, an Asian powerhouse, Tajikistan was officially out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Eventually, despite Myanmar replacing Mongolia to finish bottom thus added six points for Tajikistan, the Tajiks could not reduce the deficit due to poor goal difference and thus missed out on the final round.


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: After failing to have a direct spot for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, Tajikistan hired German-Croatian manager Petar Segrt, and Tajikistan took part in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – Third Round, joining with old foes Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan, as well as another Southeast Asian rival Singapore. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the third round was played only in a single round-robin group format with a centralised host, which Tajikistan's group saw its neighbour Kyrgyzstan hosting it. Tajikistan was able to take advantage from this proximity and defeated both Myanmar (4–0) and Singapore (1–0), before holding neighbour Kyrgyzstan in a goalless draw, topping the group and, after failing in five previous attempts, Tajikistan was able to qualify to its first-ever AFC Asian Cup in 2023. Tajikistan won the 2022 edition of King's Cup in Thailand, defeating Malaysia.


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: In September 2017, Tajikistan's kit was supplied by Chinese sporting apparel company Li-Ning. In 2022, Tajikistan switched to having their kit supplied by Italian sporting apparel company Macron.


title: Tajikistan national football team

text: In 2006, Tajikistan took part in the inaugural ELF Cup in Northern Cyprus. This competition was originally intended to be for teams that were not members of FIFA; however, the organisers extended invitations to both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, who were both represented by their national futsal teams. Tajikistan failed to get past the group stage.


title: Reshma (actress)

text: Born as Shanthi, she adopted the stage name of Reshma and made her debut with "Kizhakku Mugam" (1996) alongside Karthik. The success of the film meant she was signed on to appear in Kalanjiyam's "Poomani" (1996), and also briefly shot for "Nandha" featuring Ramki, which did not get completed. Another film titled "Aththai Ponnu" alongside Vignesh was also shelved during shoot in 1997.


title: Reshma (actress)

text: Reshma also signed on to play the title role in "Vennila" to appear alongside Ajith Kumar, Vignesh and Amar Siddique. Though the film began production works in 1996, it was duly delayed due to financial problems with the film finally releasing with the title "Ennai Thalatta Varuvala" in March 2003.


title: Reshma (actress)

text: Reshma married actor Hamsavardhan, her co-star from "Vadagupatti Maapillai" (2001). The couple had two sons and a daughter.


title: Josh Richards (internet personality)

text: Joshua Kenneth Richards is a Canadian social media personality and influencer. He has a following on a number of social media platforms and serves as the CEO of CrossCheck Studios.


title: Josh Richards (internet personality)

text: Richards has garnered a following of 25.7 million on TikTok, 2.4 million on YouTube, 2.4 million on Twitter, and 7.3 million on Instagram. His posts often include sports content, dancing, lip syncing, comedy, and video skits. He has acted in films including "Brother's Keeper" and "Summertime Dropouts".


title: Josh Richards (internet personality)

text: Richards is the co-founder of digital management company TalentX Entertainment. Subsequently, Richards signed a recording contract with Warner Records and the first artist to sign with TalentX in July 2020.


title: Josh Richards (internet personality)

text: He is an investor, helping form a $15 million venture capital fund. Richards is also the co-founder of energy drink Ani Energy, and previously served as the chief strategy officer of Triller.


title: Josh Richards (internet personality)

text: According to a Forbes report published in January 2022, Richards earned an estimated $5 million in 2021 from his numerous sponsorship deals and business endeavors, making him the fourth highest-earning TikTok personality.


title: Josh Richards (internet personality)

text: More recently, he and his production company CrossCheck Studios struck a first-look deal with Amazon.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: The Duchy of Saxony (, ) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire (Francia) by 804. Upon the 843 Treaty of Verdun, Saxony was one of the five German stem duchies of East Francia; Duke Henry the Fowler was elected German king in 919.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: Upon the deposition of the Welf duke Henry the Lion in 1180, the ducal title fell to the House of Ascania, while numerous territories split from Saxony, such as the Principality of Anhalt in 1218 and the Welf Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1235. In 1296 the remaining lands were divided between the Ascanian dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg, the latter obtaining the title of Electors of Saxony by the Golden Bull of 1356.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: The Saxon stem duchy covered the greater part of present-day Northern Germany, including the modern German states () of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt up to the Elbe and Saale rivers in the east, the city-states of Bremen and Hamburg, as well as the Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Holstein region () of Schleswig-Holstein. In the late 12th century, Duke Henry the Lion also occupied the adjacent area of Mecklenburg (the former Billung March).


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: The Saxons were one of the most robust groups in the late tribal culture of the times, and eventually bequeathed their tribe's name to a variety of more and more modern geopolitical territories from Old Saxony () near the mouth of the Elbe up the river via the Prussian Province of Saxony (in present-day Saxony-Anhalt) to Upper Saxony, the Electorate and Kingdom of Saxony from 1806 corresponding with the German Free State of Saxony, which bears the name today though it was not part of the medieval duchy (see map on the right).


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: According to the "Res gestae saxonicae" by tenth century chronicler Widukind of Corvey, the Saxons had arrived from Britannia at the coast of Land Hadeln in the Elbe-Weser Triangle, called by the Merovingian rulers of Francia to support the conquest of Thuringian kingdom, a seeming reversal of the English origin myth where Saxon tribes from the region, under the leadership of legendary brothers Hengist and Horsa, invade post-Roman Britannia. (see Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain).


