alibayram/wikipedia-40-langs huggingface dataset:
Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna (Emilian: Emégglia-Rumâgna, Emîlia-Rumâgna, Romagnol: Emélia-Rumâgna) is one of the twenty regions of Italy, in northeast Italy on the Adriatic Sea. The capital is Bologna.

Geography
The region is in Northern Italy with an area of . It is bordered to the north by the Veneto and Lombardy regions, to the northwest by the Piedmont and Liguria regions, to the west by the Tuscany, to the south by the Marche region and the republic of San Marino, and the Adriatic Sea to the east.

The main river in the region is the Po. The highest mountain in the region is Monte Cimone, in the northern Apennines, with an altitude of .

Provinces
Emilia-Romagna has nine provinces grouped in two historical regions:
 Emilia, with the provinces Ferrara, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia and part of Bologna.
 Romagna, with the provinces Forlì-Cesena, Ravenna, Rimini and part of Bologna.

Largest municipalities
The 10 communi with more people living in it are:

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Emilia-Romagna Region Official site
Vasil Levski

Vasil Levski is a Bulgarian hero. He was born in Karlovo, Bulgaria in 1837. His real name is Vasil Ivanov Kuncev and Levski was his nickname. His father's name was Ivan Kuncev. Vasil Levski struggled for independence of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire. He was executed in 1873.

1837 births
1873 deaths
Bulgarian people
Executed people
CP/M

CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) was an Operating System for computers used in the 1970s and early 1980. Originally, it supported up to 64 kb of main memory. It was command-line based, and came before MS-DOS.

Sources

Operating systems
Batter

Batter may mean:
 Batter (cooking)
 Batter (baseball)
 Batter (linuxoid)
 Batter (cricket), formerly called a batsman
 To hit or strike a person, as in committing the crime of battery
 To hit or strike a person, as in committing the tort of battery, a common-law offense
 Slope
 Batter head, on a drum, the head that is struck
Sana'a

Sana'a or Sanˤā' (, romanized as Ṣanʻāʼ or Sanaa), is the capital city of Yemen and the center of Sana'a Governorate. It had a population of 1,747,627 (as of 2004). In the 2010s it became a battlefield in the Civil War and the government moved to Aden.

National capitals in Asia
Cities in Yemen
Astrid Lindgren

Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (born Astrid  Ericsson; November 14, 1907 – January 28, 2002) was a famous Swedish writer. She wrote many books for children.  She had a son named Lars.

Biography 

Astrid Lindgren grew up in Näs, near Vimmerby, Småland, and many of her books are based on her family and childhood memories. However, Pippi Longstocking, her most famous character, was invented for her daughter Karin, who was, at the time, ill and had to stay in the bed.

Lindgren was the daughter of Samuel August Ericsson and Hanna Johnsson.  She had two sisters. Her brother, Gunnar Ericsson, was a member of the Swedish parliament. She finished the school and  took a job with the a local newspaper in Vimmerby. When she became pregnant with the chief editor's child in 1926, he proposed marriage. She did not accept, and moved to Stockholm, learning to become a typist and stenographer. There she gave birth to her son Lars in Copenhagen and left him with another family to care for him.

Although poorly paid, she saved whatever she could and travelled as often as possible to Copenhagen to be with Lars; often just over a weekend, spending most of her time on the train back and forth. Eventually, she managed to bring Lars home, leaving him in the care of her parents until she could afford to raise him in Stockholm. In 1931 she married her boss, Sture Lindgren (1898-1952). Three years later, in 1934, Lindgren gave birth to her second child, Karin, who later became a translator. The family moved in 1941 to an apartment on Dalagatan, with a view over Vasaparken, where Astrid lived until her death.

Astrid Lindgren died in 2002, at the age of 94.

Politics 
In 1976, they had a scandal in Sweden when Lindgren's had to pay taxes 102% of her income. This is known as the "Pomperipossa effect" from a story, which she published in Expressen   on 3 March 1976.  
Astrid Lindgren was well known both for her support for children's and animal rights, and for her opposition to corporal punishment. In 1994, she received the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize), "...For her commitment to justice, non-violence and understanding of minorities as well as her love and caring for nature."

Books 
Some of her books include:
The Pippi Longstocking series (Pippi Långstrump)
The Six Bullerby Children (Barnen i Bullerbyn)
Mio, my Mio (also known as Mio, my Son) (Mio, min Mio)
Karlsson-on-the-Roof
Madicken
Emil of Lönneberga
The Brothers Lionheart (Bröderna Lejonhjärta)
Ronia the Robber's Daughter (Ronja rövardotter)

Related pages
List of Swedish-language writers

References
1. ^ John-Henri, Holmberg (1997/1999), "Scandinavia", in Clute, John, and John Grant, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, New York: St. Martin's Griffin, pp. 841 .

1907 births
2002 deaths
Swedish children's writers
Cantabria

Cantabria is a region in the north of Spain. It has 563,000 people living in it. In Cantabria most people speak Spanish. The people of Cantabria have autonomy in Spain, which means they have their own local government and much control over their region. The capital is Santander. This city is on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea and is very popular with tourists. Cantabria belongs to the Green Spain, the name given to the strip of land between the Cantabrian Sea and the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain.

