title: Galați

text: This church is located together with the Cătușa cemetery in the southern part of Galați. Its general construction was completed but the interior layout is not. The basement of the cathedral is a very small space, which will serve as a mortuary chapel. The official opening of the interior was planned for 2012.


title: Galați

text: Mavromol is a former monastery. Its name means "black rock" in Greek. It was built in 1669 and dedicated to the Assumption by George Ducas (died 1685) and his son. There was rebuilding between 1700 and 1703. During the revolution of 1821 the church was burned by the Turks. The current building dates from 1858 to 1861 and respects the original plan. Interior murals and other valuable elements were restored between 1973 and 1975.


title: Galați

text: The monks of the church taught at Galați's first school in 1765. They taught in Greek. (In 1803, teaching was conducted in Romanian under the orders of Constantin Moruz). During the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), and the Russo-Austrian-Turkish War (1787–1792), Mavromol church was damaged and teaching ceased until 1803.


title: Galați

text: The church is constructed in the style of a basilica with apses beyond the main walls. The church has a carved wooden icon of the "Virgin Mary" from the church of St. Sava Monastery in Bucharest. The ceiling is composed of three parts separated by double arches. The entrance is on the south side through a door marked by an icon and heraldic symbols: a bull's head and two lions. Also on the south side is the coat of arms of Moldova, carved in a stone medallion. During communist rule, the church, as a sacred place, was improperly appropriated.


title: Galați

text: Built in 1817, this church has four buttresses, three towers and a dome supported by crossed arches. Although its murals are not maintained, it contains valuable icons.


title: Galați

text: This church was built in 1790. It is the site of the burial tomb of Smaranda Cuza, the mother of Alexandru Ioan Cuza.


title: Galați

text: The original church was burned in the unrest of 1821 then renovated in 1851. Above the nave, a dome is supported by arches crossed in the traditional Moldovan style. There is a bell tower above the main dome, a smaller one above the altar and another above the porch added in 1901.


title: Galați

text: Galați's Roman Catholic church was built in 1844 and expanded in 1873. It contains objects of artistic as well as sacred value including a high altar made of marble; a painting of "St. John the Baptist preaching"; a "Most Holy Heart" statue of Jesus Christ; Pietà statues and a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi. The church was strengthened and renovated to its current state between 1985 and 1988.


title: Galați

text: This park was designed in 1869 in honour of Mihai Eminescu, who visited the area, particularly in his later life. some of the trees are from the time of Eminescu. There is a small lake and a place for recitals once used, for example, by military bands. People visit the park to see a statue of Eminescu.


title: Galați

text: This park is located near the student complex. It looks over Lake Brates, the railway station and train depot.


title: Galați

text: The railway park is located north of the railway, near the railway tunnel, the terminus of railway lines (102 and 104) and a nursing home.


title: Galați

text: The Botanical Garden dominates the left bank of the Danube at Galați. Its southern slope is the site of the Museum of Natural History in Galați. The museum has collections of tropical and subtropical plants (cactuses, euphorbias, palms, crotons, geraniums, begonias, etc.) rosary chic, over 200 varieties of roses, flora and vegetation. There are over 3000 specimens of tree species and shrubs, an oak area with more than 50 examples of birch and conifers, and a replica Japanese garden.


title: Galați

text: Both are located at the northern exit of town. Garboavele Forest Zoo is included in the Natural Sciences Museum Complex. The zoo keeps various exotic species. Riding enthusiasts can practice their sport at the zoo. The zoo theme was developed together with experts from European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, and aims to preserve rare animals and provide conservation education.


title: Galați

text: Hunters Lake is located in Galați's far north-east. It covers 28 hectares of land including an 11 hectare natural lake; a 10 hectare forest of acacia; and 10 hectares of developed parkland for recreation.


title: Galați

text: This park is located outside Galați proper on the road to Brăila. The complex has three swimming pools, houses, camping sites and a restaurant. There is also a western club that is equipped with a pool, restaurant, bar and cafe.


title: Galați

text: The waterfront is a green recreational area for walking, sports competitions and recitals. Boats moored on the shores of the Danube are converted into restaurants. Also, there are many original iron relics and a statue of Nicolae Balcescu.


title: Galați

text: The beach is located in south-west Galați. Popular in the summer, it has two large pools and three smaller pools for children, each with a slide. There is a beach, some restaurants and shower facilities.


title: Galați

text: This is a private beach with clean sand situated on the left bank of Lake Brates. Nearby is the Galați–Bereștiul Barlad railway line.


title: Galați

text: This theatre was opened in 1955. It is named after the actress (1823–1908). The theatre supports a yearly comedy festival, "Festingal".


title: Galați

text: Nae Leonard was known locally as "the prince of the operetta". Opened in 1956, the Nae Leonard National Theatre of Opera and Operetta was originally called "The Theatre of Operetta and Variety Art of Galați County".


title: Galați

text: The Gulliver Theatre was opened on 1 October 1952. It is devoted to children's theatre such as puppetry, for example.


title: Galați

text: The Botanical Gardens on the south bank, hosts a planetarium. There is also an aquarium displaying rare species of the Danube basin and the Mediterranean Sea as well as exotic fish.


title: Galați

text: The museum was inaugurated on 24 January 1939. This was the 80th anniversary of the union of the Romanian principalities. It is housed in the residence of Cuza, Galați's chief magistrate. In 1951, after World War II, scientific activity resumed at the museum. In 1956, some items were donated to the Natural History museum and the museum of art. The finds from Tirighina-Bărboși are housed in this museum.


title: Galați

text: When the Galați visual arts museum opened in 1967, it was the first contemporary arts museum in Romania. It has halls and outdoor exhibit spaces. There are also spaces for artists' workshops. The heritage section exhibits Romanian art in the second half of the nineteenth and avant-garde art from the twentieth century.


title: Galați

text: This museum at the entrance to the Garboavele forest has small village buildings to display the traditional Romanian life in the Lower Danube.


title: Galați

text: This museum has philatelic and numismatic collections. It is situated near the Memorial House of Alexandru Ioan Cuza.


title: Galați

text: Galați has a deep rivalry with neighbouring Brăila. This conflict has a long history and has reached the point of being studied by academics. In fact, a group of Romanian researchers have already published the book "Galați - Brăila. Trecut. Actualitate. Perspective" ("Galați - Brăila. Past. Present. Perspectives").


title: Galați

text: Galați has the largest iron and steel plant in Romania, the Galați steel works, which was state-owned until 2001, now owned by ArcelorMittal. It is still commonly referred to as "Sidex", its old name.


title: Galați

text: Romania's largest shipyard is located in Galați. It benefits from easy access to the Black Sea and from its co-location with the ArcelorMittal Plant.


title: Galați

text: As of 2011 census data, 249,432 inhabitants live within the city limits, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2002 census.


title: Galați

text: The largest ethnic group in Galați are Romanians (98.54%). The second largest but less than 1% of the total are the Roma (0.78%). In smaller numbers are Lipovans (0.07%), Greeks (0.07%) and Hungarians (0.09%). Other groups number 0.27% in all.


title: Galați

text: Galați has educational facilities catering to all ages and scholastic levels. School Nr. 24 (Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel) is the oldest school in the county. It was founded in 1832. In 1896 it was located inside the Mitoc Monastery. On 26 October 1896 the current school building was inaugurated.


title: Galați

text: The University of Galați, founded in 1974, includes 11 faculties (with two unique faculties in Romania: "The Faculty of Naval Architecture" and "Department of Food Science and Engineering") and 3 colleges.


title: Galați

text: The "Danubius University" is a private institution with departments in legal, economic and social studies fields.


title: Galați

text: Galați also hosts several specialized research institutes. Four are unique within Romania: Icepronav (Research and Design Institute for Shipbuilding), Uzinsider Engineering (Institute for Research and Design for flat metal products), the Research Institute of Fish and the Wine Research Station Targu Bujor.


title: Galați

text: In February 2013, Galați was the host city of the general meeting of the , a forum of the Romanian Ministry of Education.


title: Galați

text: In 1889, the V. A. Urechia Library was founded through the benevolence of Vasile Alexandrescu Urechia. In 1991, the library moved to a new purpose-built site. The library maintains its own local history collection as well as a rare book collection.


title: Galați

text: This library was established in 1939. It is associated with teacher training and hosts an active literary circle.


title: Galați

text: Public transport in Galați is provided by a combination of trams, trolleybuses and buses (all of which are operated by Transurb, an agency of the municipality).


title: Galați

text: Galați railway station has straight train services to cities such as Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Brașov and Iași all year and in the summer to Constanța.


title: Galați

text: "Explosion" (1973) is a communist film made entirely in Galați. It is based on a true incident involving a Panamanian vessel, loaded with ammonium nitrate, which threatened to explode and destroy Galați and Brăila.


title: Galați

text: In Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula", Galați ("Galatz") is the port at which Count Dracula disembarked from the "Czarina Catherine" on his way back to Transylvania.


title: Galați

text: This is a film about tunnels built in the ruins of Tirighina being used to protect Germans in World War II. It was based on a play called "The road to Constanta".


title: Galați

text: This is a film made in Bucharest, in the "Film Production Center", Buftea. It was directed by Liviu Ciulei, from a screenplay by Dumitru Munteanu Caraba and Francis. It stars Irina Petrescu, who makes her debut as the wife of a barge driver. Lazarus Vrabie plays an undercover officer. Ciulei is the barge driver. Lucian Pintilie played the part of a German soldier.


title: Galați

text: Video of Galați is seen in tourist documentaries, documentaries about World War II and clips of Lautars singers.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War (; "Taegukgi Hwinallimyeo") is a 2004 South Korean wartime action drama film directed by Kang Je-gyu. It stars Jang Dong-gun and Won Bin and tells the story of two brothers who are forcibly drafted into the South Korean army at the outbreak of the Korean War.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: Kang Je-gyu made a name for himself directing "Shiri" and was able to attract top talent and capital to his new project, eventually spending 12.8 million USD on production. The film became one of the biggest successes in the South Korean film history up to that time, attracting 11.74 million people to the theatre, beating the previous record holder "Silmido".