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: The Royal Frankish Annals mention a 743 Frankish campaign led by the Carolingian Mayor of the Palace Carloman against the Saxons, followed by a second expedition together with his brother Pepin the Short the next year. In 747 their rebellious brother Grifo allied with Saxon tribes and temporarily conquered the stem duchy of Bavaria. Pepin, Frankish king from 750, again invaded Saxony and subdued several Westphalian tribes until 758.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: In 772 Pepin's son Charlemagne started the final conquest of the Saxon lands. Though his ongoing campaigns were successful, he had to deal with the fragmentation of the Saxon territories in Westphalian, Eastphalian and Angrian tribes, demanding the conclusion of specific peace agreements with single tribes, which soon were to be broken by other clans. The Saxons devastated the Frankish stronghold at Eresburg; their leader ("Herzog") Widukind refused to appear at the 777 diet at Paderborn, retired to Nordalbingia and afterwards led several uprisings against the occupants, avenged by Charlemagne at the Massacre of Verden in 782. Widukind allegedly had to pledge allegiance in 785, having himself baptised and becoming a Frankish count. Saxon uprisings continued until 804, when the whole stem duchy had been incorporated into the Carolingian Empire.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: Afterwards, Saxony was ruled by Carolingian officials, e.g. Wala of Corbie (d. 836), a grandson of Charles Martel and cousin of the emperor, who in 811 fixed the Treaty of Heiligen with King Hemming of Denmark, defining the northern border of the Empire along the Eider River. Among the installed dukes were already nobles of Saxon descent, like Wala's successor Count Ekbert, husband of Saint Ida of Herzfeld, a close relative of Charlemagne.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: Ida of Herzfeld may have been an ancestor of the Saxon count Liudolf (d. 866), who married Oda of Billung and ruled over a large territory along the Leine river in Eastphalia, where he and Bishop Altfrid of Hildesheim founded Gandersheim Abbey in 852. Liudolf became the progenitor of the Saxon ducal, royal and imperial Ottonian dynasty; nevertheless his descendance, especially his affiliation with late Duke Widukind, has not been conclusively established.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: Subdued only a few decades earlier, the Saxons rose to one of the leading tribes in East Francia; it is however uncertain, if the Ottonians already held the ducal title in the ninth century. Liudolf's elder son Bruno (Brun), progenitor of the Brunswick cadet branch of the Brunonen, was killed in a battle with invading Vikings under Godfrid in 880. He was succeeded by his younger brother Otto the Illustrious (d. 912), mentioned as "dux" in the contemporary annals of Hersfeld Abbey, which however seems to have been denied by the Frankish rulers. His position was strong enough to wed Hedwiga of Babenberg, daughter of mighty Duke Henry of Franconia, "princeps militiae" of King Charles the Fat. As all of Hedwiga's brothers were killed in the Franconian Babenberg feud with the rivalling Conradines, Otto was able to adopt the strong position of his father-in-law and to evolve the united Saxon duchy under his rule.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: In 911 the East Frankish Carolingian dynasty became extinct with the death of King Louis the Child, whereafter the dukes of Saxony, Swabia and Bavaria met at Forchheim to elect the Conradine duke Conrad I of Franconia king. One year later, Otto's son Henry the Fowler succeeded his father as Duke of Saxony. According to the medieval chronicler Widukind of Corvey, King Conrad designated Henry his heir, thereby denying the succession of his own brother Eberhard of Franconia, and in 919 the Saxon duke was elected King of East Francia by the assembled Saxon and Franconian princes at Fritzlar. Henry was able to integrate the Swabian, Bavarian and Lotharingian duchies into the imperial federation, vital to handle the continuous attacks by Hungarian forces, whereby the Saxon troops about 928/929 occupied large territories in the east settled by Polabian Slavs. Henry's eastern campaigns to Brandenburg and Meissen, the establishment of Saxon marches as well as the surrender of Duke Wenceslaus of Bohemia marked the beginning of the German eastward expansion ("Ostsiedlung").