Culture
Many different examples of prehistoric cave art have been found, suggesting the Cantabrian culture is at least 15,000 years old. Cave art is the best known feature of the Cantabrian life. The latest round of systematic cave explorations began in the early 1970s. Now new art can be discovered every year. Some of the cave art is engraved, and others are painted. Much of the cave art is of animals. There are often pictures of red deer found from this area of Spain. There are also other unusual symbols that can be found. This attracts much interest and many tourists to this culture. The Cantabrian life revolves mainly around art, tourism, and fishing. Rich deposits of coal, iron, and zinc are also mined in the Cantabrian Mountains. Tourism is a very large part of the Cantabrian life, and their economic success.

Climate
Cantabria is known for a rainy and cool climate. The region is also greener than southern Spain and is very mountainous.
Civil Aviation Authority

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), is the publicly owned organisation in charge of flying (Aviation) in the United Kingdom. It was created in 1972, doing the tasks previously done by the Department of Transport.

This means it is in charge of:
 Rules about aviation (policy)
 Licencing of both personnel and machinery
 Pricing of certain services (Air Traffic Control, Landing fees, etc.)

The CAA no longer provides air traffic control services (ATC), this responsibility was passed to a private company called National Air Traffic Services (NATS) in 2001 which the government owns 49% of.

Some other duties have passed to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), such as type certification. CAA-UK is part of the rulemaking group of the EASA.

References 

1972 establishments in the United Kingdom
Aviation authorities
Organisations based in the United Kingdom
Transport in the United Kingdom
Apulia

(; ; ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy, in southern Italy on the Adriatic Sea. The capital is Bari.

Its southernmost portion, known as Salento peninsula, has the shape of a high heel on the "boot" of Italy.

Geography 
Apulia is in Southern Italy.  It has an area of . There are 4,077,166 people living in the region, for a density of .

The region is bordered by Molise to the northwest, Campania to the west, Basilicata to the southwest, the Strait of Otranto and the Ionian Sea to the southeast, the Gulf of Taranto to the south, and the Adriatic Sea to north and to the east.

Provinces
The region is divided into six provinces:

Provinces

References

Other websites

 Official website 
 Environmental League Puglia
Belluno

Belluno (, , ) is a comune and city in the Veneto region, in Northeast Italy. Belluno is the capital of the province of the same name. The city is about  north of Venice.

Geography
The town is near the confluence of the Piave river with the small river Ardo. To the north of the town is the Schiara, a group of mountains. To the south, the foothills of the Alps separate Belluno from the plain of the Veneto. The most northern part of the comune is in the "Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park" ().

The comune of Belluno has an area of  and its altitude is .

Belluno borders with the following comuniː Alpago, Limana, Longarone, Ponte nelle Alpi, Sedico, Sospirolo, Vittorio Veneto (in the Treviso province).

Frazioni
The following frazioni (hamlets) are part of Belluno: Anconetta, Antole, Bes, Bolzano, Caleipo, Castion, Castoi, Cet, Cirvoi, Col di Salce, Faverga, Fiammoi, Giamosa, Giazzoi, Gioz, Levego, Madeago, Mares, Mier, Nevegàl, Nogarè, Orzes, Rivamaor, Safforze, Sagrogna, Sala, Salce, San Fermo, San Pietro in Campo, Sois, Sopracroda, Sossai, Tisoi, Veneggia, Vezzano, Vignole, Visome.

Population
, there are 35,870 persons living in the comune, for a population density of  inhabitants/km².

Evolution of the population in Belluno

Twinned towns
Belluno is twinned with:
  Cervia, Italy
  Bend, Oregon, United States

People from or related to Belluno 
 Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734), painter
 Andrea Brustolon (1662–1732), sculptor
 Marco Ricci (1676–1730), painter
 Pope Gregory XVI (1765–1846)
 Ippolito Caffi (1809–1866), painter
 Pope John Paul I (1912-1978)
 Luigi Luca Cavalli Sforza (b. 1922), human geneticist

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Belluno official website 
 Adorable Belluno 

Cities in Veneto
Capital cities in Italy
Settlements in Belluno
Vicenza

Vicenza is a comune and city in the Veneto region, in Northeast Italy. Vicenza is the capital of the province of the same name. The city is about  west of Venice, the capital of the region, and  east of Milan.

Vicenza is a cosmopolitan city, with a rich history and culture, and many museums, art galleries, piazzas, villas, churches and elegant Renaissance palazzi. With the "Palladian Villas of the Veneto" in the surrounding area, and his renowned Teatro Olimpico (Olympic Theater), Vicenza has been listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994.

The city is also known as the "City of Palladio" after Andrea Palladio, an architect that designed and built several important buildings in Vicenza and other cities.

Geography
Vicenza is at the confluence of the Bacchiglione river with its tributary Retrone.The comune of Vicenza has an area of  to the north of the Berici Hills. Its average altitude is .

The southern part of the city is flat with an elevation of  above sea level. The historical centre is among the meanders of the Bacchiglione river and of its tributaries with an elevation of  above sea level. To the south there is also an area with hills belonging to the Berici Hills with a top elevation of  above sea level

Vicenza borders with the following comuniː Altavilla Vicentina, Arcugnano, Bolzano Vicentino, Caldogno, Costabissara, Creazzo, Dueville, Longare, Monteviale, Monticello Conte Otto, Quinto Vicentino and Torri di Quartesolo.

