prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: When was the death penalty abolished in the country near the country where the writer of The Book Thief is a citizen of?

The following are given passages.
Context 1: Passage 1:
1958 Asian Games
The 1958 Asian Games, officially the Third Asian Games (Japanese: 第3回アジア競技大会) and commonly known as Tokyo 1958, was a multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 May to 1 June 1958  It was governed by the Asian Games Federation  A total of 1,820 athletes representing 20 Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Games  The program featured competitions in 13 different sports encompassing 97 events, including four non-Olympic sports, judo, table tennis, tennis and volleyball  Four of these competition sports – field hockey, table tennis, tennis and volleyball – were introduced for the first time in the Asian Games 
This is the first time that Japan hosted the Asian Games 

Background
The Asian Games is a multi-sport event, much like the Summer Olympics (albeit on a much smaller scale), with participation exclusively for Asian countries  The first edition was held in the capital city of India, New Delhi, in 1951, attracting 489 competitors from 11 nations 

Sports
The programme for the Tokyo 1958 Games included 13 different sports divided into 97 events  Four of these sports – judo, table tennis, tennis and volleyball – were not on the official Olympic sports programme at that time  Badminton was added as a demonstration sport, which, from 1962 onwards, became a regular competitive sport in the Asian Games  Judo was another demonstration sport 

Torch relay
The tradition of torch relay, inspired by the Olympic Games, was introduced for the first time in the Asian Games in 1958  The relay officially began from the main venue of the Second Asian Games, Rizal Memorial Coliseum, in Manila, Philippines  In the host nation, Japan, it was relayed from Okinawa to Kyushu Island  Okinawa was under the United States administration at that time  At the opening ceremony, the Games cauldron was ignited by the first Japanese Olympic gold medallist and the first Asian Olympic champion in an individual event, Mikio Oda 

Participating nations
A record total of 1,820 athletes representing 20 member nations of the Asian Games Federation participated in the Games  The number of participating countries was also greatest in comparison to the first two editions of the Games 
The Thai delegation held a meeting on 22 May 1958 in Tokyo, and invitations were sent to the representatives of Malaysia, Burma and Laos  The agenda of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of forming a regional multi-sport event on the lines of Asian Games for the countries of Southeast Asia  This way the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games (SEAP Games), which later became the Southeast Asian Games, were established and the first SEAP Games were held in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1959 

Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the Tokyo 1958 Games was organised on 24 May 1958 at the National Olympic Stadium  The ceremony, among other dignitaries and guests, included the Emperor of Japan Hirohito, crown prince Akihito and Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi  Around 70,000 people attended the opening ceremony 

Calendar
In the following calendar for the 1958 Asian Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day  The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport were held  The numeral indicates the number of event finals for each sport held that day  On the left, the calendar lists each sport with events held during the Games, and at the right, how many gold medals were won in that sport  There is a key at the top of the calendar to aid the reader 

Medal table
Athletes from 16 countries won medals, leaving four countries without a medal, and 11 of them won at least one gold medal  Afghanistan, Cambodia, Nepal and North Borneo did not win any medal  The Japanese 4 × 100 metres medley relay team of Keiji Hase (backstroke), Masaru Furukawa (breaststroke), Manabu Koga (freestyle) and Takashi Ishimoto (butterfly) won the gold medal with a time of 4:17 2 and broke the world record The ranking in this table is consistent with International Olympic Committee convention in its published medal tables  By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a nation is an entity represented by a NOC)  The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next, followed by the number of bronze medals  If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given; they are listed alphabetically by IOC country code 
The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below  The host nation, Japan, is highlighted 

  *   Host nation (Japan)
Passage 2:
Capital punishment in Illinois
Capital punishment has been repealed in the U S  state of Illinois since 2011  
Illinois used death by hanging as a form of execution until 1928  The last person executed by this method was the public execution of Charles Birger the same year  After being struck down by Furman v  Georgia in 1972, the death penalty was reinstated in Illinois on July 1, 1974, but voided by the Supreme Court of Illinois in 1975  Illinois officially reinstated the death penalty on July 1, 1977  
On September 8, 1983, the state adopted lethal injection as the default method of execution in Illinois, but the electric chair remained operational to replace lethal injection if needed 
In 1994, the state executed serial killer John Wayne Gacy by lethal injection, who sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978 in Cook County (a part of metropolitan Chicago)  The last man executed in Illinois was Ripper Crew member Andrew Kokoraleis in 1999  Another man condemned in Illinois, Alton Coleman, was executed in Ohio 
On January 11, 2003, the Republican Governor George Ryan blanket-commuted the sentences of all the 167 inmates condemned to death, and pardoned four of them, a gesture that his opponents attribute to the fact that he was rendered ineligible by his unpopularity and charged with conspiracy, racketeering and fraud Democratic Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation on March 9, 2011, to abolish the death penalty in Illinois to go into effect July 1, 2011, and commuted the death sentences of the fifteen inmates on Illinois' death row to life imprisonment  Quinn was criticized for signing the bill after saying that he supported the death penalty during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, after which he defeated the Republican candidate with 46 8% of the vote In 2018, then Republican Governor Bruce Rauner called for the reintroduction of the death penalty for those convicted of killing police officers  This was opposed by state lawmakers and Rauner was subsequently defeated by Democrat J  B  Pritzker 

See also
List of people executed in Illinois
Crime in Illinois
Law of Illinois
Passage 3:
Somalia at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Somalia sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China  The country's participation at Beijing marked its seventh in the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1972 Games  The delegation included two track and field athletes: sprinter Samiya Yuusf Omar and long-distance runner Abdinasir Said Ibrahim  Neither athlete progressed past the first round of their respective competitions  Omar's story, having trained in Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War, was covered by the media at the time, and later featured in a graphic novel following her death 

Background
Somalia participated in seven Summer Olympics between its debut in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China  The highest number of Somalis participating at any single Summer Games was seven at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, United States  No Somali has ever won a medal at an Olympics Abdinasir Said Ibrahim was chosen to compete in the Men's 5000 metres and Samiya Yuusf Omar in the Women's 200 metres  Somali official Duran Farah was chosen as the nation's flag bearer for the Parade of Nations 

Athletics

Somalia was represented by one male athlete at the 2008 Games in athletics – Abdinasir Said Ibrahim, a 5000 metres runner, an 18-year-old  He competed in the third and final heat of the first round, with a time of 14:21:58  This placed him in 12th and final place, over sixteen seconds behind Abdelaziz El Idrissi of Morocco in 11th position  However, there were two runners slower than Ibrahim in other heats; Nader al-Masri of Palestine and Soe Min Thu of Myanmar At the age of 16 years old, Samiya Yuusf Omar was the only female athlete competing for Somalia at the 2008 Summer Olympics  Prior to the competition, she trained at the Mogadishu Stadium on a gravel track pitted by mortar craters  She explained that she would be routinely harassed while training by local militia groups, fighting in the Somali Civil War, and both friends and family had been pressuring her to stop training  She explained, "Traditionally Somalis view the girls as corrupted if they join in with things like sports and music  It's because they sometimes wear transparent clothes or shorts  Therefore I have been coming under pressure from all different sides " She continued to practice following encouragement from her mother, although had not expected to be chosen for the Games due to her age and as she was from a minority ethnic group She competed in the fifth out of six heats of the women's 200 metre competition on 19 August  She finished in a time of 32 16 in eighth and last place, nine seconds behind South African Isabel Le Roux in seventh position  Having had no funding, Omar competed in loose fitting equipment donated by the Sudanese team, but despite finishing in last place, the media coverage of her meant that she was cheered loudly by the crowd as she finished Following the Games, she received death threats upon returning to Somalia, and after being confronted by Al-Shabaab, she began to deny that she was an athlete  The organisation banned woman from participating in sports, and Omar eventually made her way to Ethiopia in order to pursue the hope of competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics  She attempted to make her way to Europe, travelling to Libya in September 2011  Alongside other refugees, she attempted to cross the Mediterranean by sea in 2012; she drowned while attempting to board an Italian naval vessel when the boat she was on was intercepted off the coast of Libya  Omar's life story was later dramatised as the graphic novel An Olympic Dream: The story of Samia Yusuf Omar by German artist Reinhard Kleist 

Track events
Passage 4:
Capital punishment in New Zealand
Capital punishment in New Zealand – the process of sentencing convicted offenders to death for the most serious crimes (capital crimes) and carrying out that sentence, as ordered by a legal system – first appeared in a codified form when New Zealand became a British colony in 1840  It was first carried out with a public hanging in Victoria Street, Auckland in 1842, while the last execution occurred in 1957 at Mount Eden Prison, also in Auckland   In total, 85 people have been executed in New Zealand Capital punishment was first abolished for murder in 1941 by the First Labour Government, with all death sentences commuted to life imprisonment  However, the succeeding First National Government reinstated it in 1949, following which eight more executions took place in the period up to 1957  Subsequently, public opinion turned against the use of capital punishment, and it was once again abolished for murder in 1961, and abolished for all crimes, including treason, in 1989 

Method
The method of execution was always by hanging  At first, there were many possible execution sites all around the country, but later, the only two cities where hangings were carried out were Wellington (the capital) and Auckland (now the largest city) 
Initially, there was no professional hangman employed—the executioner was simply chosen from among any who were deemed qualified  On occasion, convicted criminals were employed as hangmen, often in exchange for reduced sentences or monetary reward  In 1877, the sheriff of Blenheim recommended that a professional executioner be hired  Tom Long, an Irishman who claimed to have been an executioner in Australia, was hired as the official hangman  He was the only official hangman to be publicly known; others remained anonymous 

History
At the time of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 when New Zealand became a British colony, the most current legislation governing capital punishment in England, and henceforth New Zealand, was the Punishment of Offences Act (1837), which had abolished the death penalty for a number of statutory offences, including cattle stealing, and replaced it with penal transportation for life  However, some capital crimes remained on the British law books, including murder, treason, espionage, arson in the royal dockyards, and piracy with violence All those executed were convicted of murder, with the exception of Hamiora Pere, who was convicted of treason in 1869  All bar one were men; the exception being Minnie Dean, who was found guilty of infanticide in 1895  However, before Dean's trial, imprisonment and execution, several other women had been found guilty of Infanticide in nineteenth-century New Zealand, but had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment  These were Caroline Whitting (1872), Phoebe Veitch (1883) and Sarah-Jane and Anna Flannagan (1891) 

Public executions
The first eight executions were carried out in public, from 1842 to 1858; five outside the gate of the Auckland Gaol on the corner of Queen Street and Victoria Street West in central Auckland; one on King Edward Parade on the waterfront at Devonport; and two outside Mount Cook Gaol in Wellington, which is today the site of the Dominion Museum building and National War Memorial on Puke Ahu At the first execution, on 7 March 1842, approximately a thousand people gathered at the corner of Queen Street and Victoria Street West, now the centre of the Auckland CBD, to witness the hanging of Wiremu Kīngi Maketū  He had been found guilty of murdering five people on Motuarohia Island, in the Bay of Islands  The people killed were Thomas Bull, employed by Elisabeth Roberton, who was also murdered along with her son aged eight, her daughter of two, and a girl of nearly three named Isabella Brind, the natural daughter of one Captain Brind by a Māori woman, the daughter of Rewa, chief of Ngapuhi in that area  Mrs Roberton's husband, Captain John Roberton, had drowned prior in Paroa Bay, just opposite the island  Thomas Bull had a reputation for strength and brutality  He seemed at all times to have made a set at Maketū and had on several occasions struck, thrown, or otherwise maltreated him  Maketū was unable to defend himself against such an opponent; nor indeed did it conform with his notions of dignity to do so, he being (by virtue of his chiefly rank) above combat with one who was a servant and whom he therefore regarded on the same plane as a slave  Maketū, therefore, bided his time for revenge  Maketū then killed Thomas Bull in the night with an axe; he then brutally murdered Mrs Roberton, who was shouting abuse at him and then went to murder the two girls (ransacking the house and then burning Mrs Roberton and the two children within it)  The boy ran up Pa Hill, where Maketū chased him and threw him off the 200-foot (60 m) cliff  He was sentenced to death by an all-white jury (his defence had wanted a half-white, half-Māori jury) in an Auckland court, and executed on 7 March 1842 

The second execution in New Zealand was the public hanging of Joseph Burns on 17 June 1848  On the day of his execution, he was paraded down Auckland's Queen St, seated in a coffin, and taken by boat across the Waitemata Harbour to the Devonport waterfront, where he was hanged on King Edward Parade, not far from the scene of his crimes  Burns was the first European settler to be executed in New Zealand The third execution in New Zealand, and first in Wellington, occurred on 19 April 1849  Maroro of Ngāti Kahungunu descent was hanged outside Mount Cook Gaol in front of approximately 500 people, following his conviction of the murder of John Branks and his three children The fourth execution occurred in the same location in Wellington on 17 June 1850, in front of a similar sized crowd, when William Good was hanged for the murder of John Ellis  The scaffold was "erected on Cook's Mount, immediately in front of the brick wall of the gaol "The fifth execution was that of escaped Australian convict, William Bowden, on 27 April 1852  He was hanged on the scaffold erected outside the entrance gate of the Auckland Gaol, on the corner of Queen Street and Victoria Street West, in front of approximately 300 people The sixth execution in New Zealand, and the third public hanging to take place outside the Auckland Gaol on the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets was that of Charles Marsden on 12 February 1856  It took approximately 14 minutes for Marsden to die, with accusations that his execution was "clumsily performed" The seventh execution took place in Auckland at sunrise on 11 July 1856 with the public hanging of John White  In a sign of changing attitudes to the spectacle of public executions, the Superintendent had ordered that the scaffold be erected after dark the previous evening, and the front of the scaffold, under the drop, be partially boarded up  Due to the early hour of the execution, no more than twenty to thirty people witnessed the event on the corner of Queen Street and Victoria Street West The last public execution was that of John Killey, who had been found guilty of murdering John Butler in Whangarei on 17 December 1857  At his later sentencing in Auckland, the judge, Sir George Alfred Arney, was "said to have been moved to tears" in passing sentence, while Killey "fell down in the dock in a fainting fit"  He was hanged on 18 March 1858, also outside the gate of the Auckland Gaol 

Move to abolish public executions in the British colonies of Australasia
Throughout the British colonies of Australasia public hangings came to be seen as "barbarous spectacles"  The last public hanging in Sydney took place outside Darlinghurst Gaol on 21 September 1852, in which local press noted disapprovingly the "extraordinary attendance of children, upon whose tender minds the shocking spectacle of a fellow creature dangling at the end of a rope, had no other more serious effect than that of eliciting from them three cheers for the hangman"  New South Wales, where public executions were also "associated with the hated convict era", became the first of the British colonies in Australia to abolish public executions, when the Act to Regulate the Execution of Criminals 1855 (NSW) came into force on 10 January 1855 Victoria and Tasmania followed shortly after with the Private Execution Act 1855 (Vic) and the Criminals’ Execution Act 1855 (Tas) respectively  When the Moreton Bay settlement separated from NSW to become the self-governing colony of Queensland in 1859, the New South Wales legislation automatically applied While South Australia and Western Australia abolished public executions in 1858 and 1870 respectively, both colonies subsequently passed amendments which allowed for the hanging of capitally convicted Aboriginal Australians at the scene of their alleged crimes: the Act to Amend an Act to Regulate the Execution of Criminals 1861 (SA) and the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1871 Amendment Act 1875 (WA) In New Zealand, public executions were abolished under Section 1 of the Executions of Criminals Act 1858, which specified that executions had to be carried out "within the walls or the enclosed yard of some gaol, or within some other enclosed space"  The Act came into force on 3 June 1858, three months after the country's last public hanging in central Auckland By way of comparison with other English-speaking countries which share an historical legacy of English common law, the last public execution in the United Kingdom was the hanging of Michael Barrett outside Newgate Prison in London on 26 May 1868, in front of a crowd of approximately 2000 people  Canada's last public execution occurred on 7 December 1869 when Nicholas Melady was hanged in front of "a few hundred spectators", outside the Huron County Gaol, now called the Huron Historic Gaol, in Goderich, Ontario  The last judicial execution carried out in public in the United States was the hanging of Rainey Bethea in a parking lot in Owensboro, Kentucky on 14 August 1936, in front of an estimated crowd of 20,000 

Executed out of public view
In 1862, in Wellington, James Collins became the first person in New Zealand to be executed out of public view In 1866, the site of the old Auckland Gaol was made ready for a temporary market  The Sheriff approved the removal of the graves of the five executed criminals, to respect "public decency"  The bodies were reinterred in "a remote and unused spot" of the Symonds St Cemetery The last person to be executed was Walter James Bolton, for poisoning his wife, on 18 February 1957 

Abolition: 1949–1961
When the Labour Party formed its first government following the 1935 general election, it commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment  The Crimes Amendment Act 1941  changed the penalty for murder from death to life imprisonment with hard labour  The only crimes for which the death penalty still applied were treason and piracy 
The Labour Party lost power to the more conservative National Party, which had pledged to reintroduce capital punishment, in 1949  During that earlier period, support and opposition for capital punishment were clearly delineated on partisan grounds  The National Party supported the restoration and maintenance of the death penalty, while the Labour Party opposed it  During debate over the Capital Punishment Act 1950 (which exempted expectant mothers and young persons under the age of 18 years), Labour expressed concern about the constitutional implications of the concentration of executive power in this context (although Labour had used this power from 1935 to 1941), while National Party Attorney-General Clifton Webb referred to the alleged "deterrent" value of the death penalty as potential threat and punitive severity  However, Webb was relatively sparing in his use of the death penalty, while his successor, Attorney-General Jack Marshall (1955–1957), was a hardliner on that issue and the number and pace of executions accelerated, arousing debate 
During the time that the National Party was in office (1949–1957), 36 people were convicted of murder, and 22 of those were sentenced to death (George Horry was convicted of murder in 1951 but not hanged because the death penalty was not in force in 1942)  The final decision on executions rested with Cabinet, and only eight of the condemned were executed  The rest were commuted to life imprisonment  Even then, professional opinion was divided  Film censor Gordon Mirams did not regard spectacles of hanging as appropriate content within crime dramas and western films and excised such content and dialogue on the basis of family propriety According to Department of Justice historian Pauline Engel, the British Royal Commission on Capital Punishment (1953) may have heavily influenced the rise of abolitionism, as did the controversies that surrounded the executions of Harry Whiteland and Edward Te Whiu, which raised questions about post-war trauma, intellectual and developmental disability as factors for leniency 
Social historian Redmer Yska has argued that such concern arose much earlier  When the National Party restored capital punishment in 1950, it became an administrative ordeal for civil servants involved, particularly those within correctional facilities like Mount Eden Prison in Auckland, law enforcement and the judiciary  Corrections staff needed to maintain suicide watch for the convicted felon, conduct regular health checks and provide pastoral care for the condemned individual's relatives, as well as insure prison security during executions Official requirements mandated the presence of a magistrate, doctor and sheriffs  During the late fifties, Attorney-General Jack Marshall accelerated the pace of executions and post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism and duodenal haemorrhaging developed amongst two of the three staff obliged to participate during execution procedures  In cases of political import, prudent reprieves and commuted penalties did occur, as happened when three Niue Islanders were sentenced to death after killing a manifestly brutal and oppressive Resident Commissioner (and were reprieved only after New Zealand prison officials had reached Niue to carry out the hangings)  On that occasion, the Public Questions Committee of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand became involved in strenuously lobbying against the verdict Class differences were also seen to affect the verdict  Dr  Senga Wintringham was convicted of manslaughter, rather than murder, in February 1955, after shooting and killing Dr Bill Saunders  Wintringham claimed that she had only meant to intimidate him, rather than kill him  The Peoples Voice, newspaper of the Communist Party of New Zealand, criticised the perceived "double standard" in this context, as the courts had just convicted and sentenced 26-year-old British migrant and itinerant labourer Frederick Foster to death, despite questions about mental illness and intellectual impairment in his context, as well as appeals from his mother  Foster had shot and killed Sharon Skeffington, his former girlfriend  Although Foster was sentenced to death and executed, defence counsel Dr Martyn Finlay succeeded in raising questions about the limited intellectual capabilities and mental health of the condemned person in this context  Similar questions would arise in the trial, conviction and execution of Albert Webb  The New Zealand Listener editorialised against the death penalty in July 1955, and received supportive feedback from its letters page correspondents Eddie Te Whiu was hanged in August 1955, after he had killed an elderly widow in Ngararatunua, near Kamo, when an attempted burglary went wrong  Abolitionist sentiment grew again, as, with the Foster and Black cases, there was perceptible anxiety about the failure of "deterrence" value in the context of violent homicides, and whether Te Whiu should have been convicted of manslaughter instead, due to his dysfunctional family origins and limited intellectual capabilities  As a result, a National Committee for Abolition of the Death Penalty was formed in November 1956, with branches in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin 
Engel and Maureen Garing have drawn attention to the involvement of Protestant Christian opposition to capital punishment  In 1941 and 1951, the Christian Social Justice League, Christchurch Anglican Diocesan Synod and Methodist Public Questions Committee supported abolition, as did individual Catholics, although their hierarchy remained neutral in this debate  The New Zealand Theosophical Society also opposed capital punishment, and the Churches of Christ and Baptist Union declared its opposition in the late fifties  As religious opposition grew, it provided opponents of capital punishment with an organisational base that was used to good effect  Redmer Yska notes that clergy often refused to participate in legitimising executions through their presence, of whatever denomination As a consequence of controversy over the perceived escalation in use of capital punishment, abolitionist petitions started to circulate as well  In 1956, a proposal for a referendum on capital punishment was put forward by the Minister of Justice, Jack Marshall  This referendum was to be voted on during the 1957 general election, but the proposal was defeated Meanwhile, Walter James Bolton (1888–1957) was executed at Mount Eden Prison in Auckland in February 1957, after he had allegedly poisoned his wife with arsenic  Given that the National Party lost that election, there were to be no further executions within New Zealand  However, while the election saw a short-lived Labour government elected, capital punishment was not debated in Parliament again before the National party regained power after the 1960 election 
In 1961, the National Party reaffirmed its support for the death penalty, although restricted its use to premeditated murders, and those committed during another crime or during an escape from custody  The issue of capital punishment generated intensive debate within the National Party—the Minister of Justice in the Second National Government, who was responsible for introducing the Crimes Bill 1961, Ralph Hanan, strongly opposed the death penalty, while Jack Marshall, the Deputy Prime Minister, had supported its use while serving as Minister of Justice and Attorney General, as noted above 