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: In 1142 King Conrad III of Germany granted the ducal title to the Welf scion Henry the Lion (as Duke Henry III). Henry gradually extended his rule over northeastern Germany, leading crusades against the pagan Wends. During his reign Henry massively supported to the development of the cities in his dominion, such as Brunswick, Lüneburg and Lübeck, a policy ultimately contributing to the movement of the House of Welf from its homelands in southern Germany to the north.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: In 1152 Henry supported his cousin Frederick III of Swabia to be elected King of Germany (as Frederick I Barbarossa), probably being promised to regain the Duchy of Bavaria in exchange. Henry's dominion now covered more than two thirds of Germany from the Alps to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, making him one of the mightiest ruler in central Europe, and thus also a potential threat for other German princes and even Barbarossa.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: To expand his rule, Henry continued to claim titles of lesser families, who left no legitimate heir. This policy caused unrest among many Saxon nobles and other German princes, first and foremost his father's old enemy, Albrecht the Bear. During Barbarossa's fourth Italian campaign in 1166, a league of German Nobles declared war on Henry. The war continued until 1170, despite several attempts of the Emperor to mediate. Ultimately, Henry's position remained unchallenged, due to Barbarossa's favourable rule.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: In 1168, Henry married Matilda Plantagenêt, the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and sister of Richard Lionheart.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: The following years led to an estrangement between Barbarossa and Henry. Henry ceased to support the Emperor's Italy campaigns, which were all proven unsuccessful, as massively as he used to, and instead focused on his own possessions. In 1175 Barbarossa again asked for support against the Lombard League, which Henry is said to have refused bluntly, even though Barbarossa kneeled before him. Records of this event were not written until several years later, and sources are contradictory, depending on whom the author favoured. Nevertheless, lacking the support of the Saxons the following Battle of Legnano was a complete failure for the Emperor.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: When the majority of the realm's princes had returned from Italy, Henry's refusal was instantly exploited to weaken his position. Views differ, whether Barbarossa initiated Henry's downfall or if it was orchestrated by the princes first and foremost.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: Between 1175 and 1181 Henry was charged with several accusations, such as violating the "honour of the realm" (honor imperii), breach of the peace, and treason. Because by following the summons to the Hoftag, Henry would've acknowledge the charges as rightful, he refused all of them. In 1181 he was ultimately stripped of his titles. Unwilling to give up without a fight, Henry already had dealt the first blow in 1180 against the city of Goslar, which he had coveted for several years already. During the following war, Henry's domestic policy and the treatment of his vassals proved fatal, and his power quickly crumbled.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: In 1182 Henry the Lion ultimately went into Exile, joining the court of his father-in-law, Henry II of England. Following the death of his wife and the Emperor participating in the Third Crusade Henry returned to Brunswick in 1189 and briefly tried to regain the lost lands. After several setbacks Henry made peace with Barbarossa's son and heir, King Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: The ancient stem duchy of Saxony was partitioned in some dozens of territories of imperial immediacy by Barbarossa, and ceased to exist. The western part was split in several minor counties and bishoprics, and the newly formed Duchy of Westphalia. In the east, the Ascanians, the Welf's old rivals, finally gained a, severely belittled, Duchy of Saxony, occupying only the easternmost, comparably small territories along the river Elbe around Lauenburg upon Elbe and around Wittenberg upon Elbe. Limiting the lands the Ascanians gained along with the ducal title to these eastern territories caused the migration of the name Saxony from north-western Germany to the location of the modern Free State of Saxony.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: The deposed ducal House of Welf could maintain its allodial possessions, which did not remain part of the Duchy of Saxony after the enfeoffment of the Ascanians. The Welf possessions were elevated to the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also Brunswick and Lunenburg) in 1235. This duchy continued to use the old Saxon coat-of-arms showing the Saxon Steed in argent on gules, while the Ascanians adopted for the "younger Duchy of Saxony" their family colours, a barry of ten, in sable and or, covered by a crancelin of rhombs bendwise in vert, symbolising the Saxon dukedom.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: In 1269, 1272 and 1282 the co-ruling brothers John I and Albert II gradually divided their governing competences within the then three territorially unconnected Saxon areas (Hadeln, Lauenburg and Wittenberg), thus preparing a partition.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: After John I had resigned in 1282 in favour of his three minor sons Eric I, John II and Albert III, followed by his death three years later, the three brothers and their uncle Albert II continued the joint rule in Saxony.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: In 1288 Albert II applied at King Rudolph I for the enfeoffment of his son and heir Duke Rudolph I with the Palatinate of Saxony, which ensued a long lasting dispute with the eager clan of the House of Wettin. When the County of Brehna was reverted to the Empire after the extinction of its comital family the king enfeoffed Duke Rudolph. In 1290 Albert II gained the County of Brehna and in 1295 the County of Gommern for Saxony. King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia succeeded in bringing Albert II in favour of electing Adolf of Germany as new emperor: Albert II signed an elector pact on 29 November 1291 that he would vote the same as Wenceslaus. On 27 April 1292 Albert II, with his nephews still minor, wielded the Saxon electoral vote, electing Adolf of Germany.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: The last document, mentioning the joint government of Albert II with his nephews as Saxon fellow dukes dates back to 1295. The definite partitioning of the Duchy of Saxony into Saxe-Lauenburg (), jointly ruled by the brothers Albert III, Eric I and John II and Saxe-Wittenberg (), ruled by Albert II took place before 20 September 1296. The Vierlande, Sadelbande (Land of Lauenburg), the Land of Ratzeburg, the Land of Darzing (today's Amt Neuhaus), and the Land of Hadeln are mentioned as the separate territory of the brothers. Albert II received Saxe-Wittenberg around the eponymous city and Belzig. Albert II thus became the founder of the Ascanian line of Saxe-Wittenberg.


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: Members of the Welf cadet branch House of Hanover later became prince-electors of Hanover (as of 1692/1708), kings of Great Britain, Ireland (both 1714), the United Kingdom (1801) and Hanover (1814).


title: Duchy of Saxony

text: A number of seceded territories even gained imperial immediacy, while others only changed their liege lord on the occasion. The following list includes states that existed in the territory of the former stem duchy in addition to the two legal successors of the stem duchy, the Ascanian Duchy of Saxony formed in 1296 centered around Wittenberg and Lauenburg, as well as the Duchy of Westphalia, held by the Archbishops of Cologne, that already split off in 1180.


title: Sotho people

text: The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who have inhabited the region of Lesotho, South Africa since around the fifth century CE.


title: Sotho people

text: The modern Basotho identity emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I, who unified the disparate clans of Sotho–Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century. Most Basotho today live in Lesotho or South Africa, as the area of the Orange Free State was originally part of Moshoeshoe's nation (now Lesotho).


title: Sotho people

text: Bantu-speaking peoples had settled in what is now South Africa by about 500 CE. Separation from the Tswana is assumed to have taken place by the 14th century. The first historical references to the Basotho date to the 19th century. By that time, a series of Basotho kingdoms covered the southern portion of the plateau (Free State Province and parts of Gauteng). Basotho society was highly decentralized, and organized on the basis of kraals, or extended clans, each of which was ruled by a chief. Chiefdoms were united into loose confederations.