Frazioni
The following frazioni (hamlets) are part of Vicenza: Anconetta, Bertesina, Bertesinella, Bugano, Campedello, Casale, Debba, Longara, Maddalene, Ospedaletto, Polegge, San Pietro Intrigogna, Santa Croce Bigolina, Tormeno.

Climate 
The climate of Vicenza is an oceanic climate with template summers, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

The average temperature for the year in Vicenza is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Vicenza is . The month with the most precipitation on average is November with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of .

Population
, there are 112,953 persons living in the comune, for a population density of  inhabitants/km².

Evolution of the population in Vicenza

Twinned towns
Vicenza is twinned with:
  Pforzheim, Germany
  Annecy, France

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Vicenza official website 
 Consorzio di Promozione Turistica Vicenza è

 
Capital cities in Italy
Rovigo

Rovigo is an Italian city in Veneto. It has a population of about 50,883 inhabitants.

Cities in Veneto
Capital cities in Italy
Province of Rovigo
L'Aquila

L'Aquila is an Italian city.
It has about 71,989 inhabitants. It is the capital of Abruzzo.

It is on a hill in the valley of the Aterno river. It is circled by the Apennine Mountains. The Financial Times, an important newspaper, wrote that L'Aquila is "the most handsome city of Abruzzo".

It is a very old town, full of beautiful buildings and churches. It has a university.

History 
Emperor Frederick II founded this town. He told the people of 99 villages to move in the new town. Frederick's son, Conrad IV of Germany finished the town in 1254. When Conrad died, his brother Manfred destroyed the town in 1259. Charles I of Anjou, king of Sicily, built it again soon.

It became soon the second city of the Kingdom of Naples.

The city of L'Aquila had much power because the 99 original villages helped it. Each village owned a borough (a small part of the town) and the borough was a part of the mother-village. That is also why the number 99 is so important in the history of L'Aquila.

The people also built a very peculiar monument, the Fountain of the 99 Spouts (Fontana delle 99 Cannelle).

The city was an important market for the countryside. The saffron (a very important spice) was grown in fields around town; shepherds had millions of sheep near L'Aquila.

After a few years L'Aquila became an important point of communication between cities in and out of the kingdom.

On 29 August 1294, the hermit Pietro del Morrone became pope Celestine V. The ceremony was in the church of Santa Maria di Collemaggio.

To thank the town, Celestine V decided that every year on that day every Christian who went to L'Aquila would be pardoned for his sins (bad actions). This is called Perdonanza, and it still happens every year on August 28 and 29. The Perdonanza is similar to the Jubilee Year, but arrived earlier.

The Perdonanza made the town more rich. But after a long time the plague (a dangerous illness) struck L'Aquila in 1348 and 1363. An earthquake struck it in 1349.

Saint Bernardino of Siena visited L'Aquila two times. The first time he came to preach to King René of Naples. In 1444 he died in the city.

In the 16th century, the Spanish viceroy Philibert van Oranje destroyed L'Aquila again. After this, he built a Castle.

Another earthquake damaged again the city in 1703. Another occurred in 2009.

Sport 
The city is the home of L'Aquila Rugby. This team won the Italian championship five times.

Twinned cities 
L'Aquila is twinned with these cities:
  - Rottweil
  - York
  - Cuenca
  - Hobart
  - Zielona Gora
  - Bernalda
  - Bistriţa
  - Baalbeck

References

Other websites 
 Official website
 A portal for L'Aquila
 Inside Abruzzo: Insider Tips Uncovered 
 n the Land of Bears and Castles, The Financial Times (29 June 2007)
 Image gallery 
 newsgroup <italia.laquila.discussioni>
 L'Aquila Rugby 
 L'Aquila Tourism  Places of interest in L'Aquila
 Turistical and historical informations about L'Aquila, Abruzzo 

Regional capitals in Italy
Cities in L'Aquila
Chieti

Chieti is a city and comune in Southern Italy,  east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region.

Chieti is on a hill between the Aterno-Pescara and the Alento rivers and is near the coast of the Adriatic Sea and the mountains.

Geography
Chieti is in the central eastern part of the Abruzzo, at an average altitude of  above sea level. It is on a hill that separates the watersheds of the Aterno-Pescara river (to the north) and of the Alentro stream (to the south). The comune has an area of .

The city is formed by two main parts:
 Chieti alta is the oldest part of the city and includes the historical centre that is on the hill.
 Chieti Scalo is the newest part of the city and is in the valley to the north of the hill, on the right side of the Aterno-Pescara river.

The comune is surrounded by the comuni Bucchianico, Casalincontrada, Cepagatti (PE), Francavilla al Mare, Manoppello (PE), Pescara (PE), Ripa Teatina, Rosciano (PE), San Giovanni Teatino and Torrevecchia Teatina.

Frazioni
The following frazioni (hamlets) are part of Chietiː Bascelli, Brecciarola, Buonconsiglio-Fontanella, Carabba, Chieti Scalo, Colle Marcone, Crocifisso, De Laurentis Vallelunga, Fonte Cruciani, Iachini, La Torre, San Martino, San Salvatore, Levante, Tricalle, Sant'Anna, Santa Barbara, Santa Filomena, Selvaiezzi, Vacrone Cascini, Vacrone Colle San Paolo, Vacrone Villa Cisterna, Vallepara, Villa Obletter, Villa Reale.