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: In 2003, while digging up remains at a Korean War battlefield to set up a memorial site, a South Korean army excavation team notifies an elderly man that they identified some remains as his own even though he is still alive.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: 53 years earlier, in June 1950, the Lee family goes about their lives in the South Korean capital of Seoul. Lee Jin-tae owns a shoeshine stand to pay for his younger brother Jin-seok's education. Jin-tae has also bought them a silver pen, a precious item the brothers share, and is working on a pair of immaculate shoes for his brother to wear to school. Jin-tae's fiancée, Young-shin, works with the Lees' noodle shop. On June 25, 1950, North Korea invades South Korea, and both brothers are forcibly conscripted. They are assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, fighting at the Pusan Perimeter before advancing north upon the successful U.S. amphibious landing at Inchon. Jin-tae is told by a superior that if he can earn the highest award for a South Korean soldier, the Taeguk Cordon of the Order of Military Merit, his brother can be sent home. Jin-tae volunteers for many dangerous missions and performs suicidal acts of bravery to earn the medal, and is quickly promoted to sergeant. His heroism during the urban Battle of Pyongyang finally results in Jin-tae's nomination for the medal, but his combat experiences have made him into an emotionless killer, which horrifies his younger brother.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: The U.N. coalition is eventually forced to retreat all the way back to Seoul when the Chinese enter the war on the North Korean side. Jin-tae finally earns his medal, but in Seoul, Young-shin, suspected of joining the Communist party during the Communist occupation, is arrested by a South Korean militia, and the brothers attempt to stop them. During the struggle, Young-shin is shot dead, and the brothers are arrested for trying to rescue her. In jail Jin-tae's request to release his brother is refused, and the security commander orders the prison set afire with the prisoners inside when the enemy forces approach. Trying to rescue his brother, Jin-tae loses consciousness and wakes up believing Jin-seok died in the fire. He murders the surrendering prison warden before being captured by Chinese soldiers.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: In truth, however, Jin-seok had been transferred to a military hospital after barely escaping, rescued by "Uncle Yang", a now-disabled veteran from their old unit. Jin-seok learns that his brother had defected to the North Koreans and now leads an elite North Korean formation known as the "Flag Unit".


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: Jin-seok chooses to rejoin the Army, which has by now retaken all of what is today South Korea with U.N. support. He demands to be allowed to fight, at the 38th parallel, but is denied. Jin-seok eventually defects, claiming to his captors he is Jin-tae's brother. The North Koreans, however, believe Jin-seok is a spy and are about to take him away for interrogation when their position is attacked by U.S. and South Korean forces. The attack frees Jin-seok, who continues his search as the position is captured in a vicious hand-to-hand battle. Before the U.N. forces can secure their gains, however, the "Flag Unit" arrives, tearing into them with Jin-tae at its head.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: The brothers come face-to-face, but, not recognizing Jin-seok, Jin-tae attempts to kill him, and Jin-seok barely avoids death before his brother is briefly incapacitated. Jin-seok attempts to carry him away but is shot in the leg. With both of them wounded, Jin-tae finally recognizes his younger brother, and the two have a tearful reunion. This is cut short, however, as the North Koreans force back the U.S. and South Korean troops. Jin-Tae orders his brother to save himself. Jin-seok initially refuses but relents after Jin-Tae promises that they will meet again. As the wounded Jin-seok limps to safety, Jin-tae mans a machine gun and provides cover fire for his younger brother and the other South Koreans before being killed.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: In 2003, the elderly Jin-seok stands at the excavation site; the remains initially identified as his are those of Jin-tae. He examines Jin-tae's few excavated belongings, including their long-lost silver pen, and begs his brother's skeletal remains to speak to him, quoting his promises as his granddaughter looks on with sympathy.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: Back in the 1950s, in the aftermath of the Korean War, Jin-seok returns to his mother, who also survived, discovers the shoes to which his brother had dedicated himself to perfecting, and heads off with Young-shin's younger siblings in a now-peaceful, but ruined, Seoul as the nation begins rebuilding. He reassures them that he will return to school, fulfilling the promise he made to Jin-tae.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: Prior to Kim Jae-joong's debut as a singer, he worked as extra, one is a Corpse hazardous excavation site unit and the other is a Chinese soldier (uncredited).


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: Jo Sung-mo also worked as an extra, playing a soldier of the North Korean People's Army (uncredited).


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: The film's title is the name of the pre-war flag of the People's Republic of Korea, the flag of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea as well as the current flag of South Korea, featuring the Taegeuk symbol. It was released in the United Kingdom as "Brotherhood: Taegukgi" and the United States as "Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War".


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: The music was composed by Lee Dong-june, and released on February 23, 2004 as a single CD, produced by Yejeon Media in South Korea and Avex Trax in Japan. It has 25 tracks, with seven bonus tracks, including a solo piano and chamber ensemble arrangement of the main theme. The "haunting" main theme's lyricism, present throughout several of the tracks, was compared favorably to music of film score composers Ennio Morricone and John Williams. Although it was received generally positively, one critic argued that the film was tragic enough already, and needed "a more subtle soundtrack."


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: At the 50th Asia Pacific Film Festival, "Taegukgi" won the "Best Film" award, while Kang Je-gyu was awarded the "Best Director". It was one of four Korean movies screened at the 2006 International Fajr Film Festival in Iran. At the 2004 Grand Bell Awards, the main awards for film in South Korea, "Taegukgi" won three technical awards, for art direction, cinematography and sound effects.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: According to the numbers at Box Office Mojo, "Taegukgi" earned ₩64.8 billion in South Korea, $1.1 million in the United States playing in limited release and $68.7 million overall worldwide, to finish as the 75th highest-grossing film in the world in 2004.


title: Taegukgi (film)

text: In addition to its record-breaking reception in South Korea, the film has also achieved positive responses abroad. "Taegukgi" holds a fresh rating of 80% at Rotten Tomatoes. Most positive reviews cite its unflinching portrayal of war and praise it for showing the brutality of both the North and South Korean armies. The film is also recommended by the "War Nerd" Gary Brecher.


title: Jin Ji-hee

text: She began her career as a child actress, and is best known for her roles in the relationship drama "Alone in Love" (2006), the horror fairytale "Hansel and Gretel" (2007), the family sitcom "High Kick Through the Roof" (2009), and the teen mystery series "Schoolgirl Detectives" (2014).


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: Hasan ibn Ali ibn Muhammad (; ), better known as Hasan al-Askari (), was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is regarded as the eleventh of the Twelve Imams, succeeding his father, Ali al-Hadi. Hasan Al-Askari was born in Medina in 844 and brought with his father to the garrison town of Samarra in 848, where the Abbasid caliphs held them under close surveillance until their deaths, even though neither were politically active. After the death of al-Hadi in 868, the majority of his following acknowledged his son, al-Askari, as their next Imam. Al-Askari's contact with the Shia population was restricted by the caliphs and instead he communicated with his followers through a network of representatives. He died in Samarra in 873-874 at the age of about twenty-eight and was buried in the family home next to his father, which later developed into al-Askari shrine, a major center for Shia pilgrimage. Shia sources commonly hold the Abbasids responsible for the death of al-Askari and his father. A well-known early Shia commentary of the Quran is attributed to al-Askari.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: Al-Askari died without leaving an obvious heir, which created widespread confusion and fragmented the Shia community into several sects, all of which disappeared within a few decades except the Twelver Shia. The Twelvers hold that al-Askari had a son, commonly known as Muhammad al-Mahdi (), who was kept hidden from the public out of the fear of Abbasid persecution. Al-Mahdi succeeded to the imamate after the death of his father and entered a state of occultation. His life is said to be miraculously prolonged until the day he manifests himself again by God's permission to fill the earth with justice. Though in occultation, the Imam still remains responsible in Twelver belief for the spiritual guidance of humankind and the Shia accounts of his occasional encounters with the pious are numerous and popular.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: Hasan ibn Ali is known by the titles al-Samet (), al-Hadi (), and al-Zaki (), though his most common title is al-Askari ()، on the account of his almost life-long detention in Samarra, a garrison town not far from Baghdad which was the capital of the Abbasids at the time. As a great-grandson of Ali al-Rida, the eighth of the Twelve Imams, Hasan was also known by his contemporaries as Ibn al-Rida (lit. 'son of al-Rida').