title: Sotho people

text: In the 1820s, refugees from the Zulu expansion under Shaka came into contact with the Basotho people residing on the highveld. In 1823, pressure caused one group of Basotho, the Kololo, to migrate north. They moved past the Okavango Swamp and across the Zambezi into Barotseland, which is now part of Zambia. In 1845, the Kololo conquered Barotseland.


title: Sotho people

text: At about the same time, the Boers began to encroach upon Basotho territory. After the Cape Colony was ceded to Britain at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, farmers who opted to leave the former Dutch colony were called the ("the great trek") and moved inland where they eventually established independent polities.


title: Sotho people

text: At the time of these developments, Moshoeshoe I gained control of the Basotho kingdoms of the southern highveld. Universally praised as a skilled diplomat and strategist, he moulded the disparate refugee groups escaping the Difaqane into a cohesive nation. His leadership allowed his small nation to survive the obstacles that destroyed other indigenous South African kingdoms during the 19th century, such as the Zulu "Mfecane", the inward expansion of the and the plans of the Colonial Office.


title: Sotho people

text: In 1822, Moshoeshoe established the capital at Butha-Buthe, an easily defensible mountain in the northern Drakensberg mountain range, thus laying the foundations of the eventual Kingdom of Lesotho. His capital was later moved to Thaba Bosiu.


title: Sotho people

text: To deal with the encroaching groups, Moshoeshoe encouraged French missionary activity in his kingdom. Missionaries sent by the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society provided the King with foreign affairs counsel and helped to facilitate the purchase of modern weapons.


title: Sotho people

text: Aside from acting as state ministers, missionaries (primarily Casalis and Arbousset) played a vital role in delineating Sesotho orthography and printing Sesotho language materials between 1837 and 1855. The first Sesotho translation of the Bible appeared in 1878.


title: Sotho people

text: In 1868, after losing the western lowlands to the Boers during the Free State–Basotho Wars, Moshoeshoe successfully appealed to Queen Victoria to proclaim Basutoland (modern Lesotho) a protectorate of Britain. Accordingly, the British administration was established in Maseru, the site of Lesotho's current capital. Local chieftains retained power over internal affairs, while Britain was responsible for foreign affairs and the defense of the protectorate.


title: Sotho people

text: In 1869, the British sponsored a process to demarcate the borders of Basutoland. While many clans had territory within Basutoland, large numbers of Sesotho speakers resided in areas allocated to the Orange Free State, the sovereign republic that bordered the Basotho kingdom.


title: Sotho people

text: Britain's protection ensured that repeated attempts by the Orange Free State, and later the Republic of South Africa, to absorb part or all of Basutoland were unsuccessful. In 1966, Basutoland gained its independence from Britain, becoming the Kingdom of Lesotho.


title: Sotho people

text: Sesotho is widely spoken throughout the sub-continent due to internal migration. To enter the cash economy, Basotho men often migrated to large cities in South Africa to find employment in the mining industry. Migrant workers from the Free State and Lesotho thus helped to spread Sesotho to the urban areas of South Africa. It is generally agreed that migrant work harmed the family life of most Sesotho speakers because adults (primarily men) were required to leave their families behind in impoverished communities while they were employed in distant cities.


title: Sotho people

text: Attempts by the apartheid government to force Sesotho speakers to relocate to designated homelands had little effect on their settlement patterns. Large numbers of workers continued to leave the traditional areas of Black settlement. Women gravitated towards employment as agricultural or domestic workers while men typically found employment in the mining sector.


title: Sotho people

text: In terms of religion, the central role that Christian missionaries played in helping Moshoeshoe I secure his kingdom helped to ensure widespread Basotho conversion to Christianity. Today, the bulk of Sesotho speakers practice a form of Christianity that blends elements of traditional Christian dogma with local, pre-Western beliefs. Modimo ("God") is viewed as a supreme being who cannot be approached by mortals. Ancestors are seen as intercessors between Modimo and the living, and their favor must be cultivated through worship and reverence. Officially, the majority of Lesotho's population is Catholic.


title: Sotho people

text: The Basotho's heartland is the Free State province in South Africa and neighboring Lesotho. Both of these largely rural areas have widespread poverty and underdevelopment. Many Sesotho speakers live in conditions of economic hardship, but people with access to land and steady employment may enjoy a higher standard of living. Landowners often participate in subsistence or small-scale commercial farming ventures. However, overgrazing and land mismanagement are growing problems.


title: Sotho people

text: The allure of urban areas has not diminished, and internal migration continues today for many black people born in Lesotho and other Basotho heartlands. Generally, employment patterns among the Basotho follow the same patterns as broader South African society. Historical factors cause unemployment among the Basotho and other Black South Africans to remain high.


title: Sotho people

text: The language of the Basotho is referred to as "Sesotho," less commonly known as "Sesotho sa borwa". Some texts may refer to Sesotho as "Southern Sotho" to differentiate it from Northern Sotho, also called Sepedi.


title: Sotho people

text: Sesotho is the first language of 1.5 million people in Lesotho, or 85% of the population. It is one of the two official languages in Lesotho, the other being English. Lesotho enjoys one of Africa's highest literacy rates, with 59% of the adult population being literate, chiefly in Sesotho.


title: Sotho people

text: Sesotho is one of the eleven official languages of South Africa. According to the South African National Census of 2011, almost 4 million people speak Sesotho as a first language, including 62% of Free State inhabitants. Approximately 13.1% of the residents of Gauteng speak Sesotho as a first language. In the North West Province, 5% of the population speak Sesotho as a first language, with a concentration of speakers in the Maboloka region. Three percent of Mpumalanga's people speak Sesotho as a first language, with many speakers living in the Standerton area. Two percent of the residents of the Eastern Cape speak Sesotho as a first language, though they are located mostly in the northern part of the province.


