title: Past tense

text: However, in the oral mode of North Germany, there is still a very important difference between the preterite and the perfect, and both tenses are consequently very common. The preterite is used for past actions when the focus is on the action, whilst the present perfect is used for past actions when the focus is on the present state of the subject as a result of a previous action. This is somewhat similar to the English usage of the preterite and the present perfect.


title: Past tense

text: The past perfect is used in every German speaking country and it is used to place an action in the past before another action in the past. It is formed with an auxiliary (haben/sein) and a past participle that is placed at the end of the clause.


title: Past tense

text: Less common is the "voltooid verleden tijd", which corresponds to the English past perfect. It is formed by combining an "onvoltooid verleden" form of "zijn" ("to be") or "hebben" ("to have") with the notional verb, for example: "Ik was daar voor gisteren al geweest." This means "I had been there before yesterday." This tense is used to indicate that one action in the past occurred before another past action, and that the action was fully finished before the second action took place.


title: Past tense

text: In non-Germanic Indo-European languages, past marking is typically combined with a distinction between perfective and imperfective aspect, with the former reserved for single completed actions in the past. French for instance, has an imperfect tense form similar to that of German but used only for past habitual or past progressive contexts like "I used to..." or "I was doing...". Similar patterns extend across most languages of the Indo-European family right through to the Indic languages.


title: Past tense

text: Unlike other Indo-European languages, in Slavic languages tense is independent of aspect, with imperfective and perfective aspects being indicated instead by means of prefixes, stem changes, or suppletion. In many West Slavic and East Slavic languages, the early Slavic past tenses have largely merged into a single past tense. In both West and East Slavic, verbs in the past tense are conjugated for gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) and number (singular, plural).


title: Past tense

text: A difference between the pluperfect occurs between Portuguese and Spanish; in the former, a synthetic pluperfect exists which follows the imperfect conjugations, but -ra replaces the -va seen in the verb endings.


title: Past tense

text: While in Semitic languages tripartite non-past/past imperfective/past perfective systems similar to those of most Indo-European languages are found, in the rest of Africa past tenses have very different forms from those found in European languages. Berber languages have only the perfective/imperfective distinction and lack a past imperfect.


title: Past tense

text: but instead have a form of perfect derived from a word meaning "to finish". Others, such as Ewe, distinguish only between future and non-future.


title: Past tense

text: In complete contrast, Bantu languages such as Zulu have not only a past tense, but also a less remote "proximal tense" which is used for very recent past events and is never interchangeable with the ordinary past form. These languages also differ substantially from European languages in coding tense with prefixes instead of such suffixes as English "-ed".


title: Past tense

text: Other, smaller language families of Africa follow quite regional patterns. Thus the Sudanic languages of East Africa and adjacent Afro-Asiatic families are part of the same area with inflectional past-marking that extends into Europe, whereas more westerly Nilo-Saharan languages often do not have past tense.


title: Past tense

text: Past tenses are found in a variety of Asian languages. These include the Indo-European languages Russian in North Asia and Persian, Urdu, and Hindi in Southwest and South Asia; the Turkic languages Turkish, Turkmen, Kazakh, and Uyghur of Southwest and Central Asia; Arabic and Hebrew in Southwest Asia; Japanese; the Dravidian languages of India; the Uralic languages of Russia; Mongolic; and Korean. Languages in East Asia and Southeast Asia typically do not distinguish tense; in Mandarin Chinese, for example, the particle 了"le" when used immediately after a verb instead indicates perfective aspect.


title: Past tense

text: In parts of islands in Southeast Asia, even less distinction is made, for instance in Indonesian and some other Austronesian languages. Past tenses, do, however, exist in most Oceanic languages.


title: Past tense

text: Among Native American languages there is a split between complete absence of past marking (especially common in Mesoamerica and the Pacific Northwest) and very complex tense marking with numerous specialised remoteness distinctions, as found for instance in Athabaskan languages and a few languages of the Amazon Basin. Some of these tenses can have specialised mythological significance and uses.


title: Past tense

text: A number of Native American languages like Northern Paiute stand in contrast to European notions of tense because they always use relative tense, which means time relative to a reference point that may not coincide with the time an utterance is made.


title: Past tense

text: Papuan languages of New Guinea almost always have remoteness distinctions in the past tense (though none are as elaborate as some Native American languages), whilst indigenous Australian languages usually have a single past tense without remoteness distinctions.


title: Past tense

text: Creole languages tend to make tense marking optional, and when tense is marked invariant pre-verbal markers are used.


title: Past tense

text: In Belizean Creole, past tense marking is optional and is rarely used if a semantic temporal marker such as "yestudeh" "yesterday" is present.


title: Past tense

text: Singaporean English Creole (Singlish) optionally marks the past tense, most often in irregular verbs (e.g., "go" → "went") and regular verbs like "accept" which require an extra syllable for the past tense suffix -"ed".


title: Past tense

text: Hawaiian Creole English optionally marks the past tense with the invariant pre-verbal marker "wen" or "bin" (especially older speakers) or (especially on the island Kauai). ( "I saw him"; "I cleaned up my place for the holiday"; "They played BYU last week"). The past habitual marker is ( "Your mother used to think so").


title: Past tense

text: Haitian Creole can indicate past tense with the pre-verbal marker "te" ("Li te vini" "He (past) come", "He came").


title: TNM staging system

text: The TNM Classification of Malignant Tumors (TNM) is a globally recognised standard for classifying the extent of spread of cancer. It is a classification system of the anatomical extent of tumor cancers. It has gained wide international acceptance for many solid tumor cancers, but is not applicable to leukaemia and tumors of the central nervous system. Most common tumors have their own TNM classification. Sometimes also described as the AJCC system.


title: TNM staging system

text: TNM was developed and is maintained by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). It is also used by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). In 1987, the UICC and AJCC staging systems were unified into the single TNM staging system. TNM is a notation system that describes the stage of a cancer, which originates from a solid tumor, using alphanumeric codes:


title: TNM staging system

text: The TNM staging system for all solid tumors was devised by Pierre Denoix between 1943 and 1952, using the size and extension of the primary tumor, its lymphatic involvement, and the presence of metastases to classify the progression of cancer.


title: TNM staging system

text: The TNM classification comprises staging algorithms for almost all cancers, with the primary exception of pediatric cancers. The general outline for the TNM classification is below. The values in parentheses give a range of what can be used for all cancer types, but not all cancers use this full range.


title: TNM staging system

text: The Mx designation was removed from the 7th edition of the AJCC/UICC system, but referred to cancers that could not be evaluated for distant metastasis.


title: TNM staging system

text: The TNM system is used to record the anatomical extent of disease. It is useful to condense these categories into groups. Carcinoma in situ is categorized stage 0; often tumors localized to the organ of origin are staged as I or II depending on the extent, locally extensive spread, to regional nodes are staged as III, and those with distant metastasis staged as stage IV. However, in some tumor types stage groups do not conform to this simplified schema. The stage group is adopted with the intention that categories within each group are more or less homogeneous in respect of survival, and that the survival rates are distinctive between groups.


title: TNM staging system

text: The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) uses the term "Stage" to define the anatomical extent of disease. The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) uses the term "Prognostic Stage Group" which may also include additional prognostic factors in addition to anatomical extent of disease.


title: TNM staging system

text: Since the number of combinations of categories is high, combinations are grouped to stages for better analysis.


title: TNM staging system

text: The criteria used in the TNM system have varied over time, sometimes fairly substantially, according to the different editions that AJCC and UICC have released. The dates of publication and adoption for use of the UICC and AJCC editions are summarized here; past editions are available from AJCC for web download.


title: TNM staging system

text: As a result, a given stage may have quite a different prognosis depending on which staging edition is used, independent of any changes in diagnostic methods or treatments, an effect that has been termed "stage migration". The technologies used to assign patients to particular categories have also changed, and increasingly sensitive methods tend to cause individual cancers to be reassigned to higher stages, making it improper to compare that cancer's prognosis to the historical expectations for that stage. A further important consideration is the effect of improving treatments over time.


title: TNM staging system

text: Essential TNM is a simplified form of TNM designed specifically to enable cancer registries in low and middle income countries to collect stage information when complete details of the extent of disease are not available for collection by the registry. It is not designed to replace TNM for patient care.


title: Viju Khote

text: Viju Khote (17 December 1941 – 30 September 2019) was an Indian actor who was known for his work in more than 440 films in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He was famous as the dacoit "Kaalia" in the film "Sholay" and the dialogue, "Sardar maine aapka namak khaya hai" and "Robert" in movie "Andaz Apna Apna" with the dialogue "galti se mistake hogaya". On television he was most remembered for his role in "Zabaan Sambhalke" (1993). He also acted in Marathi theatre over the years.


title: Viju Khote

text: He was younger brother of actress Shubha Khote. Their father Nandu Khote was a noted stage actor and in silent movies, whose sister-in-law was actress Durga Khote.


title: Rachele Mussolini (politician)

text: Rachele Mussolini (b.1973/1974) is an Italian politician and a councillor in Rome for the far-right Brothers of Italy party since 2016 and is an active member of the party. She has been serving two consecutive terms as a councillor in Rome. She is the granddaughter of fascist politician Benito Mussolini and Rachele Mussolini and sister of Alessandra Mussolini.


title: Rachele Mussolini (politician)

text: Rachele Mussolini joined politics in 2016, being elected as a councillor for the far-right party Brothers of Italy.


title: Rachele Mussolini (politician)

text: In 2018 as part of her efforts turned part tour guide promoting a history tour called "Duce! The Rise and Fall of Italian Fascism" in her hometown, Predappio, run by historical tours. The tour had sold out, tickets had cost around $5,772 per individual.


title: Rachele Mussolini (politician)

text: In October 2021, Rachele was re-elected to the municipal council of Rome with the most votes. With counting done in more than 97 percent of polling stations, Mussolini garnered more than 8,200 preference votes after standing for the hard-right Brothers of Italy party.