Population
The people from Chieti are called Chietini but also Teatini after the old name of the city ().

, there are 51,330 persons living in the comune, for a population density of  inhabitants/km².

Evolution of the population

Gallery

References

Other websites

Chieti official website  

 
Capital cities in Italy
Pescara

Pescara is an Italian city in Abruzzo of 123,400 inhabitants. In 1957, the only Pescara Formula One Grand Prix was held, and won by British driver, Stirling Moss. It was the longest ever Formula One track, using over  of local roads. It was first used for motor car racing in 1924, and closed in 1961.

References

 
Capital cities in Italy
Cryptozoology

Cryptozoology is the study of animals that people think might exist, but can't be proved to exist. It also is the study of animals many scientists think are extinct, but which people sometimes report. Those who study or look for such animals are called cryptozoologists. Some people call the unproven creatures cryptids. John Wall was the first person to use this word in 1983.

List of cryptids 

 Bigfoot
 Chupacabra
 Loch Ness Monster
 Mokele-mbembe
 Yeti
 Kraken
 Leviathan
 Jersey Devil
 De-Loys monkey (Ameranthopoides loysi), also known as Didi or Vasitri

Mongolian Death Worm 
The Mongolian Death Worm is a strange snake-like animal that lives in the Gobi Desert. Scientists do not know if it really exists or not. 

People who report seeing it say it is like a red, fat worm around 2 – 4 feet long. People who live in Mongolia call it allghoi khorkhoi. These people also say the creature spits yellow poison that will kill you as soon as it touches you and it can produce electricity so powerful that it could kill large animals.

References 

 
Pseudoscience
Ankylosaurus

Ankylosaurus magniventris was a type of armoured dinosaur. It was the largest of its type, with a maximum length of 8 metres (26 feet) and height of 2 metres (6 feet).

The body was broad and low-slung and covered in armour. Carnivores, attacking from above, would find no weak points, and the animal could defend itself by using its clubbed tail.

Ankylosaurus was a herbivore, like all ankylosaurs.  It probably ate ferns and cycads, which were common low-growing plants.

Armour
The most obvious feature of Ankylosaurus is its armour, consisting of massive knobs and plates of bone, known as osteoderms or bony scutes, embedded in the skin. Osteoderms are also found in the skin of crocodiles, armadillos and some lizards. The bone was probably overlain by a tough, horny layer of keratin. 

These osteoderms ranged greatly in size, from wide, flat plates to small, round nodules. The plates were aligned in regular horizontal rows down the animal's neck, back, and hips, with the many smaller nodules protecting the areas between the large plates. Smaller plates may have been arranged on the limbs and tail. Compared to the slightly more ancient ankylosaurid Euoplocephalus, the plates of Ankylosaurus were smooth in texture, without the high keels found on the armor of the contemporaneous nodosaurid Edmontonia. A row of flat, triangular spikes may have protruded laterally along each side of the tail. Tough, rounded scales protected the top of the skull, while four large pyramidal horns projected outwards from its rear corners.

Underneath it was covered by normal skin, but to get at it the carnivore would have to turn over an animal weighing up to 6,000 kg (11,000 lb).

In movies 
Ankylosaurus features in the Jurassic Park series of movies. In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, several Ankylosaurus flee from a volcanic eruption and at least one is captured by mercenaries. It is later auctioned off to a wealthy Indonesian.

References 

Ankylosauria
Cretaceous dinosaurs
Matera

Matera is a city in the area of Basilicata, in the southern part of Italy. It is the capital of the province of Matera. On October 17, 2014, Matera was declared Italian host of European Capital of Culture for 2019

References

World Heritage Sites in Italy
Cities in Basilicata
Capital cities in Italy
Settlements in Matera
Potenza

Potenza () is an Italian city in south of Italy, in the region Basilicata. It is the capital of Basilicata and also the center of Potenza province. About 70,000 people live there.

Potenza means strength in Italian.
The altitude of the city center is 819m, thus making it the highest provincial capital in Italy.

References

Regional capitals in Italy
Cities in Potenza
Kara Sea

The Kara Sea () is part of the Arctic Ocean. It lies north of Siberia. The Kara Sea is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya.

Size 
It is roughly 1,450 kilometres long and 970 kilometres wide. It has an area of around 880,000 km² and an average depth of 110 m.

Geography 
The Kara receives a large amount of fresh water from the Ob, Yenisei, Pyasina, and Taimyra rivers, so its salinity is very variable.

Uses 
Its main ports are Novy Port and Dikson and it is important as a fishing ground although the sea is ice-bound for all but two months of the year. Significant discoveries of petroleum and natural gas, an extension of the West Siberian Oil Basin, have been made but have not yet been developed.

Problems 
There is concern about the levels of nuclear waste the former Soviet Union dumped in the sea which included six nuclear submarine reactors and ten nuclear reactors, and the effect this will have on the marine environment. An International Atomic Energy Agency appraisal showed that releases are low and localised.

Other websites 
 International Atomic Energy Agency:Radiological Conditions of the Western Kara Sea 

Seas of the Arctic Ocean
Prototheria

The Prototheria is a former subclass of mammals, now no longer in use. The name comes from Greek prōtos means 'first', and thēr, 'beast'. The only surviving animals in this subclass are the Monotremes.