title: Sotho people

text: Aside from Lesotho and South Africa, 60,000 people speak Silozi (a close relative of Sesotho) in Zambia. Additionally, a few Sesotho speakers reside in Botswana, Eswatini and the Caprivi Strip of Namibia. No official statistics on second language usage are available, but one conservative estimate of the number of people who speak Sesotho as a second (or later) language is 5 million.


title: Sotho people

text: Sesotho is used in a range of educational settings both as a subject of study and as a medium of instruction. It is used in its spoken and written forms in all spheres of education, from preschool to doctoral studies. However, the number of technical materials (e.g. in the fields of commerce, information technology, law, science, and math) in the language is still relatively small.


title: Sotho people

text: Sesotho has developed a sizable media presence since the end of apartheid. Lesedi FM is a 24-hour Sesotho radio station run by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), broadcasting solely in Sesotho. There are other regional radio stations throughout Lesotho and the Free State. Half-hour Sesotho news bulletins are broadcast daily on the SABC free-to-air channel SABC 2. Independent TV broadcaster eTV also features a daily half-hour Sesotho bulletin. Both SABC and the eTV group produce a range of programs that feature some Sesotho dialogue.


title: Sotho people

text: In Lesotho, the Lesotho National Broadcasting Service broadcasts to South Africa via satellite pay-TV provider, DStv.


title: Sotho people

text: Most newspapers in Lesotho are written in Sesotho or both Sesotho and English. There are no fully fledged South African newspapers in Sesotho except for regional newsletters in Qwaqwa, Fouriesburg, Ficksburg, and possibly other Free State towns.


title: Sotho people

text: Currently, the mainstream South African magazine "Bona"includes Sesotho content. Since the codification of Sesotho orthography, literary works have been produced in Sesotho. Notable Sesotho-language literature includes Thomas Mofolo's epic "Chaka", which has been translated into several languages including English and German.


title: Sotho people

text: The Basotho have a unique traditional attire. This includes the mokorotlo, a conical hat with a decorated knob at the top that is worn differently for men and women. The Basotho blanket is often worn over the shoulders or the waist and protects the wearer against the cold. Although many Sotho people wear westernized clothing, often traditional garments are worn over them.


title: Sotho people

text: Many Basotho who live in rural areas wear clothing that suits their lifestyles. For instance, boys who herd cattle in the rural Free State and Lesotho wear the Basotho blanket and large rain boots (gumboots) as protection from the wet mountain terrain. Herd boys also often wear woolen balaclavas or caps year-round to protect their faces from cold temperatures and dusty winds.


title: Sotho people

text: Basotho women usually wear skirts and long dresses in bright colors and patterns, as well as the traditional blankets around the waist. On special occasions like wedding celebrations, they wear the Seshoeshoe, a traditional Basotho dress. The local traditional dresses are made using colored cloth and ribbon accents bordering each layer. Sotho women often purchase this material and have it designed in a style similar to West and East African dresses.


title: Sotho people

text: Women often wrap a long print cloth or a small blanket around their waist, either as a skirt or a second garment over it. This is commonly known as a "wrap", and it can be used to carry infants on their backs.


title: Sotho people

text: Special clothing is worn for special events like initiation rites and traditional healing ceremonies.


title: Sotho people

text: For a Lebollo la basadi, or a girl's initiation ceremony, girls wear a beaded waist wrap called a "thethana" that covers the waist, particularly the crotch area and part of the buttocks. They also wear grey blankets and goatskin skirts. These garments are worn by young girls and women, particularly virgins.


title: Sotho people

text: For a Lebollo la banna, or a boy's initiation ceremony, boys wear a loincloth called a "tshea" as well as colorful blankets. These traditional outfits are often combined with more modern items like sunglasses.


title: Sotho people

text: Traditional Sotho healers wear the bandolier which consists of strips and strings made of leather, sinew or beads that form a cross on the chest. The bandolier often has pouches of potions attached to it for specific rituals or physical/spiritual protection. It is believed that the San people adopted this bandolier attire for healers during times when the Basotho and the San traded and developed ties through trade, marriage and friendship. The San people's use of the bandolier can be seen in their rock paintings that date to the 1700s.


title: Foy Vance

text: Foy Vance (born 1974) is a musician and singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland signed to Ed Sheeran's Gingerbread Man label. Vance has toured as a support act to British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and his music has been featured on numerous TV shows. In August 2013 he released his second full-length album, "Joy of Nothing", which was produced by Irish producer and arranger Michael Keeney and was met with critical praise, being called "a gorgeous collection of open, uplifting songs, which showcase [Vance's] magnificent songwriting skills." In May 2016, his third studio album "The Wild Swan", produced and mixed by Jacquire King, was released and it was announced that Vance would support Elton John on selected tour dates in June and Josh Groban in July and August.


title: Foy Vance

text: Vance's first single, "Gabriel and the Vagabond", was released on 18 December 2006 on Wurdamouth Records. The single's B-side was "Indiscriminate Act of Kindness". The songs "Homebird" and "Gabriel and the Vagabond" were both featured in the second season of the US TV drama "Grey's Anatomy".


title: Foy Vance

text: "Indiscriminate Act of Kindness" is featured in a TV commercial for Great Ormond Street Hospital, which was aired in the UK up until Christmas of 2006. Vance, who often uses alternative tunings for his guitar, had previously released two limited edition EPs on Wurdamouth Records, "Live Sessions and the Birth Toilet Tour" and "Watermelon Oranges".