title: Rachele Mussolini (politician)

text: She has appeared across different media platforms across the world including countries such as Italy, India, United States of America and in outlets across Europe and more.


title: Rachele Mussolini (politician)

text: She is the daughter of the jazz musician Romano Mussolini, the fourth grandchild of the Italian fascist prime minister Benito Mussolini and is named after Rachele Mussolini the second wife of Benito Mussolini. Her sister Alessandra Mussolini has served as a member of parliament in Italy representing Forza Italia party.


title: 101 (album)

text: 101 is a live album and documentary film by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 13 March 1989 by Mute Records. It chronicles the final leg of the band's Music for the Masses Tour and the final show on 18 June 1988 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.


title: 101 (album)

text: Band member Alan Wilder is credited with coming up with the album's title; the performance was the 101st and final performance of the tour (and coincidentally also the number of a famous highway in the area). The film was directed and produced by D. A. Pennebaker.


title: 101 (album)

text: The band's original concept for the film was going to be about how Depeche Mode "fit into" the 1980s. After discussions with an "experienced director", they came to the conclusion that the (unnamed) choice was going to do something "too glossy" and that they wanted to present something more nuanced and interesting. At this point, they reached out to renowned documentary filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker. He accepted, but discarded their initial concept, feeling that it was "impossible to examine in an entertainingly cinematic fashion".


title: 101 (album)

text: Ultimately, the film focused on what Depeche Mode considered to be their strongest selling point—their live performance—as well as capturing the spirit of their fan base. Notably, the film prominently features a group of young fans travelling across America as winners of a "be-in-a-Depeche Mode-movie-contest", which culminates at the band's landmark concert at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena.


title: 101 (album)

text: The film features performances at the Rose Bowl concert, interspersed with snippets of the band, the "bus kids" and live performances recorded throughout the tour. The 2003 DVD reissue included more concert footage, but as Pennebaker was "shooting a documentary, not a concert film", a complete record of the Rose Bowl concert does not exist.


title: 101 (album)

text: Pennebaker used his direct cinema approach, which he described as "letting the camera run as unobtrusively as possible, thereby encouraging events to unfold on their own. [...] You edit more and the film changes every three days, but [the band] were very nice and patient about it."


title: 101 (album)

text: Pennebaker admitted there was a similarity between Depeche Mode and some of the other artists he'd filmed before (Bob Dylan and David Bowie): "I found the audience very rapt; they were there for "that" band. Not any band would do. I got the feeling that maybe there was no other band they'd ever go out for again in that assemblage, and it made me take that audience fairly seriously."


title: 101 (album)

text: Due to the prominence of the "bus kids" in the film, it is widely considered to be the impetus for the "reality" craze that swept MTV in the following years, including "The Real World" and "Road Rules".


title: 101 (album)

text: In various interviews, DVD commentaries and on their own website, both Pennebaker and collaborator Chris Hegedus have cited "101" as "their favourite" and "the one that was the most fun to make" out of all their films to date.


title: 101 (album)

text: In 2003, Mute Records reissued "101" as a hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD). In essence, the two-disc set contained "101" in three formats—multi-channel SACD, stereo SACD and PCM stereo (CD audio). The multi-channel audio was presented in 5.1 and gave a better representation of the live experience. The SACD was not released in North America.


title: 101 (album)

text: Due to pressing errors, however, the first run of the set was marred by a mis-encoded multi-channel SACD layer that skipped and was unlistenable on the first disc. The stereo SACD and CD audio layers were unaffected.


title: 101 (album)

text: In 2003, the film was released as a two-disc DVD with the feature film on the first disc, including a new commentary track with Pennebaker, Hegedus and the band. The second disc contained all-new interviews with Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Andy Fletcher, with each interviewed about the solo projects they were working on at the time: "Paper Monsters" (Gahan), "Counterfeit²" (Gore) and Client (Fletcher). All three interviews were conducted separately by Pennebaker and Hegedus. Interviews with Daniel Miller, band manager Jonathan Kessler, and three of the "bus kids" were also included. Special bonus features included isolated video footage of the Rose Bowl concert, including previously unreleased footage.


title: 101 (album)

text: In 2021, the film was released on Blu-ray with upgraded image quality based on 4k scans of the original film, along with previously unreleased footage. A limited-edition box set was also released that includes a book, poster, and other special content.


title: 101 (album)

text: All songs are isolated live video footage, uninterrupted by documentary footage. Songs with a * are exclusive to the DVD and were not in the VHS film. Footage of "Sacred", "Something To Do", and "A Question of Lust" were lost and not able to be recovered for the DVD, though they were eventually found and restored in 4K for the Blu-ray release in 2021.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: The term is generally applied to the officials appointed through the imperial examination system; it sometimes includes the eunuchs also involved in the governance of the above realms.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: The English term comes from the Portuguese "mandarim" (spelled in Old Portuguese as "mandarin," ). The Portuguese word was used in one of the earliest Portuguese reports about China: letters from the imprisoned survivors of the Tomé Pires' embassy, which were most likely written in 1524, and in Castanheda's "História do descobrimento e conquista da Índia pelos portugueses" (c. 1559). Matteo Ricci, who entered mainland China from Portuguese Macau in 1583, also said the Portuguese used the word.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: The Portuguese word was thought by many to be related to "mandador" ("one who commands") and "mandar" ("to command"), from Latin "mandare". Modern dictionaries, however, agree that it was in fact borrowed by Portuguese from the Malay "menteri" (in Jawi: , ) which ultimately came from the Sanskrit "mantri" (Devanagari: , meaning counselor or minister – etymologically linked to "mantra"). According to Malaysian scholar Ungku Abdul Aziz, the term had its origin when the Portuguese living in Malacca during the Malacca Sultanate wanted to meet with the higher officials in China and used the term "menteri", but with an added "n" because of their poor grasp of the language, to refer to higher officials.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: In the 16th century, before the term "mandarin" became widespread in the European languages, the word "Loutea" (with various spelling variations) was often used in Europeans' travel reports to refer to Chinese scholar-officials. It is frequently used, for example, in Galeote Pereira's account of his experiences in China in 1548–1553, which was published in Europe in 1565, or (as "Louthia") in Gaspar da Cruz' "Treatise of China" (1569). C. R. Boxer says the word comes from the Chinese 老爷 (Mandarin Pinyin: "lǎoye"; Amoy dialect: "ló-tia"; Quanzhou dialect: "lāu-tia"), which was commonly used by people in China to address officials. This is also the main term used to refer to the scholar-officials in Juan González de Mendoza's "History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof" (1585), which heavily drew (directly or indirectly) on Pereira's report and Gaspar da Cruz' book and which was the Europeans' standard reference on China in the late 16th century.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: In the West, the term "mandarin" is associated with the concept of the scholar-official who immersed himself in poetry, literature, and Confucian learning in addition to performing civil service duties. In modern English, "mandarin" is also used to refer to any (though usually a senior) civil servant, often in a satirical context, particularly in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: The speech standard of the Ming and Qing empires was called "Mandarin language" by European missionaries, translating the Chinese name "Guanhua" ("the language of the officials") for this speech standard, which was current already in the Ming dynasty. The term "Mandarin" is also used to refer to modern Standard Chinese, which evolved out of the earlier standard, and to the broader group of Mandarin dialects spoken across northern and southwestern China.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: In China, from 605 to 1905, mandarins were selected by merit through the extremely rigorous imperial examination. China has had civil servants since at least the Zhou dynasty. However, most high ranking positions were filled by relatives of the sovereign and the nobility. It was not until the Tang dynasty when imperial examination replaced the nine-rank system and the final form of the mandarin was completed. Mandarins were the founders and core of the Chinese gentry. A governmental office (for example, a central government department or a provincial civil governorate) headed by a mandarin is called a "yamen". The mandarins were replaced with a modern civil service after the fall of the Qing dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, the governor of a Chinese province was signified by wearing a mandarin hat-pin made of ruby. The lower ranks of mandarins were signified by hat-pins made of coral, sapphire, lapis lazuli, white jade, gold, and silver.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: After becoming free of Chinese rule and setting up its own independent monarchy, Vietnam emulated the Chinese system of mandarins in its civil service. The last mandarins in history were in service of the State of Vietnam (1949–1955). The Confucian examination system in Vietnam was established in 1075 under the Lý dynasty Emperor Lý Nhân Tông and lasted until the Nguyễn dynasty Emperor Khải Định (1919). Elephants were used to guard the examination halls until 1843 when the emperor said it was no longer necessary.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: Korea adopted the civil services examinations called Gwageo under the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties. Based on the civil service examinations of imperial China, the gwageo first arose in Unified Silla, gained importance in Goryeo, and were the centerpiece of most education in the Joseon dynasty. The tutelage provided at the hyanggyo, seowon, and Sungkyunkwan was aimed primarily at preparing students for the gwageo and their subsequent career in government service. Under Joseon law, high office was closed to those who were not children of officials of the second full rank or higher (Yangban), unless the candidate had passed the gwageo. Those who passed the higher literary examination came to monopolize all of the dynasty's high positions of state.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) divided the bureaucracy into civil and military positions, both having nine grades or ranks, each subdivided into primary and secondary categories. Civil appointments ranged from attendant to the emperor or a Grand Secretary in the Forbidden City (highest) to being a county magistrate, prefectural tax collector, deputy jail warden, deputy police commissioner or tax examiner. Military appointments ranged from being a field marshal or chamberlain of the imperial bodyguard to a third class sergeant, corporal or a first or second class private.


title: Mandarin (bureaucrat)

text: In the table below, ""n"a" is shorthand for the ""n"th rank, primary" (正"n"品), which is a higher sub-rank than ""n"th rank, secondary" (從"n"品), denoted as ""n"b" in the table.


title: Magi: Adventure of Sinbad

text: The manga was adapted into a 5-episode original video animation (OVA) produced by Lay-duce, released from May 2014 to July 2015 bundled with some volumes of the manga. A 13-episode anime television series adaptation, by the same staff from the OVA, was broadcast from April to July 2016.