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: Most Shia sources state that Hasan ibn Ali was born in Rabi' al-Awwal 230 AH (November 844), though other given dates range from 845 to 847. The Shia currently celebrate 8 Rabi' al-Thani as his birthday. Hasan was born in Medina, though Donaldson has cast doubt on this, as he is uncertain between Medina and Samarra. His father was the tenth Shia Imam, Ali al-Hadi, and his mother was a freed slave ("umm walad"), whose name is variously given as Hudayth, Susan, or Salil in different sources. At the age of about two, Hasan was brought to Samarra with his father in 233 or 234 AH (847-849), where the latter was held under close surveillance by the Abbasid caliphs until his death in 254 (868), some twenty years later.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: When Hasan was about twenty-two, an agent of his father is said to have providentially bought a Byzantine concubine, named Narjis (Narcissus), who was given to Hasan in marriage, and later bore him his only son. Other sources give her name variously as Saqil, Sawsan, and Rayhana. The detailed accounts of Majlesi and Tusi describe Narjis as a captured granddaughter of the Byzantine emperor and a pious woman who was told in a dream about her future union with Hasan, though these accounts have been described as hagiographic. Some other accounts describe Narjis as Nubian.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: After the death of al-Hadi in 868, the majority of his followers acknowledged his son, Hasan al-Askari, as their next Imam. Shia sources report that al-Hadi designated Hasan as the next Imam a few months before his death. After al-Hadi, his another son, Ja'far, unsuccessfully claimed the imamate for himself. Madelung adds that some had expected another son of al-Hadi, Abu Ja'far Moḥammad, to be the next Imam but he predeceased his father in Samarra.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: The imamate of al-Askari began in 868 and lasted only about six years, overlapping with the caliphates of the Abbasid al-Mu'tazz, al-Muhtadi, and al-Mu'tamid. During these years, though not politically active, al-Askari mostly lived under house arrest in Samarra, subject to constant surveillance. He therefore communicated with his followers mostly through a network of representatives, notably Uthman ibn Sa'id. Tabatabai and Sachedina write that al-Askari was not allowed any social contact with the general Shia population. Tabatabai also suggests that these restrictions were placed on al-Askari because the caliphate had come to know about the traditions, circulating among the Shia elite, which predicted that the eleventh Imam would father the eschatological Mahdi. Small groups of (), mostly formed earlier, continued their activities in the lifetime of al-Askari. They often conferred divinity on the Shia Imams and included the Namiriya, who followed Mohammad ibn Nosayr Namiri in Kufa, and the Eshaqiya, the adherents of Eshaq ibn Moḥammad Nakha'i Basri in Basra, Baghdad, and Mada'in.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: After the death of his father in 868, al-Askari was imprisoned by al-Mu'tazz in Baghdad, and he was kept in prison through the short reign of al-Muhtadi, the next caliph.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: The persecution of the Shia continued under al-Mu'tamid, a son of al-Mutawakkil. It is believed that most of al-Askari's prison experiences happened during the caliphate of al-Mu'tamid, who is represented in Shia sources as his main oppressor. Al-Askari is said to have criticized the caliph for restricting the administration of Khums (), the Islamic alms distributed among the descendants of the prophet, who were forbidden from receiving general alms in the prophet's lifetime. In his lifetime, a main source of assistance for the poor in his clan, the Banu Hashim, was the income of agricultural lands in Fadak. Historically, Abu Bakr, the first Rashidun caliph, discontinued the prophet's policies and, in particular, reappropriated Fadak as public property, forcing Banu Hashim to rely on general alms, possibly to undermine their claims to the caliphate and cut their privileges as the prophet's kins. This policy was partially reversed by his successor, Umar, and then by the Umayyad Umar II, though later caliphs again appended Fadak to the state treasury.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: At the age of about twenty-eight, al-Askari died on 1 or 8 Rabi' al-Awwal 260 AH (25 December 873 or 1 January 874) after a week-long illness. The Shia currently commemorate 8 Rabi' al-Awwal for this occasion. Shia sources commonly attribute his death to poisoning at the instigation of al-Mu'tamid. During the week of his illness, many notable Alid and Abbasid figures visited him on his deathbed and the caliph also sent his doctors and servants to attend the Imam. However, considering that al-Askari did not have an obvious heir, Tabatabai maintains that the caliph intended to closely monitor the Imam and later continued to search for his offspring after his death. Hussain, Amir-Moezzi, and Sachedina present similar accounts.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: Al-Askari was buried in the family home, next to his father, Ali al-Hadi. The house was later expanded to a major shrine by various Shia and Sunni patrons. More recently, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ordered to rebuild the complex in 1868-9 and the golden dome was added in 1905. The shrine also houses the tomb of his aunt, Hakima Khatun. As an important destination for Shia pilgrimage, the shrine was bombed in February 2006 and badly damaged. Another attack was executed on 13 June 2007, which led to the destruction of the two minarets of the shrine. Authorities in Iraq hold al-Qaeda responsible for this attack.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: As the eleventh Shia Imam, al-Askari died in 873-874 without leaving an obvious heir, which created widespread confusion () and fragmented the Shia community into up to twenty sects. All these sects, however, disappeared within a hundred years except the Twelver Shia. Some of them held that the imamate ceased with al-Askari and the Waqifiyya maintained that he would later emerge as the eschatological Mahdi. Others concluded that Muhammad ibn al-Hadi, a deceased brother of al-Askari, must have been the true Imam. Yet others accepted the imamate of Ja'far ibn al-Hadi, another brother of al-Askari, who had earlier unsuccessfully claimed the imamate for himself after the death of their father, al-Hadi. Some believed that the twelfth Imam would be born in the end of times to a descendant of al-Askari.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: The group that went on to become the Twelvers largely held that al-Askari had a son, named Abu al-Qasim Muhammad, same name as the prophet. Born around 255 (868), he is also known as Muhammad al-Mahdi (). Out of the fear of Abbasid persecution, Muhammad was kept hidden from the public and his existence was only known to a few trusted associates of the eleventh Imam. After the death of his father, Muhammad is said to have made his only public appearance to lead the funeral prayers for his father instead of his uncle, Ja'far. He was not seen publicly afterwards and entered a state of occultation for the fear of persecution. This is said to have happened in the family home in Samarra, where currently a mosque stands, under which there is a cellar () that hides a well (Bi'r al-Ghayba, ), into which al-Mahdi is said to have disappeared.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: Immediately after the death of al-Askari, his main representative (), Uthman al-Amri, claimed to be the Bab () to the hidden al-Mahdi. This was likely not a radical change for the Shia. Indeed, the tenth and eleventh Imams were also effectively in occultation for the majority of the Shia, as both Imams were held nearly isolated and under close surveillance by the Abbasid caliphs in Samarra. Uthman received petitions and made available their responses, sometimes in writing. According to Daftary, these responses were in Uthman's handwriting, whereas Hussain holds that the handwriting and style did not change even after Uthman's death, suggesting that the responses were written by al-Mahdi. This consistency, according to Hussain, partially explains the consensus of his followers on when the Major Occultation began.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: Uthman later introduced his son, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Uthman, as the next representative of al-Mahdi. In turn, he nominated Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti as the next representative. After about seventy years, this period of Minor Occultation () ended with the death of the fourth representative, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri, who is said to have received a letter from al-Mahdi in 329 (941). The letter predicted the death of Abu al-Hasan in six days and announced the beginning of the Major Occultation () which, the letter stated, would continue until God grants permission to al-Mahdi to manifest himself again in a time when the earth would be filled with tyranny. It has been noted that the number of these agents was not limited to four in early Shia sources, and Momen suggests that the former network of the representatives () likely continued to operate during the Lesser Occultation.


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: The Twelver doctrine of occultation () crystallized in the first half of the fourth (tenth) century. In its simplest form, this doctrine states that Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth Imam, did not die but has been concealed by God from the mankind and his life has been miraculously prolonged until the day he manifests himself again by God's permission to fill the earth with justice. This occultation continues until the life of Imam is not threatened by enemies, and until the humankind is ready to receive his guidance. During the Minor Occultation, he remained in contact with his followers through the four Babs (gates). During the Major Occultation, which started in 329 (941) and continues to this day, there is no direct communication, though the Imam still remains responsible in Shia belief for the spiritual guidance of humankind, as the sun behind a cloud still gives light and warmth. It also is believed that al-Mahdi occasionally appears to the pious in person or more commonly in dreams and visions. The accounts of these encounters are popular among the Shia. The Shia literature about the doctrine of occultation is extensive, based both on rational and textual arguments. One such instance is a famous hadith attributed to the prophet by both Shia and Sunni authorities. This hadith states that, "If the earth had only one day of existence left to it, God would prolong that day until a man of my posterity, whose name will be my name, and his surname my surname, manifests himself; he will fill the earth, filled till then with violence and oppression, with harmony and justice."


title: Hasan al-Askari

text: A well-known early Shia commentary of the Quran is attributed to al-Askari, which is believed to be authentic by some Shia authorities, notably, al-Mufid. In the context of Shia responsibilities in the absence of Imams, a hadith ascribed to al-Askari is given by Mavani. The hadith states that, "It is obligatory for the populace to follow the jurist who refrains from committing wrong, mentions his faith, opposes carnal desire, and obeys Allah’s command." Haider quotes a hadith, attributed to al-Askari, about the specific characteristics that distinguish a Shia from the wider mass of Muslims: "There are five signs of a believer: fifty-one cycles of prayer [every day], the pilgrimage to Husayn's tomb forty days after the anniversary of his death, the wearing of a ring on the right hand, the placing of the forehead on the earth in prostration, and the audible recitation of the () [during daily prayers]." In the context of intercession (), al-Askari is reported to have said that only a small fraction of God’s mercy () has been dispersed among His creation in this world. All of God's mercy will be diffused on the Day of Judgement by means of which true Muslims will successfully intercede on behalf of their communities.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd) are a Hindu Brahmin community of the north. The Konkani speaking Gaud Saraswat of Goa and southern India claim to be descendents of these Gaud Saraswat Brahmins of the north that migrated to Konkan from Gaud, as per the Skanda Purana.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: There are many interpretations on how the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins received the name "Gaud" and the information about it is scant.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: Authors Jose Patrocinio De Souza and Alfred D'Cruz interpreters that the word "Gauda" or "Goud" may have been taken from "Ghaggar", with "Goud" and "Saraswat" having the same meaning, that is an individual residing on the banks of river Saraswati.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: Historically, Jana Tschurenev states that the Shenvis were a community that claimed to be Brahmins. The name GSB is a modern construction based on newly curated caste history and origin legends.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: Deshpande writes that as per Sahyadrikhanda, "Chitpavan and Karhade brahmins are "new creations of base-origins" and not a part of "established Gaud or Dravid groups". After Parashuram created the Chitpawans from fishermen who had assembled around some funeral pyre in Konkan, their later actions displeased him. As if to rectify his mistake, Parashuram brought ten sages from North India, specifically, Trihotra (Trihut, Bihar) and set them up in Goa for performing ancestral rites, fire sacrifice and dinner offerings. The fourth chapter of Sahyadrikhanda describes the Gotras of these Brahmins and praises them as "best brahmins, honored by the kings, good-looking, with righteous behavior, and expert in all rites".