Abolition and its aftermath: 1961 onwards
Aware of growing public opposition to capital punishment, the National Party allowed its MPs to exercise a conscience vote in Parliament, and ten National MPs subsequently voted in favour of abolition  The result was a majority of 11 against capital punishment, 41–30  The ten National MPs were Ernest Aderman, Gordon Grieve, Ralph Hanan, Duncan MacIntyre, Robert Muldoon, Lorrie Pickering, Logan Sloane, Brian Talboys, Esme Tombleson and Bert Walker  The death penalty was therefore abolished for murder, being retained only for treason and other similar acts in theory  In principle, this meant that de facto abolition had occurred from that point onward These last theoretical vestiges of capital punishment were abolished under the Palmer Labour cabinet in November 1989 with the passage of the Abolition of the Death Penalty Act 1989, and there were no further executions during the interim period  Passage of the Abolition of the Death Penalty Act ended all capital punishment in New Zealand  The Cook Islands, which based its statutes on New Zealand law, formally retained the death penalty for treason until it was abolished in 2007  The death penalty was never used in the Cook Islands Occasional calls to reinstate capital punishment still occur, but no major political party has made capital punishment an element of any of their election manifestos since the 1989 Abolition act  As for minor political parties, the solitary exception was the fundamentalist Christian Heritage New Zealand, which has been defunct since 2005 
A 2004 1 News Colmar Brunton  poll found 28% were in favour of bringing back the death penalty, 67% did not want to bring the death penalty back, and 5% were undecided  In a 2013 Curia poll for TV3's The Nation, 38% of New Zealanders were in favour of the death penalty—a nominal increase from the 28% in 2004—while 55% were opposed it, and 7% were undecided  Also in the poll, 35% of Labour voters favoured the death penalty and National voters' support polled at 44%  Least likely to be in favour were Green Party voters at 19%, but the strongest support came from New Zealand First voters at 84% 

See also
Capital punishment in the Cook Islands
List of people executed in New Zealand
Passage 5:
1952 Winter Olympics
The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games (Norwegian: De 6  olympiske vinterleker; Nynorsk: Dei 6  olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 1952 in Oslo, the capital of Norway 
Discussions about Oslo hosting the Winter Olympic Games began as early as 1935; the city was keen to host the 1948 Winter Olympics, but that was made impossible by World War II  Instead, Oslo won the right to host the 1952 Games in a contest that included Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy and Lake Placid in the United States  All of the Olympic venues were in Oslo's metropolitan area, except for the alpine skiing events, which were held at Norefjell, 113 km (70 mi) from the capital  A new hotel was built for the press and dignitaries, along with three dormitories to house athletes and coaches, creating the first modern athlete's village  Oslo bore the financial burden of hosting the Games in return for the revenue they generated  The 1952 Winter Olympics was the first of the two consecutive Olympics to be held in Northern Europe, preceding the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland 
The 1952 Winter Games attracted 694 athletes representing 30 countries, who participated in four sports and 22 events  Japan and Germany made their returns to Winter Olympic competition after being forced to miss the 1948 Games in the aftermath of World War II  Germany was represented solely by West German athletes after East Germany declined to compete as a unified team  Portugal and New Zealand made their Winter Olympic debuts, and women were allowed to compete in cross-country skiing for the first time 
Norwegian truck driver Hjalmar Andersen won three out of four speed skating events to become the most decorated athlete of the 1952 Winter Olympics  Germany resumed its former prominence in bobsleigh, with wins in the four- and two-man events  Dick Button of the United States performed the first triple jump in international competition to claim his second consecutive men's figure skating Olympic title  The popular Nordic sport bandy featured as a demonstration sport, but only three Nordic countries competed in the tournament  Norway dominated the overall medal count with 16 medals, including seven golds  The Games closed with the presentation of a flag that would be passed to the host city of the next Winter Olympics  The flag, which became known as the "Oslo flag", has been displayed in the host city during subsequent Winter Games 

Host city selection
Oslo had unsuccessfully bid to host the 1936 Winter Olympics, losing to Germany, which had hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics  At that time, the nation that hosted the Summer Olympics also hosted the Winter Olympics  After the 1936 Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to award the Winter and Summer Games to different countries, but the Games were suspended during World War II  London hosted the first post-war Games, the 1948 Summer Olympics, and recommended Oslo as the host city for the 1948 Winter Games, but the city council declined  Instead, the 1948 Winter Olympics were held in St  Moritz, Switzerland Norwegians were undecided about hosting a Winter Olympics  Culturally, they were opposed to competitive winter sports, particularly skiing events, despite the success of Norwegian athletes at previous Winter Games  But the organizers believed the 1952 Games could be an opportunity to promote national unity and to show the world that Norway had recovered from the war  Vying with Oslo for the right to host the Games were Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and Lake Placid, New York, United States  The IOC voted to award the 1952 Winter Games to Oslo on 21 June 1947 at the 40th IOC Session in Stockholm, Sweden  Later, Cortina d'Ampezzo was awarded the 1956 Games, and Lake Placid—which had hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics—was chosen to host the 1980 Winter Games  Norway became the first Scandinavian country to host a Winter Olympics, and the 1952 Winter Games were the first to be held in a nation's capital 

Results
Organization
A special committee was assigned to organize the 1952 Games, which consisted of four Norwegian sports officials and four representatives from the municipality of Oslo, including mayor Brynjulf Bull  The committee was in place by December 1947  The city of Oslo funded the Games entirely, in exchange for keeping all the revenue generated  To accommodate the influx of athletes and coaches, quarters for competitors and support staff were designed and constructed, with three new facilities (forerunners of the athlete's villages of later Games) built  The city of Oslo paid to have a new hotel constructed, the Viking, used for IOC delegates, out-of-town dignitaries, and as the communication hub of the Games  For the first time in a Winter Games, an indoor ice hockey arena was constructed, which hosted the eight-team tournament  Oslo's existing central arena, Bislett Stadium, was used for the opening and closing ceremonies, and for speed skating events  Improvements to the arena included better sound and lighting systems, remodeled club house and press rooms, and the addition of a medical center 

Politics
In the aftermath of the German occupation of Norway during World War II, anti-German sentiment began to affect preparations for the 1952 Olympics  Discussions were held to consider whether Germany should be allowed to participate in the Games  When in 1950, the West German Olympic Committee requested recognition by the IOC, it raised the question of whether their participation would cause political boycotts in the upcoming Games  Once the IOC recognized the West German Olympic Committee, West Germany was then formally invited to compete at the 1952 Winter Games  East Germany was invited to participate with West Germany, as a unified team, but they declined At first Norway was reluctant to welcome German athletes and others considered Nazi sympathizers  For example, Norwegian speed skater Finn Hodt was not allowed to compete in the Norwegian speed skating team because he collaborated with the Nazis during the war  Eventually, despite the concern, Norway agreed to allow German and Japanese athletes to compete  The Soviet Union sent no athletes to Oslo, despite being recognized by the IOC 

Events
Medals were awarded in 22 events contested in four sports (eight disciplines) 

 Bobsleigh (2) ()
 Ice hockey (1) ()
Skating
 Figure skating (3) ()
 Speed skating (4) ()
Skiing
 Alpine skiing (6) ()
 Nordic skiing  ()
 Cross-country skiing (4) ()
 Nordic combined (1) ()
 Ski jumping (1) ()

Demonstration sport
Bandy (1) (details)

Opening ceremonies
The opening ceremonies were held in Bislett Stadium on 15 February  King George VI of Great Britain had died on 6 February 1952 with his daughter Elizabeth II taking the throne as Queen, eight days before the start of the Games  As a result, all national flags were flown at half-mast, and Princess Ragnhild opened the Games in place of her grandfather, King Haakon VII, who was in London attending the state funeral  This was the first time an Olympic Games had been declared open by a female official  The parade of nations was held according to tradition, with Greece first and the rest of the nations proceeding by alphabetical order in the Norwegian language, with the host nation last  The British, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand teams all wore black arm bands at the opening ceremonies in memory of their monarch  Following the parade of nations, the Olympic flame was lit  On 13 February, at the start of the inaugural Winter Olympics torch relay, the torch was lit in the hearth of the Morgedal House, birthplace of skiing pioneer Sondre Norheim  The torch relay lasted two days and was conducted entirely on skis  At the opening ceremonies the final torch bearer, Eigil Nansen, received the Olympic torch and skied to a flight of stairs where he removed his skis, ascended, and ignited the flame The bobsleigh and alpine skiing events were held the day before the opening ceremonies  Competitors in these events were unable to attend the festivities in Oslo; consequently simple opening ceremonies were held at Frognerseteren, site of the bobsleigh events, and Norefjell, site of the alpine skiing events 

Bobsleigh
After a 16-year hiatus from the Olympics, Germany made a triumphant return to the bobsleigh competition, winning the two- and four-man events  The results for both bobsleigh events were the same, with the United States and Switzerland taking silver and bronze respectively  Fritz Feierabend from Switzerland competed in both the two- and four-man competitions  His two bronze medals were the fourth and fifth in an Olympic career that spanned 16 years and three Olympics  There were no weight restrictions on the bobsleigh athletes, and the average weight for each member of the winning German four-man team was 117 kg (258 lb), which was more than the Olympic heavyweight boxing champion in 1952  Seeing the undue advantage overweight athletes brought to their teams, the International Federation for Bobsleigh and Toboganning instituted a weight limit for future Olympics 

Speed skating
All of the speed skating events were held at Bislett Stadium  Americans Ken Henry and Don McDermott placed first and second in the 500-meter race, but Norwegian truck driver Hjalmar Andersen electrified the partisan crowd by winning the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000-meter events; his margins of victory were the largest in Olympic history  Dutchman Wim van der Voort placed second in the 1,500 meters and his countryman Kees Broekman placed second to Andersen in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter races, becoming the first Olympic speed skating medalists from the Netherlands  Absent from the competition was former world champion Kornél Pajor  The Hungarian-born speed skater had won both long-distance races at the World Championships held in Oslo in 1949 and then defected to Sweden, but was unable to obtain Swedish citizenship in time to compete in 1952 

Alpine skiing
There were three alpine skiing events on the Olympic program: the slalom, giant slalom and downhill  Both men and women competed in all three events, held at Norefjell and Rødkleiva  The giant slalom made its Olympic debut at the 1952 Games  Austrian skiers dominated the competition, winning seven out of a possible 18 medals, including Othmar Schneider who won gold and silver in the men's slalom and downhill  Norwegian Stein Eriksen won gold in the men's giant slalom and silver in the slalom  Greek slalom skier Antoin Miliordos fell 18 times on his run and crossed the finish line backwards  American skier Andrea Mead Lawrence was the only double gold medalist, winning the giant slalom and the slalom  She was the first skier from the United States to win two alpine skiing gold medals 

Cross-country skiing
All the cross-country events were held next to the ski jump hill at Holmenkollbakken  As had been the case in 1948 there were three men's events: 18 kilometers, 50 kilometers, and a relay  Added to the Olympic program for the first time was a ten-kilometer race for women  All the cross-country medals were won by Nordic countries, and Finnish skiers won eight of the twelve possible  Lydia Wideman of Finland became the first female Olympic champion in cross-country skiing; her teammates Mirja Hietamies and Siiri Rantanen won silver and bronze respectively  Veikko Hakulinen won the 50-kilometer men's race to begin an Olympic career that would culminate in seven medals, three of them gold  Hallgeir Brenden won the 18-kilometer race and helped Norway take the silver in the 4 × 10-kilometer relay  Brenden went on to win another gold in the men's 15-kilometer race in 1956, and a silver in the relay in 1960 

Nordic combined
The nordic combined event was held at the cross-country and ski jump venues  For the first time, the ski jump part took place first with competitors taking three jumps from the Holmenkollbakken  The 18-km cross country skiing event took place the next day  Results were tallied by the best two marks were scored, along with the results of the cross-country race, to determine a winner  Norwegians Simon Slåttvik and Sverre Stenersen won the gold and bronze respectively  Stenersen went on to win the gold at the 1956 Games in the same event  Heikki Hasu from Finland won the silver, preventing a Norwegian sweep of the medals 

Ski jumping
Crowds in excess of 100,000 greeted the ski jumpers as they competed at Holmenkollbakken  In 1952 there was only one event, the men's normal hill, which was held on 24 February  The King, Prince Harald, and Princess Ragnhild were in attendance  The Norwegian athletes did not disappoint the crowd, as Arnfinn Bergmann and Torbjørn Falkanger placed first and second; Swedish jumper Karl Holmström took the bronze  Norwegian athletes won the ski jumping gold medal in every Winter Olympics from 1924 to 1952 

Figure skating
There were three events in the Olympic figure skating competition: men's singles, women's singles and mixed pairs  The events were held at Bislett Stadium on a rink constructed inside the speed skating track Dick Button of the United States won the men's singles event  Helmut Seibt of Austria took silver and James Grogan of the United States won bronze  Button became the first figure-skater to land a triple jump in competition when he performed the triple loop in the men's free skate  British skater Jeannette Altwegg won the gold medal in the women's singles, the silver was won by American Tenley Albright, who went on to win gold at the 1956 Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, and Jacqueline du Bief of France won the bronze  The German husband and wife pair of Ria and Paul Falk won the mixed pairs competition  They defeated Americans Karol and Peter Kennedy, who placed second, and Hungarian siblings Marianna and László Nagy, who won the bronze medal 

Ice hockey
A majority of the ice hockey matches took place at Jordal Amfi, a new hockey stadium built for the Olympics  Nine teams played in the tournament and Canada again won the gold medal  Canada had won all but one Olympic hockey tournament thus far, but in 1956 the Soviet team began to compete and ended Canadian dominance  Canada was represented by the Edmonton Mercurys, an amateur hockey team sponsored by the owner of a Mercury automobile dealership  Canada played the United States to a three all tie on the final day to clinch the gold, and the Americans won silver  The official report of the USOC for the 1952 Olympics covers the game in great detail  According to the report, by the end of the game against Canada, the Americans were mentally and physically exhausted and after scoring the third goal and tying the game they decided to focus on defense in order not to lose silver  It is important to note that Canadians at the time were considered unbeatable and even tying that team was almost impossible  Sweden and Czechoslovakia ended up tied for third (Czechoslovakia defeated the Swedes in the head-to-head game, but according to the rules at the time they had to play a tiebreaker game because they were tied in points)  Sweden won that game and avenged the loss in the round-robin  The Czechs believed they had already won the bronze when they defeated the Swedes in the round-robin, calling the decision to play a tie-breaking game a "plot of the capitalist countries"  Canadian team was criticized for its rough play; although body checking was legal, it was not often used by European teams, and opponents and spectators alike took a dim view of that style of play 

Bandy
The IOC lobbied the organizing committee to host either military patrol or curling as a demonstration sport  The committee instead selected bandy, which had never been included in the Winter Games  Popular in Nordic countries, bandy is played by teams of eleven on an outdoor soccer field-sized ice rink, using a small ball and sticks about 1 2 m (3 9 ft) long  As it was a demonstration sport, the players were ineligible for medals  Three nations participated: Finland, Norway and Sweden  Each of the three teams won one game and lost one game; with Sweden winning the competition based on number of goals scored, followed by Norway in second place, and Finland in third place  Two of the games were played at Dæhlenenga Stadium and one at Bislett Stadium 

Closing ceremonies
At the 1952 Winter Games, the closing ceremonies were a distinct program listing, unlike previous Winter Games when the closing ceremonies were held directly after the final event  The closing ceremonies were held in Bislett Stadium, on Monday evening, 25 February  The flag bearers entered the stadium in the same order they followed for the opening ceremonies  That evening four medal ceremonies were also held for the women's cross-country race, the men's cross-country relay, the ski jumping competition, and the ice hockey tournament Since 1920, the "Antwerp flag" has been passed from host city to host city during closing ceremonies for the Summer Games  The city of Oslo gave an Olympic flag to establish the same tradition for the Winter Games  Brynjulf Bull, Oslo's mayor, passed the flag to the president of the IOC, Sigfrid Edström, who declared the flag was to pass from host city to host city for future Winter Games  The flag, which came to be known as the "Oslo Flag", has since been preserved in a display case, with the name of every Winter Olympics host city engraved on brass plaques, and is brought to each Winter Games to be displayed  A replica is used during the closing ceremonies After the flag ceremony the Olympic flame was extinguished, a special speed skating race was held, and the figure skating competitors gave an exhibition, followed by 40 children dressed in national costumes performing an ice dance  For a finale, to the close the Games, the lights were extinguished and a 20-minute fireworks display lit up the night sky 

Venues
With a seating capacity of 29,000, Bislett Stadium became the centrepiece of the Games  It was the venue for the speed skating events and the figure skating competition  Bislett was large enough for a 400 m (1,300 ft) speed skating track, and a figure skating ice-rink of 30 by 60 m (98 by 197 ft); a snow bank separated the track and the rink  Because Bislett was an outdoor arena, the organizing committee chose Tryvann Stadion and Hamar Stadion as secondary alternative skating venues to be used the case of bad weather  In 1994 Hamar became the venue for the speed skating events at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer The Oslo Winter Games were the first to feature an Olympic ice hockey tournament held on artificial ice  A new stadium was built for the hockey tournament in a residential area of eastern Oslo, called Jordal Amfi, which accommodated 10,000 spectators in stands rising steeply from the rink  23 of the 36 hockey matches were played at Jordal Amfi, with the remaining matches played at Kadettangen, Dælenenga idrettspark, Lillestrøm Stadion and Marienlyst Stadion The cross-country races and ski-jump competition were held at Holmenkollbakken, located roughly 8 km (5 mi) from the center of Oslo  The expected number of spectators caused concerns about traffic, so a new road was constructed and the existing thoroughfare widened  Holmenkollbakken was built in 1892 and improvements were needed to meet international standards  The original wood ski-jump was replaced with a concrete tower and jump that was 87 m (285 ft) long  New stands were built to seat 13,000 people, and an area was added at the base of the hill to accommodate 130,000 spectators The hills and terrain in the surrounding area met the competitive demands for an elite cross-country ski event  A notice board was posted at the start and finish lines to help spectators monitor the progress of the competitors  The cross-country and nordic combined races began and ended at the base of the ski jump hill  The stands for the ski jump competition had to be removed during the cross-country races; spectators had only a small area from which to watch the races but were allowed on the course to cheer on the competitors The alpine skiing events were split between Norefjell and Rødkleiva  The slalom courses were at Rødkleiva, located on the same mountain as Holmenkollen and Frognerseteren  The course had an elevation difference, from start to finish, of  200 m (660 ft) and was 480 m (1,570 ft) in length  A rope tow had to be built to bring the skiers from the bottom to the top of the hill  The downhill race and the giant slalom—which made its Olympic debut in 1952—were held at Norefjell, which was 113 km (70 mi) from Oslo and the only venue located away from the capital city  Work had to be done to make the area suitable for Olympic competition  A bridge across Lake Krøderen was built to help alleviate transportation congestion  A new hotel, two ski lifts, and a new road were also constructed There was no permanent bobsleigh run in Norway  Instead the organizers built a temporary course out of snow and ice  This is often wrongly assumed to have been built at Korketrekkeren  From Frognerseteren a separate 1,508 m (4,948 ft) long, 13-turn course was designed and built  The bobsleigh run was first constructed and tested in 1951, then rebuilt for the Games in 1952  A car was used to return the bobsleighs to the start of the track 

Participating nations
Thirty nations sent competitors, which was the highest number of participants at a Winter Games  New Zealand and Portugal took part in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time  Australia, Germany, and Japan returned after a 16-year absence  South Korea, Liechtenstein, and Turkey competed in 1948 but did not participate in the 1952 Games 

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees
Calendar
All dates are in Central European Time (UTC+1)The official opening ceremonies were held on 15 February, although two smaller ceremonies were held on 14 February to conform with competition schedules  From 15 February until 25 February, the day of the closing ceremonies, at least one event final was held each day 

Medal count
These are the nations that topped the medal count at the 1952 Winter Games 
  *   Host nation (Norway)