title: Magi: Adventure of Sinbad

text: Many abnormal things start occurring around the world, with magicians noticing the birth of a certain child. Badr, a war veteran helps his wife Esra successfully birth their child; a future "King" and the special "First-Class Singularity".


title: Magi: Adventure of Sinbad

text: Living in the Parthevia Empire with his father Badr and his mother Esra, Sinbad spends his childhood living in discrimination due to the fact that his father avoids going to war against the Reim Empire that all men of Parthevia must go to. Authorities come and take Badr by force, and Sinbad unfortunately loses his father due to the war against the Reim Empire, and spends his youth helping the local villagers and tending to his ill mother. One day, he meets and shelters a mysterious man named Yunan, unaware that he is a Magi. By the request of his mother and learning of his determination to change the world for the better, Yunan decides to guide Sinbad and instructs him to challenge the Dungeon "Baal" that appeared in the border between Partevia and Reim, and whose treasures were still unclaimed as thousands of warriors from both empires had challenged it, but none of them survived, except by Sinbad himself and a Parthevian noble whom he nicknamed "Drakon". After defeating Drakon in battle, Sinbad conquers Baal and gains the allegiance of the Djinn residing there, thus becoming the first ever Dungeon Capturer. Sinbad returns home in time to have one last encounter with his mother at her deathbed and leaves Parthevia to start his own journey to change the world.


title: Magi: Adventure of Sinbad

text: Sinbad sets off to sea after an encounter with Cerendine, a general from Parthevia after a brief battle. He throws her into the sea leaving her in a barrel and starts to head toward Imuchakk. After meeting Hinahoho and his sister, and defeating a sea monster with them, he arrives at Imuchakk with the two. Hinahoho was able to get his name, since in Imuchakk the inhabitants are nameless until they pass the coming of age ceremony. As everyone falls asleep at the end of the ceremony, Sinbad is surprise attacked by an assassin of Parthevia’s Sham Lash, Ja’far. After a brief battle, Sinbad fends him off and angers Ja’far, and he retreats. Hinahoho on the other hand, is upset that he took all the credit for Sinbad’s work for defeating the sea monster. As self atonement and a true method of earning his name, he decides to capture the nearby dungeon in Imuchakk; Valefor.


title: Magi: Adventure of Sinbad

text: "Magi: Adventure of Sinbad" is written by Shinobu Ohtaka and illustrated by Yoshifumi Ohtera. A 70-page prototype manga was released with the first limited Blu-ray released of the "" anime series. It was later expanded into a serialized manga, which was published in Shogakukan's "Weekly Shōnen Sunday" from May 18 to June 26, 2013. It was then transferred over to Shogakukan's webcomic site "Ura Sunday" (also available later on the "MangaONE" app), being published from September 18, 2013, to April 25, 2018. Shogakukan collected its chapters in nineteen "tankōbon" volumes, released from September 18, 2013, to July 19, 2018.


title: Magi: Adventure of Sinbad

text: Shogakukan Asia published the first four volumes of the manga in English in Southeast Asia from December 2014 to March 2016.


title: Magi: Adventure of Sinbad

text: An OVA produced by Lay-duce was announced in January 2014. The staff of the series was revealed with Yoshikazu Miyao as director, Taku Kishimoto as the series composition, Soichiro Sako will handle character designs. The first episode was released with the manga's third volume on May 16, 2014. The second episode was released with the manga's fourth volume on August 18, 2014. The third episode was released with the fifth volume on December 18, 2014. The fourth episode was released with the manga's sixth volume on April 15, 2015. The fifth and final episode was released with the manga's seventh volume on July 15, 2015.


title: Magi: Adventure of Sinbad

text: An anime television series was announced in September 2015 with the same staff from the OVA series. It was scheduled to begin airing on April 15, 2016 in the Animeism programming block, but due to breaking news regarding the Kumamoto earthquake that hit the Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan on April 14, 2016, it was delayed. Instead, it began airing on April 23. The opening theme is "Spotlight" performed by PENGUIN RESEARCH and the ending theme is "Polaris" performed by Fujifabric.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The 1997 Starrcade was the 15th annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It was held on December 28, 1997, at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The matches revolved around the ongoing storyline between WCW and the New World Order (nWo) organization. The main event was between Hollywood Hogan and Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, with Hogan representing the nWo and Sting representing WCW. The match culminated a year-long buildup of their feud. The match ended in controversy over the referee's pinfall count, and their feud continued after the event surrounding this. Other matches included Larry Zbyszko and Eric Bischoff for the control of "WCW Monday Nitro", and Curt Hennig and Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: Starrcade became the highest-grossing pay-per-view in WCW history. Despite its success, the event was seen by critics and journalists as the beginning of WCW's downfall due to setting a tone for backstage dissension and what would retrospectively be seen as poor creative decisions going forward.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The event consisted of matches resulting from scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters to build tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: Since its formation in July 1996, the New World Order (nWo) organization had been a dominant force. Hollywood Hogan, the leader of the nWo, had been the WCW World Heavyweight Champion for most of the preceding year. Most of the WCW programming in 1997 revolved around Sting, whose character changed into a mysterious avenger. He watched from the rafters of arenas, and did not speak his thoughts. Sting soon showed his opposition to the nWo, and challenged Hogan to a match for the title at Starrcade. In reality, Hogan and Eric Bischoff, the executive vice president of WCW, disagreed over the outcome of the match. This resulted in a planned ending that had Sting lose because of a fast pinfall count by the referee. Bret Hart would restart the match, and Sting would win.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: Late in 1997, Bret Hart was a top star in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a competitor of WCW. Hart was the WWF Champion, and had decided to leave the WWF and join WCW. As Hart was the champion, WWF owner Vince McMahon devised the Montreal Screwjob, secretly changing the planned outcome of a title match. This resulted in Hart losing the title in controversial manner. After Hart made his debut with WCW, he was assigned as the guest referee for a match between Bischoff and Larry Zbyszko at Starrcade. The outcome of the match between Hogan and Sting at Starrcade was inspired by the Montreal Screwjob.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The match between Hogan and Sting was made official with a pre-taped "live press conference" at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. This aired on October 28, 1997, on TNT during a commercial break for the premiere of Hogan's new cable movie, "Assault on Devil's Island". The promotion was a success, drawing a 4.2 cable rating (at the same time on the USA Network, the WWF ran a Survivor Series Flashback show, which drew a 2.8 rating), with fans tuning in to finally see the Sting/Hogan bout signed. During the press conference, Hogan and Sting had a brief stare-down as Sting signed the contract without ever taking his eyes off the champion. On the November 10th episode of Nitro, the New World Order beat down Sting, with Hogan delivering several leg drops as the show came to a close. Sting then disappeared for a month, with the nWo beating down the likes of the Giant, Diamond Dallas Page, the Steiner Brothers, and Larry Zbyszko, and looking stronger than ever.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: On the November 24, 1997 episode of Monday Nitro, commentator Larry Zbyszko stormed to the ring following an nWo paid advertisement, only to have propaganda fall from the ceiling showing the nWo's Eric Bischoff posing over him at Halloween Havoc. Bischoff, after repeatedly insulting Zbysko, finally agreed to a match, later scheduled for Starrcade. On the December 1 episode of Nitro, Bischoff claimed he never signed a contract, and wouldn't wrestle unless control of Monday Nitro was on the line, which WCW Commissioner JJ Dillon agreed to later in the show.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: On the December 1 episode of Nitro, Diamond Dallas Page challenged the nWo's Curt Hennig for the US Title. Page hit Hennig with a Diamond Cutter but Rick Rude interrupted the pinfall attempt. This was Page's second DQ victory over Hennig. The nWo then beat down Page to end the show, with Page sustaining two "Diamond Cutters" from Hulk Hogan. On the December 8 episode of Nitro, Ric Flair, on behalf of Page, challenged Hennig to a steel cage match at Starrcade.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: On the December 8 episode of Nitro, the nWo's Kevin Nash (in a pre-recorded statement) declared himself the "one, true giant", belittled The Giant's chokeslam as useless and challenged Giant to a match at Starrcade. Moments later, Giant came to the ring and told Gene Okerlund he'd see Nash at Starrcade and was bringing the chokeslam with him.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The first match was between Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Malenko had the advantage from the start of the match. Guerrero fought back briefly by attacking Malenko's left leg, but Malenko regained the advantage. This continued until Guerrero countered a suplex, and targeted the knee with the use of the ringpost and ringsteps. Guerrero performed a missile dropkick and a frog splash to the knee, and pinned Malenko to win the match, and retain the title.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: Scott Hall afterwards came out and stated that that Nash, who was not in attendance, could not wrestle The Giant at the event. The Giant afterwards came out and stated that while understood why Nash was absent, he would wait for another opportunity to wrestle Nash and, following a verbal confrontation, gave Hall a power bomb.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The second match was between the team of Scott Norton, Vincent and Randy Savage (replacing Konnan) of the nWo (accompanied by Miss Elizabeth) and the team of The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) and Ray Traylor (accompanied by Ted DiBiase) (WCW). The match started with the nWo having the advantage over Scott. Scott fought back with a double underhook powerbomb, and WCW gained the advantage. Vincent was dominated until Traylor missed a big splash. nWo attacked Traylor until Rick tagged in. The Steiners double-teamed Vincent, and Scott performed an elevated DDT. As Scott was attempting a Frankensteiner on Savage, Norton stopped him, and performed an electric chair drop. Savage then pinned Scott after a diving elbow drop to win the match.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The third match was between Bill Goldberg and Steve McMichael. The match started from the entrance ramp, and went back and forth. Goldberg gained the advantage with a punch to the midsection as McMichael jumped from the top turnbuckle. Goldberg applied the kneebar, and performed a spear. After sending McMichael through a table, Goldberg performed a Jackhammer, and pinned him to win the match.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The fourth match was scheduled to be between Raven and Chris Benoit. Raven chose not to compete, however, and for Saturn to replace him. Saturn was a member of The Flock, a group led by Raven. The match started with Benoit having the advantage. As they fought out the ring, The Flock came out of the audience, and attacked Benoit. Saturn then dominated Benoit, and targeted his neck. As Saturn climbed the turnbuckles, Benoit pushed him to the outside. Benoit applied the Crippler Crossface on Saturn, but The Flock attacked him. Raven performed an Evenflow DDT on Benoit, and Saturn applied the Rings of Saturn. Benoit had passed out from the DDT, and Saturn won the match.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The fifth match was between Buff Bagwell (nWo) and Lex Luger (WCW). Luger had the early advantage until a distraction from Vincent allowed Bagwell to fight back. Bagwell then dominated Luger. Bagwell had Luger in the sleeper hold, and Luger fought out with a belly to back suplex. Luger then blocked a big splash with his knees, and fought back. Luger had Bagwell in the Torture Rack, but the referee was knocked down. Randy Savage and Scott Norton then attempted to interfere. Luger fought off Savage, but Norton punched Luger with a foreign object. Bagwell then pinned Luger to win the match.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The sixth match was between Curt Hennig (nWo) and Diamond Dallas Page (WCW) for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. It was originally going to be Ric Flair facing Hennig for the title and it was to be contested in a cage. However, two weeks earlier on Nitro, Flair was injured at the hands of Hennig and the nWo. Because of the injury, DDP took Flair's place in the match. The match started back and forth until Hennig performed a hangman, and gained the advantage. Hennig targeted Page's injured ribs. Page fought back after fighting out of a chinlock with a jawbreaker. Page attacked Hennig outside the ring, and pulled Hennig's groin into the ringpost. They then exchanged attacks, and Page pinned Hennig after a Diamond Cutter to win the match and the title.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The seventh match was between Eric Bischoff (accompanied by Scott Hall) (nWo) and Larry Zbyszko (WCW), with Bret Hart as the guest referee. The organization of the winner would have control over "WCW Monday Nitro", WCW's weekly television show. The match began with Zbyszko having the advantage. Hart appeared to be favoring Bischoff, stopping Zbyszko from using certain attacks and holds. Hart pulled Zbyszko away, and this allowed Bischoff to kick Zbyszko in the head. Bischoff continued with kicks and punches, but soon grew weary. Zbyszko fought back, and Hart pulled him back. Hall placed a steel plate in Bischoff's footwear, and Bischoff kicked Zbyszko in the head. Hart appeared to raise Bischoff's hand in victory, but Hart knocked him down instead. Hall came in, and Hart beat him down. Hart applied the Sharpshooter as Zbyszko choked Bischoff. Hart awarded Zbyszko the victory by disqualification for Bischoff using the steel plate.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The main event was between Hollywood Hogan (nWo) and Sting (WCW) for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Nick Patrick, who had favored the nWo before, was chosen as the referee through a random drawing. The match started with Hogan delivering attacks. Sting fought back with dropkicks, and applied the side headlock. Hogan sent Sting out of the ring, and attacked him with the ringpost and guard rail. Hogan performed a big boot, and pinned Sting after a leg drop. However, Bret Hart claimed Patrick counted the pinfall fast, and restarted the match with himself as the referee. Sting performed a Stinger splash, and applied the Scorpion Deathlock. Hart called for the bell and Sting won the championship.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: The feud between Hollywood Hogan and Sting continued after Starrcade. The outcome of the main event at Starrcade did not occur as planned, with the referee not making the pinfall count fast enough as scripted. Many former WCW wrestlers who were at Starrcade believe that Hogan through Eric Bischoff instructed the referee Nick Patrick to make a regular three count to protect himself and to make Sting and the debuting Bret Hart look weak. The following night, a controversial rematch took place which Patrick again count a 1-2-3 pinfall in Hogan's favor, but saw Sting again defeat Hogan and maintain the championship after referee Randy Anderson restarted the match. To address this, the following WCW programming surrounded the controversy. Replays of the count were shown, and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was vacated. A rematch was made, and Sting regained the title in a match at SuperBrawl VIII. In 1998, Bill Goldberg was given a push to main event status. Goldberg debuted in 1997, and started an undefeated streak. WCW continued to build the character of Goldberg with the continuation of his undefeated streak since his debut in 1997. On July 6, the undefeated Goldberg defeated Hollywood Hogan to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and remained the champion until the next Starrcade.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: Despite Kevin Nash's no-show for the event, the feud between Nash and The Giant would continue, with the two finally wrestling in a singles match at the next ppv Souled Out.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: Starrcade drew a buy rate of 1.9, the best WCW ever achieved. In 1998, WCW expanded with the creation of another television show, "WCW Thunder". However, "Thunder" could not gain the success of "WCW Monday Nitro", WCW's main weekly program. "Nitro" was also extended from two to three hours, and more house shows were run. In March, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) began to fight back in its competition with WCW. Stone Cold Steve Austin became the top star in the WWF, and eventually helped the WWF outperform WCW in the following years.