There are two other subclasses, the  Metatheria  and  the Eutheria. Metatheria contains the marsupials. All the other mammals are Eutherian.

Evidence is accumulating that the Prototheria is not a natural group, but alternative suggestions are not yet agreed. The term is not listed in Benton's 4th edition (2015), so it is now a dead term.

References 

 
Mammals
Sex education

Sex education is telling people about sexual intercourse. Usually, parents tell their children when they reach puberty. This usually includes things like how to make babies, how to protect against unwanted pregnancies, and how not to get any of the sexually transmitted diseases there are. In many cultures speaking about sex or sexual education is a taboo.

Some level of sex education is also done in school; in many places, the government passed laws that say that sex education must be done in school. Some parts of sex education vary by culture, e.g. the moral and ethic aspects.

Other websites 
 SIECUS Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States

Human sexuality
Bedroom

The bedroom is a room where people sleep.  A bedroom mainly has a bed and drawers or other storage for clothes.  Many bedrooms also have a closet and nightstand.  Some houses have more than one bedroom, and the biggest one is called a master bedroom.  A master bedroom may have an attached bathroom called an ensuite.

Rooms
Marche

Marche is one of the twenty regions of Italy, in Central Italy on the Adriatic Sea. The capital is the city of Ancona.

Geography 
The region is located in Central Italy bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the north, Tuscany to the west, Umbria to the southwest, Abruzzo and Lazio to the south, and the Adriatic Sea to the east.

Marche is the 15th largest region in Italy, with a total area of . The main rivers in the region are:
 Metauro, 
 Tronto, 
 Potenza, 
 Chienti, 
 Esino, 

The Nera river is  long but is a tributary of the Tiber and flows mainly in the Lazio region.

The highest mountain in the region is Monte Vettore, in the Ascoli Piceno province, with an altitude of .

Provinces 
The region is divided into five provinces:

Largest municipalities
The 10 communi with more people living in it are:

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Blog in English just about Le Marche Italy

 Official Site
Umbria

Umbria is one of the twenty regions of Italy, in center Italy. It is the one of the smallest Italian region. Its capital is Perugia.

It is the only region without a coastline or a border with another country.

Geography
The region is located in Central Italy with an area of . It is bordered by Marche to the east and northeast, Tuscany to the west and northwest, and Lazio to the south and southwest.

The main river in the region is the Tiber. Other important rivers are the Nera, Paglia, Topino, Chiascio and Nestore.

The largest lake of Umbria is the Trasimeno, one of the largest lake of Italy.

The highest mountain in the region is Cima del Redentore, in the Sibillini Mountains (), with an altitude of .

Provinces 
Umbria is divided into two provinces:

Largest municipalities
The 10 communi with more people living in it are:

References

Other websites

 Official Site
Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco in Italian) is a mountain in the Alps. Its height is 4810.90 metres. When Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) in the Caucasus is left out, Mont Blanc is often considered the highest point in Europe.

Mont Blanc is on the Italy/France border.

References

Other websites

 

Alps
Mountains of France
Mountains of Italy
Haute-Savoie
Shiite Crescent

Shiite Crescent is used as a political and geopolitical term to describe the different countries in the Middle East whose majority is Shia or who have a strong Shia minority in the population. It is often used to describe the rivalry and the potential of a conflict between the Shia majority and Sunni majority countries in the Middle East. 

The countries where Shia Muslims form a dominant majority are Azerbaijan, Iran, Bahrain and Iraq. The shape of these countries put together resembles a crescent or half moon. Large minorities also exist in Turkey, Lebanon, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, India, UAE, and Syria. However, Pakistan, India and Azerbaijan are excluded from the Shiite Crescent, and although Shias are a large majority in Azerbaijan, the country is a secular state and the percentage who worship Shia Islam, Islam or any religion are much lower.

Related pages 
 Shiaphobia

Literature 
 Ferhad Ibrahim: Iran und die arabische Welt , in: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, Nr. 9, Bonn 2004, S. 39-47. (German)
 Vali Nasr:  When the Shiites Rise  in: Foreign Affairs July/August 2006 pp. 58– 74.
 Asher Susser: Aufgang des schiitischen Halbmonds, in: Internationale Politik,  Nr. 9, 61. Jahr, (2006),  pp. 68-S.74 (German)

Other websites 
 Le Monde diplomatique: Die Schiiten und ihr Kampf um Gott 
 Deutsche Welle: Die Hisbollah in der arabischen Misstrauensfalle 
 Brockhaus: Ulrich Ladurner: Machtpoker am Persischen Golf  
 Der Tagesspiegel: Der schiitische Halbmond

References

Shiaphobia
Middle East
Political geography
Conflicts
Air gun

An air gun is a gun which uses gas to fire a projectile instead of burning gunpowder that an ordinary gun uses.

The oldest air guns used a bellows to compress (squeeze) air in a tube. When the gun was fired the air was released. The only way for the air to go was by pushing the pellet out. 

A later invention was the spring piston, these can only fire one shot before the spring has to be reset. Newer guns use air or another gas in a small cartridge, these guns can fire many more shots before the cartridge needs to be changed or refilled.

The projectile for an air gun is usually a pellet. Some guns of this sort fire small round pellets call "bb"s. Some people think this means ball bearing, but it does not. The letters bb stood for a size of shot that was used to make shotgun cartridges, This was used in the first bb guns.