title: Foy Vance

text: On 21 July 2007, Vance's debut album, "Hope", was self-released via Wurdamouth Records. The album obtained some critical acclaim within the UK with the album track "Two Shades of Hope", which contains a hidden recording of Vance's daughter, Ella, singing "You Are My Sunshine" at the end. His pianist is London based composer Jules Maxwell.


title: Foy Vance

text: From 2007, Vance performed his contemporary songs at Ireland's largest annual Christian youth festival Summer Madness at the King's Hall, Belfast for several consecutive years.


title: Foy Vance

text: In early 2008, Vance was invited to perform at a number of prisons in England, including New Hall women's prison near Wakefield and Full Sutton maximum security prison near York.


title: Foy Vance

text: In 2010, Vance, along with David Holmes, composed the music for a short film by director Terry George, and as a result was offered a part in the director's next feature film, "Whole Lotta Sole", as a busker. The short film, "The Shore", won a 2012 Academy Award.


title: Foy Vance

text: On 31 January 2011, Vance went to Los Angeles to finish the recording of "The Melrose EP" with Holmes. During his trip to L.A., Vance put on a special show for fans.


title: Foy Vance

text: As part of Belfast Music Week 2011, Vance hosted a hoedown branded as "Foy Vance and Friends". It featured a spread of Vance's close friends from Belfast who joined him on the stage. The event sold out Ulster Hall in the city.


title: Foy Vance

text: During 2012's South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Vance was programmed as part of Brooklyn Vegan's tribute event to Daniel Johnston.


title: Foy Vance

text: On 27 August 2012, Vance released "The Melrose EP", on Communion Records. The EP featured four new tracks which were produced by Holmes. The EP makes up the score of Terry George's Academy Award winning film "The Shore" and the lead track from the EP, "Be the Song" has featured on episodes of "Private Practice", "House", "Arrow", "Haven" and "Constantine" in addition to the film "Warm Bodies".


title: Foy Vance

text: Vance performed at BBC's "Proms in the Park" in Belfast on 8 September 2012. In late 2012, Vance was one of the support acts for British artist Ed Sheeran's UK tour. As well as his support slot on the tour, Vance came on stage during Sheeran's main set to duet on his song "Kiss Me" from Sheeran's album "+". Vance went on to support Sheeran on the US-leg of his tour, where the pair again duetted on "Kiss Me". Sheeran has also been known to cover Vance's song "Guiding Light", which often closes Vance's headline sets.


title: Foy Vance

text: In early 2013, Vance signed with Glassnote Records and completed his new album, "Joy of Nothing", which was released on 26 August. The album announcement was accompanied by a music video for the song "Joy of Nothing" which featured Vance and his daughter Ella. The album includes vocal features from Bonnie Raitt and Ed Sheeran, the latter of whom expressed his excitement for the release. On 10 June 2013, Vance released a 22-minute documentary, "Recording Nothing", showing the process of writing and recording the album.


title: Foy Vance

text: Vance performed at Tennent's Vital on 15 August 2013 along with headliners Snow Patrol, and also toured with Bonnie Raitt throughout the UK. He and Sheeran traded cameos, with Sheeran joining Vance on stage at the Bowery Ballroom on 4 November 2013 and Vance joining Sheeran at Madison Square Garden on 7 November 2013.


title: Foy Vance

text: On 12 November 2013, "Joy of Nothing" won the inaugural Northern Ireland Music Prize for best album. Other nominees included Tired Pony, Girls Names, and Two Door Cinema Club.


title: Foy Vance

text: In July 2015, Vance appeared at the Barn on the Farm festival at Over Farm, Over, near Gloucester and recorded a number of session for the festival's YouTube channel.


title: Foy Vance

text: In November 2015, Vance signed with Sheeran's Gingerbread Man Records, and on 13 May 2016, he released his third studio album, "The Wild Swan". Reviewing the album for the "London Evening Standard", Andre Paine commented: "[...] after a decade as a jobbing songwriter, Vance deserves a commercial breakthrough."


title: Foy Vance

text: In May 2016, it was announced that Vance would support Elton John in June on selected dates of his Wonderful Crazy Tour in Europe. On 10 September, Vance embarked on his Wild Swan World Tour with a sold-out performance in Perth. After Australia, the tour was scheduled to include dates in North America, the UK and Europe.


title: Foy Vance

text: Vance co-wrote the song "Pushin' Time" with Miranda Lambert and Natalie Hemby that appeared on Lambert's album "The Weight of These Wings", which was released in November 2016.


title: Foy Vance

text: In December 2016, Vance released the single "Moonshine", which appeared on the soundtrack for the Ben Affleck film "Live by Night". "Moonshine" features Kacey Musgraves and is meant to pay tribute to "the films strong female characters", whilst telling "the story of a bootlegger running moonshine". In January 2017 a music video was released for "Moonshine" and premiered on Billboard.com.


title: Foy Vance

text: In June 2019, Vance released a new album, "From Muscle Shoals", a collection of Americana-inspired songs recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.


title: Foy Vance

text: In July 2019, he released the dubstep/future bass song "Blood" in collaboration with the American DJ and producer Illenium. It represents the sixth single from Illenium's studio album "Ascend".


title: Foy Vance

text: On 4 June 1994, Vance appeared as Andrew Strong of "The Commitments" on the TV talent show "Stars in Their Eyes". In 2012, his music was used in several episodes of The CW series "Beauty and the Beast".