title: Starrcade (1997)

text: In 2017, Kevin Pantoja of 411Mania gave the event a rating of 2.0 [Very Bad], stating, "It was WCW’s biggest show ever and they bombed. Hard. The only match worth seeing is Malenko/Guerrero and you can see better versions of it elsewhere. There are a whopping THREE matches [that] get negative stars, including the main event being an all-time screw up. They gave Luger/Bagwell the most time of any match, which is a travesty. Savage was a last minute replacement. Hall had no match. Vincent, Traylor, Zbyszko, Bischoff and Mongo were booked, while Rey Mysterio, Harlem Heat and several others sat in the crowd."


title: Rashidi Yekini

text: Rashidi Yekini (23 October 1963 – 4 May 2012) was a Nigerian professional footballer who played as a forward. He is all-time top goalscorer for his nation.


title: Rashidi Yekini

text: His professional career, which spanned more than two decades, was mainly associated with Vitória de Setúbal in Portugal, but he also played in six other countries besides his own.


title: Rashidi Yekini

text: Yekini scored 37 goals as a Nigerian international footballer, and represented the nation in seven major tournaments, including two World Cups where he scored the country's first-ever goal in the competition. He was also named the African Footballer of the Year in 1993.


title: Rashidi Yekini

text: Yekini was born in Kaduna, of Yoruba origin. After starting his professional career in the Nigerian league, he moved to Ivory Coast to play for Africa Sports National, and from there he went to Portugal and Vitória de Setúbal where he experienced his most memorable years, eventually becoming the Primeira Liga's top scorer in the 1993–94 season after scoring 21 goals; the previous campaign he had netted a career-best 34 in 32 games to help the "Sadinos" promote from the second division, and those performances earned him the title of African Footballer of the Year once, the first ever for the nation.


title: Rashidi Yekini

text: In the summer of 1994, Yekini signed for Greek club Olympiacos, but did not get along with teammates and left soon after. His career never really got back on track, not even upon a return to Setúbal which happened after another unassuming spell, in La Liga with Sporting de Gijón; he successively played with FC Zürich, Club Athlétique Bizertin and Al-Shabab Riyadh, before rejoining Africa Sports. In 2003, aged 39, he returned to the Nigerian championship with Julius Berger FC.


title: Rashidi Yekini

text: In April 2005, 41-year-old Yekini made a short comeback, moving alongside former national teammate Mobi Oparaku to Gateway United FC.


title: Rashidi Yekini

text: Scoring 37 goals for Nigeria in 62 appearances, Yekini is the national record goalscorer. He was part of the team that participated in the 1994 (where he netted Nigeria's first-ever goal in a World Cup, in a 3–0 win against Bulgaria, his celebration after scoring, crying while holding the goal's net, became one of the iconic images of the tournament) and the 1998 FIFA World Cups.


title: Rashidi Yekini

text: Additionally, Yekini helped the "Super Eagles" win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia where he also topped the goal charts and was named best player of the competition. He also participated at Olympic level in Seoul 1988.


title: Rashidi Yekini

text: Yekini was reported to be ill for an extended period of time. In 2011, news media in Nigeria begun issuing reports of his failing health, and he was said to suffer from bipolar disorder, depression and some other undisclosed psychiatric condition. He died in Ibadan on 4 May 2012 at the young age of 48, the news being confirmed by former national teammates Mutiu Adepoju and Ike Shorunmu; he was buried at his residence in Ira, Kwara State. He was survived by his aged mother, brother, wives and children, among others.


title: Graham Brady

text: Sir Graham Stuart Brady (born 20 May 1967) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Altrincham and Sale West since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Chairman of the 1922 Committee since 2010, except for a brief period in 2019. During his tenure as 1922 Committee chairman, he has overseen the election of three Party leaders and Prime Ministers as well as votes of no confidence into prime ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson.


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady served as a Shadow Minister under four Conservative leaders before resigning in 2007 in protest at David Cameron's opposition to grammar schools. On 1 December 2010, Brady was voted "Backbencher of the Year" by "The Spectator" at its annual parliamentary awards.


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady was born on 20 May 1967 in Salford, Lancashire, England. He was educated at the Altrincham Grammar School for Boys. He read Law at the University of Durham, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1989.


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady was highly active in politics as a student. He served as Chairman of the Durham University Conservative Association (DUCA) for the 1987–1988 academic year and was one of six students elected to represent Durham at the annual NUS conference. He served additionally as Chairman of Northern Area Conservative Students (1987–1989) and as a member of the Conservative Party's National Union Executive Committee (1988–1989).


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady was appointed a consultant in public relations with Shandwick plc in 1989. He joined the Centre for Policy Studies in 1990. He was appointed director of public affairs at the Waterfront Partnership in 1992, where he remained until he was elected to the House of Commons in 1997. He was vice-chairman of the East Berkshire Conservative Association from 1993 to 1995.


title: Graham Brady

text: He was selected to contest the Altrincham and Sale West parliamentary constituency, following the retirement of the veteran Conservative MP Fergus Montgomery. Brady's constituency is considered to be a Conservative safe seat, having returned only Conservative MPs during its existence. The 1997 general election proved to be a close battle in the seat, but Brady was elected with a majority of 1,505 votes. He was the youngest Conservative MP to be elected in 1997, having been elected just before his 30th birthday, the next youngest being Tim Collins who was three years older than Brady. In the party leadership election that followed his election, Brady supported Michael Howard.