The most popular calibres (pellet sizes) for air weapons are  mm  (also called .177 to .22). In many countries there are strict rules that limit the sales of air guns so not everyone can have one. 

They are not as powerful as other guns but they can still hurt or even kill people. 

Many people enjoy air rifle and pistol shooting either for fun or hunting. In the Olympics and target games, air pistols are used in some of the shooting events.

References

Firearms
Carcass

A carcass or corpse is another word for a dead body. The dead body may be of any animal, including Homo sapiens.

Related pages
Autopsy

Other websites

Death
Unit circle

In mathematics, a unit circle is a circle with a radius of 1. The equation of the unit circle is . The unit circle is centered at the Origin, or coordinates (0,0). It is often used in Trigonometry.

Trigonometric functions in the unit circle
In a unit circle, where  is the angle desired,  and  can be defined as  and . Using the function of the unit circle, , another equation for the unit circle is found, . When working with trigonometric functions, it is mainly useful to use angles with measures between 0 and  radians, or 0 through 90 degrees. It is possible to have higher angles than that, however. Using the unit circle, two identities can be found:  and  for any integer .

Geometry
Trigonometry
Mathematical analysis
Middle East Airlines

Middle East Airlines () is an airline based in Lebanon. It flies between the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

History

Middle East Airlines opened for business on May 31, 1945. It was opened by Saeb Salam, with support from BOAC. MEA's work started on January 1, 1946 with flights between Beirut and Nicosia. Then its airplanes started to fly to Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and Cyprus. The company bought two Douglas DC-3 planes in mid-1946.

On September 7, 2006, Israel ended its 8-week long air blockade on Lebanon. A Middle East Airlines plane from Paris flew to the Rafik Hariri International Airport at 6:06 p.m. Lebanese time (3:03 p.m. GMT). MEA resumed its normal flight timetable on September 11, 2006.

Destinations

Middle East Airlines flies its planes to these countries and their cities (since June 2006):

Africa 
 Côte d'Ivoire
 Abidjan
 Egypt
 Cairo
 Sharm el Sheikh (sometimes)
 Ghana
 Accra
 Nigeria
 Kano
 Lagos
 Niger

Asia 
 Jordan
 Amman
 Kuwait
 Kuwait City
 Qatar
 Doha
 Saudi Arabia
 Dammam
 Jeddah
 Riyadh
 United Arab Emirates
 Abu Dhabi
 Dubai

Europe 
 Cyprus
 Larnaca
 Denmark
 Copenhagen (sometimes)
 France
 Nice (sometimes)
 Paris
 Germany
 Düsseldorf (sometimes)
 Frankfurt am Main
 Greece
 Athens
 Italy
 Milan
 Rome
 Switzerland
 Geneva
 Turkey
 Istanbul
 United Kingdom
 London

Airlines of the Middle East
Organizations based in Lebanon
1945 establishments in Asia
20th-century establishments in Lebanon
Blackmail

Blackmail means threatening to say something bad about someone unless that person pays some money.

If someone has committed a crime, another person might blackmail them. The blackmailer might, for example, say that if the criminal does not give them a large amount of money, they will tell the police.

A blackmailer may threaten to say something embarrassing that someone unless they hand over a sum of money. For example, it maybe something about an intimacy that they are having that they do not want everyone to know about.

Sometimes, a business may blackmail another business. They might threaten to harm that business in some way unless money is paid.

Blackmail is against the law. People who are caught blackmailing may be sent to jail.

History 
Blackmail started on the borders of England and Scotland. Blackmail was the money left out by landowners in England so that raiders from Scotland did not steal their animals or damage the property.

Related pages
Bribery
Financial crimes
Bribery

Bribery means offering something (such as money) to a person in return for some favour which is bad in some way.

The money that is offered is called a bribe, and the verb is to bribe. Active bribery is offering payment and asking for favour, and passive bribery is asking for payment and offering favour. It is still called bribery if the trade is never done.

It is sometimes difficult to decide whether something is a bribe or just a reward. If a father pays his son for washing the car, that is just a reward or payment. However, if a parent pays a child for eating up its dinner, that might be thought of as a bribe because most people would think that is not right.

Bribery can be a crime in more serious cases, such as when a person offers money to hide their own wrongdoing. If a motorist is caught speeding by a policeman and offers the policeman money or a bottle of vodka to persuade him not to report him, that is bribery. If someone wants to take something into a country that is forbidden (or that they would have to pay tax on), they might offer the customs officer a bribe to persuade him to let them through. Some corrupt people will not do their jobs at all (like delivering some package) unless they get a bribe on top of their normal pay.

Those examples are clearly illegal (against the law) and are rare in many countries, but bribery is quite common in business in many parts of the world. It is difficult to do anything without offering bribes in these places. Giving business people presents in the hope that they will want to do business with you may just seem like good manners at times, but in some cases, it may seem more like bribery.

People who are found to be taking bribes can sometimes lose their jobs. In some cases (like the case of the motorist), bribery is against the law.

Related pages
 Transparency International
 Blackmail

References 

Financial crimes
Rubella

Rubella (also known as German measles) is a disease caused by the Rubella virus.

It is often mild and an attack can pass unnoticed. However, this can make the virus very difficult to diagnose.

The disease can last 1–5 days. Children recover more quickly than adults.