Podium sweeps
See also
1952 Summer Olympics
List of 1952 Winter Olympics medal winners

Notes
Passage 6:
The Book Thief (film)
The Book Thief is a 2013 war drama film directed by Brian Percival and starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and Sophie Nélisse  The film is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Markus Zusak and adapted by Michael Petroni  The film is about a young girl living with her adoptive German family during the Nazi era  Taught to read by her kind-hearted foster father, the girl begins "borrowing" books and sharing them with the Jewish refugee being sheltered by her foster parents in their home  The film features a musical score by Oscar-winning composer John Williams 
The Book Thief premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival on October 3, 2013, and was released for general distribution in the United States on November 8, 2013  The film received mixed reviews upon its theatrical release with some reviewers praising its "fresher perspective on the war" and its focus on the "consistent thread of humanity" in the story, with other critics faulting the film's "wishful narrative"  With a budget of $19 million, the film was successful at the box office, earning over $76 million The Book Thief received  Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for its score  For her performance in the film, Sophie Nélisse won the Hollywood Film Festival Spotlight Award, the Satellite Newcomer Award, and the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role – Female  The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 11, 2014 

Plot
In February 1938, Death tells  how a young girl called Liesel Meminger had piqued his interest  In one of the opening scenes, twelve-year-old Liesel is travelling with her mother and younger brother on a train  On the way, her brother dies and is buried next to the tracks  Liesel steals her first book, titled The Grave Digger's Handbook, when it falls out of the gravedigger's pocket  Liesel is then brought to her new home in Munich, where she meets her new foster parents Rosa Hubermann and Hans Hubermann  Rudy Steiner, a boy who lives next door, accompanies her on her first day of school  When the teacher asks Liesel to write her name on the chalkboard, she is only able to write three Xs, revealing to her classmates that she is unable to write  She is taunted by her schoolmates who chant "dummkopf" ("dunce") at her  One of the boys, Franz Deutscher, challenges her to read just one word to which Liesel responds by beating him up  She impresses Rudy, and they become fast friends  When Hans, her foster father, realizes that Liesel cannot read, he begins to teach her, using the book that she took from the graveside along with a giant chalkboard  Liesel becomes captivated with reading anything she can 
Liesel and Rudy become members of the Hitler Youth movement  While at a Nazi book burning ceremony, Liesel and Rudy are harassed by Franz into throwing books onto the bonfire, but Liesel is upset to see the books being burned  When the bonfire ends and everyone leaves, Liesel is still there and she grabs a book that has been only singed  She is seen by Ilsa Hermann, wife of the Burgermeister (mayor)  When Rosa asks Liesel to take the laundry to the mayor's spacious, gated house, she realizes that the woman who saw her taking the book is the mayor's wife  Instead, Ilsa takes her into their library and tells Liesel she can come by anytime and read as much as she'd like  One day Liesel is found reading by the mayor, who not only puts a stop to her visits but dismisses Rosa as their laundress 
During Kristallnacht, Max Vandenburg and his mother, who are Jewish, are told by a friend that only one of them can escape, and Max's mother forces him to go  Max's father had saved Hans' life in World War I, and hence he goes to the Hubermanns' house, where Rosa and Hans give him shelter  Max initially stays in Liesel's room while recovering from his trip, and they begin to become friends over their mutual hatred of Hitler  World War II begins, initially making most of the children in Liesel's neighborhood very happy  Max is moved to the basement so that he can move around more, but it is cold and he becomes dangerously ill  Liesel helps him recover by reading to him at every spare moment books "borrowed" from the mayor's library 
One day while "borrowing" a book from the mayor's home, Liesel is followed by Rudy  He discovers the secret of Max, whose name he reads on a journal Max gave to Liesel for Christmas  Rudy guesses that her family is hiding someone, and he swears to never tell anyone  Franz overhears Rudy's last words and violently pushes Rudy to reveal the secret  Rudy throws the journal into the river to keep it from Franz  After Franz leaves, Rudy plunges into the icy river to rescue the journal, and Liesel realizes that she can truly trust him  Soon, a local party member comes by to check the Hubermanns' basement, and they have to hide Max 
While working, Hans sees a neighbour and friend named Lehman being taken away by the police because he is a Jew  Hans tries to intervene, telling the officer that Lehman is a good man, but Hans's name is taken by the soldiers and he is thrown to the ground  Hans realizes what a mistake he has made, since this has made his family visible  He tells the family, and Max realises he must leave in order to protect them  Hans then receives a telegram that he has been conscripted into the army and must leave immediately 
On the way home from school, Liesel believes she has seen Max in a line of Jews being forcibly marched through town, and she begins screaming his name, running through the line  She is thrown to the sidewalk twice by German soldiers and finally gives up when Rosa picks her up and takes her home 
Hans returns home after being injured, and the family is reunited only for a short time  One night the city is bombed by accident, and the air raid sirens fail to go off  Hans, Rosa, Rudy's family and Franz are killed in the blast  Liesel is spared from the bombing because she fell asleep in the basement while writing in the journal given to her by Max  She sees her foster family on the ground, dead; she cries and hugs them  Soldiers bring Rudy out of his house alive, but he dies a few moments later after almost telling Liesel he loves her  Liesel begs him to wake up, and kisses him on the lips as a goodbye  Liesel passes out, and one of the soldiers carries her to a stretcher  When she wakes up, she sees a book among the rubble and picks it up  She then sees the mayor and Ilsa drive up  With Ilsa being the only friend she has left, Liesel runs up to her and hugs her 
Two years later, after Germany has been occupied by the Allies, Liesel is working in the tailor shop owned by late Rudy's father when Max suddenly enters  Overjoyed by his survival and return, she runs to hug him  The final scene is Death speaking again about Liesel's life and her death at the age of 90, mentioning her husband, children, and grandchildren, as we look over her modern day Manhattan Upper East Side apartment with pictures of her past and a portrait of her younger self, upon which the camera lingers  The narrator does not state whom she had married but implies that she became a renowned writer 

Cast
Production
A search for an actress to play the eponymous book thief, Liesel Meminger, occurred across the world  On February 4, 2013, it was announced that Canadian actress Sophie Nélisse was cast in the role and that Australian actor Geoffrey Rush and English actress Emily Watson would be playing Meminger's foster parents Principal photography began in early March 2013 at Babelsberg Studio in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany  Locations included Marquardt Palace  The first trailer was released on August 21, with the Bastille song "Haunt" as the music 
Markus Zusak, Australian author of the best-selling, award-winning book on which the film is based, confirmed on his blog that the film would be narrated by the character of "Death", as was the novel  After some speculation that Death might be voiced by the anonymous American actor who was used in the official trailer, it was announced that English actor Roger Allam of Game of Thrones would portray Death in the film 

Soundtrack
The music for the film was composed by John Williams, and the soundtrack album containing the score was released by Sony Classical and Fox Music  The album was released in the United States on November 5, 2013  It was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Original Score  It won Best Instrumental Album at the 57th Grammy Awards 
The Book Thief marked the first time since 2005 that Williams had scored a film not directed by Steven Spielberg 

Release
Originally scheduled for January 17, 2014, The Book Thief's limited theatrical release was moved forward to November 8, 2013, due to the fact that it was finished ahead of schedule and in order to compete in the 2013–14 award season  It premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival on October 3, 2013, and was screened at the Savannah Film Festival on October 29, 2013  It expanded to a wide release on November 27, 2013 

Reception
Critical response
The Book Thief received mixed reviews from critics  Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 47%, based on 149 reviews, with an average score of 5 70/10  The site's consensus states, "A bit too safe in its handling of its Nazi Germany setting, The Book Thief counters its constraints with a respectful tone and strong performances " On Metacritic, the film has a score of 53 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews" In her review for the New Empress Magazine, Mairéad Roche praised the film for providing a "fresher perspective on the war" through the experiences of ordinary Germans who lived through the Nazi era  In addition to the "Oscar-baiting beautiful" cinematography and John Williams's film score that contribute to the film's emotional appeal, Roche singled out the performance of young Sophie Nélisse as Liesel that "matches the well-measured and seemingly effortless efforts of both Rush and Watson"  Roche concluded,

The Book Thief weaves a consistent thread of humanity through its narrative via the commonality of Death, storytelling and the concept of free will  The disturbing sight of children in Hitler Youth uniforms and Allied blanket bombing, when shown through the innocence of a child, humanises the German generation just living their lives without the hindsight of history  A blurring of vision due to tears is to be expected, but that effect is delivered with respect and dignity to the audience 
In his review following the Mill Valley Film Festival, Dennis Harvey at Variety magazine wrote, "Rush generously provides the movie's primary warmth and humor; Watson is pitch-perfect as a seemingly humorless scold with a well-buried soft side " Harvey also praised the film's cinematography and film score, noting that "impeccable design contributions are highlighted by Florian Ballhaus'[s] somber but handsome widescreen lensing and an excellent score by John Williams that reps his first feature work for a director other than Steven Spielberg in years "Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post was less impressed with the film, giving it two and half out of four stars  Merry felt that the film "has its moments of brilliance, thanks in large part to an adept cast" but that the film ultimately shows the difficulties of bringing a successful novel to the screen  In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Robert Abele was also unimpressed, describing the film as "just another tasteful, staid Hollywoodization of terribleness, in which a catastrophic time acts as a convenient backdrop for a wishful narrative rather than the springboard for an honest one" 

Accolades
Home media
The Book Thief was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 11, 2014 
Passage 7:
The Messenger (Zusak novel)
The Messenger, released in the United States as I Am the Messenger, is a 2002 novel by Markus Zusak, and winner of the 2003 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award  The story is written from the perspective of the protagonist, taxi driver Ed Kennedy, whose journey begins after he stops a robbery and receives a playing card in the mail 

Plot
The protagonist is Ed Kennedy, an uninspired 19-year old Australian taxi driver  Ed laments his mediocre life and strained relationship with his mother, as his father died recently and left Ed with only his dog, the Doorman, but does nothing to improve his situation, instead preferring to continue living alone and playing cards every week with his friends: Ritchie, who is unemployed and generally apathetic about life; Marv, a stingy carpenter; and Audrey, a fellow taxi driver whom Ed is in love with, although she does not reciprocate  After accidentally foiling a robbery he is proclaimed a hero by the public, though the robber leaves him a warning that he sees "a dead man" when he looks at Ed before being taken away by police 
One night, he receives a small unmarked envelope, inside of which is an Ace of Diamonds with three addresses and times of day written on them  His friends deny involvement, so Ed investigates the three addresses  Ed arrives at the first address at midnight, and witnesses a man raping his wife while their daughter cries on the porch  The second corresponds to a senile widow named Milla who lives alone, and the third is the address of a young girl named Sophie who runs barefoot every morning but still cannot win at her track meets  Realizing that the sender of the cards intends for Ed to involve himself with the three people, Ed researches Milla's history and discovers that she is waiting for her husband Jimmy, who died 60 years ago during World War II, so he pretends to be Jimmy and comes to read to her weekly  For Sophie, he raises her spirits by giving her an empty shoe box to encourage her to try running barefoot at her next competition; although she loses again, she still finds pride in her achievement  Ed is initially unsure how to approach the rapist, until he receives a gun in the mail with one bullet, indicating he is to shoot the man  Ed uses the gun to kidnap the man and threaten him to stop raping his wife  Ed, instead of killing the man,shoots the gun at the sky, and leaves the man, drugged to sleep with sleeping pill laced vodka, lying on the ground 
After finishing the Ace of Diamonds, two masked men break into his house, assault him, and leave him a congratulatory letter as well as an Ace of Clubs with a vague clue  Before going, the men inform Ed that the man who he threatened has left town  The next day, Ed reveals to Audrey his involvement in the cards, before telling her that he wishes the two of them could be together, but Audrey declines him  Eventually, Ed picks up a man in his cab who tells him to drive to the river before leading Ed on a chase to a rock formation on which the three names are written for Ed to "solve " The first is Thomas O'Reilly, a pastor in a run-down area of the city with a dwindling congregation; Ed helps him by organizing and advertising for a party with free beer in order to encourage everyone to come on Sunday  The next, Angie Carusso, is a single mother who Ed witnesses buying ice cream for her children, and he buys her one as well to show that she is appreciated  Finally, Gavin Rose is a young boy who constantly fights his brother, so Ed beats up Gavin in order to encourage the brother to take revenge, which they do one night by assaulting Ed and cementing their brotherhood 
After participating in a yearly football game, Ed's dog is stolen and he has to buy it back from a boy, who also gives him the Ace of Spades, on which are three names of famous authors  After trying to kiss Audrey one day and being gently rejected again, he goes to the library and eventually realizes that the street names come from parts of the title, with notes written on certain page numbers for specific addresses  The first, Glory Road, has Lua Tatupu, whose family has decorated their home for Christmas with strings of broken lights, so Ed buys new ones for them and sets them up himself  On Clown Street, Ed runs into his mother on a date, and he eventually drives to her house and confronts her about her disdain for him before reconciling  Finally, on Bell Street he meets an old man named Bernie Price who runs an antiquated theater  Ed brings Audrey there to watch Cool Hand Luke and invites Bernie to watch it with them, but eventually the screen cuts to videos of Ed performing his tasks so far 
Ed finds the Ace of Hearts on his seat in the theatre, on which is written three movie titles  After consulting with Bernie, he realizes that they are references to his three friends Ritchie, Marv, and Audrey  He talks to Ritchie late one night and the two stand in a river for an hour, as Ed encourages him to search for something he cares about  Afterwards, Ed, confused by Marv's stinginess, asks him for a loan as a ploy, causing Marv to reveal that he has been saving money to care for a child he had with a girl named Suzanne Boyd who moved away after she became pregnant years ago  After discussing it, Ed convinces him to travel to her house, and although Suzanne's father angrily claims that he brought shame upon the family, the two eventually reconcile and Marv is reconnected with Suzanne and their daughter  Finally, Ed comes to Audrey early one morning and dances with her for three minutes to show his love for her, hoping that she can love him back 
Upon returning elatedly to his place, he finds a Joker with his own address written on it, which bothers him greatly because he assumed he had finished  One day a man enters his cab and asks him to drive to every address he has been to so far, taking him on a tour of his accomplishments, before revealing that he was the robber, who asks Ed if he still sees "a dead man" when he looks in the mirror, before telling him to go back home  Inside is a man who claims responsibility for the entire series of events, before handing him a folder that details all of Ed's adventures  In a postmodern twist, the man is strongly implied to be Markus Zusak himself, who has written Ed's story right down to the current discussion they are having  He leaves Ed to consider the philosophical implications, and Ed stays inside for days before Audrey comes one afternoon and asks to stay with him for good  They kiss and Ed explains everything to her, before realizing that the story he resides in is actually a reminder to others of their true potential, ending with "I'm not the messenger at all  I'm the message "

Adaptations
Stage
In 2008 the novel was adapted for the stage by Ross Mueller  It was first performed by the Canberra Youth Theatre on 24 November 2008 In 2011 the novel was adapted again for the stage by Curtin's Hayman Theatre Company and performed at the "Subiaco Arts Centre" in Perth, Western Australia In 2015 the novel was adapted for stage by Xavier Hazard and Archie Stapleton and performed by the Redfoot Youth Theatre Company in Perth, Western Australia 

Television
A  TV series based on the novel premiered on ABC TV and iview on 14 May 2023, with William McKenna as Ed Kennedy  It was produced by Lingo Pictures productions, with major investment from Screen Australia in association with the ABC   Executive producers included Markus Zusak, and the ABC producers were Rebecca Anderson and Sally Riley 

Awards
Won – New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards: Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature (2003)
Won – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (2003)
Won – Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year for Children (2005)
Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book (2006)
Won – Honour Book, Michael L  Printz Award (2006)
Won – Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (2007)
Passage 8:
Ticks (song)
"Ticks" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Brad Paisley  It was released in March 2007 as the first single from his 2007 album 5th Gear  The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart  Paisley wrote this song with Kelley Lovelace and Tim Owens 
This song was featured as a downloadable track for the video game Guitar Hero: World Tour 

Content
The song's main character is at a bar, attempting to pick up a date  In doing so, he uses several humorous pickup lines, such as "I'd like to check you for ticks "
Paisley stated that the song is not about blood-sucking arachnids but rather about a guy flirting with a gal  Paisley was inspired to write the song from experience working on a farm  “Working out here on the farm, I literally have to check for ticks every time I come in from the woods or the fields,” he notes  “Now, if a young guy who lives in the country were to take a girl into the woods for any reason, it would totally cross his mind that she’s going to have to check for ticks when they come back out  So it seems that an enterprising guy would at least consider that he could offer to check for her ”

Critical reception
Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song a C− grade  While saying that the production was good, he went on to say "[the song] may be the very first mainstream country single to completely skeeze [him] out "

Personnel
Ron Block - banjo
Randle Currie - steel guitar
Eric Darken - percussion
Kevin "Swine" Grantt - bass guitar, upright bass
Wes Hightower - background vocals
Gary Hokker - baritone guitar, 12 string guitar
Gordon Mote - clavinet
Brad Paisley - lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, Tic tac bass
Ben Sesar - drums
Justin Williamson - mandolin

Chart performance
Certifications
Context 3: Passage 1:
East Timor
East Timor ( (listen)), also known as Timor-Leste (; Portuguese pronunciation: [tiˈmoɾ ˈlɛʃtɨ]), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia  It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, of which the western half is administered by Indonesia, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-western half, and the minor islands of Atauro and Jaco  Australia is the country's southern neighbour, separated by the Timor Sea  The country's size is 14,874 square kilometres (5,743 sq mi)  Dili is its capital and largest city 
East Timor came under Portuguese influence in the sixteenth century, remaining a Portuguese colony until 1975  Internal conflict preceded a unilateral declaration of independence and an Indonesian invasion and annexation  Resistance continued throughout Indonesian rule, and, in 1999, a United Nations–sponsored act of self-determination led to Indonesia relinquishing control of the territory  On 20 May 2002, as Timor-Leste, it became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century  That same year, relations with Indonesia were established and normalized, with Indonesia also supporting East Timor's accession into ASEAN  
The national government runs on a semi-presidential system, with the popularly elected president sharing power with a prime minister appointed by the National Parliament  Power is centralised under the national government, although many local leaders have informal influence  The country maintains a policy of international cooperation, and is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, an observer of the Pacific Islands Forum, and an applicant for ASEAN membership  The country remains relatively poor, with an economy that relies heavily on natural resources, especially oil, and foreign aid 
The total population is over 1 1 million, and is heavily skewed towards young people due to a high fertility rate  Education has led to increasing literacy over the past half-century, especially in the two official languages of Portuguese and Tetum  High ethnic and linguistic diversity is reflected by the 30 indigenous languages spoken in the country  The majority of the population is Catholic, which exists alongside strong local traditions, especially in rural areas 

Name
"Timor" is derived from timur, meaning 'east' in Malay, thus resulting in a tautological place name meaning 'East East'  In Indonesian, this results in the name Timor Timur  (this name only refers to the former de facto Indonesian province, Timor Leste is used instead to refer this country)  In Portuguese, the country is called Timor-Leste (Leste meaning 'east')  In Tetum it is Timór Lorosa'e (Lorosa'e can be literally translated as 'where the sun rises') The official names under its constitution are "Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste" in English, "República Democrática de Timor-Leste" in Portuguese, and "Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste" in Tetum  The official short form of the name is "Timor-Leste", and it uses the ISO codes TLS & TL 

History
Prehistory and Classical era
Cultural remains at Jerimalai on the eastern tip of East Timor have been dated to 42,000 years ago  The first known inhabitants are those who arrived during the Australo-Melanesian migration through the region, likely bringing the precursors to today's Papuan languages  A later migration of Austroasiatic-speakers is suspected, although no such languages remain  The arrival of Austronesian peoples brought new languages, and merged with existing cultures on the island  Timorese origin myths recount settlers sailing around the eastern end of the island before landing in the south  These people are sometimes noted as being from the Malay Peninsula or the Minangkabau highlands of Sumatra  Austronesian migration to Timor may be associated with the development of agriculture on the island While information is limited about the political system of Timor during this period, the island had developed an interconnected series of polities governed by customary law  Small communities, centred around a particular sacred house, were part of wider sucos (or principalities), which were themselves part of larger kingdoms led by a liurai  Authority within these kingdoms was held by two individuals, with the worldly power of the liurai balanced by the spiritual power of a rai nain, who was generally associated with the primary sacred house of the kingdom  These polities were numerous and saw shifting alliances and relations, but many were stable enough that they survived from initial European documentation in the 16th century until the end of Portuguese rule : 11–15 From perhaps the thirteenth century, the island exported sandalwood,: 267  which was valued both for its use in crafting and as a source of perfume  Timor was included in Southeast Asian, Chinese, and Indian trading networks by the fourteenth century, exporting sandalwood, honey, and wax  The island was recorded by the Majapahit Empire as a source of tribute : 89  It was sandalwood that attracted European explorers to the island in the early sixteenth century  Early European presence was limited to trade, with the first Portuguese settlement being on the nearby island of Solor : 90