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 2 June 1997. From 1997 to 2001 he was a member of the Education and Employment Select Committee and its Employment Sub-Committee. He was joint secretary of the Conservative Party Committee for Education and Employment from 1997 to 2000.


title: Graham Brady

text: In 1998 he made enquiries to John Bourn, at the time Comptroller and Auditor General, on his decision not to publish a National Audit Office report on the controversial Al-Yamamah arms deal. The same year, Brady was one of only 13 Conservative MPs who voted in favour of an equal age of consent. He was a member of the executive of the 1922 Committee from 1998 to 2000.


title: Graham Brady

text: He became a member of the Education and Employment Select committee, and Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Chairman of the Conservative Party, Michael Ancram in 1999. He was made an Opposition Whip by William Hague in 2000. In February 2000, Brady complained about anti-grammar school literature circulated to parents in Altrincham by Michael Evans, then head of Trinity Church of England High School, arguing that this violated rules about public funds being used for campaign material – a complaint subsequently upheld by Secretary of State for Education David Blunkett. That same year Brady would become an opposition spokesman on Education and Employment.


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady was vice-chair of the all-party Advertising Group, secretary of the all-party Cayman Islands Group and treasurer of the all-party Egypt Group from 2001. Following a second Conservative defeat at the 2001 general election, Brady continued as an opposition spokesman on Education and Skills under the leadership of both Hague and Iain Duncan Smith. He became the PPS to the Leader of the Opposition, Michael Howard, in 2003, and an opposition spokesman on foreign affairs and Shadow Europe Minister in 2004. From 2004 to 2005 he was a member of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee and its Urban Affairs Sub-Committee. He was vice-chair of the all-party Montserrat Group from 2006. He became a member of the Treasury Select Committee and rejoined the executive of the 1922 Committee in 2007.


title: Graham Brady

text: On 29 May 2007, Brady resigned his post as Shadow Minister for Europe in protest at Conservative leader David Cameron's opposition to grammar schools. He told the BBC that "faced with a choice between a front bench position that I have loved and doing what I believe to be right for my constituents and for the many hundreds of thousands of families who are ill-served by state education in this country, there is in conscience only one option open to me", and argued that "grammar schools in selective areas are exactly the motor that does drive social mobility more effectively than comprehensive areas". Brady's own constituency has retained a selective rather than comprehensive education system.


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady was secretary of the all-party Fluoridation Group and Infrastructure Group from 2008. From 2009 he was treasurer of the all-party Thailand Group and vice-chair of the Cannabis and Children Group.


title: Graham Brady

text: In 2013, he opposed the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, raising concerns that the measure had not been in the Conservative manifesto and that religious freedom could be compromised.


title: Graham Brady

text: In July 2018, it was reported that Brady served as editor of "The House", the in-house Parliamentary magazine, earning a salary of £26,000 for the role.


title: Graham Brady

text: The Committee, sometimes known as "The 1922" for short, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party and has a central role in the election of the Leader of the Conservative Party. Since 2010 Brady has overseen the election of 3 Conservative Leaders (Theresa May in 2016, Liz Truss in 2022 and Rishi Sunak in 2022) all of whom have become the Prime Minister since the Conservative Party has been in office throughout his tenure as Chairman.


title: Graham Brady

text: He resigned as 1922 Committee chairman on 24 May 2019 in order to explore launching a bid to become leader of the Conservative Party in the weeks that followed, but ultimately opted not to run for Leader. His Deputy Chairmen Cheryl Gillan and Charles Walker oversaw the 2019 leadership contest which resulted in the election of Boris Johnson.


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady temporarily returned to the 1922 Committee on 3 September 2019, to serve as its acting Chairman "until a new executive is elected in the next session of Parliament". He was subsequently re-elected as the permanent Chair on 20 January 2020.


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady's role as Chairman of the 1922 has given him a high public profile, as it falls to him to announce the results of each leadership election or challenge, and this is often followed on live TV and streaming around the world.


title: Graham Brady

text: In 2022, Brady became the longest-ever serving Chairman of the 1922 Committee, surpassing Edward du Cann.


title: Graham Brady

text: On 29 January 2019, the House of Commons voted 317 to 301 to approve Brady's amendment to the Brexit Next Steps motion, which called for "the Northern Ireland backstop to be replaced with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border, supports leaving the European Union with a deal and would therefore support the Withdrawal Agreement subject to this change".


title: Graham Brady

text: In May 2020, Brady called for the removal of "arbitrary rules and limitations on freedom" brought in by the government because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that the British public had been "a little too willing to stay at home". Speaking out against a second lockdown, he also spoke about COVID-related mental health issues, such as increased rates of suicide and domestic abuse, as well as excess deaths caused due to reduced access for care. Brady is also a steering committee member of the lockdown-sceptic COVID Recovery Group, a group of Conservative MPs who oppose the UK government's December 2020 lockdown. They were seen as an "echo" of the Brexiteer European Research Group (ERG) of MPs, and a response by backbench Conservatives to Nigel Farage's anti-lockdown Reform UK party.


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady met Victoria Lowther at Durham University. The couple married in 1992, and have a daughter and a son. Brady was reported to be among those MPs who paid the highest amount to family members of between £40,000 to £45,000. He employs his wife Victoria as his senior parliamentary assistant. He currently resides in Altrincham in Greater Manchester.


title: Graham Brady

text: Brady was appointed a Knight Bachelor "for political and public service" in the 2018 New Year Honours. His investiture by the Duke of Cambridge took place at Buckingham Palace on 6 March 2018.


title: Leah McSweeney

text: Leah Christine McSweeney (born August 27, 1982) is an American fashion designer and television personality. She founded the women's streetwear line Married to the Mob in 2004, and has starred on the reality television series "The Real Housewives of New York City" from 2020 to 2021.


title: Leah McSweeney

text: McSweeney was born in Manhattan to Bryan & Bernadette "Bunny" McSweeney and raised in an Irish-Italian family. She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart Catholic all-girls school in the Upper East Side. After being expelled at 14, her family moved to Newtown, Connecticut.


title: Leah McSweeney

text: Married to the Mob (MTTM) has made several collaborations since its initiation. Amongst its first major collaborations featured a Kangol cashmere 'beanie' cap and a Kaws two-piece graphic swimsuit. Later, MTTM would collaborate with German accessory brand MCM, and French boutique Colette for a limited-edition Reebok lip-print sneaker. MTTM would later create another limited-edition sneaker with Nike. MTTM have also collaborated with French graffiti artist Fafi, Krink, and Jessy "Nite Rider" Kennedy. MTTM has also released collections with models including Chanel West Coast, Kid Sister, Lil Debbie, and the Clermont twins.


title: Leah McSweeney

text: In 2010, McSweeney appeared as a client on an episode on Bravo's "The Millionaire Matchmaker." Her appearance on "Matchmaker" was well received by critics, and has led to appearances and cameos on other television programs, including VH1's "."


title: Leah McSweeney

text: McSweeney was first speculated to be joining the cast of "The Real Housewives of New York City" after being seen filming with cast member Tinsley Mortimer in August 2019. She was confirmed to have joined the series during an appearance at Bravo's "BravoCon" fan convention in November 2019. McSweeney was referred to production by former cast member Bethenny Frankel, who left the series after the previous season.


title: Leah McSweeney

text: McSweeney has officially signed on for her second season as a full-time cast member of "The Real Housewives of New York City". McSweeney held off on renewing her contract until she was offered a higher salary, being paid only $3,000 an episode during her season 12 stint.


title: Leah McSweeney

text: In 2015, McSweeney became a featured recurring star on Shade 45's "Lip Service" with Angela Yee of Power 105.1. The following year, she began "Improper Etiquette" with Laura Stylez of Hot 97. On the podcast, McSweeney and Stylez provide candid perspectives and advice on lifestyle and current issues with occasional celebrity interviews.


title: Leah McSweeney

text: McSweeney has been a frequent contributor to the online publication Hypebeast, where she offers commentary on wellness, streetwear style, and motherhood. She also writes an advice column for "Penthouse" magazine.


title: Leah McSweeney

text: On June 27, 2018, McSweeney wrote a controversial article for "Penthouse" titled "Can We Talk About Toxic Femininity?" where she criticized #MeToo Movement pioneers Rose McGowan and Asia Argento. McSweeney received wide backlash and harsh judgement for her op-ed piece.


title: Alcatrazz

text: Alcatrazz is a heavy metal band formed in 1983 by Graham Bonnet, Jimmy Waldo, and Gary Shea. Following an internal disagreement and split in 2020, there are currently two separate and distinct Alcatrazz line-ups, one featuring Bonnet, and another featuring Waldo and Shea. Alcatrazz are best known for their songs "Island in the Sun", "Hiroshima Mon Amour", and "God Blessed Video". The band went through a number of line-up changes, with Bonnet being the only member to be in every incarnation of Alcatrazz. They are also notable for featuring a previously-unknown Yngwie Malmsteen, who was the guitarist of Alcatrazz during 1983–1984, and was subsequently replaced by Steve Vai, and Danny Johnson in the original incarnation of the band up until 1987. Joe Stump became the Alcatrazz guitarist when the band reformed, and remains the guitarist in the Waldo-Shea line-up of Alcatrazz. In June 2021, Jeff Loomis was announced as the guitarist in the Bonnet line-up of Alcatrazz.