The virus usually enters the body through the nose or throat. Like most viruses living along the respiratory tract, it is passed from person to person by tiny droplets in the air that are breathed out.

Rubella can also be transmitted from a mother to her developing baby (fetus) through the placenta.  This can be very dangerous to the fetus, especially if the mother gets rubella early on in her pregnancy.  Rubella can cause deafness, heart problems, intellectual disability, and many other problems in developing fetuses.

The virus has an incubation period of 2 to 3 weeks during which it becomes established. Common symptoms are a red/pink rash, swollen lymph nodes, and a high fever.

The disease is named German measles because it has a similar red rash to measles and was first described in detail by German doctors.

Eliminated in North and South America 
On April 29, 2015, it was announced that rubella has been eliminated in North American and South America. A scientific group of experts said it took 15 years of work for this to happen. Among the groups are: Pan American Health Organization, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, and the United Nations Foundation.

References 

Diseases caused by viruses
Stephen Colbert

Stephen Tyrone Colbert (pronounced col-BEAR) (born May 13, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and author. He is the current host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He was the host of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central from 2005 through 2014. Colbert has used a special form of comedy called satire to make fun of politicians and the news media.

Early life
Colbert was born in Washington, D.C.. He grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. He was the youngest of eleven children in a Catholic family, and went to Northwestern University.

Career

The Colbert Report

On The Colbert Report (which he pronounces "col-BEAR re-POAR" to make the words sound the same), he pretends to be a right-wing talk show host. He likes to ask his guests very embarrassing questions that make it seem that he is a serious far right-wing conservative who is also not very smart.  His TV personality centers on the idea that if enough people believe something, it will be true.  This is largely based on conservative host Bill O'Reilly. He was granted a Super PAC for the South Carolina Republican Party primaries in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.

Many famous American politicians and people in the news media agree to appear on his show because it is very popular. Colbert started as a comedy writer and performer for many other programs, such as The Daily Show and the Strangers with Candy movie, both also on Comedy Central.

The Late Show

On April 10, 2014, CBS announced in a press release that Colbert will succeed David Letterman as the host of The Late Show, effective when Mr. Letterman retires from the broadcast." On January 12, 2015, CBS announced that Colbert would premiere as the Late Show host on Tuesday, September 8, 2015.

Other works
He has also voiced Phil Ken Sebben and Reducto in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Colbert has written three books. I Am America (And So Can You!) was No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Personal life
Colbert married his wife in 1993. He lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife and three children.

Legacy
He has made a word, 'truthiness'. At least four species have been given scientific names honoring Colbert.

References

Further reading

Other websites 

 
 
 
 

 Audio/Video
 
 
 
 Colbert interview transcript , 60 Minutes. (April 30, 2006)
 Colbert in an open, hour-long interview and Q & A session arranged by Harvard's Institute of Politics. He speaks about the nature of his TV-show character and the interplay between wearing the mask and using it to make political points.
 Colbert Roasts President Bush – 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner
 Stephen Colbert 2006 Knox College Commencement Address

1964 births
Living people
Actors from South Carolina
Actors from Washington, D.C.
American television actors
American television talk show hosts
Comedians from South Carolina
Comedians from Washington, D.C.
Comedy Central personalities
Webby Award winners
People from Montclair, New Jersey
Emmy Award winners
Grammy Award winners
Hobsonville

Hobsonville is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is on the Western shores of the Waitemata Harbour in Waitakere City.

Auckland
Upper Harbour Local Board Area‏‎
Papatoetoe

Papatoetoe is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is in South Auckland, in the Manukau District.

Other websites
http://www.papatoetoe.org.nz 

Auckland
Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board Area
Bognor Regis Town F.C.

Bognor Regis Town F.C. is a football club in England. They started in 1883 and have managed to enter the 2nd Round of the FA Cup 4 times in their history. At the moment they are playing in the Conference South, which is the 6th level of English Football. Their ground is called Nyewood Lane and their pitch is thought to be one of the best in non-league football.

In the 2005/2006 season they finished 12th in the Conference South division, with an average match attendance of 338 people.

English football clubs
1883 establishments in the United Kingdom
Humour

Humour or humor  () is the way that some experiences can make people laugh or feel happy. Most people are able to be amused (laugh or smile at something funny) and have a sense of humor. You can use puns with words that sound similar but have different meanings, or a word that has two meanings. Other examples of humor are satire, saying yes or no when it is not expected, and using different kinds of logic. People of different ages and cultures can find different things humorous. For example, adults may like satire, which children could find hard to understand. A comedian is someone who is paid to make people laugh.r is describing things in a funny way, having the ability to make the jokes.

Related pages
Comedy
Joke

References 

Humor
Virtues
Anthony Kiedis

Anthony Kiedis (born November 1, 1962 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is an American singer. He is the lead singer of the rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He was put in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

He has been in the band since it started in 1983. He is known for his fast rapping, but in more recent albums he has also started singing. Kiedis is a popular rock singer, but he had many problems singing until the band made Californication (1999). This is when he felt that he could control his voice well. His singing ability has greatly improved over the years. He is known for his on stage charisma. He released a memoir book called Scar Tissue in 2004. It sold many copies around the world. Kiedis has had many drug problems. He has been clean since December 24, 2000. Kiedis was with Heather Christie who is also the mother to his son Everly Bear Kiedis. He lives with his son in Malibu, California.