Portuguese era (1769–1975)
Early Portuguese presence on Timor was very limited; trade was directed through Portuguese settlements on nearby islands  Only in the 17th century did they establish a more direct presence on the island, a consequence of being driven out of other islands by the Dutch : 267  After Solor was lost in 1613 the Portuguese moved to Flores  In 1646 the capital moved to Kupang on Timor's west, before Kupang too was lost to the Dutch in 1652  The Portuguese then moved to Lifau, in what is now East Timor's Oecusse exclave : 90  Effective European occupation in the east of the island only began in 1769, when the city of Dili was founded, although actual control remained highly limited  A definitive border between the Dutch and Portuguese parts of the island was established by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 1914 and remains the international boundary between the successor states Indonesia and East Timor, respectively For the Portuguese, East Timor remained little more than a neglected trading post, with minimal investment in infrastructure and education, until the late nineteenth century  Even when Portugal established actual control over the interior of its colony, investment remained minimal : 269, 273  Sandalwood continued to be the main export crop and coffee exports became significant in the mid-nineteenth century At the beginning of the twentieth century, a faltering domestic economy prompted the Portuguese to extract greater wealth from its colonies, which was met with East Timorese resistance  The colony was seen as an economic burden during the Great Depression and received little support or management from Portugal : 269 During World War II, Dili was occupied by the Allies in 1941, and later by the Japanese beginning in 1942  The mountainous interior of the colony became the scene of a guerrilla campaign, known as the Battle of Timor  Waged by East Timorese volunteers and Allied forces against the Japanese, the struggle killed between 40,000 and 70,000 East Timorese civilians  The Japanese eventually drove the last of the Australian and Allied forces out in early 1943  Portuguese control resumed, however, after Japanese surrender at the end of World War II Portugal began investment in the colony in the 1950s, funding education and promoting coffee exports, but the economy did not improve substantially and infrastructure improvements were limited : 269  Growth rates remained low, near 2%  Following the 1974 Portuguese revolution, Portugal effectively abandoned its colony in Timor, and civil war between East Timorese political parties broke out in 1975 
The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) resisted a Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) coup attempt in August 1975, and unilaterally declared independence on 28 November 1975  Fearing a communist state within the Indonesian archipelago, the Indonesian military launched an invasion of East Timor in December 1975  Indonesia declared East Timor its 27th province on 17 July 1976  The United Nations Security Council opposed the invasion, and the territory's nominal status in the UN remained as "non-self-governing territory under Portuguese administration" 

Indonesian occupation (1975–1999)
Fretilin resisted the invasion, initially as an army, holding territory until November 1978, and then as a guerrilla resistance  The Indonesian occupation of Timor was marked by violence and brutality  A detailed statistical report prepared for the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor cited a minimum of 102,800 conflict-related deaths in the period between 1974 and 1999, including approximately 18,600 killings and 84,200 excess deaths from hunger and illness  The total number of conflict-related deaths during this period is difficult to determine due to a lack of data  One estimate based on Portuguese, Indonesian, and Catholic Church data suggests it may have been as high as 200,000  Repression and restrictions counteracted improvements in health and education infrastructure and services, meaning there was little overall improvement in living standards; economic growth mostly benefited immigrants from elsewhere in Indonesia : 271  A huge expansion of education was intended to increase Indonesian language use and internal security as much as it was for development The 1991 massacre of more than 200 demonstrators by the Indonesian military was a turning point for the independence cause, and brought increased international pressure on Indonesia  Following the resignation of Indonesian President Suharto, the new President BJ Habibie, prompted by a letter from Australian Prime Minister John Howard, decided to hold a referendum on independence  A UN-sponsored agreement between Indonesia and Portugal allowed for a UN-supervised popular referendum in August 1999  A clear vote for independence was met with a punitive campaign of violence by East Timorese pro-integration militias supported by elements of the Indonesian military  In response, the Indonesian government allowed a multinational peacekeeping force, INTERFET, to restore order and aid East Timorese refugees and internally displaced persons  On 25 October 1999, the administration of East Timor was taken over by the UN through the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET)  INTERFET deployment ended in February 2000 with the transfer of military command to the UN 

Contemporary era
On 30 August 2001, the East Timorese voted in their first election organised by the UN to elect members of the Constituent Assembly  On 22 March 2002, the Constituent Assembly approved the Constitution  By May 2002, more than 205,000 refugees had returned  On 20 May 2002, the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of East Timor came into force and East Timor was recognised as independent by the UN  The Constituent Assembly was renamed the National Parliament, and Xanana Gusmão was elected as the country's first president  On 27 September 2002 the country became a UN member state In 2006, a crisis of unrest and factional fighting forced 155,000 people to flee their homes; the United Nations sent in security forces to restore order  The following year, Gusmão declined to run for another term  While there were minor incidents in the build-up to the mid-year presidential elections, the process was peaceful overall and José Ramos-Horta was elected president  In June 2007, Gusmão ran in the parliamentary elections and became prime minister at the head of the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) party  In February 2008, Ramos-Horta was critically injured in an attempted assassination; Prime Minister Gusmão also faced gunfire separately but escaped unharmed  Australian reinforcements were immediately sent to help keep order  In March 2011, the UN handed over operational control of the police force to the East Timor authorities  The United Nations ended its peacekeeping mission on 31 December 2012 Francisco Guterres of the centre-left Fretilin party became president in May 2017  The leader of Fretilin, Mari Alkatiri, formed a coalition government after the July 2017 parliamentary election  This government soon fell, leading to a second general election in May 2018  In June 2018, former president and independence fighter, Taur Matan Ruak, became the new prime minister  José Ramos-Horta again became president on 20 May 2022 after winning the April 2022 presidential election runoff against Francisco Guterres 

Politics and government
The political system of East Timor is semi-presidential, based upon the Portuguese system : 175  The constitution establishes both this separation of executive powers between the president and the prime minister; and the separation of powers between the executive, legislature, and judiciary : 12  Individuals are not allowed to participate in both the legislature and the executive branch  The legislature is intended to provide a check on the executive; in practice the executive has maintained control of the legislature under all political parties, reflecting the dominance of individual leaders within political parties and coalitions : 174  The executive, through the council of ministers, also holds some formal legislative powers : 175  The judiciary operates independently, although there are instances of executive interference : 13, 39  Some courts shift between locations, to improve access for those in more isolated areas  Despite political rhetoric, the constitution and democratic institutions have been followed by politicians, and changes of government are peaceful : 15, 42  Elections are run by an independent body,: 216  and turnout is high, ranging from around 70% to 85% : 17  The political system has wide public acceptance : 17 : 106 The head of state of East Timor is the president of the republic, who is elected by popular vote for a five-year term,: 244  and can serve a maximum of two terms  Formally, the directly elected president holds relatively limited powers compared to those in similar systems, with no power over the appointment and dismissal of the prime minister and the council of ministers  However, as they are directly elected, past presidents have wielded great informal power and influence : 175  The president does have the power to veto government legislation, initiate referendums, and to dissolve parliament in the event that it is unable to form a government or pass a budget : 244  If the president vetoes a legislative action, the parliament can overturn the veto with a two-thirds majority : 10  The prime minister is chosen by the parliament, with the president appointing the leader of the majority party or coalition as prime minister of East Timor and the cabinet on the proposal of the latter : 10  As head of government, the prime minister presides over the cabinet 

Representatives in the unicameral National Parliament are elected by popular vote to a five-year term  The number of seats can vary from a minimum of fifty-two to a maximum of sixty-five  Parties must achieve 3% of the vote to enter parliament, with seats for qualifying parties allocated using the D'Hondt method  Elections occur within the framework of a competitive multi-party system  Upon independence, power was held by the Fretilin political party, which was formed shortly before the Indonesian invasion and led its resistance  Given its history, Fretilin viewed itself as the natural party of government and supported a multi-party system, expecting the development of a dominant-party system  Support from the United Nations and the international community, both before and after independence, allowed the nascent political system to survive shocks such as the 2006 crisis : 173 Candidates in parliamentary elections run in a single national district in a party-list system  One in three of all candidates presented by political parties must be women  This system promotes a diversity of political parties, but gives voters little influence over the individual candidates selected by each party : 175–176  Women hold more than a third of parliamentary seats, with parties required by law to run female candidates, but they are less prominent at other levels and within party leadership Political divisions exist along class lines and along geographical lines  There is broadly a divide between eastern and western areas of the country, stemming from differences that arose under Indonesian rule  Fretilin in particular is strongly linked to the Eastern areas : 176–177  Political parties are more closely associated with prominent personalities more than with ideology : 16  The National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction became the main opposition to Fretilin, following its establishment to allow Xanana Gusmão to run for Prime Minister in the 2007 parliamentary elections : 168–169  While both major parties have been relatively stable, they remain led by an "old guard" of individuals who came to prominence during the resistance against Indonesia : 175 : 10–11 Politics and administration is centred in the capital Dili, with the national government responsible for most civil services : 9, 36  Oecusse, separated from the rest of the country by Indonesian territory, is a special administrative region with some autonomy : 180  The National Police of East Timor and Timor Leste Defence Force have held a monopoly on violence since 2008 and very few guns are present outside of these organisations : 8  While there are allegations of abuse of power, there is some judicial oversight of police and public trust in the institution has grown  An active civil society functions independently of the government, as do media outlets : 11–12  Civil society organisations are concentrated in the capital, including student groups  Due to the structure of the economy, there are no powerful trade unions : 17  The Catholic Church has strong influence in the country : 40

Foreign relations and military
International cooperation has always been important to East Timor; donor funds made up 80% of the budget before oil revenues began to replace them : 42–44  International forces also provided security, with five UN missions sent to the country from 1999  The final one, the United Nations Integrated Mission in East Timor, began after the 2006 East Timorese crisis and concluded in 2012 : 4, 14 East Timor formally applied to join ASEAN in 2011,: 42–44  and was granted observer status and accepted "in principle" in November 2022  Despite the nationalist political leadership promoting closer ties with Melanesian states, the country has targeted ASEAN membership since before its independence, with its leaders stating that joining Pacific bodies would have precluded ASEAN membership  ASEAN membership was sought for economic and security reasons, including to improve the relationship with Indonesia  Nonetheless, the process has been slow due to a lack of support from some ASEAN states : 10–11  East Timor is thus an observer to the Pacific Islands Forum and the Melanesian Spearhead Group  More broadly, the country is a leader within the Group of Seven Plus (g7+), an organisation of fragile states  It is also a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries : 42–44 Continuing bilateral donors include Australia, Portugal, Germany, and Japan, and East Timor has a reputation for effectively and transparently using donor funds  Good relations with Australia and with Indonesia are a policy goal for the government, despite historical and more-recent tensions  These countries are important economic partners and provide most transport links to the country : 42–44  China has also increased its presence by contributing to infrastructure in Dili : 12 The relationship with Australia was dominated from before independence by disputes over natural resources in the ocean between them, hampering the establishment of a mutually agreed border  The dominance of Australian hard power led East Timor to utilise public diplomacy and forums for international law to push their case  The dispute was resolved in 2018 following negotiations at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, when a maritime boundary between the two was established along with an agreement on natural resource revenues The Timor Leste Defence Force (F-FDTL) was established in 2001, replacing Falintil, and was restructured following the events of 2006  It is responsible not only for safeguarding against external threats, but also for addressing violent crime, a role it shares with the National Police of East Timor  These forces remain small: 2,200 soldiers in the regular army and 80 in a naval component  A single aircraft and seven patrol boats are operated, and there are plans to expand the naval component  There is some military cooperation with Australia, Portugal, and the United States 

Administrative divisions
East Timor is divided into fourteen municipalities, which in turn are subdivided into 64 administrative posts, 442 sucos (villages), and 2,225 aldeias (hamlets)  The municipalities are: Aileu, Ainaro, Atauro, Baucau, Bobonaro, Cova Lima, Dili, Ermera, Lautém, Liquiçá, Manatuto, Manufahi, Oecusse, and Viqueque The existing system of municipalities and administrative posts was established during Portuguese rule : 3  While decentralisation is mentioned in the constitution, administrative powers generally remain with the national government operating out of Dili : 2  Upon independence there was debate about how to implement decentralisation; various proposed models would create different levels of administration between the sucos and the central government  In most proposals, there were no specific provisions for suco-level governance, and they were expected to continue to exist as mostly traditional spaces, identifying communities rather than being part of the civil administration  In the end, the existing districts were kept and renamed municipalities in 2009, and received very few powers : 88–92  In 2016 changes were made so that each municipality is led by a civil servant appointed by the central government  This civil servant is advised by locally elected leaders : 4, 7  The isolated Oecusse municipality, which has a strong identity and is fully surrounded by Indonesian territory, is specified by Articles 5 and 71 of the 2002 constitution to be governed by a special administrative policy and economic regime  Law 3/2014 of 18 June 2014 implemented this constitutional provision, which went into effect in January 2015, turning Oecusse into a Special Administrative Region  The region began operating its own civil service in June 2015  In January 2022 the island of Atauro, formerly an Administrative Post of Dili, became its own municipality Administration in the lowest levels of the administrative system of East Timor, the aldeias and sucos, generally reflects traditional customs,: 1  reflecting community identity and relationships between local households : 4  Sucos generally contain 2,000 to 3,000 inhabitants  Their long persistence and links to local governance means the sucos are the level of government that is linked to community identities, rather than any high level of administration : 89  Such relationships, however, are associated specifically with the kinship groups within that land, rather than the land itself : 52–53  Relationships between sucos also reflect customary practices, for example through the reciprocal exchanging of support for local initiatives : 9  Laws passed in 2004 provided for the election of some suco officials, but assigned these positions no formal powers  An updated law in 2009 established the expected mandate of these positions, although it continued to leave them outside of the formal state system, reliant on municipal governments to provide formal administration and services : 94–97  Further clarification was given in 2016, which entrenched the treatment of sucos and aldeias more as communities than formal levels of administration  Despite this lack of formal association with the state, suco leaders hold great influence and are often seen by their community as representatives of the state  They have responsibilities usually associated with civic administration : 7–10

Geography
Located in between Southeast Asia and the South Pacific,: 2  the island of Timor is the largest of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which lie within the Malay archipelago : 1  The island is surrounded by the Ombai and Wetar Straits of the rougher Banda Sea in the north, and the calmer Timor Sea in the south : 2  East Timor shares the island with Indonesia, with Indonesian territory separating the Oecusse exclave from the rest of the country  The island of Atauro lies north of the mainland,: 2  with the fourth area being the small island of Jaco  The Savu Sea lies north of Oecusse : 1  The country is about 265 kilometres (165 mi) long and 97 kilometres (60 mi) wide, with a total land area of 14,874 square kilometres (5,743 sq mi) : 1  This territory is situated between 8′15S – 10′30S latitude and 125′50E – 127′30E longitude : 2  The country's coastline covers around 700 kilometres (430 mi),: 27  while the main land border with Indonesia is 125 kilometres (78 mi) long, and the Oecusse land border is around 100 kilometres (62 mi) long : 1  Maritime borders exist with Australia to the south and Indonesia elsewhere  East Timor has an exclusive economic zone of 77,051 km2 (29,750 sq mi) The interior of the country is mountainous,: 2  with ridges of inactive volcanic mountains extending along the island : 2  Almost half of the country has a slope of at least 40%



ground_truth: 1989

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: When did the majority party in the body which determines rules of the US House and US Senate gain control of the House?

The following are given passages.
Context 2: Passage 1:
Party leaders of the United States Senate
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate  They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate  They are each elected as majority leader and minority leader by the senators of their party caucuses: the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference 
By Senate precedent, the presiding officer gives the majority leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate  The majority leader serves as the chief representative of their party in the Senate, and is considered the most powerful member of the Senate  They also serve as the chief representative of their party in the entire Congress if the House of Representatives, and thus the office of the speaker of the House, is controlled by the opposition party  The Senate's executive and legislative business is also managed and scheduled by the majority leader                                                        
The assistant majority leader and assistant minority leader of the United States Senate, commonly called whips, are the second-ranking members of each party's leadership  The main function of the majority and minority whips is to gather votes of their respective parties on major issues  As the second-ranking members of Senate leadership, if there is no floor leader present, the whip may become acting floor leader 

Current floor leaders
The Senate is currently composed of 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 3 independents; all the independents caucus with the Democrats 
The current leaders are Senators Chuck Schumer (D) of New York and Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky  The current assistant leaders, or whips, are Senators Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois and John Thune (R) of South Dakota 

History
By at least 1850, parties in each chamber of Congress began naming chairs, and while conference and caucus chairs carried very little authority, the Senate party floor leader positions arose from the position of conference chair  Senate Democrats began the practice of electing their floor leaders in 1920 while they were in the minority  John W  Kern was a Democratic senator from Indiana  While the title was not official, the Senate website identifies Kern as the first Senate party leader, serving in that capacity from 1913 through 1917 (and in turn, the first Senate Democratic leader), while serving concurrently as chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus  In 1925, the Republicans (who were in the majority at the time) also adopted this language when Charles Curtis became the first (official) majority leader, although his immediate predecessor Henry Cabot Lodge is considered the first (unofficial) Senate majority leader 
The United States Constitution designates the Vice President of the United States as president of the Senate  The Constitution also calls for a president pro tempore, to serve as the presiding officer when the president of the Senate (the vice president) is absent  In practice, neither the vice president nor the president pro tempore—customarily the most senior (longest-serving) senator in the majority party—actually presides over the Senate on a daily basis; that task is given to junior Senators of the majority party  Since the vice president may be of a different party from the majority and is not a Senate member subject to discipline, the rules of procedure of the Senate give the Vice President no power beyond the presiding role  For these reasons, it is the majority leader who, in practice, manages the Senate  This is in contrast to the House of Representatives, where the elected speaker of the House has a great deal of discretionary power and generally presides over votes on legislative bills 

List of party leaders
The Democratic Party first selected a leader in 1920  The Republican Party first formally designated a leader in 1925 

See also
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
Vice President of the United States (President of the United States Senate)
Party divisions of United States Congresses
List of political parties in the United States

Notes
Passage 2:
2014 United States Senate elections
The 2014 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, 2014  A total of 36 seats in the 100-member U S  Senate were contested  Thirty-three Class 2 seats were contested for regular six-year terms to be served from January 3, 2015, to January 3, 2021, and three Class 3 seats were contested in special elections due to Senate vacancies  The elections marked 100 years of direct elections of U S  senators  Going into the elections, 21 of the contested seats were held by the Democratic Party, while 15 were held by the Republican Party 
The Republicans regained the majority of the Senate in the 114th Congress, which started in January 2015; the Republicans had not controlled the Senate since January 2007  They needed a net gain of at least six seats to obtain a majority and were projected by polls to do so  On election night, they held all of their seats and gained nine Democratic-held seats  Republicans defeated five Democratic incumbents: Mark Begich of Alaska lost to Dan Sullivan, Mark Pryor of Arkansas lost to Tom Cotton, Mark Udall of Colorado lost to Cory Gardner, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana lost to Bill Cassidy, and Kay Hagan of North Carolina lost to Thom Tillis  Republicans also picked up another four open seats in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and West Virginia  Democrats did not pick up any Republican-held seats, but they did hold an open seat in Michigan 
This was the second consecutive election held in a president's sixth year where control of the Senate changed hands, the first being in 2006  This was also the first time that the Democrats lost control of the Senate in a sixth-year midterm since 1918  With a total net gain of nine seats, the Republicans made the largest Senate gain by any party since 1980  This is also the first election since 1980 in which more than two incumbent Democratic Senators were defeated by their Republican challengers  Days after the election, the United States Election Project estimated that 36 4% of eligible voters voted, 4% lower than the 2010 elections, and possibly the lowest turnout rate since the 1942 election As of 2022, this remains the last time that a Republican has won a U S  Senate election in Colorado  This is the most recent Senate elections where any Republican flipped an open Democratic-held seat  This is also the most recent election where the party winning control of the Senate won the popular vote  It also remains the last time that the president's party has suffered a net loss of Senate seats in a midterm 

Partisan composition
For a majority, Republicans needed at least 51 seats  Democrats could have retained a majority with 48 seats (assuming the two Independents continued to caucus with them) because the Democratic Vice President Joe Biden would become the tie-breaker  From 1915 to 2013, control of the U S  Senate flipped in 10 of 50 cycles, or 20% of the time  Republicans had lost ground in the 2012 elections, leading to an internal fight among the Republican leadership over the best strategies and tactics for the 2014 Senate races  By December 2013, eight of the twelve incumbent Republicans running for re-election saw Tea Party challenges  However, Republican incumbents won every primary challenge  Although Democrats saw some opportunities for pickups, the combination of Democratic retirements and numerous Democratic seats up for election in swing states and red states gave Republicans hopes of taking control of the Senate  7 of the 21 states with Democratic seats up for election in 2014 had voted for Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election compared to just 1 state with a Republican senator that voted for Barack Obama  Democrats also faced the lower voter turnout that accompanies mid-term elections Poll aggregation website FiveThirtyEight gave the Republican Party a 60% chance of taking control of the Senate as of September 28  Another poll aggregation website, RealClearPolitics, gave the Republican Party a net gain of 7 seats  Due to the closeness of several races, it was initially believed that Senate control might not be decided on election night  Both Louisiana and Georgia were seen as competitive, and both states require a run-off election if no candidate takes a majority of the vote 
Two independent candidates (in Kansas and South Dakota) refused to commit to caucusing with either party  In the final months of the race, polls showed them with viable chances of winning, leading some analysts to speculate on the possibility of an "Independent caucus" that could also include Maine Senator Angus King and possibly Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders  However, no Independent won a Senate race in 2014, and King and Sanders continue to caucus with the Democratic Party following the 2014 election 
By midnight ET, most major networks projected that the Republicans would take control of the Senate  The party held all three competitive Republican-held seats (Kentucky, Kansas, and Georgia), and defeated incumbent Democrats in North Carolina, Colorado, and Arkansas  Combined with the pick-ups of open seats in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and West Virginia, the Republicans made a net gain of 7 seats before the end of the night  Republicans defeated three incumbent Democrats, a task the party had not accomplished since the 1980 election  Five of the seven confirmed pickups were in states that voted for Mitt Romney in 2012, but two of the seats that Republicans won represent states that voted for Barack Obama in 2012 (Colorado and Iowa)  Of the three races that were not called by the end of election night, Alaska and Virginia were still too close to call, while Louisiana held a December 6 run-off election  Virginia declared Democrat Mark Warner the winner of his race by a narrow margin over Republican Ed Gillespie on November 7, and Alaska declared Dan Sullivan the winner against Democratic incumbent Mark Begich a week later, on November 12  Republican Bill Cassidy defeated Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu in the Louisiana runoff on December 6 