title: Alcatrazz

text: After breaking up in 1987, Bonnet toured from 2006 to 2014 as Alcatrazz featuring Graham Bonnet with various line-ups, before a one-off reunion show in 2017 led to Bonnet and Waldo reforming the band once more in 2020, with Shea rejoining shortly after. From their inception in 1983 until 2020, Alcatrazz released four studio albums: "No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll" (1983), "Disturbing the Peace" (1985), "Dangerous Games" (1986), and "Born Innocent" (2020). Several months after the release of "Born Innocent", Bonnet and the other four members of Alcatrazz – Waldo, Shea, Stump, and drummer Mark Benquechea – announced a split from one another, with both camps intending to continue to record music under the name Alcatrazz. The Waldo-Shea-Stump-Benquechea camp announced that Doogie White was now their lead singer, and released the studio album "V" in October 2021. Meanwhile, Bonnet announced that he was moving forward once again with his own version of Alcatrazz. In June 2021, Jeff Loomis was announced as the guitarist for the Bonnet line-up of Alcatrazz, with a new studio album in the works.


title: Alcatrazz

text: The band's initial line-up consisted of former Rainbow singer frontman Graham Bonnet, young Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, who had recently left the American metal band Steeler, Gary Shea and Jimmy Waldo from New England and Clive Burr of Iron Maiden fame. Burr was reportedly only in the band for a week, and left upon discovering the band was going to be based in the United States, as opposed to his native England. Burr was soon replaced by former Iron Butterfly drummer Jan Uvena, who had just left Alice Cooper's backing band. Shea dubbed the group "Alcatrazz". For the first album, the bulk of the material was written by Bonnet and Malmsteen, with Waldo contributing to several tracks.


title: Alcatrazz

text: The band's debut album, "No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll" was released in late 1983 on Rocshire Records. Decent support was given by MTV to the lead single, "Island in the Sun", which showed a heavy Rainbow influence. Despite the commercial nature of the song, it received little radio play. The album nonetheless spent 18 weeks on the Billboard charts and peaked at No. 128. A second video released in 1984 for "Hiroshima Mon Amour" became popular in Japan.


title: Alcatrazz

text: Rochsire then released "Live Sentence" (1984), a concert recording with songs from both concerts of the recent tour of Japan at the Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo on January 28, 1984. Being discontent with the sonic qualities of the recording, Malmsteen tried to prevent the release of the album but failed. Some Rainbow covers were included, including "Since You Been Gone". The album peaked at No. 133 in the US. A live video concert was also produced. During this period, internal turmoil began surfacing within the band, between Malmsteen and Bonnet. According to Malmsteen, Bonnet had become fed up with the attention drawn to his guitar playing from fans over Bonnet's vocals. According to Malmsteen, their professional relationship ended with the two having an altercation on stage after Bonnet allegedly tampered with Malmsteen's amplifiers during a guitar solo and "Since You've Been Gone" at a show in Oklahoma. This resulted in Malmsteen yelling at and arguing with Bonnet, Bonnet poking Malmsteen in the stomach with his microphone stand, and finally with Malmsteen punching Bonnet, all taking place on stage. Following this, Malmsteen left Alcatrazz and created his own band called Rising Force, who signed with Polydor Records and released a successful self-titled debut album.


title: Alcatrazz

text: Waldo replaced Malmsteen with former Frank Zappa guitarist Steve Vai, despite resistance from Bonnet, and the band signed with Capitol Records after Rocshire was shut down following the owners being arrested for the embezzlement of millions of dollars. With Steve Vai, the group worked on new material and then headlined another tour of Japan, which introduced Vai to the fans and allowed them to play new material from the upcoming album. A concert video was filmed from these dates.


title: Alcatrazz

text: The band released "Disturbing the Peace" in the spring of 1985. The album was produced by Eddie Kramer who had worked with Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Triumph, among others. "God Blessed Video" was the first single and video, yet MTV barely played it. The album peaked at No. 145 and charted for 16 weeks. Alcatrazz, however, could never break out of their small following, and had to cut a tour short due to financial problems.


title: Alcatrazz

text: Steve Vai left to join David Lee Roth's solo band in 1986. The split was on good terms, as it was an offer Vai could not refuse. He was replaced by guitarist Danny Johnson, who recorded what became Alcatrazz's final studio album, "Dangerous Games", released in the fall of 1986. The album had covers of the Animals' song "It's My Life" (one of the only rock-oriented tunes) and Marbles' song "Only One Woman". Bonnet had been a member of Marbles in the late 1960s when they had this hit in the UK. The "Dangerous Games" album failed to chart and shortly afterward, Johnson also quit to join the band Private Life. Disheartened by an ever-revolving door of guitarists, and dwindling album sales, they split up in 1987.


title: Alcatrazz

text: In 1998, the Renaissance Records label issued "The Best of Alcatrazz", a look back at the band's brief career. "God Blessed Video" appeared in the 2002 videogame soundtrack , playing on fictional rock station "".


title: Alcatrazz

text: Bonnet reformed his version of the band as "Alcatrazz featuring Graham Bonnet" with guitarist Howie Simon (Jeff Scott Soto Band, Talisman), drummer Glen Sobel (Impellitteri, Beautiful Creatures, Tony MacAlpine), and bassist Tim Luce and toured Japan in May and June 2007—sharing the headline with another ex-Rainbow vocalist, Joe Lynn Turner. Howie Simon revealed in a recent interview that it was his suggestion to bring back the Alcatrazz name. They also headlined the BerkRock festival in Berkovitsa, Bulgaria in July 2008 and have played various West Coast US dates including support slots for Y&T. Alcatrazz continued to perform live occasionally until 2014.


title: Alcatrazz

text: In March 2017, three-fifths of the original lineup (Bonnet, Waldo and Shea) reunited for three shows in Japan, which also included Conrado Pesinato and Mark Benquechea on guitar and drums respectively. The performances were recorded for the live album/DVD "Parole Denied – Tokyo 2017", which was released on December 7, 2018. In February 2019, Bonnet confirmed that he had once again resurrected Alcatrazz, with a new lineup featuring himself, Waldo and Benquechea, as well as guitarist Joe Stump and bassist Beth-Ami Heavenstone. She briefly became the band's first female member, having been in Bonnet's namesake band. This lineup had planned to record a new album together, which was also said to be including contributions from Chris Impellitteri, Bob Kulick, Dario Mollo and former Alcatrazz guitarist Steve Vai. Heavenstone was replaced on bass in January 2020 by a returning Gary Shea. Alcatrazz's first studio album in 34 years, "Born Innocent", was released on July 31, 2020.


title: Alcatrazz

text: On December 4, 2020, it was announced Alcatrazz had parted ways with vocalist Graham Bonnet and had recruited vocalist Doogie White following conflicts regarding the band's management. Within a few hours after this announcement, Bonnet announced that he would "still be recording and performing with Alcatrazz", with a new lineup to be announced in the spring of 2021, and a new album in the works. Bonnet later clarified that one of the reasons behind the split was the remaining members of the "Born Innocent" lineup wanted to "only tour" with his former manager Giles Lavery, and added that it "meant that they had quit." He also stated that he was "not bothered" by the existence of two bands named Alcatrazz, had "no plans to relinquish" the band name, and referred to his replacement Doogie White as a "good friend and a damn fine performer." On June 4, 2021, the first single from the White-fronted Alcatrazz, "Turn of the Wheel" was released. A few days later, Jeff Loomis (Nevermore, Sanctuary) was announced as the guitarist for the Bonnet-led line-up, now referred to as Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz.


title: Alcatrazz

text: On July 23, 2021, the White-fronted version of Alcatrazz released another single, "Sword of Deliverance", and announced that their fifth album, titled "V", would be released on October 15, 2021. Music video's were released for the singles "Turn of the Wheel" on June 4, 2021 and "Sword of Deliverance" on July 23, 2021.


title: Empusa

text: Empusa or Empousa (; ; "plural": "Empousai") is a shape-shifting female being in Greek mythology, said to possess a single leg of copper, commanded by Hecate, whose precise nature is obscure. In Late Antiquity, the empousai have been described as a category of phantoms or spectres, equated with the lamiai and mormolykeia, thought to seduce and feed on young men.


title: Empusa

text: The primary sources for the "empousa" in Antiquity are Aristophanes's plays ("The Frogs" and "Ecclesiazusae") and Philostratus's "Life of Apollonius of Tyana".


title: Empusa

text: The Empusa has been defined in the Sudas and by Crates of Mallus as a "demonic phantom" with shape-shifting abilities. Thus in Aristophane's plays she is said to change appearance from various beasts to a woman.


title: Empusa

text: The Empusa is also said to be one-legged, namely, having one brass leg, or a donkey's leg, thus being known by the epithets Onokole (Ὀνοκώλη) and Onoskelis (Ὀνοσκελίς) which they mean "Donkey-footed".


title: Empusa

text: A folk etymology construes the name to mean "one-footed" (from Greek *έμπούς, "*empous": "en-", one + "pous", foot).


title: Empusa

text: In Aristophanes's comedy "The Frogs", an Empusa appears before Dionysus and his slave Xanthias on their way to the underworld, although this may be the slave's practical joke to frighten his master. Xanthius thus sees (or pretends to see) the empousa transform into a bull, a mule, a beautiful woman, and a dog. The slave also reassures that the being indeed had one brass (copper) leg, and another leg of cow dung besides.


title: Empusa

text: The Empusa was a being sent by Hecate (as one scholiast noted), or, was Hecate herself, according to a fragment of Aristophanes's lost play "Tagenistae" ("Men of the Frying-pan"), as preserved in the Venetus.


title: Empusa

text: By the Late Antiquity in Greece, this became a category of beings, designated as "empusai" (Lat. "empusae") in the plural. It came to be believed that the spectre preyed on young men for seduction and for food.


title: Empusa

text: According to 1st century "Life of Apollonius of Tyana", the empousa is a phantom ("phasma") that took on the appearance of an attractive woman and seduced a young philosophy student in order to eventually devour him. In a different passage of the same work, when Apollonius was journeying from Persia to India, he encountered an empousa, hurling insults at it, coaxing his fellow travellers to join him, whereby it ran and hid, uttering high-pitched screams.