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: The Gauḍa Sārasvat brahmins from southern India, whose claim to Brahminhood was often not accepted by the surrounding Dravid Brahmins, could use this text from Sahyadrikhanda to address the conflict. Wagle makes no judgement on the validity of the claim of Northern origin and writes:


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: However, Bambardekar believes that in fact the Pancha Dravid Brahmins are the original Gauda Brahmins and cites a verse from the Skanda Puran to prove his assertion and thus does not accept the Gauda or Brahmin claim of the Gauda Saraswats.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: In addition, as per some modern scholars like Hewitt, the Sahyadrikhanda is considered corrupted by many modifications and interpolations to the original. As an example, Madhav Deshpande cites the 4th verse from chapter-I which when translated is:.Deshpande considers this as a "sloppy interpolation" to get Trihotra in the list of Brahmin migrations as the Gaud Saraswats group has migrated from Trihotra in northern India as per the text. There is a reference to Kānyakubja in this verse and Kanoji in the previous although they are the same.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: After commercial activities in the Indian Ocean increased after the 1400s, Pius Malekandathil states that "many Indians, particularly the banyas, the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins began to move to different marts of this maritime space to conduct trade, where they eventually set up nucleus for Indian diasporas"


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: South Kanara is part of the Kanara coast from Goa to Kerala. In the sixteenth century, the increase and export of rice production here was brought about by the GSB, the Bunts and Billava coconut growers. The Gaud Saraswat Brahmin - which Marine Carrin and Lidia Guzy describe as a "Konkani speaking community of traders [who were] already established along the coast" now became the major rice exporters. The Bunts controlled the land while the GSB controlled the rice trade in the markets. Thus in South Kanara, the GSB were merchants by occupation and not priests who served in temples. The priestly as well as clerical function was performed by Shivalli Brahmins. This remains the case even in modern times although other castes have entered the trading occupations now.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: During the Portuguese rule and later, they were again one of the main trading communities. They also served as "village - Kulkarnis, financiers, tax-farmers in the intra-Asian trade, and diplomatic agents". Many sources of government income in Goa, Konkan and elsewhere, including taxes on cloth and tobacco, were controlled by them. Some engaged with Tobacco trade with Brazil in the early eighteenth century.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: In the mid-19th century, in Portuguese India, the trade in Goa changed focus from luxury items to essential items only. Coconut, salt, areca-nuts, fruits and poultry were exported, whereas rice and timber were imported. According to Borges, Pereira and Stubbe, of the trading communities, the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and Gujarati Vania played the major role in this trade and Mormugao city became the major meeting place for the traders. British and Portuguese interests clashed during this time.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: In Maharashtra, Saraswats had served as administrators under the Deccan Sultanates such as the Adil Shahi. In 18th century during the Maratha empire era, the Shinde and the Holkar rulers of Ujjain and Indore recruited Saraswats to fill their administrative positions.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: A sample study in the 1970s in Kota, Karnataka found that the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins owned most of the grocery and general merchandise stores.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: In Kalhana's "Rajatarangini" (12th century CE), the Saraswats are mentioned as one of the five Pancha Gauda Brahmin communities residing to the north of the Vindhyas.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: Reference to Saraswat names are found in Shilaharas as well as Kadamba copper plate inscriptions. The inscriptions found in Goa bear testimony to the arrival of Brahmin families in the Konkan region.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: The Shilahara kings seem to have invited supposedly pure Aryan Brahmins and Kshatriyas from the Indo-Gangetic plain to settle in Konkan. These castes are the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: The GSB ancestors identified themselves as of the Saraswat section of the northern Gaud division, in contrast to their Maharashtra and Karnataka Brahman neighbours of the southern division. Many Saraswats left Goa after the invasion of Malik Kafur to the neighbouring regions and during the period of religious persecution of the Portuguese also Saraswats migrated to Uttar Kannada, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Kerala and South Konkan.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: Historian Farias states that the Gaud Saraswats supposedly intermarried with women from other castes after their arrival in Goa.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: There were varna disputes related to the Shenvi subsection of the GSB. The Brahmins of Maharashtra, i.e. Deshastha, Chitpavan and Karhade were unanimous in the rejection of the Brahmin claim of the (Shenvi)Gaud Saraswat Brahmins. Bambardekar, a prominent researcher on Konkan's history, in his 20th-century "Bhaṭṭojidīkṣitajñātiviveka" also rejects the Brahmin claim of the Shenvi GSB as well as their "gauda-ness". He argues that the Seṇavīs adopted the term Gauḍa-Sārasvata in the latter part of the 19th century. According to Bambardekar, the (Shenvi)GSBs have falsified the Kannada word "gowḍa" meaning ‘village chief’ as being identical with the Sanskrit word "gauḍa" and challenges their Brahmin status itself. Bambardekar cites a document from 1694 AD and another from 1863 AD in which the Brahmins and Shenvis are separately listed. University of Michigan scholar Madhav M. Deshpande cites R.V.Parulekar and states that " British administrative documents from the early 19th century Maharashtra always list brahmins and Shenvis as two separate castes". Irawati Karve and G. S. Ghurye consider GSB's as part of larger Saraswat Brahmins and overall Brahmin community. The Hindu scripture Sahayadhri Khanda provided support for the Brahmanical genealogy of the GSB.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: Gaud Saraswat Brahmins have both Madhvas and Smarthas among them. The Gaud Saraswats following Dvaita Vedanta of Madhvacharya are followers of Kashi Math and Gokarna Math, while the followers of Advaita Vedanta of Adi Shankara are followers of Kavale Math and Chitrapur Math. Among Gaud Saraswat Brahmins the Madhvas are Vaishnavites, while the Smarthas are considered as Shivites & Shaktites. According to author A B de Bragnanca Pereira says, "The main deities worshipped by Shaivite are Mangesh, Shantadurga, and Saptakoteshwar, while the Vaishnavites deities are Nagesh, Ramnath, Mahalakshmi, Mahalasa, Lakshmi, Narasimha, Venkataramana, Kamaksha, Bhagwati and Damodar". Most of the GSB's in the Malabar Coast, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu regions are followers of Madhvacharya. In Goa, the GSB's who follow Madhvacharya and are mainly concentrated in the Bardez and Salcete regions.


title: Gaud Saraswat Brahmin

text: Vaishnavite GSB who follow Madhvacharya are lacto-vegetarian. while the Smarthas include seafood as part of their diet. Historian Kranti K Farias states that "Their main food is rice - called "congi" or "Pej". Shakta Smarthas offer and then consume mutton, fowl and liquor during the worship of the female divine.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: Lyndon John Dykes (born 7 October 1995) is a footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Queens Park Rangers. Born and raised in Australia to Scottish parents, he represents the Scotland national team. Dykes previously played for Mudgeeraba, Merrimac, Redlands United and Surfers Paradise Apollo in Australia, and for Queen of the South and Livingston in Scotland.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: Dykes was born on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. He moved to Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, playing rugby league as a youth. As a child, Dykes had a season pass to the Canberra Raiders and idolised captain Ruben Wiki at the time. In his youth, Dykes also played basketball, rugby union and Aussie Rules football. After returning to Australia from a stint with Queen of the South Under-20s team, Dykes worked in a factory for sports company BLK.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: Dykes said of his background, "My parents are Scottish. They are from Dumfries. My dad is from just outside Dumfries, a small town called Moniaive." His elder sister Hollie was a gold medal-winning gymnast for Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Dykes' son was born in Scotland.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: Dykes spent part of his younger years living and playing rugby league in Canberra where his family settled. Dykes attracted the interest of the Canberra Raiders after helping Gungahlin Bulls to a cup final win. The move never came about as Dykes suffered an injury and his family moved back to the Gold Coast.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: His uncle, a former footballer, introduced him to association football as he moved back to the Gold Coast. Dykes played youth football for Mudgeeraba before joining Merrimac. He then played in the 2015 National Premier Leagues Queensland with Redlands United and joined Gold Coast City FC the year after but soon departed to play that season for Surfers Paradise Apollo SC for one month. Dykes was rejected by A-League sides such as Brisbane Roar when playing football in Australia.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: Dykes toured England with the Australian schoolboys, after which he visited relatives in Dumfries, the home town of his parents. He then returned to Dumfries to play for the Queen of the South Under-20s team. He scored 22 goals in 14 competitive matches at this level before returning to Australia in January 2015.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: On 7 June 2016, Dykes returned to Scotland and signed for Queen of the South, who had Gavin Skelton as their manager at that time. Dykes' senior competitive debut was representing Queen's when aged 20 in a 2–0 Scottish League Cup win versus Queen's Park at the Excelsior Stadium on 16 July. His first senior goal was on 9 August in the Queen's 3–1 League Cup win over Hibernian.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: On 7 December 2017, Dykes signed an extension to his contract that kept him at the club until 31 May 2019. In three years in Dumfries, he played in 86 league matches, scoring 10 league goals and in 31 cup matches scoring nine cup goals for the Doonhamers. His best position for the "Doonhamers" was as a foil for Queens main striker Stephen Dobbie, especially when Dobbie scored 43 goals in the 2018–19 season, although he was also played on the wings.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: On 30 January 2019, Dykes secured a two-year contract to join Livingston, but the "Doonhamers" reached an agreement with the West Lothian club for him to return to Palmerston Park on loan until the end of the 2018-19 season. Dykes was utilised as a central striker at the "Lions". He scored on his senior competitive debut for the Lions in a 1–1 League Cup draw at Falkirk on 13 July. On 12 September, he extended his contract with the Lions for an additional season until May 2022. On 6 October, he scored the second goal in the 2–0 home league win versus Celtic. On 21 December, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win versus Ross County, the first time a Livingston player had done so in the top flight.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: On 16 August 2020, Livingston announced that a bid has been accepted from a Championship club for Dykes. Three days later, it was announced that he joined Queens Park Rangers. Dykes' transfer fee broke Livingston's club record previously held by the sale of David Fernandez to Celtic in 2002. Queen of the South are due a six-figure fee as part of the deal, as a sell-on clause was included when Dykes was sold to Livingston, with the figure likely to surpass the club's £250,000 record fee received when Andy Thomson moved to Southend United in 1994.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: On 19 August 2020, Dykes signed a four-year deal for English club Queens Park Rangers for a reported fee of £2m. On 12 September, Dykes scored on his competitive debut for the club, scoring a penalty in the 54th minute, in a 2–0 win versus Nottingham Forest. In April 2021, Dykes was named the club's Player of the Month after scoring six goals in six games most notably scoring a brace in a 4–1 win over Sheffield Wednesday on 10 April. Dykes had finished the season as QPR's top scorer with 12 goals and 5 assists.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: On 16 October 2021, Dykes scored in the West London derby in Queens Park Rangers’ 4–1 loss against Fulham in the Championship.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: Dykes played for Australia schoolboys prior to joining Queen of the South. He was eligible to represent either Australia (where he was born) or Scotland.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: When playing with Livingston, Australia’s assistant manager Rene Meulensteen came to watch Dykes play against Celtic in October 2019. The same week, Scotland manager Steve Clarke also contacted Dykes, who "went with my heart and my gut" and chose Scotland. On 25 August 2020, Dykes was named in the Scotland squad for the first time for UEFA Nations League matches versus Israel and the Czech Republic. He made had his international debut in a 1–1 draw with Israel on 4 September and then scored his first goal for Scotland a few days later in a 2–1 victory over the Czech Republic. On 11 October, Dykes scored the winner in a Nations League match against Slovakia which ended 1–0 after steering home Stephen O'Donnell's low cross.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: On 19 May 2021, Dykes was named in Scotland's UEFA Euro 2020 squad after becoming the nation's first choice striker alongside Che Adams. On 14 June, he played 79 minutes of Scotland's opening game which resulted in a 2–0 defeat to the Czech Republic. On 18 June, he played the full 90 minutes in the fixture against England at Wembley Stadium which ended in a 0–0 draw. On 22 June, he started in a 3–1 defeat to Croatia which ended Scotland's Euros campaign.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: On 4 September 2021, Dykes scored in the only goal against Moldova in a 2022 World Cup qualifier. Three days later he scored a 30th-minute penalty in another 1–0 win for Scotland, this time away to Austria in the same competition. The following month, Dykes scored in narrow wins over Israel and the Faroe Islands, becoming the first Scotland player to score in four consecutive matches since Colin Stein in 1969.