Election spending
Altogether, at least $3 67 billion was spent by candidates, parties, committees and outside groups in the 2014 election  Spending on the 2014 Senate elections by outside groups (i e , organizations other than a candidate's campaign, such as super PACs and "dark money" nonprofit groups) more than doubled from 2010  In the 10 competitive races for which data was available, outside groups accounted for 47% of spending, candidates accounted for 41% of spending, and parties accounted for 12% of spending  The Senate race with the most outside spending was in North Carolina, at $80 million, a new record The top outside spenders in the 11 most competitive Senate races were the following:

On the Republican side, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Crossroads GPS, U S  Chamber of Commerce, Ending Spending Action Fund, Freedom Partners Action Fund, American Crossroads, and the NRA Political Victory Fund 
On the Democratic side, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senate Majority PAC, and NextGen Climate Action Committee 

Results summary
The Republican Party made a net gain of nine U S  Senate seats in the 2014 elections Going into the elections, there were 53 Democratic, 45 Republican and 2 independent senators (both of whom caucus with the Democrats)  In all, there were 36 elections: 33 senators were up for election this year as class 2 senators, and 3 faced special elections (all from Class 3)  Of all these seats, 21 were held by Democrats and 15 were held by Republicans 

Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row 

Source: Clerk of the U S  House of Representatives

Change in composition
Before the elections
After the elections
Gains and losses
Retirements
Four Democrats and two Republicans retired instead of seeking re-election 

Resignations
One Republican resigned four years into his six-year term 

Nomination withdrawn
One Democrat was originally to seek election for a full 6-year term in office but withdrew 

Defeats
Five Democrats sought re-election but lost in the general election 

Race summaries
Special elections during the preceding Congress
In these special elections, the winners were elected during 2014 and seated before January 3, 2015 — except that one was seated on January 3, 2015, the effective date of the predecessor's resignation 

Elections leading to the next Congress
In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2015; ordered by state 
All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats 

Closest races
In seven races the margin of victory was under 10% 

Final pre-election predictions
Predicted probability of Republican takeover
Several websites used poll aggregation and psephology to estimate the probability that the Republican Party would gain enough seats to take control of the Senate 

Predictions
Republicans needed to win at least six in order to gain a majority of 51 seats and Democrats needed to win at least seven in order to hold a majority of 50 seats (including the two independents who currently caucus with the Democrats) and the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Joe Biden 

Alabama
Three-term incumbent Republican Jeff Sessions had been re-elected with 63% of the vote in 2008  Sessions sought re-election  Democrat Victor Sanchez Williams ran against Sessions as a write-in candidate  Sessions won with 97 3 percent of the vote against assorted write-in candidates 

Alaska
One-term incumbent Democrat Mark Begich had been first elected with 48% of the vote in 2008, defeating six-term Senator Ted Stevens by 3,953 votes (a margin of 1 25%)  Begich was 52 years old in 2014 and was seeking re-election to a second term  Stevens, who would have been almost 91 years old at the time of the election, had already filed for a rematch back in 2009, but was killed in a plane crash the following year 
Republican Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell, 2010 nominee Joe Miller, State Natural Resources Commissioner Daniel S  Sullivan, and Air Force veteran John Jaramillo ran for the GOP nomination  In the August 19 primary, Sullivan won the Republican nomination with 40% and defeated Begich in the general election 

Arkansas
Two-term incumbent Democrat Mark Pryor had been re-elected with 80% of the vote without Republican opposition in 2008  Pryor was running for a third term Freshman Representative Tom Cotton of Arkansas's 4th congressional district was the Republican nominee  In the general election, Cotton defeated Pryor 

Colorado
One-term incumbent Democrat Mark Udall had been elected with 53% of the vote in 2008  Udall was running for re-election Congressman Cory Gardner of Colorado's 4th congressional district was the Republican nominee; his late entry into the race caused numerous Republicans to withdraw their candidacies  Gaylon Kent was the Libertarian Party nominee  Unity Party of America founder and National Chairman Bill Hammons was the Unity Party nominee 

Delaware
Democrat Chris Coons won in the 2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware caused by Joe Biden's election as Vice President, winning by a 57% to 41% margin  Coons sought re-election  His Republican opponent was engineer Kevin Wade, whom Coons went on to defeat in the general election 

Georgia
Two-term incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss had been re-elected with 57% of the vote in 2008 in a runoff election with former state Representative Jim Martin; Georgia requires run-off elections when no Senate candidate wins over 50% of the vote  Chambliss did not seek a third term Political activist Derrick Grayson, Representatives Jack Kingston of Georgia's 1st congressional district, Paul Broun of Georgia's 10th congressional district, and Phil Gingrey of Georgia's 11th congressional district all declared their candidacy for the Republican nomination, as did former Secretary of State Karen Handel  In the May 20 primary, no candidate received a majority of votes, so the top two candidates faced each other in a runoff; Perdue narrowly won against Kingston in the runoff primary election on July 22 with 50 9% of the vote Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light and the daughter of former U S  Senator Sam Nunn, won the Democratic nomination  Other declared Democratic candidates included former State Senator Steen Miles, psychiatrist Branko Radulovacki, and former US Army Ranger Todd Robinson  Amanda Swafford, a former Flowery Branch, Georgia, city councilwoman, received the Libertarian Party of Georgia nomination 

Hawaii (special)
Daniel Inouye, the second longest serving United States Senator in U S  history, died on December 17, 2012, after respiratory complications  Hawaii law allows the Governor of Hawaii, to appoint an interim Senator "who serves until the next regularly-scheduled general election, chosen from a list of three prospective appointees that the prior incumbent's political party submits"  Governor Neil Abercrombie did so, selecting Lieutenant Governor Brian Schatz to fill the Senate seat  Inouye had been re-elected in 2010 with 72% of the vote  Schatz was challenged in the Democratic primary by Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii's 1st congressional district, who Inouye had hoped would be his successor  Schatz defeated Hanabusa in the primary with 48 5% to 47 8% Campbell Cavasso, former State Representative and nominee for the U S  Senate in 2004 and 2010, was the Republican nominee 

Idaho
One-term incumbent Republican Jim Risch had been elected with 58% of the vote in 2008  Risch sought a second term Boise attorney Nels Mitchell was the Democratic nominee 

Illinois
Three-term incumbent and Senate Majority Whip Democrat Dick Durbin had been re-elected with 68% of the vote in 2008  Durbin ran for a fourth term State Senator Jim Oberweis was the Republican nominee  He defeated primary challenger Doug Truax with 56% of the vote 

Iowa
Five-term incumbent Democrat Tom Harkin had been re-elected with 63% of the vote in 2008  Harkin announced on January 26, 2013, that he would not seek a sixth term  Congressman Bruce Braley was the Democratic nominee State Senator Joni Ernst was the Republican nominee Doug Butzier, who was the Libertarian Party's nominee, died in a plane crash on October 13, 2014, but still appeared on the ballot 

Kansas
Three-term incumbent Republican Pat Roberts had been re-elected with 60% of the vote in 2008  Roberts sought a fourth term  He faced a primary challenge from radiologist Milton Wolf, a conservative Tea Party supporter  Roberts defeated Wolf in the Republican primary by 48% to 41%  Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor won the Democratic nomination  Randall Batson from Wichita was on the general election ballot as a Libertarian  Also, Greg Orman qualified for the ballot as an independent On September 3, Taylor announced he was dropping out of the election, leading to speculation that Democrats would support Orman's candidacy  On September 18, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that Taylor's name had to be removed from the ballot 

Kentucky
Five-term Republican incumbent and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had been re-elected with 53% of the vote in 2008  McConnell sought re-election to a sixth term  McConnell defeated businessman Matt Bevin in the Republican primary on May 20 Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, with support from much of Kentucky's Democratic leadership, won the Democratic primary  Actress Ashley Judd publicly claimed to be considering a run for the Democratic nomination, but ultimately decided against it Ed Marksberry pursued an independent bid after dropping out of the Democratic field in September 2013 

Louisiana
Three-term incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu had been re-elected with 52% of the vote in 2008  Landrieu ran for a fourth term Louisiana uses a unique jungle primary system that eschews primaries in favor of run-off elections between the top two candidates; this run-off can be avoided if the winning candidate receives over 50% of the vote  Democrats Wayne Ables, Vallian Senegal, and William Waymire ran against Landrieu in the election, as did Republicans Bill Cassidy (representative of Louisiana's 6th congressional district), Thomas Clements (small business owner), and retired Air Force Colonel Rob Maness  Electrical Engineer Brannon McMorris ran as a Libertarian Because Republican candidate Maness took almost 14% of the votes in the primary, there was a runoff election on December 6, 2014, between Landrieu (42%) and Cassidy (41%)  Cassidy won the runoff with 56% of the vote 

Maine
Three-term incumbent Republican Susan Collins was seeking a fourth term  Shenna Bellows, former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, was the Democratic nominee 

Massachusetts
Five-term incumbent and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry had been re-elected with 66% of the vote in 2008  Kerry resigned in early 2013 to become U S  Secretary of State  Governor Deval Patrick appointed Democrat Mo Cowan to the seat  Democratic Congressman Ed Markey beat Republican Gabriel E  Gomez in the June 25, 2013 special election by a 55% to 45% margin  Markey had served the remainder of Kerry's term before running for re-election to a first full term in 2014  Hopkinton Town Selectman Brian Herr was the Republican nominee 

Michigan
Six-term incumbent Senator and Chairman of the Armed Services Committee Democrat Carl Levin, the longest-serving senator in Michigan's history, had been re-elected with 63% of the vote in 2008  Levin announced on March 7, 2013, that he would not seek re-election 
Three term Democratic Representative Gary Peters of MI-14 was the Democratic nominee  He defeated Republican former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land who was unopposed for the Republican nomination 

Minnesota
One-term incumbent Democrat Al Franken unseated one-term Republican Norm Coleman by 312 votes in a contested three-way race with 42% of the vote in 2008; the third candidate in the race, former Senator Dean Barkley of the Independence Party of Minnesota, won 15% of the vote  Franken sought re-election  State Representative Jim Abeler, St  Louis County Commissioner Chris Dahlberg, co-CEO of Lazard Middle Market Mike McFadden, bison farmer and former hair salon owner Monti Moreno, state Senator Julianne Ortman, and U S  Navy reservist Phillip Parrish ran for the Republican nomination  McFadden won the Republican primary and was the Republican nominee in the general election Hannah Nicollet of the Independence Party of Minnesota also ran 

Mississippi
Six-term incumbent Republican Thad Cochran, re-elected with 62% of the vote in 2008, ran for re-election  Cochran was the last incumbent Senator to declare his plans, leading to widespread speculation that he might announce his retirement Tea Party candidate Chris McDaniel, a conservative Mississippi state senator, ran against Cochran in the Republican primary  Neither McDaniel nor Cochran was able to get 50% of the vote in the first round of the primary, so a runoff election was held June 24  Cochran won the runoff election by 51% to 49%, with the help of Democratic voters eligible to vote in the state's open primaries who chose Cochran as their preferred Republican  McDaniel filed a lawsuit to challenge the results of the run-off, but the challenge was rejected on appeal by the Supreme Court of Mississippi Former Congressman Travis Childers was the Democratic nominee 

Montana
Six-term incumbent Democrat Max Baucus, the longest-serving senator in Montana's history, had been re-elected with 73% of the vote in 2008  Baucus announced on April 23, 2013, that he would retire in 2014, rather than seek re-election to a seventh term  Baucus was appointed as the United States Ambassador to China, leading him to resign from the Senate in February 2014 Following Baucus's confirmation as ambassador, Governor Steve Bullock appointed the Lieutenant Governor John Walsh to fill the vacant senate seat  Former Lieutenant Governor John Bohlinger was defeated by Walsh in the Democratic primary  Amid controversy over alleged plagiarism in a 2007 research paper, Walsh pulled out of the race  The Montana Democratic Party held a special nominating convention on August 16 to choose a replacement for Walsh  First-term State Representative Amanda Curtis won the nomination, thereby becoming the new Democratic nominee Congressman Steve Daines won the Republican nomination over state Representative Champ Edmunds of Missoula and David Leaser of Kalispell 

Nebraska
One-term incumbent Republican Mike Johanns had been elected with 58% of the vote in 2008  He did not seek a second term  Term limited Republican Governor Dave Heineman considered running for the Republican nomination, but ultimately decided not to do so  Former state Treasurer Shane Osborn, attorney Bart McLeay, banker Sid Dinsdale, and Midland University President Ben Sasse ran for the Republican nomination  In the May 13 primary, Sasse won the Republican nomination 
Trial lawyer David Domina was the Democratic nominee 

New Hampshire
One-term incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen had been elected with 52% of the vote in 2008  Shaheen ran for re-election  Shaheen defeated Republican nominee Scott Brown, who had represented neighboring Massachusetts in the Senate from 2010 to 2013 

New Jersey
Incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg had been re-elected with 56% of the vote in 2008  After announcing he would not seek re-election, Lautenberg died in June 2013, aged 89, after a long period of ill health Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat, defeated Republican nominee Steve Lonegan by 55%-to-45% in a 2013 special election to replace interim Republican appointee Jeffrey Chiesa  Booker ran for re-election to a full term in 2014  1978 and 1982 Republican candidate and political operative Jeff Bell was the Republican nominee 

New Mexico
One-term incumbent Democrat Tom Udall had been elected with 61% of the vote in 2008  Former Doña Ana County Republican Party Chairman David Clements and former New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Allen Weh sought the Republican nomination  Weh won the June 3 primary but lost to Udall in the general election 

North Carolina
One-term incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan had been elected with 53% of the vote against incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole in 2008  Hagan was seeking re-election State House Speaker Thom Tillis was the Republican nominee  Sean Haugh won the Libertarian nomination 

Oklahoma
There were 2 elections in Oklahoma, due to the resignation of Tom Coburn 

Oklahoma (regular)
Three-term incumbent Republican Jim Inhofe had been re-elected with 57% of the vote in 2008  Inhofe sought re-election  Matt Silverstein, an insurance agency owner, ran for the Democratic nomination 

Oklahoma (special)
Two-term incumbent Republican Tom Coburn had been re-elected with 71% of the vote in 2010, and was not scheduled to be up for election again until 2016  However, Coburn announced his intention to resign at the end of the 113th Congress  A special election to fill his seat took place in November 2014, concurrent with the other Senate elections  Congressman James Lankford was the Republican nominee  State Senator Connie Johnson was the Democratic nominee 

Oregon
One-term incumbent Democrat Jeff Merkley was narrowly elected with 49% of the vote in 2008  Merkley was running for a second term  State representative Jason Conger, attorney Tim Crawley, IT consultant Mark Callahan, neurosurgeon Dr  Monica Wehby, and former Linn County Republican Chair Jo Rae Perkins all ran for the Republican nomination, with Wehby ultimately winning the nomination in the May 20 primary 

Rhode Island
Three-term incumbent Democrat Jack Reed had been re-elected with 73% of the vote in 2008  Reed defeated Republican nominee Mark Zaccaria in the 2014 election 

South Carolina
There were 2 elections in South Carolina, due to the resignation of Jim DeMint 

South Carolina (regular)
Two-term Republican Lindsey Graham had been re-elected with 58% of the vote in 2008  Graham won the Republican nomination over a field that included state senator Lee Bright  State Senator Brad Hutto won the Democratic nomination 

South Carolina (special)
Jim DeMint had been elected to a second term in 2010, but resigned from the Senate in January 2013 to become president of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank  Governor Nikki Haley appointed Congressman Tim Scott as DeMint's replacement  Scott, an African-American, was the Republican nominee to serve out the remainder of DeMint's term  Scott is the first African-American Republican since shortly after Reconstruction to represent a Southern state  Richland County Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson won the Democratic nomination 

South Dakota
Three-term incumbent Democrat Tim Johnson had been re-elected with 63% of the vote in 2008  Johnson announced on March 26, 2013, that he would not run for re-election  Former Congressional aide Rick Weiland was the Democratic nominee Among Republicans, former two-term Governor Mike Rounds announced his candidacy for the GOP nomination on November 29, 2012  Rounds won the Republican nomination over state senator Larry Rhoden, state representative Stace Nelson, and physician Annette Bosworth Former Republican U S  Senator Larry Pressler and Republican State Senator Gordon Howie ran as independents  Pressler did not commit to caucusing with either party, while Howie said he would caucus with the Senate Republicans 

Tennessee
Two-term incumbent Republican Lamar Alexander had been re-elected with 65% of the vote in 2008  Alexander sought re-election to a third term  On August 7, 2014, Alexander won the Republican nomination over six challengers, including State Representative Joe Carr On November 4, 2014, Alexander faced Democratic nominee Gordon Ball, Libertarian Party nominee Joshua James, Constitution Party nominee Joe Wilmothm, and independent Danny Page also ran in the general election 

Texas
Two-term incumbent Republican John Cornyn, the Senate Minority Whip, had been re-elected with 55% of the vote in 2008  Cornyn sought re-election, and won the 2014 Republican primary with 59% of the vote  David Alameel, a dentist, and Kesha Rogers, a volunteer for The Lyndon LaRouche Policy Institute, faced each other in a run-off election for the Democratic nomination  Alameel won the run-off and was the Democratic nominee 

Virginia
One-term incumbent Democrat Mark Warner had been elected with 65% of the vote in 2008; he sought re-election  Ed Gillespie, former RNC Chairman and presidential adviser, ran for the Republican nomination  Robert Sarvis, the Libertarian nominee for Governor in 2013, also ran 

West Virginia
Five-term incumbent Democrat Jay Rockefeller had been re-elected with 64% of the vote in 2008  He announced on January 11, 2013, that he would not seek re-election to a sixth term  Secretary of State Natalie Tennant won the Democratic nomination On November 26, 2012, Republican Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito announced her plans to run for the seat, in hopes of becoming the first Republican Senator elected from West Virginia since 1956  Moore Capito won the Republican nomination and the general election, the first woman to serve as United States Senator from West Virginia 

Wyoming
Three-term incumbent Republican Mike Enzi had been re-elected with 76% of the vote in 2008  Enzi sought re-election  Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, briefly entered the race for the Republican nomination, but dropped her bid in January 2014  On August 19, Enzi won the Republican primary election with 82% of the vote, and Democrat Charlie Hardy, a former Catholic priest, won his party's primary election with 48% of the vote 

See also
2014 United States elections
2014 United States gubernatorial elections
2014 United States House of Representatives elections
113th United States Congress
114th United States Congress

Notes
Passage 3:
Standing Rules of the United States Senate
The Standing Rules of the Senate are the parliamentary procedures adopted by the United States Senate that govern its procedure  The Senate's power to establish rules derives from Article One, Section 5 of the United States Constitution: "Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings    "
There are currently forty-five rules, with the latest revision adopted on January 24, 2013  The most recent addition of a new rule occurred in 2006, when The Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006 introduced a 44th rule on earmarks  The stricter rules are often waived by unanimous consent 

Outline of rules
Quorum
The Constitution provides that a majority of the Senate constitutes a quorum to do business  Under the rules and customs of the Senate, a quorum is always assumed to be present unless a quorum call explicitly demonstrates otherwise  Any senator may request a quorum call by "suggesting the absence of a quorum"; a clerk then calls the roll of the Senate and notes which members are present  In practice, senators almost always request quorum calls not to establish the presence of a quorum, but to temporarily delay proceedings without having to adjourn the session  Such a delay may serve one of many purposes; often, it allows Senate leaders to negotiate compromises off the floor or to allow senators time to come to the Senate floor to make speeches without having to constantly be present in the chamber while waiting for the opportunity  Once the need for a delay has ended, any senator may request unanimous consent to rescind the quorum call 