title: Empusa

text: An "empousa" was also known to others as "lamia" or "mormolyke". This "empousa" confessed it was fattening up the student she targeted to feed on him, and that she especially craved young men for the freshness and purity of their blood, prompting an interpretation as blood-sucking vampire by Smith′s "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology" (1849).


title: Empusa

text: In modern times, folklore has been collected about a being fitting the description of an "empousa": an extremely slender woman with multiple feet, "one of bronze, one a donkey's foot, one an ox's, one a goat's, and one human", but she was referred to as a woman with the lamia-like body and gait. The example was from Arachova (Parnassus) and published by (1871) Schmidt only speculated that oral lore of "empousa" might survive somewhere locally. A field study (Charles Stewart, 1985) finds that "empousa" is a term that is rarely used in oral tradition, compared to other terms such as "gello" which has a similar meaning.


title: Empusa

text: According to Robert Graves, Empusa was a demigoddess, the beautiful daughter of the goddess Hecate and the spirit Mormo. She feasted on blood by seducing young men as they slept (see sleep paralysis), before drinking their blood and eating their flesh. When she spotted a man sleeping on the road, she attacked him, little knowing he was Zeus, king of the gods. Zeus woke and visited his wrath on her and Empusa was killed.


title: Empusa

text: Empusa is a character in "Faust, Part Two" by Goethe. She appears during the Classical Walpurgis Night as Mephisto is being lured by the Lamiae. She refers to herself as cousin to Mephisto because she has a donkey's foot and he has a horse's.


title: Empusa

text: "Empusa" is the name of the ship used by Count Orlok to travel to Wisborg in F. W. Murnau's film "Nosferatu" (1922).


title: Empusa

text: Empusa is a main antagonist turned heroine in the novel "Grecian Rune" by James Matthew Byers. They may look like humans at first.


title: Empusa

text: In "Primal", Empusa is among the Wraith-Aristocrates, a fast travelling race of demons, and the wife of the main-antogonist in the third world.


title: Empusa

text: In "Wicked Wings" by Keri Arthur, the villains are three empusae who are eating the flesh of their prey. They use the form of a young woman to lure the men to their deaths.


title: Empusa

text: In the "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" series, the Empousai first appear in "The Battle of the Labyrinth" as servants of Hecate who had, by that time, joined the Titan Army.


title: Empusa

text: Empusa (along with Lamia and Mormo) is one of the three witches in the film "Stardust" (dir. Matthew Vaughn). She is played by Sarah Alexander. In Neil Gaiman's novel "Stardust" the witches are not given individual names.


title: Intransitive verb

text: In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb whose context does not entail a direct object. That lack of transitivity distinguishes intransitive verbs from transitive verbs, which entail one or more objects. Additionally, intransitive verbs are typically considered within a class apart from modal verbs and defective verbs.


title: Intransitive verb

text: Some verbs, called ambitransitive verbs, may entail objects but do not always require one. Such a verb may be used as intransitive in one sentence, and as transitive in another.


title: Intransitive verb

text: In general, intransitive verbs often involve weather terms, involuntary processes, states, bodily functions, motion, action processes, cognition, sensation, and emotion.


title: Intransitive verb

text: The valency of a verb is related to transitivity. Where the transitivity of a verb only considers the objects, the valency of a verb considers all the arguments that correspond to a verb, including both the subject of the verb and all of the objects.


title: Intransitive verb

text: It is possible to change the contextually indicated sense of a verb from transitive to intransitive, and in so doing to change the valency.


title: Intransitive verb

text: In languages that have a passive voice, a transitive verb in the active voice becomes intransitive in the passive voice. For example, consider the following sentence:


title: Intransitive verb

text: In this sentence, "hugged" is a transitive verb with "Mary" as its object. The sentence can be made passive with the direct object "Mary" as the grammatical subject as follows:


title: Intransitive verb

text: The passive-voice construction does not indicate an object. The passivized sentence could be continued with the agent:


title: Intransitive verb

text: It cannot be continued with a direct object to be taken by "was hugged". For example, it would be ungrammatical to write "Mary was hugged her daughter" to show that Mary and her daughter shared a hug.


title: Intransitive verb

text: Intransitive verbs can be rephrased as passive constructs in some languages. In English, intransitive verbs can be used in the passive voice when a prepositional phrase is included, as in, "The houses were lived in by millions of people."


title: Intransitive verb

text: Some languages, such as Dutch, have an impersonal passive voice that lets an intransitive verb without a prepositional phrase be passive. In German, a sentence such as "The children sleep" can be made passive to remove the subject and becomes, "It is slept." However, no addition like "...by the children" is possible in such cases.


title: Intransitive verb

text: In languages with ergative–absolutive alignment, the passive voice (where the object of a transitive verb becomes the subject of an intransitive verb) does not make sense, because the noun associated with the intransitive verb is marked as the object, not as the subject. Instead, these often have an antipassive voice. In this context, the "subject" of a transitive verb is promoted to the "object" of the corresponding intransitive verb. In the context of a nominative–accusative language like English, this promotion is nonsensical because intransitive verbs do not entail objects, they entail subjects. So, the subject of a transitive verb ("I" in "I hug him") is "also" the subject of the intransitive passive construction ("I was hugged by him"). But in an ergative–absolutive language like Dyirbal, "I" in the transitive "I hug him" would involve the ergative case, but the "I" in "I was hugged" would involve the absolutive, and so by analogy the antipassive construction more closely resembles "*was hugged me". Thus in this example, the ergative is promoted to the absolutive, and the agent (i.e., "him"), which was formerly marked by the absolutive, is deleted to form the antipassive voice (or is marked in a different way, in the same way that in the English passive voice can still be specified as the agent of the action using "by him" in "I was hugged by him"—for example, Dyirbal puts the agent in the dative case, and Basque retains the agent in the absolutive).


title: Intransitive verb

text: In many languages, there are "ambitransitive" verbs, which can occur either in a transitive or intransitive sense. For example, English "play" is ambitransitive, since it is grammatical to say "His son plays", and it is also grammatical to say "His son plays guitar". English is rather flexible as regards verb valency, and so it has a high number of ambitransitive verbs; other languages are more rigid and require explicit valency changing operations (voice, causative morphology, etc.) to transform a verb from intransitive to transitive or vice versa.


title: Intransitive verb

text: In some ambitransitive verbs are "ergative verbs" for which the alignment of the syntactic arguments to the semantic roles is exchanged. An example of this is the verb "break" in English.


title: Intransitive verb

text: In (1), the verb is transitive, and the subject is the "agent" of the action, i.e. the performer of the action of breaking the cup. In (2), the verb is intransitive and the subject is the "patient" of the action, i.e. it is the thing affected by the action, not the one that performs it. In fact, the patient is the same in both sentences, and sentence (2) is an example of implicit middle voice. This has also been termed an "anticausative".


title: Intransitive verb

text: In the Romance languages, these verbs are often called "pseudo-reflexive", because they are signaled in the same way as reflexive verbs, using the clitic particle "se". Compare the following (in Spanish):


title: Intransitive verb

text: Sentences (3a) and (3b) show Romance pseudo-reflexive phrases, corresponding to English alternating intransitives. As in "The cup broke", they are inherently without an agent; their deep structure does not and can not contain one. The action is not reflexive (as in (4a) and (4b)) because it is not performed by the subject; it just happens to it. Therefore, this is not the same as passive voice, where an intransitive verb phrase appears, but there is an implicit agent (which can be made explicit using a complement phrase):


title: Intransitive verb

text: Other ambitransitive verbs (like "eat") are not of the alternating type; the subject is always the agent of the action, and the object is simply optional. A few verbs are of both types at once, like "read": compare "I read", "I read a magazine", and "this magazine reads easily".


title: Intransitive verb

text: Some languages like Japanese have different forms of certain verbs to show transitivity. For example, there are two forms of the verb "to start":


title: Intransitive verb

text: This distinction may in some cases be reflected in the grammar, where for instance different auxiliary verbs may be used for the two categories.


title: Intransitive verb

text: In many languages, including English, some or all intransitive verbs can entail "cognate objects"—objects formed from the same roots as the verbs themselves; for example, the verb "sleep" is ordinarily intransitive, but one can say, "He slept a troubled sleep", meaning roughly "He slept, and his sleep was troubled."


title: Intransitive verb

text: In Pingelapese, a Micronesian language, intransitive verb sentence structure is often used, with no object attached. There must be a stative or active verb to have an intransitive sentence. A stative verb has a person or an object that is directly influenced by a verb. An active verb has the direct action performed by the subject. The word order that is most commonly associated with intransitive sentences is subject-verb. However, verb-subject is used if the verb is unaccusative or by discourse pragmatics.


title: Intransitive verb

text: In Tokelauan, the noun phrases used with verbs are required when verbs are placed in groups. Verbs are divided into two major groups.


title: Intransitive verb

text: Every verbal sentence must have that structure, which contains a singular noun phrase, without a preposition, called an unmarked noun phrase. Only if a "ko"-phrase precedes the predicate, that rule may be ignored. [6] The agent is what speakers of the language call the person who is performing the action of the verb.[6] If a noun phrase that starts with the preposition "e" is able to express the agent, and the receiving person or thing that the agent is performing the action of the verb to is expressed by a singular noun phrase that lack a preposition, or unmarked noun phrase, the verb is then considered transitive.[6] All other verbs are considered intransitive.[6]


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: Western Sahara, formerly the Spanish colony of Spanish Sahara, is a disputed territory claimed by both the Kingdom of Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario Front), which is an independence movement based in Algeria. The Annexation of Western Sahara by Morocco took place in two stages, in 1976 and 1979, and is considered illegal under international law.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: Western Sahara is listed by the United Nations (UN) as a non-decolonized territory and is thus included in the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories, which regards Spain as the "de jure" administering state. Under international law, Western Sahara is not a legal part of Morocco and it remains under the international laws of military occupation.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: Since the Madrid Accords of 1975, a part of Western Sahara has been administered by Morocco as the Southern Provinces. Another section, the Liberated Territories, is administered by the Polisario Front as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Mauritania administers the western half of the Ras Nouadhibou Peninsula. A UN-monitored cease-fire has been in effect since September 1991.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: While no other country than the United States has ever recognized Morocco's unilateral annexation of Western Sahara, a number of countries have expressed their support for a future recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory as an autonomous part of the Kingdom. There is, for instance, a "de facto" recognition of the Moroccan claim on the part of some countries such as the case of the United Kingdom. Although the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) treats the status of Western Sahara as 'undetermined', its lack of reference to its current effective partition, considering the existence of the Polisario-held areas, indicates an acceptance of Morocco as the administering power in the entire territory. Overall, the annexation has not garnered as much attention in the international community as many other disputed annexations (e.g. the Russian annexation of Crimea).