References 

1962 births
Living people
American rock singers
Singers from Grand Rapids, Michigan
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Treviso

Treviso is a comune and city in the Veneto region, in Northeast Italy. Treviso is the capital of the province of the same name. The city is about  north of Venice, the capital of the region.

Geography
Treviso is at the confluence of the Botteniga and Sile rivers,  north of Venice,  east of Vicenza,  north-east of Padua, and  south of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

The city is at about  southwest the right bank of the Piave river, on the plain between the Gulf of Venice (Adriatic Sea) and the Alps.

The comune of Treviso has an area of  and its altitude is .

Treviso borders with the following comuniː Carbonera, Casier, Paese, Ponzano Veneto, Preganziol, Quinto di Treviso, Silea, Villorba, Zero Branco.

Climate 
The climate of Treviso is an oceanic climate with template summers, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

The average temperature for the year in Treviso is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Treviso is . The month with the most precipitation on average is June with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of .

Population
, there are 83,731 persons living in the comune, for a population density of  inhabitants/km².

Evolution of the population in Treviso

Twinned towns
Treviso is twinned with:
  Orléans, France
  Timișoara, Romania
  Sarasota, Florida, United States
  Caen, France
  Curitiba, Brazil
  Neuquén, Argentina

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Treviso official website 

Cities in Treviso
Capital cities in Italy
Tony Hoare

Sir Charles Antony Richard Hoare (Tony Hoare or C. A. R. Hoare, born 11 January 1934) is an English computer scientist. He is probably best known for the development of Quicksort. Quicksort is the world's most widely used sorting algorithm. He also developed Hoare logic. Hoare received the Turing Award in 1980 "for his fundamental contributions to the definition and design of programming languages".

Life
Hoare was born in Colombo, in Sri Lanka. He got his Bachelor's degree in Classics from the University of Oxford in 1956. He stayed in Oxford for one more year to study graduate-level statistics.

From 1956 to 1958, he served in the Royal Navy. He then studied computer translation of human languages at Moscow State University in the Soviet Union in the school of Andrey Nikolayevich Kolmogorov.

References

1934 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Oxford
English computer scientists
People from Colombo
Turing Award winners
Sri Lankan academics
Sri Lankan scientists
Academics of the University of Oxford
Flea (musician)

Flea (Michael Peter Balzary) is an Australian-American bassist. He was born on October 16, 1962, in the city of Melbourne, Australia. He plays in the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has been with the band since its beginning in 1983 along with vocalist Anthony Kiedis. He is also known onstage for wearing weird costumes that largely appeal to the audience.

Flea is known for his unique bass style. He uses a wide range of bass guitar techniques, mainly popping and slapping and changing the speed of his tempo during songs and his quick improvisation. Flea is also a skilled trumpet player. Flea was responsible for getting John Frusciante back into Red Hot Chili Peppers.

In September 2009, it was announced that Flea would be playing with Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, to perform some of Yorke's material.

Flea is generally regarded by the public as the greatest rock bassist of all time, among similar artists such as Les Claypool and Victor Wooten.

References 

1962 births
Living people
American punk musicians
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Musicians from Los Angeles
Musicians from New York (state)
Bassists
American rock guitarists
Australian guitarists
Musicians from Melbourne
Australian rock musicians
Warner Bros. Records artists
Andrey Kolmogorov

Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov (, 25 April 1903 – 20 October 1987) was a Soviet mathematician and computer scientist. He made major advances in the fields of probability theory and topology. Born in a Russian family in Tambov, he worked early in his career on intuitionistic logic, and Fourier series. He also worked on turbulence, classical mechanics, and information theory; and was a founder of algorithmic complexity theory which is often referred to as simply Kolmogorov complexity theory.

Kolmogorov worked at Moscow State University. He studied under Nikolai Luzin, earning his Ph.D. in 1929. In 1931 he became professor at this university. In 1939 he received the title of academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He died in Moscow.

References

1903 births
1987 deaths
Kolmogorov, Andrey
Kolmogorov, Andrey
Topologists
Moscow State University faculty
Chad Smith

Chadwick Smith (born October 25, 1961 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States) is a drummer in the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He joined the band in 1988 with John Frusciante when guitarist Hillel Slovak died of a heroin drug overdose, and Jack Irons left because of his friend dying. Chad has stayed in the band since then, playing the drums for every single album up to today.

Discography
Red Hot Chili Peppers
 Mother's Milk (1989)
 Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
 One Hot Minute (1995)
 Californication (1999)
 By the Way (2002)
 Stadium Acradium (2006)
 I'm With You (2011)

References

American drummers
American rock musicians
Musicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota
Red Hot Chili Peppers
1961 births
Living people
Hillel Slovak

Hillel Slovak (April 13, 1962 – June 25, 1988) was an Israeli musician. Slovak was the guitarist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He was born in Haifa, Israel. His family moved to California in 1967. He was a close friend of singer Anthony Kiedis during high school, and in 1983, they decided to make a band. The band was called "Tony Flow and the Majestic Masters of Mayhem". They played a show, but never took the band seriously. In 1984 he left the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play in his other band "What Is This". He rejoined in 1985 to record "Freaky Styley" and "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan" in 1987. He died in 1988 from a fatal drug overdose.

1962 births
1988 deaths
Drug-related deaths
Jewish Israeli musicians
People from Haifa
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rock musicians