title: Lyndon Dykes

text: In a UEFA Nations League match against Ukraine on 21 September 2022, Dykes came off the bench in the 77th minute to score a brace, in the 80th and 87th minutes respectively, to secure a 3–0 win for Scotland.


title: African dance

text: African dance refers to the various dance styles of Sub-Saharan Africa. These dances are closely connected with the traditional rhythms and music traditions of the region. Music and dancing is an integral part of many traditional African societies. Songs and dances facilitate teaching and promoting social values, celebrating special events and major life milestones, performing oral history and other recitations, and spiritual experiences. African dance utilizes the concepts of polyrhythm and total body articulation. African dances are a collective activity performed in large groups, with significant interaction between dancers and onlookers in the majority of styles.


title: African dance

text: Traditional dance in Africa occurs collectively, expressing the values and desires of the community more than that of individuals or couples. Although dances may appear spontaneous, they are usually strictly choreographed. Improvisation is limited as it places the focus on the individual over the group. Early outsider commentaries noted the absence of the kind of close couple dancing popular in Europe and North America: such dancing was thought to be immoral or in poor taste in many traditional African societies. Among the Yoruba, to give a specific example, touching while dancing is rare except in special circumstances. The only African country whose traditional dances involve partners is Cameroon.


title: African dance

text: Dances are usually segregated by sex, where gender roles in children and other community structures such as kinship, age, and political status are often reinforced. Many dances are divided by gender, as a result of associations with gender-divided labor, as well as cultural beliefs about gender roles and gender expressions. Dances celebrate the passage from childhood to adulthood or spiritual worship. Among the Lunda people of Zambia, for example, young girls remain in seclusion for months to practice the dance for their coming of age ritual.


title: African dance

text: In traditional African societies, children begin to learn their traditional songs, rhythms, and dances from the moment of birth, starting with the lullabies sung by their mothers. While carried on their mother's backs during day-to-day work and social events, they are exposed to the music their mothers sing or listen to. Thomas Edward Bodwich, an early European observer, noted that "children will move their heads and limbs, while on their mother's backs, in exact unison with the tune which is playing." Many traditional African children's games, particularly in western and central Africa, include elements that promote the child's ability to understand rhythms. When children are old enough to attempt the dance moves, they imitate accomplished older dancers until they can replicate the dances precisely. They are only permitted to improvise when they have mastered the prescribed choreography.


title: African dance

text: Musical accompaniment for African dances is highly varied. Most dances make use of the human voice in the form of singing, shouting, recitations, grunts, whispering, and other vocalizations. Many groups use drums. In an African community, coming together in response to the beating of the drum is an opportunity to give one another a sense of belonging and of solidarity, a time to connect with each other and be part of a collective rhythm of the life in which young and old, rich and poor, men and women are all invited to contribute to the society. On the other hand, nomadic groups such as the Maasai do not traditionally use drums.


title: African dance

text: Many African dances are polyrhythmic, that is, they utilize two or more conflicting rhythms simultaneously. Dancers may synchronize the movements of different body parts to different rhythms, or alternate fluidly between rhythms. Dancers in Nigeria, for example, commonly combine at least two rhythms in their movement, or three if they are particularly talented. Any more than that is a rare feat. They may also add rhythmic components independent of those in the music. Very complex movements are possible even though the body does not move through space.


title: African dance

text: Dance historian Jacqui Malone describes how different groups use body parts in distinct ways: "The Anlo-Ewe and Lobi of Ghana emphasize the upper body, while the Kalabari of Nigeria give a subtle accent to the hips. The Akan of Ghana use the feet and hands in specific ways. Strong contraction-release movements of the pelvis and upper torso characterize both male and female dancing in Agbor."


title: 2022 WNBA season

text: The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions.


title: 2022 WNBA season

text: The WNBA's second Commissioner's Cup took place during the regular season, with the Las Vegas Aces winning over the Sky. In the playoffs, the Aces were the first seed and won the Finals over the Connecticut Sun.


title: 2022 WNBA season

text: The regular season was expanded to 36 games per team, is the most games scheduled in a single WNBA season. A 36-game season was originally scheduled for 2020, but the plan was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This season also marked the return of an all-series playoffs, which was last used in 2015, instead of the prior schedule of two rounds of single-elimination games and byes for the higher seeded teams. The first round series used a 2–1 format, with the higher seed hosting the first two games (differing from the 1–1–1 format used up to 2015). The semifinals and finals remained best-of-five series. The playoffs began on August 17 and concluded on September 18.


title: 2022 WNBA season

text: In May 2022, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that during this upcoming season, the league would honor the Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner with a “BG42” floor decal in a notable spot on the court of all 12 teams. The Mercury center has been detained in Russia since February 2022 after customs officials said they found hashish oil in her luggage at an airport.


title: 2022 WNBA season

text: The Washington Mystics won the first pick in the 2022 WNBA draft in the draft lottery. They were followed by the Indiana Fever for second, Atlanta Dream for third, and Los Angeles Sparks for fourth. The Sparks had traded their pick to the Dallas Wings before the lottery, who subsequently sent the pick to the Fever in a trade that helped Dallas secure Teaira McCowan. As part of a three-team trade, Washington and Atlanta swapped lottery picks, resulting in each team receiving 2022's third and first picks respectively. The Fever ended up with four top-10 picks, and seven overall.


title: 2022 WNBA season

text: In March 2022, the league announced plans to feature the broadcasts of nine regular season games on ABC, five on ESPN, and ten on ESPN2totaling 25 games, including the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game. The league also revealed that those same channels will air the entire 2022 postseason, which could consist of as many as 27 games.


title: 2022 WNBA season

text: The remaining national broadcast schedule was released in April and May 2022including two regular season games on CBS and 38 on CBS Sports Network, 46 on NBA TV, 16 on Amazon Prime Video, 20 on Facebook Watch, and 12 on Twitter. Prime Video also streamed the 2022 WNBA Commissioner's Cup Final.


title: 2022 WNBA season

text: The free agency negotiation period started on January 15, while players could sign to a team as soon as February 1.


title: 2022 WNBA season

text: The following shows the leaders in each statistical category during the 2022 regular season through games played on August 14, 2022.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Kidney dialysis (from Greek , , 'dissolution'; from , , 'through', and , , 'loosening or splitting') is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions naturally. This is referred to as renal replacement therapy. The first successful dialysis was performed in 1943.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Dialysis may need to be initiated when there is a sudden rapid loss of kidney function, known as acute kidney injury (previously called acute renal failure), or when a gradual decline in kidney function, chronic kidney disease, reaches stage 5. Stage 5 chronic renal failure is reached when the glomerular filtration rate is 10–15% of normal, creatinine clearance is less than 10 mL per minute and uremia is present.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Dialysis is used as a temporary measure in either acute kidney injury or in those awaiting kidney transplant and as a permanent measure in those for whom a transplant is not indicated or not possible.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: In Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, dialysis is paid for by the government for those who are eligible.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: In research laboratories, dialysis technique can also be used to separate molecules based on their size. Additionally, it can be used to balance buffer between a sample and the solution "dialysis bath" or "dialysate" that the sample is in. For dialysis in a laboratory, a tubular semipermeable membrane made of cellulose acetate or nitrocellulose is used. Pore size is varied according to the size separation required with larger pore sizes allowing larger molecules to pass through the membrane. Solvents, ions and buffer can diffuse easily across the semipermeable membrane, but larger molecules are unable to pass through the pores. This can be used to purify proteins of interest from a complex mixture by removing smaller proteins and molecules.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: The kidneys have an important role in maintaining health. When the person is healthy, the kidneys maintain the body's internal equilibrium of water and minerals (sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulphate). The acidic metabolism end-products that the body cannot get rid of via respiration are also excreted through the kidneys. The kidneys also function as a part of the endocrine system, producing erythropoietin, calcitriol and renin. Erythropoietin is involved in the production of red blood cells and calcitriol plays a role in bone formation. Dialysis is an imperfect treatment to replace kidney function because it does not correct the compromised endocrine functions of the kidney. Dialysis treatments replace some of these functions through diffusion (waste removal) and ultrafiltration (fluid removal). Dialysis uses highly purified (also known as "ultrapure") water.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Dialysis works on the principles of the diffusion of solutes and ultrafiltration of fluid across a semi-permeable membrane. Diffusion is a property of substances in water; substances in water tend to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. Blood flows by one side of a semi-permeable membrane, and a dialysate, or special dialysis fluid, flows by the opposite side. A semipermeable membrane is a thin layer of material that contains holes of various sizes, or pores. Smaller solutes and fluid pass through the membrane, but the membrane blocks the passage of larger substances (for example, red blood cells and large proteins). This replicates the filtering process that takes place in the kidneys when the blood enters the kidneys and the larger substances are separated from the smaller ones in the glomerulus.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: The two main types of dialysis, hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, remove wastes and excess water from the blood in different ways. Hemodialysis removes wastes and water by circulating blood outside the body through an external filter, called a dialyzer, that contains a semipermeable membrane. The blood flows in one direction and the dialysate flows in the opposite. The counter-current flow of the blood and dialysate maximizes the concentration gradient of solutes between the blood and dialysate, which helps to remove more urea and creatinine from the blood. The concentrations of solutes normally found in the urine (for example potassium, phosphorus and urea) are undesirably high in the blood, but low or absent in the dialysis solution, and constant replacement of the dialysate ensures that the concentration of undesired solutes is kept low on this side of the membrane. The dialysis solution has levels of minerals like potassium and calcium that are similar to their natural concentration in healthy blood. For another solute, bicarbonate, dialysis solution level is set at a slightly higher level than in normal blood, to encourage the diffusion of bicarbonate into the blood, to act as a pH buffer to neutralize the metabolic acidosis that is often present in these patients. The levels of the components of dialysate are typically prescribed by a nephrologist according to the needs of the individual patient.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: In peritoneal dialysis, wastes and water are removed from the blood inside the body using the peritoneum as a natural semipermeable membrane. Wastes and excess water move from the blood, across the peritoneal membrane and into a special dialysis solution, called dialysate, in the abdominal cavity.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: There are three primary and two secondary types of dialysis: hemodialysis (primary), peritoneal dialysis (primary), hemofiltration (primary), hemodiafiltration (secondary) and intestinal dialysis (secondary).