title: Foy Vance

text: In 2007, Vance appeared on RTE's "Other Voices", filmed in Dingle, Ireland. Vance took part in the Channel 4 series "4Thought.tv", where he spoke about how profound he found the hymn, "Amazing Grace", how it impacted him hearing a vagabond at Ground Zero, New York, playing this song. A Channel 4 documentary about Vance, covered all aspects of his career from him growing up, playing shows in Ireland, playing a show in New York with Pete Townshend, and organically recording his debut album "Hope". In September 2011, Vance joined Snow Patrol on the BBC Two's "Later... with Jools Holland", to perform their single, "Fallen Empires".


title: Arctic hare

text: The Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus) is a species of hare highly adapted to living in the Arctic tundra and other icy biomes. The Arctic hare survives with shortened ears and limbs, a small nose, fat that makes up close to 20% of its body, and a thick coat of fur. It usually digs holes in the ground or under the snow to keep warm and to sleep. Arctic hares look like rabbits but have shorter ears, are taller when standing, and, unlike rabbits, can thrive in extreme cold. They can travel together with many other hares, sometimes huddling with dozens or more, but are usually found alone, sometimes taking more than one partner. The Arctic hare can run up to .


title: Arctic hare

text: The Arctic hare is one of the largest living lagomorphs. Typically, this species measures from long, not counting a tail length of . The body mass of this species is typically between , though large individuals can weigh up to .


title: Arctic hare

text: The Arctic hare is distributed over the northernmost regions of Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands and Northern Canada, including Ellesmere Island, and farther south in Labrador and Newfoundland. The Arctic hare is well adapted to conditions found in the tundras, plateaus, and treeless coasts of this region, including cold weather and frozen precipitation. The Arctic hare may be found at elevations from sea level to .


title: Arctic hare

text: In Newfoundland and Southern Labrador, the Arctic hare changes its coat color, moulting and growing new fur, from brown or grey in the summer to white in the winter. This seasonal moulting also enables other Arctic animals, including ermine and ptarmigan, to remain camouflaged as the environment changes. However, the Arctic hares in the far north of Canada, where summer is very short, remain white all year round.


title: Arctic hare

text: The Arctic hare is a herbivore, specifically a folivore. Arctic hares feed primarily on woody plants, with arctic willow constituting 95% of their diet year-round. Arctic hares predominantly consume saxifrage, crowberry, and dwarf willow, but can also eat a variety of other foods, including lichens and mosses, blooms, other species' leaves, twigs, and roots, mountain sorrel and macroalgae (seaweed). Arctic hare diets are more diverse in summer. Although previously believed to still be primarily willow, dryas, and grasses, recent studies show that their diet becomes dominated by legumes, constituting 70% of their diet in the summer. Arctic hares have been reported to occasionally eat meat, including fish and the stomach contents of eviscerated caribou. They eat snow to get water.


title: Arctic hare

text: The Arctic hare has many physiological features that are adaptive to its extreme environment. Despite a 17% - 38% lower than expected basal metabolic rate, the Arctic hare is able to maintain a body temperature comparable to other lagomorphs (38.9 degrees C) because of its low surface area to volume ratio and high insulation. The lowered metabolic rate also allows the Arctic hare to save energy, making it adaptive for its cold and barren habitat. In addition, the Arctic hare has high locomotive efficiency combined with long periods of resting and shorter bouts of foraging which enables it to conserve energy and survive on its low diet intake.


title: Arctic hare

text: The white fur of Arctic hares, in addition to their camouflage benefits in the winter, have a high reflectance which may prevent excessive heat gain during the day. Behaviorally, the Arctic hare keeps warm in winter using body orientation, posture, and seeking or digging shelter. When resting, Arctic hares maintain a nearly spherical shape and typically stay in groups, but do not huddle. If the rabbits are solitary, they often rest in the shelter of large rocks protecting them from the wind and staying out of sight of predators. In addition to rocks, Arctic hares also find shelter in other natural shelters such as snowdrifts, man-made structures, and even digging their own burrows in snowdrifts up to 188 cm in length.


title: Arctic hare

text: The body size of Arctic hares is often significantly less in the winter compared to the summer, likely caused by decreased food quality and availability in addition to a decreased metabolic rate. Arctic hare body mass might also be affected by ambient temperature. At lower latitudes it was found that Arctic hares in Greenland exhibited larger body size with increased temperature, possibly caused by increased energy availability to contribute to body size and increased food plant availability. The opposite is true at higher latitudes in which Arctic hares had smaller body sizes with increased temperature. This trend is again linked to food plant availability. In this case, decreased precipitation and increased temperatures in the higher latitudes of Greenland result in a lower food plant availability to contribute to body mass.


title: Arctic hare

text: Breeding season occurs around April or May. Gestation period of the Arctic hare is 53 days, so the babies are born around May, June, or July. Hares can have up to eight babies (average litter size 5.4), called leverets. The leverets stay within the mother's home range until they can survive on their own. Young Arctic hares are almost full size by late July (some weeks after birth) and breed for the first time after a year of age.


title: Arctic hare

text: There is little information on the lifespan of Arctic hares. Some anecdotal evidence suggests they live three to five years in the wild. Arctic hares do not fare well in captivity, living only a year and a half at most.


title: Arctic hare

text: Known predators of the Arctic hare are the Arctic fox ("Vulpes lagopus"), Red fox ("Vulpes vulpes"), Wolf ("Canis lupus"), Lynx ("Lynx canadensis"), Ermine ("Mustela erminea"), Snowy owl ("Bubo scandiacus"), Gyrfalcon ("Falco rusticolus"), Rough-legged hawk ("Buteo lagopus") and occasionally humans.