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: In order to resolve the sovereignty issue, the UN has attempted to hold a referendum through the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), and is holding direct talks between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front. The UN recognizes neither Moroccan nor SADR sovereignty over Western Sahara.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: Moroccan settlers currently make up more than two thirds of the 500,000 inhabitants of Western Sahara. Under international law, Morocco's transfer of its own civilians into occupied territory is in direct violation of (cf. Israeli and Turkish settlers).


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: The official position of the Kingdom of Morocco since 1963 is that all of Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom. The Moroccan government refers to Western Sahara only as "Moroccan Sahara", the "Saharan provinces", or the "Southern Provinces".


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: According to the Moroccan government, in 1958 the Moroccan Army of Liberation fought Spanish colonizers and almost liberated what was then Spanish Sahara. The fathers of many of the Polisario leaders were among the veterans of the Moroccan Southern Army, for example the father of Polisario leader Mohammed Abdelaziz. Morocco is supported in this view by a number of former Polisario founders and leaders. The Polisario Front is considered by Morocco to be a Moroccan separatist movement, referring to the Moroccan origins of most of its founding members.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: On 22 January 2020, Morocco's House of Representatives voted unanimously to add Western Sahara waters to the Moroccan maritime borders.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: The Polisario Front, mainly backed by Algeria, is described by itself and its supporters as a national liberation movement that opposes Moroccan control of Western Sahara, whilst it is considered by Morocco and supporters of Morocco's claims over the Western Sahara to be a separatist organization. It began as a movement of students who felt torn between the divergent Spanish and Moroccan influences on the country. The original goal of the Polisario, which was to end Spanish colonialism in the region, was achieved, but their neighbours, Morocco and Mauritania, seized sovereignty of the region, which the Polisario felt was entitled to self-determination and eventually independence. The Polisario engaged in guerrilla warfare with the Moroccan and Mauritanian forces. It evacuated the Sahrawi population to the Tindouf refugee camps due to Royal Moroccan Air Force bombing of the refugee camps on Sahrawi land with napalm and white phosphorus. The Polisario Front has called for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara to be decided through a referendum. Although the SADR is not recognized as a state by the UN, the Polisario is considered a direct participant in the conflict and as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, recognized by the United Nations since 1979.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: The Polisario Front argues that Morocco's position is due to economical interests (fishing, phosphate mining, and the potential for oil reserves) and political reasons (stability of the king's position and the governing elite in Morocco, deployment of most of the Moroccan Army in Western Sahara instead of in Morocco). The Polisario Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in Bir Lehlou (Western Sahara), on 27 February 1976.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: Claims on Western Sahara had proliferated since the 1960s, fuelled by Mauritanian President Moktar Ould Daddah. Before Mauritania signed the Madrid Accords and after the withdrawal of the last Spanish forces, in late 1975, the Mauritanian Army invaded the southern part of Western Sahara, while the Moroccan Army did the same in the north. In April 1976, Mauritania and Morocco partitioned the country into three parts, Mauritania getting the southern one, which was named Tiris al-Gharbiyya. Mauritania waged four years of war against Polisario guerrillas, conducting raids on Nouakchott, attacks on the Zouerate mine train and a coup d'état that deposed Ould Daddah. Mauritania finally withdrew in the summer of 1979, after signing the Algiers Agreement with the Polisario Front, recognizing the right of self-determination for the Sahrawi people, and renouncing any claims on Western Sahara. The Moroccan Army immediately took control of the former Mauritanian territory. Mauritania recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic on 27 February 1984.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: Algeria has supported the independence of the whole of Western Sahara since 1975, when Spanish forces and settlers withdrew from the area. It is one of the few countries to do so in the Arab League. It has provided aid to the 'Polisario Front'. Algeria's role became indirect, through political and military support for the Polisario Front. Algeria recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic on 6 March 1976. Its involvement in Western Sahara independence movement has interrupted the development of Algerian-Morocco diplomatic relations, which were restored in 1988.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: Western Sahara is on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. The UN has been involved since 1988 in trying to find a solution to the conflict through self-determination. In 1988, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed to settle the dispute through a referendum under the auspices of the UN that would allow the people of Western Sahara to choose between independence or integration with Morocco. In 1991, the parties agreed upon the "Settlement Plan", contingent on the referendum being held the following year, but due to disputes over voter qualification, the vote was not held. In the following years, the UN argued for negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front to resolve the deadlock, culminating in the Manhasset negotiations in 2007–2008. As of 2020, the mandate for MINURSO has been extended 47 times and it maintains its presence in the country, but has yet to fulfill its mission by organizing a referendum.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: Some states are supportive of the "right of self-determination of the Sahrawi people", including the option of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. Some states have changed their opinion frequently or have given separate announcements of support for both Morocco and the Polisario Front/SADR (Egypt, Italy, Lesotho, Russia, Rwanda, Yemen, etc.).


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: Some of the states announcing support of the "right of self-determination" currently recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Not all of the states that have terminated diplomatic relations with or withdrawn recognition of the SADR have announced their support for the Moroccan claims.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: France claims neutrality on the Western Sahara issue, despite its military involvement in the Western Sahara War on the side of Morocco and Mauritania (see Operation Lamantin). In 2009 and 2010, France used the threat of its veto power to block the establishment of Human Rights monitoring by the MINURSO in Western Sahara. France has been a major backer of the Moroccan autonomy proposal and in the EU negotiated the concession of the advanced status to Morocco.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: The Obama administration disassociated itself from the Moroccan autonomy plan in 2009, however, reversing the Bush-backed support of the Moroccan plan, and returning to a pre-Bush position, wherein the option of an independent Western Sahara is on the table again.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: In April 2009, 229 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, a clear majority and more than 50 more than the number who signed the letter in 2007, called on President Obama to support Morocco's autonomy plan and to assist in drawing the conflict to a close. The signers included Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Republican Minority Leader John Boehner. In addition to acknowledging that Western Sahara has become a recruiting post for radical Islamists, the letter affirmed that the conflict is "the single greatest obstacle impending the security and cooperation necessary to combat" terrorism in the Maghreb. The letter referenced UN Security Council Resolution 1813 (2008), and encouraged President Obama to follow the policy set by President Clinton and followed by President Bush. The congressmen expressed concerns about Western Sahara's viability. They referenced a UN fact-finding mission to Western Sahara which confirmed the State Department's view that the Polisario proposal, which ultimately stands for independence, would lead to a non-viable state. In closing, the letter stated, "We remain convinced that the U.S. position, favoring autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution. We urge you to both sustain this longstanding policy, and to make clear, in both words and actions, that the United States will work to ensure that the UN process continues to support this framework as the only realistic compromise that can bring this unfortunate and longstanding conflict to an end."


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: Commenting on a 2004 free trade agreement with Morocco, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick stated in a letter to Congressman Joe Pitts in response to his questioning, "the United States and many other countries do not recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and have consistently urged the parties to work with the United Nations to resolve the conflict by peaceful means. The Free Trade Agreement will not include Western Sahara."


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: In April 2013, the United States proposed that MINURSO monitored human rights (as all the other UN mission since 1991) in Western Sahara, a move that Morocco strongly opposed, cancelling the annual African Lion military exercises with U.S. Army troops. Also in mid-April, United States Ambassador to Morocco Samuel L. Kaplan declared during a conference in Casablanca that the Moroccan autonomy plan "can't be the only basis in these negotiations", referring to the UN sponsored talks between the Polisario Front and Morocco.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: On 10 December 2020, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would officially recognize Morocco's claims over Western Sahara, as a result of Morocco agreeing to normalize relations with Israel.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: The SADR is also a member of the Asian-African Strategic Partnership, formed at the 2005 Asian-African Conference, over Moroccan objections to SADR participation.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: In 2006, the SADR participated in a conference of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of the Latin American and the Caribbean.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: In 1984, Morocco withdrew from the AU's predecessor, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), in protest of the group's recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: The African Union (formerly the OAU) has given the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic full recognition, and accepted it as a member state (which has led Morocco to leave the union.). Mohamed Abdelaziz, president of the SADR, has been vicepresident of the OUA in 1985, and of the AU in 2002.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: In 2016, King Mohammed VI of Morocco declared his country's intention to become a member of the African union. On the same day, twenty eight African countries or about 52% of the 54 UN recognized member states of the African Union signed a petition to expel the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic from the African Union. At the same time, AU Commission Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma reaffirmed the AU's support for Western Sahara's independence.


title: Political status of Western Sahara

text: The European Union supports the right of self-determination of the Sahrawi people (the MINURSO UN-sponsored referendum), but does not recognize the Polisario Front. Over practical issues such as fishing in the EEZ the EU deals with Morocco as the country currently exercising "jurisdiction, but not sovereignty" over the Western Sahara territory. In addition, members of the EFTA trade bloc have made statements excluding the Western Sahara from the Moroccan-EFTA free trade agreement. In December 2016, the European Court of Justice reaffirmed in "Council v Front populaire pour la libération de la saguia-el-hamra et du rio de oro (Front Polisario)" that Morocco has no basis for sovereignty over Western Sahara and that trade deals with Morocco cannot apply to the occupied territory.