title: Kidney dialysis

text: In hemodialysis, the patient's blood is pumped through the blood compartment of a dialyzer, exposing it to a partially permeable membrane. The dialyzer is composed of thousands of tiny hollow synthetic fibers. The fiber wall acts as the semipermeable membrane. Blood flows through the fibers, dialysis solution flows around the outside of the fibers, and water and wastes move between these two solutions. The cleansed blood is then returned via the circuit back to the body. Ultrafiltration occurs by increasing the hydrostatic pressure across the dialyzer membrane. This usually is done by applying a negative pressure to the dialysate compartment of the dialyzer. This pressure gradient causes water and dissolved solutes to move from blood to dialysate and allows the removal of several litres of excess fluid during a typical 4-hour treatment.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: In the United States, hemodialysis treatments are typically given in a dialysis center three times per week (due in the United States to Medicare reimbursement rules); however, as of 2005 over 2,500 people in the United States are dialyzing at home more frequently for various treatment lengths. Studies have demonstrated the clinical benefits of dialyzing 5 to 7 times a week, for 6 to 8 hours. This type of hemodialysis is usually called "nocturnal daily hemodialysis" and a study has shown it provides a significant improvement in both small and large molecular weight clearance and decreases the need for phosphate binders. These frequent long treatments are often done at home while sleeping, but home dialysis is a flexible modality and schedules can be changed day to day, week to week. In general, studies show that both increased treatment length and frequency are clinically beneficial.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Hemo-dialysis was one of the most common procedures performed in U.S. hospitals in 2011, occurring in 909,000 stays (a rate of 29 stays per 10,000 population).


title: Kidney dialysis

text: In peritoneal dialysis, a sterile solution containing glucose (called dialysate) is run through a tube into the peritoneal cavity, the abdominal body cavity around the intestine, where the peritoneal membrane acts as a partially permeable membrane.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: This exchange is repeated 4–5 times per day; automatic systems can run more frequent exchange cycles overnight. Peritoneal dialysis is less efficient than hemodialysis, but because it is carried out for a longer period of time the net effect in terms of removal of waste products and of salt and water are similar to hemodialysis. Peritoneal dialysis is carried out at home by the patient, often without help. This frees patients from the routine of having to go to a dialysis clinic on a fixed schedule multiple times per week. Peritoneal dialysis can be performed with little to no specialized equipment (other than bags of fresh dialysate).


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Hemofiltration is a similar treatment to hemodialysis, but it makes use of a different principle. The blood is pumped through a dialyzer or "hemofilter" as in dialysis, but no dialysate is used. A pressure gradient is applied; as a result, water moves across the very permeable membrane rapidly, "dragging" along with it many dissolved substances, including ones with large molecular weights, which are not cleared as well by hemodialysis. Salts and water lost from the blood during this process are replaced with a "substitution fluid" that is infused into the extracorporeal circuit during the treatment.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Hemodiafiltration is a combination between hemodialysis and hemofiltration, thus used to purify the blood from toxins when the kidney is not working normally and also used to treat acute kidney injury (AKI).


title: Kidney dialysis

text: In intestinal dialysis, the diet is supplemented with soluble fibres such as acacia fibre, which is digested by bacteria in the colon. This bacterial growth increases the amount of nitrogen that is eliminated in fecal waste. An alternative approach utilizes the ingestion of 1 to 1.5 liters of non-absorbable solutions of polyethylene glycol or mannitol every fourth hour.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: The decision to initiate dialysis or hemofiltration in patients with kidney failure depends on several factors. These can be divided into acute or chronic indications.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Depression and kidney failure symptoms can be similar to each other. It's important that there's open communication between a dialysis team and the patient. Open communication will allow giving a better quality of life. Knowing the patients' needs will allow the dialysis team to provide more options like: changes in dialysis type like home dialysis for patients to be able to be more active or changes in eating habits to avoid unnecessary waste products.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Indications for dialysis in a patient with acute kidney injury are summarized with the vowel mnemonic of "AEIOU":


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Chronic dialysis may be indicated when a patient has symptomatic kidney failure and low glomerular filtration rate (GFR < 15 mL/min). Between 1996 and 2008, there was a trend to initiate dialysis at progressively higher estimated GFR, eGFR.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: A review of the evidence shows no benefit or potential harm with early dialysis initiation, which has been defined by start of dialysis at an estimated GFR of greater than 10 ml/min/1.73. Observational data from large registries of dialysis patients suggests that early start of dialysis may be harmful.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: The most recent published guidelines from Canada, for when to initiate dialysis, recommend an intent to defer dialysis until a patient has definite kidney failure symptoms, which may occur at an estimated GFR of 5–9 ml/min/1.73.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Over the past 20 years, children have benefited from major improvements in both technology and clinical management of dialysis. Morbidity during dialysis sessions has decreased with seizures being exceptional and hypotensive episodes rare. Pain and discomfort have been reduced with the use of chronic internal jugular venous catheters and anesthetic creams for fistula puncture. Non-invasive technologies to assess patient target dry weight and access flow can significantly reduce patient morbidity and health care costs. Mortality in paediatric and young adult patients on chronic hemodialysis is associated with multifactorial markers of nutrition, inflammation, anaemia and dialysis dose, which highlights the importance of multimodal intervention strategies besides adequate hemodialysis treatment as determined by Kt/V alone.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Biocompatible synthetic membranes, specific small size material dialyzers and new low extra-corporeal volume tubing have been developed for young infants. Arterial and venous tubing length is made of minimum length and diameter, a <80 ml to <110 ml volume tubing is designed for pediatric patients and a >130 to <224 ml tubing are for adult patients, regardless of blood pump segment size, which can be of 6.4 mm for normal dialysis or 8.0mm for high flux dialysis in all patients. All dialysis machine manufacturers design their machine to do the pediatric dialysis. In pediatric patients, the pump speed should be kept at low side, according to patient blood output capacity, and the clotting with heparin dose should be carefully monitored. The high flux dialysis (see below) is not recommended for pediatric patients.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: In children, hemodialysis must be individualized and viewed as an "integrated therapy" that considers their long-term exposure to chronic renal failure treatment. Dialysis is seen only as a temporary measure for children compared with renal transplantation because this enables the best chance of rehabilitation in terms of educational and psychosocial functioning. Long-term chronic dialysis, however, the highest standards should be applied to these children to preserve their future "cardiovascular life"—which might include more dialysis time and on-line hemodiafiltration online hdf with synthetic high flux membranes with the surface area of 0.2 m to 0.8 m and blood tubing lines with the low volume yet large blood pump segment of 6.4/8.0 mm, if we are able to improve on the rather restricted concept of small-solute urea dialysis clearance.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: The National Health Service provides dialysis in the United Kingdom. In England, the service is commissioned by NHS England. About 23,000 patients use the service each year. Patient transport services are generally provided without charge, for patients who need to travel to dialysis centres. Cornwall Clinical Commissioning Group proposed to restrict this provision to patients who did not have specific medical or financial reasons in 2018 but changed their minds after a campaign led by Kidney Care UK and decided to fund transport for patients requiring dialysis three times a week for a minimum or six times a month for a minimum of three months.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: A UK study found that receiving dialysis at home is less costly than receiving dialysis in hospital. However, many people in the UK prefer to receive dialysis in hospital for various reasons such as providing regular social contact. Encouraging people to have dialysis at home could lead to savings for the NHS, as well as reducing the impact of dialysis on people's social and professional lives.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: Since 1972, insurance companies in the United States have covered the cost of dialysis and transplants for all citizens. By 2014, more than 460,000 Americans were undergoing treatment, the costs of which amount to six percent of the entire Medicare budget. Kidney disease is the ninth leading cause of death, and the U.S. has one of the highest mortality rates for dialysis care in the industrialized world. The rate of patients getting kidney transplants has been lower than expected. These outcomes have been blamed on a new for-profit dialysis industry responding to government payment policies. A 1999 study concluded that "patients treated in for-profit dialysis facilities have higher mortality rates and are less likely to be placed on the waiting list for a renal transplant than are patients who are treated in not-for-profit facilities", possibly because transplantation removes a constant stream of revenue from the facility. The insurance industry has complained about kickbacks and problematic relationships between charities and providers.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: The Government of China provides the funding for dialysis treatment. There is a challenge to reach everyone who needs dialysis treatment because of the unequal distribution of health care resources and dialysis centers. There are 395,121 individuals who receive hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis in China per year. The percentage of the Chinese population with chronic kidney disease is 10.8%. The Chinese Government is trying to increase the amount of peritoneal dialysis taking place to meet the needs of the nation's individuals with chronic kidney disease.