title: Arctic hare

text: The Arctic wolf is probably the most successful predator of the Arctic hare, and even young wolves in their first autumn can catch adult hares. Arctic foxes and ermines, which are smaller, typically prey on young hares. Gyrfalcon carry hares to their nests, cutting them in half first; gyrfalcons use hare bones and feet in the structure of their nests on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. Peregrine falcons ("Falco peregrinus") also prey on Arctic hares in the southern end of the hares' range. The snowy owls mainly target young hares; the French common name of the species derives from Anglo-Saxon "harfang" ("hare-catcher").


title: Arctic hare

text: Four groups of parasites have been known to use Arctic hares as a host: protozoans ("Eimeria exigua", "Eimeria magna", "Eimeria perforans", and "Eimeria sculpta"); nematodes (including "Filaria" and "Oxyuris ambigua"); lice (including "Haemodipsus lyriocephalus" and "Haemodipsus setoni") and fleas (including "Hoplopsyllus glacialis", "Euhoplopsyllus glacialis", and "Megabothris groenlandicus". Fleas are more common than parasitic worms.


title: Game design

text: Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in the form of gamification. Game designer and developer Robert Zubek defines game design by breaking it down into its elements, which he says are the following:


title: Game design

text: Games such as board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, video games, war games, or simulation games benefit from the principles of game design.


title: Game design

text: Academically, game design is part of game studies, while game theory studies strategic decision making (primarily in non-game situations). Games have historically inspired seminal research in the fields of probability, artificial intelligence, economics, and optimization theory. Applying game design to itself is a current research topic in metadesign.


title: Game design

text: Sports (see history of sports), gambling, and board games are known, respectively, to have existed for at least nine thousand, six thousand, and four thousand years.


title: Game design

text: Tabletop games played today whose descent can be traced from ancient times include chess, go, pachisi, backgammon, mahjong, mancala, and pick-up sticks. The rules of these games were not codified until early modern times and their features gradually evolved and changed over time, through the folk process. Given this, these games are not considered to have had a designer or been the result of a design process in the modern sense.


title: Game design

text: After the rise of commercial game publishing in the late 19th century, many games that had formerly evolved via folk processes became commercial properties, often with custom scoring pads or preprepared material. For example, the similar public domain games Generala, Yacht, and Yatzy led to the commercial game Yahtzee in the mid-1950s.


title: Game design

text: Today, many commercial games, such as Taboo, Balderdash, Pictionary, or Time's Up!, are descended from traditional parlour games. Adapting traditional games to become commercial properties is an example of game design.


title: Game design

text: Similarly, many sports, such as soccer and baseball, are the result of folk processes, while others were designed, such as basketball, invented in 1891 by James Naismith.


title: Game design

text: The printing press allowed packs of playing cards, adapted from Mahjong tiles, to be mass-produced, leading to many new card games. Accurate topographic maps produced as lithographs and provided free to Prussian officers helped popularize wargaming. Cheap bookbinding (printed labels wrapped around cardboard) led to mass-produced board games with custom boards. Inexpensive (hollow) lead figurine casting contributed to the development of miniature wargaming. Cheap custom dice led to poker dice. Flying discs led to disc golf and Ultimate. Personal computers contributed to the popularity of computer games, leading to the wide availability of video game consoles and video games. Smart phones have led to a proliferation of mobile games.


title: Game design

text: The first games in a new medium are frequently adaptations of older games. Pong, one of the first widely disseminated video games, adapted table tennis. Later games will often exploit the distinctive properties of a new medium. Adapting older games and creating original games for new media are both examples of game design.


title: Game design

text: Game studies or gaming theory is a discipline that deals with the critical study of games, game design, players, and their role in society and culture. Prior to the late-twentieth century, the academic study of games was rare and limited to fields such as history and anthropology. As the video game revolution took off in the early 1980s, so did academic interest in games, resulting in a field that draws on diverse methodologies and schools of thought. These influences may be characterized broadly in three ways: the social science approach, the humanities approach, and the industry and engineering approach.


title: Game design

text: Broadly speaking, the social scientific approach has concerned itself with the question of "What do games do to people?" Using tools and methods such as surveys, controlled laboratory experiments, and ethnography researchers have investigated both the positive and negative impacts that playing games could have on people.


title: Game design

text: More sociologically informed research has sought to move away from simplistic ideas of gaming as either 'negative' or 'positive', but rather seeking to understand its role and location in the complexities of everyday life.


title: Game design

text: In general terms, the humanities approach has concerned itself with the question of "What meanings are made through games?" Using tools and methods such as interviews, ethnographies, and participant observation, researchers have investigated the various roles that videogames play in people's lives and activities together with the meaning they assign to their experiences.


title: Game design

text: From an industry perspective, a lot of game studies research can be seen as the academic response to the videogame industry's questions regarding the products it creates and sells. The main question this approach deals with can be summarized as "How can we create better games?" with the accompanying "What makes a game good?" "Good" can be taken to mean many different things, including providing an entertaining and engaging experience, being easy to learn and play, and being innovative, and having novel experiences. Different approaches to studying this problem have included looking at describing how to design games and extracting guidelines and rules of thumb for making better games


title: Game design

text: Game theory is a study of strategic decision making. Specifically, it is "the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers". An alternative term suggested "as a more descriptive name for the discipline" is "interactive decision theory".


title: Game design

text: The subject first addressed zero-sum games, such that one person's gains exactly equal net losses of the other participant or participants. Today, however, game theory applies to a wide range of behavioral relations, and has developed into an umbrella term for the logical side of decision science.