Debate
The Senate is presided over by the Presiding Officer, either the President of the Senate (the Vice President) or more often the President pro tempore (in special cases the Chief Justice presides)  During debates, senators may speak only if called upon by the Presiding Officer  The Presiding Officer is, however, required to recognize the first senator who rises to speak  Thus, the Presiding Officer has little control over the course of debate  Customarily, the majority leader and minority leader are accorded priority during debates, even if another senator rises first  All speeches must be addressed to the Presiding Officer, using the words "Mr  President" or "Madam President"  Only the Presiding Officer may be directly addressed in speeches; other members must be referred to in the third person  In most cases, senators refer to each other not by name, but by state, using forms such as "the senior senator from Virginia" or "the junior senator from California" 
There are very few restrictions on the content of speeches, and there is no requirement that speeches be germane to the matter before the Senate 
The Senate Rules provide that no senator may make more than two speeches on a motion or bill on the same legislative day (a legislative day begins when the Senate convenes and ends when it adjourns; hence, it does not necessarily coincide with the calendar day)  The length of these speeches is not limited by the rules; thus, in most cases, senators may speak for as long as they please  Often, the Senate adopts unanimous consent agreements imposing time limits  In other cases (for example, for the budget process), limits are imposed by statute  In general, however, the right to unlimited debate is preserved 

Filibuster
The filibuster is an obstructionary tactic used to defeat bills and motions by prolonging debate indefinitely  A filibuster may entail, but does not actually require, long speeches, dilatory motions, and an extensive series of proposed amendments  The longest filibuster speech in the history of the Senate was delivered by Strom Thurmond, who spoke for over twenty-four hours in an unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957  The Senate may end a filibuster by invoking cloture  In most cases, cloture requires the support of three-fifths of the Senate  Cloture is invoked very rarely, particularly because bipartisan support is usually necessary to obtain the required supermajority  If the Senate does invoke cloture, debate does not end immediately; instead, further debate is limited to thirty additional hours unless increased by another three-fifths vote 

Closed session
On occasion, the Senate may go into what is called a secret or closed session  During a closed session, the chamber doors are closed and the galleries are completely cleared of anyone not sworn to secrecy, not instructed in the rules of the closed session, or not essential to the session  Closed sessions are rare and are usually held only under certain circumstances in which the Senate is discussing sensitive subject matter, such as information critical to national security, private communications from the president, or discussions of Senate deliberations during impeachment trials  Any Senator has the right to call a closed session as long as the motion is seconded 

Voting
When debate concludes, the motion in question is put to a vote  In many cases, the Senate votes by voice vote; the presiding officer puts the question, and Members respond either "Aye!" (in favor of the motion) or "No!" (against the motion)  The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote  Any senator, however, may challenge the presiding officer's assessment and request a recorded vote  The request may be granted only if it is seconded by one-fifth of the senators present  In practice, however, senators second requests for recorded votes as a matter of courtesy  When a recorded vote is held, the clerk calls the roll of the Senate in alphabetical order; each senator responds when their name is called  Senators who miss the roll call may still cast a vote as long as the recorded vote remains open  The vote is closed at the discretion of the presiding officer but must remain open for a minimum of fifteen minutes  If the vote is tied, the Vice President, if present, is entitled to a casting vote  If the Vice President is not present, however, the motion is resolved in the negative 

Committees
Tasks in the Senate are divided among sixteen standing committees, four select committees, four joint committees, and occasionally temporary committees  Senate rules establish the policy jurisdictions of each committee; for example, the Committee on Foreign Relations deals with all matters relating to foreign policy  Committees act, in effect, as "little legislatures", monitoring ongoing governmental operations, identifying issues suitable for legislative review, gathering and evaluating information, and recommending courses of action to their parent body in matters relating to their jurisdiction  Senate rules give committees significant gatekeeping authority over legislation that falls under their jurisdiction, with proposed bills submitted to the relevant committee, which can hold hearings, "mark up" bills, consolidate bills into a "clean bill", or ignore the bill altogether (there exist some workarounds for Senators to circumvent committees, but in general Senators work through the committee system) The size of each standing committee is established by Senate rules  The makeup of committees are established through inter-party negotiations before each new Congress, with the percentage of a party's representation within the Senate determining the percentage of seats it will have on each committee 

Reconciliation
Legislation affecting spending, revenues, and the federal debt limit is governed under a special rules process called "Reconciliation" that prohibits filibusters by limiting debate to twenty hours  Congress can pass up to three reconciliation bills per year, with each bill addressing one of the topics of reconciliation (revenue, spending, or the debt limit)  However, if Congress passes a reconciliation bill affecting more than one of those topics, it cannot pass another reconciliation bill later in the year affecting one of the topics addressed by the previous reconciliation bill  In practice, reconciliation bills have usually been passed once per year at most  Reconciliation cannot be used to enact or rescind discretionary spending (which is controlled through the annual appropriations process) or adjust Social Security spending, and is limited by the Byrd Rule, which allows senators to block provisions that are "extraneous" to spending, revenues, or the debt limit Reconciliation was created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and significantly altered with the introduction of the Byrd Rule in 1985 (amended in 1990)  Originally infrequently used (it did not see first use until 1980) 

Nominations
Selected public positions in the United States are appointed by the president but require Senate approval  Senate rule XXXI governs the Senate process for considering the president's nominations 
For most positions the nomination is passed first to a Senate committee for review  Generally it is the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the topic or department related to the position to be filled A public hearing by the committee is possible  Historically about half of civilian appointees were approved without a hearing  After consideration, the committee can report a favorable recommendation, or an unfavorable recommendation, or it can report no recommendation  It can also fail to act  To simplify the process, and with the support of the committee, the Senate by unanimous consent might discharge a nomination from the committee without the committee having acted It is up to the leadership of the Senate to then place the nomination on the Senate calendar for a vote in executive session  Some nominations are passed by unanimous consent  The leadership may delay putting a nomination on the calendar, in which case it may not be acted upon 

Nomination Time Limit
Paragraph 6 of rule XXXI specifies that if final action has not been taken before Congress adjourns the nomination is returned to the President  By the same rule nominations are returned when the Senate goes into recess for more than 30 days  However, in modern practice some nominations may stay active over long recesses if the Senate holds pro forma sessions during recess or agrees to suspend the rule by unanimous consent  When a nomination is returned without action, the president may nominate a different person or re-nominate the same person 

Rules by number
There are currently forty-four Standing Rules of the Senate:
SR Rule I: Appointment of a Senator to the Chair
SR Rule II: Presentation of Credentials and Questions of Privilege
SR Rule III: Oaths
SR Rule IV: Commencement of Daily Sessions
SR Rule V: Suspension and Amendment of the Rules
SR Rule VI: Quorum – Absent Senators May Be Sent For
SR Rule VII: Morning Business
SR Rule VIII: Order of Business
SR Rule IX: Messages
SR Rule X: Special Orders
SR Rule XI: Papers – Withdrawal, Printing, Reading of, and Reference
SR Rule XII: Voting Procedure
SR Rule XIII: Reconsideration
SR Rule XIV: Joint Resolutions, and Preambles Thereto
SR Rule XV: Amendments and Resolutions
SR Rule XVI: Appropriations and Amendments to General Appropriation Bills
SR Rule XVII: Reference to Committees; Motions to Discharge; Reports of Committees; and Hearings Available
SR Rule XVIII: Business Continued from Session to Session
SR Rule XIX: Debate
SR Rule XX: Questions for Order
SR Rule XXI: Session with Closed Doors
SR Rule XXII: Precedence of Motions
SR Rule XXIII: Privilege of the Floor
SR Rule XXIV: Appointments of Committee
SR Rule XXV: Standing Committees
SR Rule XXVI: Committee Procedure
SR Rule XXVII: Committee Staff
SR Rule XXVIII: Conference Committees; Reports; Open Meetings
SR Rule XXIX: Executive Sessions
SR Rule XXX: Executive Session – Proceedings on Treaties
SR Rule XXXI: Executive Session – Proceedings on Nominations
SR Rule XXXII: The President Furnished with Copies of Record Executive Sessions
SR Rule XXXIII: Senate Chamber – Senate Wing of the Capitol
SR Rule XXXIV: Public Financial Disclosure
SR Rule XXXV: Gifts
SR Rule XXXVI: Outside Earned Income
SR Rule XXXVII: Conflict of Interest
SR Rule XXXVIII: Prohibition of Unofficial Office Accounts
SR Rule XXXIX: Foreign Travel
SR Rule XL: Franking Privilege and Radio and Television Studios
SR Rule XLI: Political Fund Activity; Definitions
SR Rule XLII: Employment Practices
SR Rule XLIII: Representation by Members
SR Rule XLIV: Congressionally Directed Spending and Related ItemsThe latest change was the introduction in 2006 of a 44th rule on earmarks, by the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act 
Passage 4:
Majority leader
In U S  politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body 

United States
In the federal Congress of the United States, the roles of the House Majority Leader and the Senate Majority Leader differ slightly  At the state level, the majority leader of a given state legislative chamber usually performs a similar role to that of their federal counterpart 

Senate
In the Senate, the Vice President of the United States is officially the President of the Senate and the President pro tempore serves as the President of the Senate in the absence of the Vice President  However, in reality, the Vice President seldom enters the Senate, let alone directly presides over the chamber, unless a tied vote is expected, and the President pro tempore has become a ceremonial role deprived of any leadership ability 
Thus, the Majority Leader is seen as the de facto leader of the Senate, especially in modern times, and thus, in accordance with Senate rules, the Presiding Officer of the day gives the Majority Leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate and they determine which bills get voted on  The Majority Leader is seen as the chief spokesperson for their party in the Senate In the United States Senate, the current Majority Leader is Chuck Schumer, who assumed the office on January 20, 2021 

House of Representatives
In the House of Representatives the Majority Leader's presence and power often depends on the session  In some sessions, the Majority Leader takes precedence over the Speaker as House leader and legislative party leader either by force (which usually occurs when the Speaker of the House is unpopular) or because the Speaker of the House voluntarily surrenders power to the Majority Leader  In most sessions, the Speaker of the House takes precedence as house leader and party leader, with the Majority Leader being irrelevant and largely powerless outside the fact they might be Speaker of the House one day  Except, of course, for the fact that The Majority Leader (as well as the Speaker and the Minority Leader) are the only members of the House that can speak on the floor for an unlimited amount of time and cannot be interrupted by the chair 
In the United States House of Representatives, the current Majority Leader is Steve Scalise, who assumed office on January 3, 2023 

See also
Floor leader
Minority leader
Passage 5:
Party leaders of the United States Senate
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate  They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate  They are each elected as majority leader and minority leader by the senators of their party caucuses: the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference 
By Senate precedent, the presiding officer gives the majority leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate  The majority leader serves as the chief representative of their party in the Senate, and is considered the most powerful member of the Senate  They also serve as the chief representative of their party in the entire Congress if the House of Representatives, and thus the office of the speaker of the House, is controlled by the opposition party  The Senate's executive and legislative business is also managed and scheduled by the majority leader                                                        
The assistant majority leader and assistant minority leader of the United States Senate, commonly called whips, are the second-ranking members of each party's leadership  The main function of the majority and minority whips is to gather votes of their respective parties on major issues  As the second-ranking members of Senate leadership, if there is no floor leader present, the whip may become acting floor leader 

Current floor leaders
The Senate is currently composed of 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 3 independents; all the independents caucus with the Democrats 
The current leaders are Senators Chuck Schumer (D) of New York and Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky  The current assistant leaders, or whips, are Senators Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois and John Thune (R) of South Dakota 

History
By at least 1850, parties in each chamber of Congress began naming chairs, and while conference and caucus chairs carried very little authority, the Senate party floor leader positions arose from the position of conference chair  Senate Democrats began the practice of electing their floor leaders in 1920 while they were in the minority  John W  Kern was a Democratic senator from Indiana  While the title was not official, the Senate website identifies Kern as the first Senate party leader, serving in that capacity from 1913 through 1917 (and in turn, the first Senate Democratic leader), while serving concurrently as chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus  In 1925, the Republicans (who were in the majority at the time) also adopted this language when Charles Curtis became the first (official) majority leader, although his immediate predecessor Henry Cabot Lodge is considered the first (unofficial) Senate majority leader 
The United States Constitution designates the Vice President of the United States as president of the Senate  The Constitution also calls for a president pro tempore, to serve as the presiding officer when the president of the Senate (the vice president) is absent  In practice, neither the vice president nor the president pro tempore—customarily the most senior (longest-serving) senator in the majority party—actually presides over the Senate on a daily basis; that task is given to junior Senators of the majority party  Since the vice president may be of a different party from the majority and is not a Senate member subject to discipline, the rules of procedure of the Senate give the Vice President no power beyond the presiding role  For these reasons, it is the majority leader who, in practice, manages the Senate  This is in contrast to the House of Representatives, where the elected speaker of the House has a great deal of discretionary power and generally presides over votes on legislative bills 

List of party leaders
The Democratic Party first selected a leader in 1920  The Republican Party first formally designated a leader in 1925 

See also
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
Vice President of the United States (President of the United States Senate)
Party divisions of United States Congresses
List of political parties in the United States

Notes
Passage 6:
Party leaders of the United States Senate
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate  They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate  They are each elected as majority leader and minority leader by the senators of their party caucuses: the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference 
By Senate precedent, the presiding officer gives the majority leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate  The majority leader serves as the chief representative of their party in the Senate, and is considered the most powerful member of the Senate  They also serve as the chief representative of their party in the entire Congress if the House of Representatives, and thus the office of the speaker of the House, is controlled by the opposition party  The Senate's executive and legislative business is also managed and scheduled by the majority leader                                                        
The assistant majority leader and assistant minority leader of the United States Senate, commonly called whips, are the second-ranking members of each party's leadership  The main function of the majority and minority whips is to gather votes of their respective parties on major issues  As the second-ranking members of Senate leadership, if there is no floor leader present, the whip may become acting floor leader 

Current floor leaders
The Senate is currently composed of 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 3 independents; all the independents caucus with the Democrats 
The current leaders are Senators Chuck Schumer (D) of New York and Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky  The current assistant leaders, or whips, are Senators Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois and John Thune (R) of South Dakota 

History
By at least 1850, parties in each chamber of Congress began naming chairs, and while conference and caucus chairs carried very little authority, the Senate party floor leader positions arose from the position of conference chair  Senate Democrats began the practice of electing their floor leaders in 1920 while they were in the minority  John W  Kern was a Democratic senator from Indiana  While the title was not official, the Senate website identifies Kern as the first Senate party leader, serving in that capacity from 1913 through 1917 (and in turn, the first Senate Democratic leader), while serving concurrently as chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus  In 1925, the Republicans (who were in the majority at the time) also adopted this language when Charles Curtis became the first (official) majority leader, although his immediate predecessor Henry Cabot Lodge is considered the first (unofficial) Senate majority leader 
The United States Constitution designates the Vice President of the United States as president of the Senate  The Constitution also calls for a president pro tempore, to serve as the presiding officer when the president of the Senate (the vice president) is absent  In practice, neither the vice president nor the president pro tempore—customarily the most senior (longest-serving) senator in the majority party—actually presides over the Senate on a daily basis; that task is given to junior Senators of the majority party  Since the vice president may be of a different party from the majority and is not a Senate member subject to discipline, the rules of procedure of the Senate give the Vice President no power beyond the presiding role  For these reasons, it is the majority leader who, in practice, manages the Senate  This is in contrast to the House of Representatives, where the elected speaker of the House has a great deal of discretionary power and generally presides over votes on legislative bills 

List of party leaders
The Democratic Party first selected a leader in 1920  The Republican Party first formally designated a leader in 1925 

See also
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
Vice President of the United States (President of the United States Senate)
Party divisions of United States Congresses
List of political parties in the United States

Notes
Passage 7:
2010 United States House of Representatives elections
The 2010 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 2, 2010, as part of the 2010 midterm elections during President Barack Obama's first term in office  Voters of the 50 U S  states chose 435 U S  Representatives to serve in the 112th United States Congress  Also, voters of the U S  territories, commonwealths and District of Columbia chose their non-voting delegates  U S  Senate elections and various state and local elections were held on the same date 
Republicans regained control of the U S  House they had lost in the 2006 midterm election, picking up a net total of 63 seats and erasing the gains Democrats made in 2006 and 2008  Although the sitting President's party usually loses seats in a midterm election, the 2010 election resulted in the highest losses by a party in a House midterm election since 1938, as well as the largest House swing since 1948  In total, 52 House Democrats were defeated, including 34 freshman and sophomore representatives 
Republicans made their largest gain in House seats since 1938  Three Democratic committee chairmen were defeated: transportation chairman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, armed services chairman Ike Skelton of Missouri, and budget chairman John Spratt of South Carolina  Democrats made three pick-ups, winning an open seat in Delaware and defeating Republican incumbents in Hawaii and Louisiana 
The heavy Democratic Party losses in 2010 were attributed to anger at President Obama, opposition to the Affordable Care Act and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, large budget deficits, and the weak economy As of 2023, this is the last election in which Democrats won a seat in Arkansas 

Background
Following the 2006 elections, Democrats took control of the House as well as the Senate  In the 2008 elections, which coincided with Democrat Barack Obama's victory over Republican John McCain for the presidency, Democrats increased their majorities in both chambers  Of the 435 congressional districts, 242 were carried by Obama, while 193 voted for McCain  Of the districts Obama won, 34 elected a Republican to the House, while 49 of the districts McCain won elected a Democrat 

Republican gains
The Republicans' 63-seat pickup in the House to take control of that chamber, as well as their gain of six Senate seats, signified a dramatic rollback of recent Democratic gains  In the election, Republicans won their greatest number of House seats since 1946  This has been attributed to the continued economic recession, as well as President Obama's controversial stimulus and health care reform bills  Republicans also took control of 29 of the 50 state governorships and gained 690 seats in state legislatures, to hold their greatest number since the 1928 elections Republicans also made historic gains in state legislatures, adding more than 675 state legislative seats, by far surpassing their state-legislative gains in 1994  Republicans gained control of dozens of state legislative chambers, and took control of "seven more legislatures outright than they did after 1994 and the most since 1952 " Republicans picked up control of the Alabama Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction; control of the North Carolina Senate for the first time since 1870; and control of the Minnesota Senate for the first time since the state returned to partisan elections in 1974 The Great Lakes region, which until then had recently favored the Democratic Party, went strongly Republican  In California and the Pacific Northwest, however, the Democrats retained the upper hand  The biggest change in 2010 occurred in the Southeastern United States, which had previously been roughly evenly split between Democrats and Republicans for everything except for president  Just one white Democrat from the Deep South won reelection to the US House in 2010  Prior to 2010, many white conservative southerners had voted Republican for president, but Democratic for other offices 

Results summary
Federal
Sources: House Clerk – Statistics of the Congressional Election, 2010

Voter demographics
Source: CNN exit poll

Retiring incumbents
37 incumbents retired 

Democrats
17 incumbent Democrats retired 

Alabama 7: Artur Davis: To run for Governor of Alabama 
Arkansas 1: Marion Berry: Retired due to health concerns 
Arkansas 2: Vic Snyder: Retired to spend more time with family 
California 33: Diane Watson: Retired; "It should be a seat inherited by someone who can represent everyone in this district "
Florida 17: Kendrick Meek: To run for U S  Senator 
Indiana 8: Brad Ellsworth: To run for U S  Senator 
Kansas 3: Dennis Moore: Retired; "Time for a new generation of leadership "
Louisiana 3: Charlie Melançon: To run for U S  Senator 
Massachusetts 10: Bill Delahunt: Retired; "Life is about change  I think it's healthy  It's time "
Michigan 1: Bart Stupak: Retired; "I've accomplished what I want to do "
New Hampshire 2: Paul Hodes: To run for U S  Senator 
Pennsylvania 7: Joe Sestak: To run for U S  Senator 
Rhode Island 1: Patrick J  Kennedy: Retired to "[take] a new direction "
Tennessee 6: Bart Gordon: Retired; "…it's time for a new chapter "
Tennessee 8: John S  Tanner: Retired; decided 20 years was long enough 
Washington 3: Brian Baird: Retired, to pursue other options 
Wisconsin 7: Dave Obey: Retired; "But even more frankly, I am bone tired " Media reports indicated Obey's future plans included joining a DC lobbying firm run by former Representative Dick Gephardt 

Republicans
19 incumbent Republicans retired 

Arkansas 3: John Boozman: to run for U S  Senator 
Arizona 3: John Shadegg: to pursue other interests 
California 19: George Radanovich: to put family obligations first 
Delaware at-large: Mike Castle: to run for U S  Senator 
Florida 5: Ginny Brown-Waite: due to health issues 
Florida 12: Adam Putnam: to run for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture 
Florida 21: Lincoln Díaz-Balart: to return to law practice 
Georgia 7: John Linder
Illinois 10: Mark Kirk: to run for U S  Senator 
Indiana 4: Steve Buyer: due to wife's illness
Kansas 1: Jerry Moran: to run for U S  Senator 
Kansas 4: Todd Tiahrt: to run for U S  Senator 
Michigan 2: Pete Hoekstra: to run for Governor of Michigan 
Michigan 3: Vern Ehlers
Missouri 7: Roy Blunt: to run for U S  Senator 
Oklahoma 5: Mary Fallin: to run for Governor of Oklahoma 
South Carolina 1: Henry E  Brown Jr : to spend more time with his family 
South Carolina 3: Gresham Barrett: to run for Governor of South Carolina 
Tennessee 3: Zach Wamp: to run for Governor of Tennessee 

Incumbents defeated
There were nine Democrats who survived reelection in the 1994 Republican Revolution, but were defeated this year 