title: Kidney dialysis

text: In 1913, Leonard Rowntree and John Abel of Johns Hopkins Hospital developed the first dialysis system which they successfully tested in animals. A Dutch doctor, Willem Johan Kolff, constructed the first working dialyzer in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Due to the scarcity of available resources, Kolff had to improvise and build the initial machine using sausage casings, beverage cans, a washing machine and various other items that were available at the time. Over the following two years (1944–1945), Kolff used his machine to treat 16 patients with acute kidney failure, but the results were unsuccessful. Then, in 1945, a 67-year-old comatose woman regained consciousness following 11 hours of hemodialysis with the dialyzer and lived for another seven years before dying from an unrelated condition. She was the first-ever patient successfully treated with dialysis. Gordon Murray of the University of Toronto independently developed a dialysis machine in 1945. Unlike Kolff's rotating drum, Murray's machine used fixed flat plates, more like modern designs. Like Kolff, Murray's initial success was in patients with acute renal failure. Nils Alwall of Lund University in Sweden modified a similar construction to the Kolff dialysis machine by enclosing it inside a stainless steel canister. This allowed the removal of fluids, by applying a negative pressure to the outside canister, thus making it the first truly practical device for hemodialysis. Alwall treated his first patient in acute kidney failure on 3 September 1946.


title: Emergence (TV series)

text: Emergence is an American mystery-themed thriller television series created by Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas for ABC Studios. Originally intended to be produced as a potential series prospect for NBC after it had ordered a pilot, the hour-long program was picked up by ABC, which added it to its 2019–20 television schedule lineup, where it debuted on September 24, 2019, as a Tuesday night entry. In May 2020, the series was canceled after one season.


title: Emergence (TV series)

text: A police chief in Southold on Long Island's Peconic Bay takes in a young child whom she finds near the site of a mysterious accident, but soon discovers that the girl has no memory of what has happened or who she is. The child's mystery becomes more intense than expected when the chief starts investigating the history that led up to the accident and the questions of how and why it happened, dating back 15 years. A series of bizarre electronic disruptions, unexplained forces and a strange cryptic symbol are also at play, all of which are related to the young girl.


title: Emergence (TV series)

text: On January 11, 2019, it was announced that NBC had given "Emergence" a pilot order. The pilot was written by Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, who executive produced alongside Paul McGuigan and Robert Atwood. Production companies involved with the pilot included Fazekas & Butters and ABC Studios. After the pilot was completed, NBC declined to pick up the project; however, ABC ordered it to series on May 11, 2019. A day after that, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2019 and air on Tuesdays at 10:00 P.M. The series debuted on September 24, 2019. On May 21, 2020, ABC canceled the series after one season.


title: Emergence (TV series)

text: In February 2019, it was announced that Allison Tolman and Alexa Skye Swinton had been cast in the pilot's lead roles. Alongside the pilot's order announcement, in March 2019 it was reported that Owain Yeoman, Donald Faison, and Zabryna Guevara had joined the cast. On August 19, 2019, it was announced that Terry O'Quinn would join the cast in a recurring role as Richard Kindred, starting with the third episode.


title: Emergence (TV series)

text: On May 14, 2019, ABC released the first official trailer for the series. It featured the song "Hush (feat. Garrison Starr)" by Seibold. On August 27, 2019, a 10-minute preview was made available for viewing on its official website, YouTube, and Facebook accounts. The preview also gave viewers keys to a series of clues leading up to the storyline, as reflected in the names of the episode titles.


title: Emergence (TV series)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average rating of 7.2/10, based on 34 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Led by an outstanding Allison Tolman, "Emergence" avoids becoming just another mystery-box mess with strongly-written characters that will keep viewers caring no matter the resolution." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 69 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Emergence (TV series)

text: "Los Angeles Times" reviewer Robert Lloyd notes the "not unfamiliar" premise comparisons to other media, such as series "Believe", "Stranger Things" and the films "Firestarter" and even "E.T." What makes "Emergence" different, notes Lloyd, is Allison Tolman's ability to "fill the screen with thought" and almost single-handedly transform "Emergence" "from a decent genre show into something richer." Subsequently, Lloyd picked the program as one of the best new shows on television in his 2019 year-end review.


title: Dole Whip

text: Dole Whip (also known as Dole Soft Serve) is a soft serve dairy-free frozen dessert created by Dole Food Company in 1984. The original pineapple flavor is the best known, but eight additional fruit flavors are sold: cherry, mango, lemon, watermelon, orange, raspberry, strawberry, and lime.


title: Dole Whip

text: Dole Whip was introduced at the National Restaurant Association show in May 1984, 10 years after Dole Food Company took over from United Airlines as the sponsor of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, an attraction inside the Adventureland section of Disneyland. Dole Whip built on the attraction's initial refreshment offering of pineapple juice & fruit spears.


title: Dole Whip

text: Dole Whip has achieved a cult following among Disney park-goers, allowing merchandise to be created in the Disney Snacks Merchandise category. Disneyland and Walt Disney World serve Dole Whip by itself, or with Dole pineapple juice, called a Dole Whip float.


title: Dole Whip

text: In December 2018, Disneyland opened the Tropical Hideaway where Aladdin's Oasis once stood. Tropical Hideaway offers a seating and dining area for Adventureland. With more soft serve machines they were able to offer more Dole Whip flavors and combinations, like Mango with a fruit medley with Tajín seasoning powder and Chamoy syrup and Raspberry Pineapple swirl with Hibiscus and fruit.


title: Dole Whip

text: Since at least 2013, Dole Whip has been made with exclusively vegan ingredients, and it has always been gluten-free. For adults visiting the Disneyland and Walt Disney World parks there is a Rum version of the Dole Whip.


title: Dole Whip

text: Disney published a recipe in 2020, to allow people to create their own Dole Whips at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not the real Dole Whip recipe, as it is made with powder and water in a soft serve machine.


title: Dole Whip

text: According to MyFitnessPal and the Dole Soft Serve company, one serving equivalent to 2/3 cup of the Dole Whip has 110 calories.


title: Prague Metro

text: The Prague Metro () is the rapid transit network of Prague, Czech Republic. Founded in 1974, the system consists of three lines (A, B and C) serving 61 stations (predominantly with island platforms), and is long. The system served 589.2 million passengers in 2012 (about 1.6 million daily), making it the fifth busiest metro system in Europe.


title: Prague Metro

text: Two types of rolling stock are used on the Metro: the 81-71M (a completely modernized variant of the original 81-71), and the Metro M1. All the lines are controlled automatically from the central dispatching, near I.P. Pavlova station. The Metro is operated by the Prague Public Transit Company (, DPP), and integrated in the Prague Integrated Transport ("Pražská integrovaná doprava", PID) system.


title: Prague Metro

text: The Prague Metro has three lines, each represented by its own colour on the maps and signs: Line A (green, 17 stations, 17 km), Line B (yellow, 24 stations, 26 km) and Line C (red, 20 stations, 22 km). There are 61 stations in total (three of which are transfer stations) connected by nearly 66 kilometres of mostly underground railways. Service operates from 4–5 am until midnight, with about 110 to 200-second intervals between trains during rush hours and 4–10 minutes between trains at other times. Nearly 600 million passengers use the Prague Metro every year (about 1.6 million daily).


title: Prague Metro

text: The system is run by the Prague Public Transit Company Co. Inc. (Czech: "", DPP), which also manages the other means of public transport around the city, including the trams, buses, five ferries, the funicular to Petřín Hill, and the chairlift inside the Prague Zoo.


title: Prague Metro

text: Since 1993, the system has been connected to commuter trains and buses, and also to "park-and-ride" parking lots. Together, they form an extensive public transportation network reaching further from the city, called Prague Integrated Transport (Czech: "Pražská integrovaná doprava", PID). Whilst the large system is zonally priced, the Metro is entirely inside the central zone.


title: Prague Metro

text: Many stations are quite large, with several entrances spaced relatively far apart. This can often lead to confusion for those unfamiliar with the system, especially at the central hubs such as Můstek or Muzeum. In general the stations are well signposted even for those unfamiliar with the Czech language. The Prague Metro is very safe.


title: Prague Metro

text: The Prague Metro system is laid out as a triangle, with all three lines meeting in the centre of the city at three interchange stations. Each interchange station has two halls, one hall for each line. The depth of the stations (and the connecting lines) varies considerably. The deepest station is Náměstí Míru, located under the ground. Parts of the tracks in the city centre were mostly bored using the tunnelling shield. Outer parts were dug by the cut-and-cover method, and these stations are only a few metres under the surface. Part of Line B runs in a glassed-in tunnel above the ground.


title: Prague Metro

text: Most stations usually have a single island platform in the centre of the station hall (tunnel) serving both directions. The sub-surface stations have a straight ceiling sometimes supported by columns, while the deep-level stations are larger tunnels with the track tunnels on each side. The walls of many stations are decorated using coloured aluminium panels; each station has its own colour. Some stations are considered among the finest in Europe.


title: Prague Metro

text: Metro M1 trains have operated on Line C since 2000; they completely replaced older cars on this line in 2003. DPP owns 265 of these cars, which form 53 five-car trains. These cars were developed specially for Prague, and were manufactured there between 2000 and 2003 by a consortium consisting of ČKD Praha, ADtranz and Siemens (during the contract, Siemens acquired ČKD Praha). The total length of the train is 96.66 metres, the acceleration is 1.3 m/s, and the total capacity of the train is 1,464 people (224 sitting, 1,240 standing). This unit was also adapted for use in Venezuela on the Maracaibo Metro.