Lost renomination
Democrats
Two Democrats lost renomination  One seat was held by Democrats, while the other flipped to Republicans 

Michigan 13: Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick lost to Hansen Clarke 
West Virginia 1: Alan Mollohan lost to Mike Oliverio, who lost the general election to David McKinley 

Republicans
Two Republicans lost renomination  Both seats were eventually held by Republicans 

Alabama 5: Parker Griffith (first elected in 2008 as a Democrat; switched parties in 2009) lost to Mo Brooks 
South Carolina 4: Bob Inglis lost to Trey Gowdy 

Lost re-election
54 incumbents lost in the general election; all but two were Democrats  Many of the Democrats who lost had been initially elected in the Democratic wave years of 2006 and 2008, and several others were longtime incumbents from the southeast 

Democrats
52 Democrats lost re-election 

Alabama 2, Bobby Bright (first elected in 2008) lost to Martha Roby
Arizona 1, Ann Kirkpatrick (first elected in 2008) lost to Paul Gosar
Arizona 5, Harry Mitchell (first elected in 2006) lost to David Schweikert
Colorado 3, John Salazar (first elected in 2004) lost to Scott Tipton
Colorado 4, Betsy Markey (first elected in 2008) lost to Cory Gardner
Florida 2, Allen Boyd (first elected in 1996) lost to Steve Southerland
Florida 8, Alan Grayson (first elected in 2008) lost to Daniel Webster
Florida 22, Ron Klein (first elected in 2006) lost to Allen West
Florida 24, Suzanne Kosmas (first elected in 2008) lost to Sandy Adams
Georgia 8, Jim Marshall (first elected in 2002) lost to Austin Scott
Idaho 1, Walt Minnick (first elected in 2008) lost to Raúl Labrador
Illinois 8, Melissa Bean (first elected in 2004) lost to Joe Walsh
Illinois 11, Debbie Halvorson (first elected in 2008) lost to Adam Kinzinger
Illinois 14, Bill Foster (first elected in 2008) lost to Randy Hultgren
Illinois 17, Phil Hare (first elected in 2006) lost to Bobby Schilling
Indiana 9, Baron Hill (originally elected in 1998) lost to Todd Young
Maryland 1, Frank Kratovil (first elected in 2008) lost to Andrew P  Harris
Michigan 7, Mark Schauer (first elected in 2008) lost to Tim Walberg
Minnesota 8, Jim Oberstar (first elected in 1974) lost to Chip Cravaack
Mississippi 1, Travis Childers (first elected in 2008) lost to Alan Nunnelee
Mississippi 4, Gene Taylor (first elected in 1989) lost to Steven Palazzo
Missouri 4, Ike Skelton (first elected in 1976) lost to Vicky Hartzler
Nevada 3, Dina Titus (first elected in 2008) lost to Joe Heck
New Hampshire 1, Carol Shea-Porter (first elected in 2006) lost to Frank Guinta
New Jersey 3, John Adler (first elected in 2008) lost to Jon Runyan
New Mexico 2, Harry Teague (first elected in 2008) lost to Steve Pearce
New York 13, Michael McMahon (first elected in 2008) lost to Michael Grimm
New York 19, John Hall (first elected in 2006) lost to Nan Hayworth
New York 20, Scott Murphy (first elected in 2009) lost to Chris Gibson
New York 24, Mike Arcuri (first elected in 2006) lost to Richard L  Hanna
New York 25, Dan Maffei (first elected in 2008) lost to Ann Marie Buerkle
North Carolina 2, Bob Etheridge (first elected in 1996) lost to Renee Ellmers
North Dakota at-large, Earl Pomeroy (first elected in 1992) lost to Rick Berg
Ohio 1, Steve Driehaus (first elected in 2008) lost to Steve Chabot
Ohio 6, Charlie Wilson (first elected in 2006) lost to Bill Johnson
Ohio 15, Mary Jo Kilroy (first elected in 2008) lost to Steve Stivers
Ohio 16, John Boccieri (first elected in 2008) lost to Jim Renacci
Ohio 18, Zack Space (first elected in 2006) lost to Bob Gibbs
Pennsylvania 3, Kathy Dahlkemper (first elected in 2008) lost to Mike Kelly
Pennsylvania 8, Patrick Murphy (first elected in 2006) lost to Mike Fitzpatrick
Pennsylvania 10, Chris Carney (first elected in 2006) lost to Tom Marino
Pennsylvania 11, Paul E  Kanjorski (first elected in 1984) lost to Lou Barletta
South Carolina 5, John Spratt (first elected in 1982) lost to Mick Mulvaney
South Dakota at-large, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (first elected in 2004) lost to Kristi Noem
Tennessee 4, Lincoln Davis (first elected in 2002) lost to Scott DesJarlais
Texas 17, Chet Edwards (first elected in 1990) lost to Bill Flores
Texas 23, Ciro Rodriguez (originally elected in 1996) lost to Quico Canseco
Texas 27, Solomon P  Ortiz (first elected in 1982) lost to Blake Farenthold
Virginia 2, Glenn Nye (first elected in 2008) lost to Scott Rigell
Virginia 5, Tom Perriello (first elected in 2008) lost to Robert Hurt
Virginia 9, Rick Boucher (first elected in 1982) lost to Morgan Griffith
Wisconsin 8, Steve Kagen (first elected in 2006) lost to Reid Ribble

Republicans
Two Republicans lost re-election 

Hawaii 1, Charles Djou (first elected in 2010) lost to Colleen Hanabusa
Louisiana 2, Joseph Cao (first elected in 2008) lost to Cedric Richmond

Open seats that changed parties
Democratic seats won by Republicans
14 open seats, held by Democrats, were won by Republicans 

Arkansas 1: Won by Rick Crawford
Arkansas 2: Won by Tim Griffin
Indiana 8: Won by Larry Bucshon
Kansas 3: Won by Kevin Yoder
Louisiana 3: Won by Jeff Landry
Michigan 1: Won by Dan Benishek
New Hampshire 2: Won by Charles Bass
New York 29: Won by Tom Reed
Pennsylvania 7: Won by Pat Meehan
Tennessee 6: Won by Diane Black
Tennessee 8: Won by Stephen Fincher
Washington 3: Won by Jaime Herrera Beutler
West Virginia 1: Won by David McKinley
Wisconsin 7: Won by Sean Duffy

Republican seats won by Democrats
One open seat, held by a Republican, was won by a Democrat 

Delaware at-large: Won by John Carney

Closest races
Eighty-four races were decided by 10% or lower 

Election ratings
Special elections
There were six special elections in 2010 to the 111th United States Congress, listed here by date and district 

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Non-voting delegates
The House of Representatives includes five Delegates from the District of Columbia and outlying territories elected to two-year terms and one Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico elected to a four-year term (for which the last election was held in 2008, so the seat was not up for reelection in 2010)  These delegates are not allowed to vote on the floor of the House of Representatives 

See also
2010 United States elections
2010 United States gubernatorial elections
2010 United States Senate elections
111th United States Congress
112th United States Congress

Notes
Context 3:  The south is slightly less mountainous, and has some plains near the coastline : 2  The highest point is Tatamailau (also known as Mount Ramelau) at 2,963 metres (9,721 ft)  Most rivers dry up at least partially during the dry season : 2  Outside of some coastal areas and river valleys, the soil is shallow and prone to erosion, and its quality is poor : 13 : 2  The capital and largest city is Dili  The second-largest city is the eastern town of Baucau : 22 

The climate is tropical with relatively stable temperatures throughout the year  A wet season lasts from December to May throughout the country, and lasts slightly longer in the south: 5  and the interior due to the effect of a monsoon from Australia : 2  During this period, rainfall can reach 222–252 millimetres (8 7–9 9 in) per month  In the dry season, it drops to 12–18 millimetres (0 47–0 71 in) : 5  The country is vulnerable to flooding and landslides that occur as a result of heavy rain, especially when rainfall levels are increased by the La Niña effect : 13  The mountainous interior is cooler than the coasts  Coastal areas are heavily dependent on groundwater, which faces pressure from mismanagement, deforestation, and climate change : 14  While the temperature is thought to have experienced a small increase due to climate change, there has been little change in annual rainfall : 6 Coastal ecosystems around the country are diverse and varied, with vary spatially between the north and south coastlines, as well as between the eastern tip and areas more to the west  These ecosystems include coral reefs, as the country's waters are part of the Coral Triangle biodiversity hotspot : 28  The easternmost area of East Timor consists of the Paitchau Range and the Lake Ira Lalaro area, which contains the country's first conservation area, the Nino Konis Santana National Park  It contains the last remaining tropical dry forested area within the country  It hosts a number of unique plant and animal species and is sparsely populated  The northern coast is characterised by a number of coral reef systems that have been determined to be at risk There are around 41,000 terrestrial plant species in the country  Forests covered 35% of East Timor's land in the mid 2010s : 1  The forests of the northern coast, central uplands, and southern coast are distinct : 2  East Timor is home to the Timor and Wetar deciduous forests ecoregion  There is some environmental protection in law, but it has not been a government priority : 27 : 10–14  In addition to climate change, local ecosystems are threatened by deforestation, land degradation, overfishing, and pollution : 2–3

Economy
The economy of East Timor is a market economy, although it is dependent upon the export of a few commodities and has a large public sector  Internally, market operations are limited by widespread poverty : 20  The country uses the United States dollar, producing its own coins to facilitate smaller transactions  The economy is generally open to foreign investment, although a prohibition on foreigners owning land means many require a local partner in the country : 20  Competition is limited by the small size of the economy, rather than any government barriers  There are far more imports than exports,: 21  and prices for goods are often higher than in nearby countries : 27  Inflation is strongly affected by government spending : 257  Growth has been slow, averaging just 2 5% per year from 2011 to 2021 : 24 Most of the country is very poor, with just more than 40% living under the national poverty line  This poverty is especially prevalent in rural areas, where many are subsistence farmers or fishermen  Even in urban areas, the majority are poor  Overall, women are poorer than men, often being employed in lower-paying careers : 18  Malnutrition is common, with over half of children showing stunted growth : 255  While 91% of married working age (15–49) men were employed as of 2016, only 43% of married working age women were  There are small disparities in favour of men in terms of home and land ownership and owning a bank account : 14  The eastern three municipalities, which contain around a quarter of the population, has less poverty than the western areas, which contain 50% of the population : 214 Sixty-six per cent of families are in part supported by subsistence activities; however, the country as a whole does not produce enough food to be self-sustaining, and thus relies on imports : 16  Agricultural work carries the implication of poverty, and the sector receives little investment from the government : 260  Ninety-four per cent of domestic fish catch comes from the ocean, especially coastal fisheries : 17  Those in the capital of Dili are on average better off, although they remain poor by international standards : 257  The small size of the private sector means the government is often the customer of public businesses  A quarter of the national population works in the informal economy, with the official public and private sectors employing 9% each : 18  Of those of working age, around 23% are in the formal sector, 21% are students, and 27% are subsistence farmers and fishers : 21  The economy is mostly cash-based, with little commercial credit available from banks : 11–12  Remittances from overseas workers add up to around $100 million annually : 257 

This poverty belies significant wealth in terms of natural resources, which at the time of independence had per capita value equivalent to the wealth of an upper-middle income country  Over half of this was in oil, and over a quarter natural gas  The Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund was established in 2005 to turn these non-renewable resources into a more sustainable form of wealth : 4–6  From 2005 to 2021, $23 billion earned from oil sales has entered the fund  $8 billion has been generated from investments, while $12 billion has been spent : 30  A decrease in oil and gas reserves led to decreasing HDI beginning in 2010 : 18–19  Eighty per cent of government spending comes from this fund, which as of 2021 had $19 billion, 10 times greater than the size of the national budget  As oil income has decreased, the fund is at risk of being exhausted  Withdrawals have exceeded sustainable levels almost every year since 2009 : 23  Resources within the Bayu-Undan field are expected to soon run out, while extracting those within the so far undeveloped Greater Sunrise field has proven technically and politically challenging  Remaining potential reserves are also losing value as oil and gas become less favoured sources of energy : 264–272 The country's economy is dependent on government spending and, to a lesser extent, assistance from foreign donors  Government spending decreased beginning in 2012, which had knock-on effects in the private sector over the following years  The government and its state-owned oil company often invest in large private projects  Decreasing government spending was matched with a decrease in GDP growth : 18  After the petroleum fund, the second largest source of government income is taxes  Tax revenue is less than 8% of GDP, lower than many other countries in the region and with similarly sized economies  Other government income comes from 23 "autonomous agencies", which include port authorities, infrastructure companies, and the National University of East Timor : 13, 28–309  Overall, government spending remains among the highest in the world,: 12  although investment into education, health, and water infrastructure is negligible : 260 

Private sector development has lagged due to human capital shortages, infrastructure weakness, an incomplete legal system, and an inefficient regulatory environment  Property rights remain ill-defined, with conflicting titles from Portuguese and Indonesian rule, as well as needing to accommodate traditional customary rights : 23  As of 2010, 87 7% of urban (321,043 people) and 18 9% of rural (821,459 people) households have electricity, for an overall average of 38 2%  The private sector shrank between 2014 and 2018, despite a growing working age population  Agriculture and manufacturing are less productive per capita than at independence : 255–256  Non-oil economic sectors have failed to develop, and growth in construction and administration is dependent on oil revenue : 256  The dependence on oil shows some aspects of a resource curse  Coffee made up 90% of all non-fossil fuel exports from 2013 to 2019, with all such exports totalling to around US$20 million annually : 257  In 2017, the country was visited by 75,000 tourists 

Demographics
East Timor recorded a population of 1,183,643 in its 2015 census  The population lives mainly along the coastline, where all urban areas are located : 27  Those in urban areas generally have more formal education, employment prospects, and healthcare  While a strong gender disparity exists throughout the country, it is less severe in the urban capital  The wealthy minority often go abroad for health, education and other purposes : 25  The population is young, with the median age being under 20 : 29  In particular, a large proportion of the population (almost 45% in 2015) are males between the ages of 15 and 24, the third largest male 'youth bulge' in the world : 212 The Government of Timor-Leste's website lists the English-language demonym for East Timor as Timorese  Other reference sources list it as East Timorese  The word Maubere formerly used by the Portuguese to refer to native East Timorese and often employed as synonymous with the illiterate and uneducated, was adopted by Fretilin as a term of pride Healthcare received 6% of the national budget in 2021 : 24  From 1990 to 2019 life expectancy rose from 48 5 to 69 5  Expected years of schooling rose from 9 8 to 12 4 between 2000 and 2010, while mean years of schooling rose from 2 8 to 4 4  Progress since 2010 for these has been limited  Gross national income per capita similarly peaked in 2010, and has decreased since : 3  As of 2016, 45 8% of East Timorese were impoverished, 16 3% severely so : 6  The fertility rate, which at the time of independence was the highest in the world at 7 8, dropped to 4 2 by 2016  It is relatively higher in rural areas, and among poorer: 3  and less literate households  As of 2016, the average household size was 5 3, with 41% of people aged under 15, and 18% of households headed by women : 2  Infant mortality stood at 30 per 1,000, down from 60 per 1,000 in 2003 : 7  46% of children under 5 showed stunted growth, down from 58% in 2010  Working age adult obesity increased from 5% to 10% during the same time period  As of 2016, 40% of children, 23% of women, and 13% of men had anemia : 11

Ethnicity and language
Timorese communities are not strictly defined by ethnic background or linguistic group  Separate communities may share ethnicity or language, and many areas show overlaps and hybridisation between ethnic and linguistic groups : 44  Familial relations and descent, which are interlinked with sacred house affiliation, are a more important indicator of identity : 47  Each family group generally identifies with a single language or dialect : 49  With this immense local variation in mind, there is a broad cultural and identity distinction between the east (Bacau, Lautém, and Viqueque Municipalities) and the west of the country, a product of history more than it is of linguistic and ethnic differences,: 45–47  although it is very loosely associated with the two language groups : 142–143  There is a small mestiço population of mixed Portuguese and local descent  There is a small Chinese minority, most of whom are Hakka  Many Chinese left in the mid-1970s, but a significant number have also returned to East Timor following the end of Indonesian occupation  East Timor has a small community of Timorese Indian, specifically Goan descent, as well as historical immigration from Africa and Yemen Likely reflecting the mixed origins of the different ethnolinguistic groups of the island, the indigenous languages fall into two language families: Austronesian and Papuan : 10  Depending on how they are classified, there are up to 19 indigenous languages with up to 30 dialects : 136  Aside from Tetum, Ethnologue lists the following indigenous languages: Adabe, Baikeno, Bunak, Fataluku, Galoli, Habun, Idaté, Kairui-Midiki, Kemak, Lakalei, Makasae, Makuv'a, Mambae, Nauete, Tukudede, and Waima'a  According to the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, there are six endangered languages in East Timor: Adabe, Habu, Kairui-Midiki, Maku'a, Naueti, and Waima'a  The largest Malayo-Polynesian group is the Tetum, mostly around Dili or the western border  Other Malayo-Polynesian languages with native speakers of more than 40,000 are Mambai in the central mountains south of Dili, Baikeno in Oecusse, Kemak in the north-west interior, and Tokodede on the northwest coast  The main Papuan languages spoken are Bunak in the centre of Timor, especially within Bobonaro Municipality; Makasae in the eastern Baucau and Viqueque municipalities; and Fataluku in the eastern Lautém Municipality : 43  The 2015 census found that the most commonly spoken mother tongues were Tetum Prasa (mother tongue for 30 6% of the population), Mambai (16 6%), Makasai (10 5%), Tetum Terik (6 05%), Baikenu (5 87%), Kemak (5 85%), Bunak (5 48%), Tokodede (3 97%), and Fataluku (3 52%)  Other indigenous languages accounted for 10 47%, while 1 09% of the population spoke foreign languages natively East Timor's two official languages are Portuguese and Tetum  In addition, English and Indonesian are designated by the constitution as "working languages" : 3  This is within the Final and Transitional Provisions, which do not set a final date  In 2012, 35% could speak, read, and write Portuguese, which is up significantly from less than 5% in the 2006 UN Development Report  Portuguese is recovering as it has now been made the main official language of Timor, and is being taught in most schools  The use of Portuguese for government information and in the court system provides some barriers to access for those who do not speak it  Tetum is also not understood by everyone in the country : 11  According to the Observatory of the Portuguese Language, the East Timorese literacy rate was 77 8% in Tetum, 55 6% in Indonesian, and 39 3% in Portuguese, and that the primary literacy rate increased from 73% in 2009 to 83% in 2012  According to the 2015 census, 50% of the population between the ages of 14 and 24 can speak and understand Portuguese  The 2015 census found around 15% of those over the age of five were literate in English 

Education
East Timor's adult literacy rate was 68% among adults, and 84% among those aged 15–24, as of 2021  It is slightly higher among women than men : 27  More girls than boys attend school, although some drop out upon reaching puberty : 25  As of 2016 22% of working age women (15–49) and 19% of working age men had no education, 15% of women and 18% of men had some primary education, 52% of women and 51% of men had some secondary education, and 11% of women and 12% of men had higher education  Overall, 75% of women and 82% of men were literate : 2  Primary schools exist throughout the country, although the quality of materials and teaching is often poor  Secondary schools are generally limited to municipal capitals  Education takes up 10% of the national budget : 27  The country's main university is the National University of East Timor  There are also four colleges Since independence, both Indonesian and Tetum have lost ground as media of instruction, while Portuguese has increased: in 2001 only 8 4% of primary school and 6 8% of secondary school students attended a Portuguese-medium school; by 2005 this had increased to 81 6% for primary and 46 3% for secondary schools  Indonesian formerly played a considerable role in education, being used by 73 7% of all secondary school students as a medium of instruction, but by 2005 Portuguese was used by most schools in Baucau, Manatuto, as well as the capital district  Portugal provides support to about 3% of the public schools in East Timor, focused on those in urban areas, further encouraging the use of the Portuguese language : 28

Religion
While the Constitution of East Timor enshrines the principles of freedom of religion and separation of church and state, Section 45 Comma 1 also acknowledges "the participation of the Catholic Church in the process of national liberation" in its preamble  Upon independence, the country joined the Philippines to become the only two predominantly Catholic states in Asia, although nearby parts of eastern Indonesia such as Flores and parts of Western New Guinea also have Catholic majorities According to the 2015 census, 97 57% of the population is Catholic; 1 96% Protestant; 0 24% Muslim; 0 08% Traditional; 0 05% Buddhist; 0 02% Hindu, and 0 08% other religions  A 2016 survey conducted by the Demographic and Health Survey programme showed that Catholics made up 98 3% of the population, Protestants 1 2%, and Muslims 0 3% The number of churches grew from 100 in 1974 to more than 800 in 1994, with Church membership having grown considerably under Indonesian rule as Pancasila, Indonesia's state ideology, requires all citizens to believe in one God and does not recognise traditional beliefs  East Timorese animist belief systems did not fit with Indonesia's constitutional monotheism, resulting in mass conversions to Christianity



ground_truth: the 2010 election

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Who is the president of the newly declared independent country that is part of the Commission of Truth and Friendship with the country where Sumardi was born?