title: Prague Metro

text: 81-71M trains are a modernized variant of the old Soviet 81-717 trains with new traction motors, technical equipment, interiors and exteriors. They have operated on Lines A and B since 1996. The modernization was conducted by Škoda Transportation and ČKD between 1996 and 2011. DPP owns 465 81-71M cars, which form 93 five-car trains. The total length of the train is 96.11 metres, and the acceleration is identical to that of the Metro M1 cars, at 1.3 m/s. Similar reconstructions were also made on the Tbilisi Metro and Yerevan Metro, as well as a near-identical version exported to Kyiv from Metrowagonmash as part of the Slavutich project, designated 81-553.1, 81–554.1 and 81-555.1.


title: Prague Metro

text: Although the Prague Metro system is relatively new, the idea of underground transport in Prague dates back many years. The first proposal to build a sub-surface railway was made by Ladislav Rott in 1898. He encouraged the city council to take advantage of the fact that parts of the central city were already being dug up for sewer work. Rott wanted them to start digging tunnels for the railway at the same time. However, the plan was denied by the city authorities. Another proposal in 1926, by Bohumil Belada and Vladimír List, was the first to use the term "Metro", and though it was not accepted either, it served as an impulse for moving towards a real solution of the rapidly developing transport in Prague.


title: Prague Metro

text: In the 1930s and 1940s, intensive projection and planning works took place, taking into account two possible solutions: an underground tramway (regular rolling stock going underground in the city center, nowadays described as a "premetro") and a "true" metro having its own independent system of railways. After World War II, all work was stopped due to the poor economic situation of the country, although the three lines, A, B and C, had been almost fully designed.


title: Prague Metro

text: In the early 1960s the concept of the sub-surface tramway was finally accepted and on 9 August 1967 the building of the first station (Hlavní nádraží) started. However, in the same year, a substantial change in the concept came, as the government, under the influence of Soviet advisers, decided to build a true metro system instead of an underground tramway. Thus, during the first years, the construction continued while the whole project was conceptually transformed. During the construction of the metro, a Czech rolling stock manufacturer, ČKD Tatra Smíchov, was charged with designing the trains. Two prototype two-car units under the name R1 were constructed in 1970 and 1971 and were used for field testing. However, the then-Czechoslovakian government changed their tune and instead ordered the trains for the underground be imported from the Soviet Union (which would soon become Ečs, part of the Soviet "E" series, standing for "E Czechoslovak"). The R1 rolling stock would later be scrapped in the 1980s, near the end of the Cold War. Regular service on the first section of Line C began on 9 May 1974 between Sokolovská (now Florenc) and Kačerov stations.


title: Prague Metro

text: On 22 February 1990, 13 station names reflecting mostly communist ideology were changed to be politically neutral. For example, Leninova station, which contained a giant bust of Vladimir Lenin before the Velvet Revolution, was renamed Dejvická after a nearby street and surrounding neighbourhood. Other changes were: Dukelská – Nové Butovice, Švermova – Jinonice, Moskevská – Anděl, Sokolovská – Florenc, Fučíkova – Nádraží Holešovice, Gottwaldova – Vyšehrad, Mládežnická – Pankrác, Primátora Vacka – Roztyly, Budovatelů – Chodov, Družby – Opatov, Kosmonautů – Háje.


title: Prague Metro

text: In August 2002, the system suffered disastrous flooding that struck parts of Bohemia and other areas in Central Europe (see 2002 European flood). 19 stations were flooded, causing a partial collapse of the transport system in Prague; the damage to the Metro has been estimated at approximately 7 billion CZK (over US$225 million in exchange rate at that time). The affected sections of the Metro stayed out of service for several months; the last station (Křižíkova, located in the most-damaged area – Karlín) reopened in March 2003. Small gold plates have been placed at some stations to show the highest water level of the flood.


title: Prague Metro

text: A number of stations were closed due to the flooding in June 2013. Replacement trams ran between Dejvická and Muzeum on Line A and Českomoravská and Smíchovské nádraží on Line B, and replacement buses between Kobylisy and Muzeum on Line C due to closed sections of the track.


title: Prague Metro

text: After regular service on the first section of Line C began in 1974 between Florenc and Kačerov, building of extensions continued quite rapidly. In 1978, Line A was opened, and Line B opened in 1985, thus forming the triangle with three crossing points. Since then, the lines have been extended outwards from the center.


title: Prague Metro

text: In 1980 and 1990, Line A was extended eastward from Náměstí Míru to east to Želivského and Skalka. Line B was extended from Nové Butovice to Zličín in 1994 and from Českomoravská to Černý Most in 1998, and the Kolbenova and Hloubětín stations were opened in 2001. Expansion of Line C was carried out in 1980 (Kačerov – Háje) and 1984 (Florenc – Nádraží Holešovice).


title: Prague Metro

text: A northern extension of Line C was opened on 26 June 2004, with two more stations, Kobylisy and Ládví. New tunnels were built under the Vltava river using a unique "ejecting-tunnels" technology. First, a trench was excavated in the riverbed and the concrete tunnels constructed in dry docks on the riverbank. Then the docks were flooded, and the floating tunnels were moved as a rigid complex to their final position, sunk, anchored and covered.


title: Prague Metro

text: Line A was extended to the east on 26 May 2006, when a new terminus, Depo Hostivař, opened. The station was constructed within the railway depot.


title: Prague Metro

text: Line C was extended to the northeast to connect the city center to the housing blocks at Prosek and a large shopping center at Letňany. Three stations (Střížkov, Prosek and Letňany) opened on 8 May 2008.


title: Prague Metro

text: In April 2015, Line A was extended westward from Dejvická to Nemocnice Motol with four new stations: Bořislavka, Nádraží Veleslavín, Petřiny, and Nemocnice Motol. The Nádraží Veleslavín station is also the new terminus of the 119 bus to Václav Havel Airport.


title: Prague Metro

text: Plans for an extension to the airport have been proposed, but never put into action. According to estimates from 2018 the project would cost about 26.8 billion crowns and take 11 years to complete.


title: Prague Metro

text: Another phase of the extension of Line A was planned from Nemocnice Motol to the Václav Havel Airport, but it is very likely that this extension will not be built and the airport will be serviced by a new railway instead.


title: Prague Metro

text: There are plans to build a new line, Line D (blue), which will connect the city centre to southern parts of the city. According to current plans, the line will run for 11 kilometers and start in the city center and lead to Vršovice, Krč, Libuš and Písnice. There will be 10 stations: Náměstí Míru (transfer to Line A), Náměstí bratří Synků, Pankrác (transfer to Line C), Olbrachtova, Nádraží Krč, Nemocnice Krč, Nové Dvory, Libuš, Písnice and Depo Písnice. Line D is very important for improving the traffic situation in the southern and southeastern part of the city. In the second stage it is planned to extend this line from Pankrác to Náměstí Míru (Peace Square). The first part of Line D is planned to be built between 2019 and 2027.


title: Prague Metro

text: There are also plans for Line E, which will probably be circular. The exact route has not yet been determined. In the beginning of the 21st century, there were discussions regarding it in the connection with plans to organise the Summer Olympic Games in Prague, which were however canceled. The "Praha sobě" list endorsed the idea of a circular metro line during the run-up to the 2022 Prague municipal election.


title: Prague Metro

text: The name of the Můstek station means "little bridge" and refers to the area around the station. The origin of the area's name was not known until remains of a medieval bridge were discovered during construction of the station. The remains were incorporated into the station and can be seen near the northwestern exit of the station.


title: Prague Metro

text: The escalators at Náměstí Míru (Peace Square) station in Vinohrady are the longest escalators in the European Union (length 87 m, vertical span 43.5 m, 533 steps, taking 2 minutes and 15 seconds to ascend). Náměstí Míru is also the deepest station in the European Union, at 53 metres.


title: Prague Metro

text: Between I. P. Pavlova and Vyšehrad stations, Line C runs inside the box structure of the large Nusle Bridge over a steep valley.


title: Prague Metro

text: The terminal station Depo Hostivař was constructed within the buildings of an existing railway depot. The extension is the first segment of the system to be built above ground and not through a tunnel. There are no reversing tracks in the terminus; trains depart from the same track on which they arrive.


title: Prague Metro

text: Anděl station was known as Moskevská (Moscow station) until 1990. It opened on the same day in 1985 as the Prazhskaya (Prague) station on the Moscow Metro. It contains several pieces of art promoting Soviet-Czechoslovak friendship. Anděl station, like the Smíchov train station, contains some of the best-preserved examples of Communist-era art remaining in Prague. Works were carried out from 2014-15 to make the station accessible for wheelchair users.


title: Prague Metro

text: The entrance hall of the Hradčanská station still features the coat of arms of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the motto "Všechna moc v Československé socialistické republice patří pracujícímu lidu" ("All the power in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic belongs to the working people"), which were parts of the station's original socialist-realist design.


title: Prague Metro

text: During the communist period, rumours circulated that large "survival chambers" were being built for high officials of the government in case of a nuclear attack. After the fall of communism such areas were shown indeed to exist, but not on the scale envisioned nor fitted out in luxury.


title: Prague Metro

text: The Prague Metro operates on a proof-of-payment system, as does the rest of the PID network. Passengers must buy and validate a ticket before entering a station's paid area. There are uniformed and plainclothes fare inspectors who randomly check passengers' tickets within the paid area.


title: Prague Metro

text: Basic single tickets cost 40 CZK (as of 1 August 2021) for a 90-minute ride or 30 CZK for a 30-minute ride. In November 2007 SMS purchase for basic single transfer tickets and day tickets was introduced (available only from Czech mobile phones).


title: Prague Metro

text: Short-term tourist passes are available for periods of 24 hours (120 CZK) and 3 days (330 CZK). As of 2019, single tickets and short term passes can be purchased online using the PID Lítačka smartphone app. Since April 2019 single and 24hour tickets can be also bought on board of every tram and in all metro stations, using contactless payment, including payment apps like Google Pay or Apple Pay. Such tickets are already validated from the time of purchase.