The following are given passages.
Context 3:  Portuguese clergy were replaced with Indonesian priests and Latin and Portuguese mass was replaced by Indonesian mass  While just 20% of East Timorese called themselves Catholics at the time of the 1975 invasion, the figure surged to reach 95% by the end of the first decade after the invasion  The Roman Catholic Church divides East Timor into three dioceses: the Archdiocese of Díli, the Diocese of Baucau, and the Diocese of Maliana  In rural areas, Roman Catholicism is syncretised with local animist beliefs  The number of Protestants and Muslims declined significantly after September 1999, as these groups were disproportionately represented among supporters of integration with Indonesia  Fewer than half of previous Protestant congregations existed after September 1999, and many Protestants were among those who remained in West Timor 

Culture
The many cultures within East Timor stem from the several waves of Austronesian and Melanesian migration that led to the current population, with unique identities and traditions developing within each petty kingdom  Portuguese authorities built upon traditional structures, blending Portuguese influence into the existing political and social systems : 91–92  The presence of the Catholic Church created a point of commonality across the various ethnic groups, despite full conversion remaining limited  The Portuguese language also provided common linkages, even if direct Portuguese impact was limited : 97–98  Under Indonesian rule, resistance strengthened cultural links to Catholicism and the Portuguese language  At the same time, Indonesian cultural influence was spread through schools and administration : 98–99 The preservation of traditional beliefs in the face of Indonesian attempts to suppress them became linked to the creation of the country's national identity : 7–13  This national identity only began to emerge at the very end of Portuguese rule, and further developed during Indonesian rule : 134–136  Following independence, a civic identity began to develop  This was most clearly expressed through enthusiasm for national-level democracy,: 155–156  and was reflected in politics through a shift from resistance narratives to development ones : 3  The capital has developed a more cosmopolitan culture, while rural areas maintain stronger traditional practices : 30  Internal migration into urban areas, especially Dili, creates cultural links between these areas and rural hinterlands  Those in urban areas often continue to identify with a specific rural area, even those with multiple generations born in Dili : 53–54 The presence of so many ethnic and linguistic groups means cultural practices vary across the country : 11  These practices reflect historical social structures and practices, where political leaders were regarded as having spiritual powers  Ancestry was an important part of cultural practices, and partly signified leadership  Leaders often had influence over land use, and these leaders continue to play an informal role in land disputes and other aspects of community practice today  An important traditional concept is lulik, or sacredness  Some lulik ceremonies continue to reflect animist beliefs, for example through divination ceremonies which vary throughout the country  Sacred status can also be associated with objects, such as Portuguese flags which have been passed down within families : 7–13 

Community life is centred around sacred houses (Uma Lulik), physical structures which serve as a representative symbol and identifier for each community : 47–49  The architectural style of these houses varies between different parts of the country, although following widespread destruction by Indonesian forces many were rebuilt with cheap modern materials : 22–25  The house as a concept extends beyond the physical object to the surrounding community : 92–93, 96  Kinship systems exist within and between houses  Traditional leaders, who stem from historically important families, retain key roles in administering justice and resolving disputes through methods that vary between communities : 47–49  Such leaders are often elected to official leadership positions, merging cultural and historical status with modern political status : 52  The concept of being part of a communal house has been extended to the nation, with Parliament serving as the national sacred house : 96 Art styles vary throughout the various ethnolinguistic groups of the island  Nonetheless, similar artistic motifs are present throughout, such as large animals and particular geometric patterns  Some art is traditionally associated with particular genders  For example, the Tais textiles that play a widespread role in traditional life throughout the island are traditionally handwoven by women  Different tais patterns are associated with different communities, and more broadly with linguistic groups : 137  Many buildings within central Dili maintain historical Portuguese architecture : I-5 Traditional rituals remain important, often mixed in with more modern aspects : 137  A strong oral history is highlighted in individuals able to recite long stories or poetry  This history, or Lia nain, passes down traditional knowledge : 16  There remains a strong tradition of poetry  Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, for example, is a distinguished poet, earning the moniker "poet warrior" In the field of cinema, East Timor released its first feature-length film, a period thriller titled Beatriz's War, in 2013  Shot with a limited budget by a mix of local filmmakers and a volunteer Australian film crew, the film depicted East Timorese life under Indonesian occupation in the 1970s, with producer Lurdes Pires acknowledging their aim to diverge from the government's "friendship and forgiveness" policy for its past conflicts by telling a story of truth-seeking and justice 

See also
Outline of East Timor
Index of East Timor-related articles
List of topics on the Portuguese Empire in the East
Passage 2:
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, officially the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden), and commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795  It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands  The republic was established after seven Dutch provinces in the Spanish Netherlands revolted against Spanish rule, forming a mutual alliance against Spain in 1579 (the Union of Utrecht) and declaring their independence in 1581 (the Act of Abjuration)  It comprised Groningen, Frisia, Overijssel, Guelders, Utrecht, Holland and Zeeland 
Although the state was small and contained only around 1 5 million inhabitants, it controlled a worldwide network of seafaring trade routes  Through its trading companies, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Dutch West India Company (GWC), it established a Dutch colonial empire  The income from this trade allowed the Dutch Republic to compete militarily against much larger countries  It amassed a huge fleet of 2,000 ships, initially larger than the fleets of England and France combined  Major conflicts were fought in the Eighty Years' War against Spain (from the foundation of the Dutch Republic until 1648), the Dutch–Portuguese War (1602–1663), four Anglo-Dutch Wars (the first against the Commonwealth of England, two against the Kingdom of England, and a fourth against the Kingdom of Great Britain: 1652–1654, 1665–1667, 1672–1674 and 1780–1784), the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678), War of the Grand Alliance (1688–1697), the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713), the War of Austrian Succession (1744–1748) and the War of the First Coalition (1792–1795) against the Kingdom of France 
The republic was more tolerant of different religions and ideas than its contemporary states were, allowing freedom of thought to its residents  Artists flourished under this regime, including painters such as Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer and many others  So did scientists, such as Hugo Grotius, Christiaan Huygens and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek  The Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world during much of the 17th century, a period which became known in Dutch history as the Dutch Golden Age 
The republic was a confederation of provinces each with a high degree of independence from the federal assembly, known as the States General  In the Peace of Westphalia (1648) the republic gained approximately 20% more territory, located outside the member provinces, which was ruled directly by the States General as Generality Lands  Each province was led by an official known as the stadtholder (Dutch for 'steward'); this office was nominally open to anyone, but most provinces appointed a member of the House of Orange  The position gradually became hereditary, with the Prince of Orange simultaneously holding most or all of the stadtholderships, making him effectively the head of state  This created tension between political factions: the Orangists favoured a powerful stadtholder, while the Republicans favoured a strong States General  The Republicans forced two Stadtholderless Periods, 1650–1672 and 1702–1747, with the latter causing national instability and the end of Great Power status 
Economic decline led to a period of political instability known as the Patriottentijd (1780–1787)  This unrest was temporarily suppressed by a Prussian invasion in support of the stadtholder  The French Revolution and subsequent War of the First Coalition caused these tensions to reignite  Following military defeat by France, the stadtholder was expelled in the Batavian Revolution of 1795  This ended the Dutch Republic; it was succeeded by the Batavian Republic 

History
Until the 16th century, the Low Countries—corresponding roughly to the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg—consisted of a number of duchies, counties, and prince-bishoprics, almost all of which were under the supremacy of the Holy Roman Empire, with the exception of the County of Flanders, most of which was under the Kingdom of France 
Most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg  In 1549, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, which further unified the Seventeen Provinces under his rule  Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain  In 1568, the Netherlands, led by William I of Orange, together with Philip de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn, and Lamoral, Count of Egmont revolted against Philip II because of high taxes, persecution of Protestants by the government, and Philip's efforts to modernize and centralize the devolved-medieval government structures of the provinces  This was the start of the Eighty Years' War  During the initial phase of the war, the revolt was largely unsuccessful  Spain regained control over most of the rebelling provinces  This period is known as the "Spanish Fury" due to the high number of massacres, instances of mass looting, and total destruction of multiple cities and in particular Antwerp between 1572 and 1579 
In 1579, a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Army of Flanders  This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II  Dutch colonialism began at this point, as the Netherlands was able to swipe a number of Portuguese and Spanish colonies, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region  After the assassination of William of Orange on 10 July 1584, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined offers of sovereignty  However, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England (Treaty of Nonsuch, 1585), and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general  This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy  The Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by Spain until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 
During the Anglo-French War (1778–1783), the internal territory was divided into two groups: the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American, and the Orangists, who were pro-British  The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of republican revolutions in 1783–1787  During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities  Initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787  The republican forces fled to France, but then successfully re-invaded alongside the army of the French Republic (1793–1795), ousting stadtholder William V, abolishing the Dutch Republic, and replacing it with the Batavian Republic (1795–1806)  After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810) 
The Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813  In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names "United Provinces of the Netherlands" and "United Netherlands" were used  In 1815, it was rejoined with the Austrian Netherlands and Liège (the "Southern provinces") to become the Kingdom of the Netherlands, informally known as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, to create a strong buffer state north of France  On 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands  Between 1815 and 1890, the King of the Netherlands was also in a personal union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg  After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became unequivocally known as the "Kingdom of the Netherlands", as it remains today 

Economy
During the Dutch Golden Age in the late-16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch Republic dominated world trade, conquering a vast colonial empire and operating the largest fleet of merchantmen of any nation  The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world  In 1650 the urban population of the Dutch Republic as a percentage of total population was 31 7 percent, while that of the Spanish Netherlands was 20 8 percent, of Portugal 16 6 percent, and of Italy 14 percent  In 1675 the urban population density of Holland alone was 61 percent, compared to the rest of the Dutch Republic, where 27 percent lived in urban areas The free trade spirit of the time was augmented by the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries  The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands  The Dutch East-India Company exchange went public in six different cities  Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a single city, so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles  While the banking system evolved in the Low Countries, it was quickly incorporated by the well-connected English, stimulating English economic output The Dutch Republic was a master of banking, often compared to 14th century Florence  When Southern Europe was experiencing poor harvests, surplus grain from Poland was sold by the Dutch for large profits 

Politics
The republic was a confederation of seven provinces, which had their own governments and were very independent, and a number of so-called Generality Lands  The latter were governed directly by the States General, the federal government  The States General were seated in The Hague and consisted of representatives of each of the seven provinces  The provinces of the republic were, in official feudal order:

Duchy of Guelders
County of Holland
County of Zeeland
Lordship of Utrecht
Lordship of Overijssel
Lordship of Frisia
Lordship of GroningenThere was an eighth province, the County of Drenthe, but this area was so poor that it was exempt from paying federal taxes, and as a consequence, it was denied representation in the States General 
Each province was governed by the Provincial States, their main executive official (though not the official head of state) being a raadpensionaris or landsadvocaat  In times of war, the stadtholder, who commanded the army, would have more power than the raadpensionaris  In theory, the stadtholders were freely appointed by and subordinate to the states of each province  However, in practice the princes of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau, beginning with William the Silent, were always chosen as stadtholders of most of the provinces 
Zeeland and usually Utrecht had the same stadtholder as Holland  There was a constant power struggle between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders and specifically the princes of Orange, and the Republicans, who supported the States General and hoped to replace the semi-hereditary nature of the stadtholdership with a true republican structure 
After the Peace of Westphalia, several border territories were assigned to the United Provinces  They were federally governed Generality Lands  These were Staats-Brabant, Staats-Vlaanderen, Staats-Overmaas, and (after the Treaty of Utrecht) Staats-Opper-Gelre  The States General of the United Provinces were in control of the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, but some shipping expeditions were initiated by some of the provinces, mostly Holland and Zeeland 
The framers of the United States Constitution were influenced by the Constitution of the Republic of the United Provinces, as Federalist No  20, by James Madison, shows  Such influence appears, however, to have been of a negative nature, as Madison describes the Dutch confederacy as exhibiting "Imbecility in the government; discord among the provinces; foreign influence and indignities; a precarious existence in peace, and peculiar calamities from war " Apart from this, the American Declaration of Independence is similar to the Act of Abjuration, essentially the declaration of independence of the United Provinces, but concrete evidence that the latter directly influenced the former is absent 

Religion
In the Union of Utrecht of 20 January 1579, Holland and Zeeland were granted the right to accept only one religion (in practice, Calvinism)  Every other province had the freedom to regulate the religious question as it wished, although the Union stated every person should be free in the choice of personal religion and that no person should be prosecuted based on religious choice  William of Orange had been a strong supporter of public and personal freedom of religion and hoped to unite Protestants and Catholics in the new union, and, for him, the Union was a defeat  In practice, Catholic services in all provinces were quickly forbidden, and the Dutch Reformed Church became the "public" or "privileged" church in the republic During the republic, any person who wished to hold public office had to conform to the Reformed Church and take an oath to this effect  The extent to which different religions or denominations were persecuted depended much on the time period and regional or city leaders  In the beginning, this was especially focused on Roman Catholics, being the religion of the enemy  In 17th-century Leiden, for instance, people opening their homes to services could be fined 200 guilders (a year's wage for a skilled tradesman) and banned from the city  Throughout this, however, personal freedom of religion existed and was one factor—along with economic reasons—in causing large immigration of religious refugees from other parts of Europe In the first years of the republic, controversy arose within the Reformed Church, mainly around the subject of predestination  This has become known as the struggle between Arminianism and Gomarism, or between Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants  In 1618, the Synod of Dort tackled this issue, which led to the banning of the Remonstrant faith 
Beginning in the 18th century, the situation changed from more or less active persecution of religious services to a state of restricted toleration of other religions, as long as their services took place secretly in private churches 

Decline
Long-term rivalry between the two main factions in Dutch society, the Staatsgezinden (Republicans, Dutch States Party) and the Prinsgezinden (Royalists or Orangists), sapped the strength and unity of the country  Johan de Witt and the Republicans did reign supreme for a time at the middle of the 17th century (the First Stadtholderless Period) until his overthrow and murder in 1672  Subsequently, William III of Orange became stadtholder  After a 22-year stadtholderless era, the Orangists regained power, and his first problem was to survive the Franco-Dutch War (with the derivative Third Anglo-Dutch war), when France, England, Münster, and Cologne united against this country 
Wars to contain the expansionist policies of France in various coalitions after the Glorious Revolution, mostly including England and Scotland—after 1707, Great Britain—burdened the republic with huge debts, although little of the fighting after 1673 took place on its own territory  The necessity to maintain a vast army against France meant that less money could be spent on the navy, weakening the republic's economy  After William III's death in 1702 the Second Stadtholderless Period was inaugurated  Despite having contributed much in the War of the Spanish Succession, the Dutch Republic gained little from the peace talks in Utrecht (1713)  However, the Dutch had over a period of forty years successfully defended their positions in the Southern Netherlands and their troops were central in the alliances which had halted French territorial expansion in Europe until 1792  The end of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748, and Austria becoming allies with France against Prussia, marked the end of the republic as a major military power Fierce competition for trade and colonies, especially from France and England, furthered the economic downturn of the country  The three Anglo-Dutch Wars and the rise of mercantilism had a negative effect on Dutch shipping and commerce 

See also
List of countries that gained independence from Spain
Dutch Empire
Dutch East India Company
Passage 3:
Sumardi
Sumardi (born 26 June 1972) is an Indonesian former footballer who plays as a goalkeeper 
Passage 4:
Zeferino Martins
Zeferino Martins, also known as Ze Martins (born September 5, 1985) is an East Timorese footballer who plays as midfielder for Ad  Dili Oeste and the Timor-Leste national team 
Passage 5:
The Trouble with the Truth (song)
"The Trouble with the Truth" is a song written by Gary Nicholson, and recorded by American country music artist Patty Loveless  It was released in April 1997 as the fifth and final single and title track from her album  The Trouble with the Truth 
The song charted for 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart, reaching number 15 during the week of July 12, 1997 

Other versions
Joan Baez also cut a version of the song during an early 1990s recording session in Nashville, but the recording remained unissued until released in 2012 as a bonus track on the remastered rerelease of her 1992 album Play Me Backwards 

Chart positions
Passage 6:
Indonesia–Timor Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship
The Indonesia–Timor Leste Commission on Truth and Friendship (more commonly known by its Portuguese acronym CVA, Comissão Verdade e Amizade) was a truth commission established jointly by the governments of Indonesia and East Timor in August 2005  The commission was officially created to investigate acts of violence that occurred around the independence referendum held in East Timor in 1999 and sought to find the "conclusive truth" behind the events  After holding private hearings and document reviews, the commission handed in the final report on July 15, 2008 to the presidents of both nations, and was fully endorsed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, providing the first acknowledgement by the government of Indonesia of the human rights violations committed by state institutions in Timor  The commission is notable for being the first modern truth commission to be bilateral 

Background
East Timor was originally colonized by the Portuguese, and remained a colony up until the fall of the military dictatorship in 1974  East Timor declared independence soon afterwards, but Indonesia soon decided to intervene as it became clear that the government of the new state would most likely be leftist  The Indonesian government began Operation Komodo, which was intended to bring about the integration of the East Timorese territory  It began with a propaganda campaign, but after the outbreak of conflict in East Timor, the Indonesian military began a campaign on 7 October starting with an assault on a border post and accumulating with a full-scale invasion utilizing paratroopers and naval support  The United Nations quickly condemned the invasion via resolution, but due to resistance in the Security council, no further action was taken  The United States also tacitly gave their approval, as the dismantling of a pro-communist government helped advance the policy of containment being pursued by the government 
Indonesia occupied the territory for the following two decades  During the administration of the Habibie government, a referendum was held in the occupied area asking if the residents of the area wished to remain a part of Indonesia  Even before the referendum, there was harassment by militia groups in the area, with UN workers being attacked in Maliana  It soon became clear in the wake of the referendum that the referendum result would be overwhelmingly in favor of the "no" option on the ballot; this raised tensions to a boiling point, and within two hours of the announcement of the results, armed militia groups began attacking civilians  Militia continued to attack civilians as they withdrew from the country, and several massacres occurred as the troops filtered out of the area  A UN peacekeeping force known as INTERFET was deployed to stabilize the situation, made up of mostly Australian troops, and was withdrawn with the arrival of normal UN peacekeepers  East Timor eventually transitioned from a UN mandate to an independent country 

Report
The commission itself was announced in August 2006 and sought to establish "the conclusive truth regarding human rights violations to have occurred prior to, immediately after the Popular Consultation on 30 August 1999" as well as "prepare recommendations that can contribute to healing wounds of the past and strengthen friendship"  The timing of the commission's creation was criticized by some, as it was believed that it was created to intentionally subvert calls for an international tribunal to deal with the events surrounding the 1999 plebiscite  The commission's mandate allowed it to review documents pertaining to four other inquiries surrounding the events that predated it: "The Indonesian National Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations in East Timor in 1999", "The Indonesian Ad Hoc Human Rights Court on East Timor", "The Special Panels for Serious Crimes", and "The Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation" The commission was made up of four members appointed from each nation, and these commissioners were instructed to conduct a document review and analyze previous trials and investigations into the subject, including the UN Special Panels for Serious Crimes and Serious Crime Units in Dili, and the report of the Commission of Reception, Truth and Reconciliation of Timor-Leste  The commission also stated its intent to research the "historical background, political dynamics, and institutional structures that shaped events before and during 1999" to "inform its conclusions with a broader understanding of the way in which the causes of the violence in 1999 were connected to previously established institutional structures and practices "Operating over three years, the commission gave its final report on July 15, 2008, and presented it to the Presidents of Indonesia and East Timor, concluding that "gross human rights violations in the form of crimes against humanity did occur in East Timor in 1999" and that "pro-autonomy militia groups, TNI, the Indonesian civil government, and Polri must all bear institutional responsibility", as well as stating that "from a moral and political perspective the respective states must accept state responsibility for the violations identified in the report " The commission also made recommendations that both nations begin institutional reform enhancing the strength of investigative and prosecuting bodies involved with investigations into the events, as well as forming joint security policy to ensure the safety of individuals in case of the recurrence of violence  It also noted the need to resolve other standing border and security issues between the two nations to allow for more cooperation  Notably, the report gave no recommendations of amnesty or rehabilitation  The report was endorsed by the president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, making it the first recognition of the Indonesian government's complicity in human rights violations in East Timor by Indonesia 

Reception
In Indonesia and Timor, the report was presented to both governments and accepted by both the Timorese and Indonesian governments  However, Timorese NGO Timor-Leste National Alliance for International Tribunal wrote an open letter in response to the commission's findings with several criticisms, including the lack of public consultation with victims and parliamentary approval of the commission, as well as noting that the commission assigned institutional responsibility rather than individual responsibility, "which is contrary to the principles of international laws which were ratified by the state of Timor-Leste and to Article 160 of its constitution which says that there must be a justice process for crimes against humanity ", as well as stating their belief that the CAVR was a more trustworthy and support worthy commission for the government to support Internationally, the report had a mixed reception  Some, such as the War Crimes Studies Center at the University of California, Berkeley, said that the commission could be seen as "widely acknowledged as credible and far-reaching ", noting that the Indonesian government's affirmation of the results was important and that the commission made arguments that "there was credible evidence to indicate that Timorese institutions were also responsible for illegal detentions and possibly other crimes "

See also
History of East Timor
Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor
Indonesian occupation of East Timor
Santa Cruz massacre



ground_truth: Francisco Guterres