title: Myspace

text: In 2009, MySpace began migrating from HDD to SSD technology in some of their servers, resulting in space and power usage savings.


title: Myspace

text: Myspace operates solely on revenues generated by advertising, as its revenue model possesses no user-paid features. Through its site and affiliated ad networks, the site collects data about its users and utilizes behavioral targeting to select the ads each visitor sees.


title: Myspace

text: On August 8, 2006, search engine Google signed a $900 million deal to provide a search facility and advertising on MySpace.


title: Myspace

text: Companies such as Slide.com and RockYou were all launched on Myspace as widgets providing additional functionality to the site. Other sites created layouts to personalize the site and made hundreds of thousands of dollars for its owners, most of whom were in their late teens and early twenties.


title: Myspace

text: In November 2008, MySpace announced that user-uploaded content infringing on copyrights held by MTV and its subsidiary networks would be redistributed with advertisements to generate revenue for the companies.


title: Myspace

text: On November 18, 2009, MySpace Music acquired Imeem for less than $1 million. MySpace stated that they would be transitioning Imeem's users and migrating their playlists over to MySpace Music. On January 15, 2010, MySpace began restoring Imeem playlists.


title: Myspace

text: Along with its website redesign, Myspace also completely redesigned their mobile application. The redesigned app on the Apple App Store was released in June 2013. The app features a tool for users to create and edit gif images and post them to their Myspace stream. The app also allows users to stream available "live streams" of concerts. New users are able to join Myspace from the app by signing in with Facebook or Twitter or by signing up with email.


title: Myspace

text: The Myspace mobile app is no longer available on the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. The mobile web app can be accessed by visiting Myspace.com from a mobile device.


title: Myspace

text: The app allows users to play Myspace radio channels from the device. Users can select from genre stations, featured stations and user or artist stations. A user can build their own station by connecting and listening to songs on Myspace's desktop website. The user is given six skips per station.


title: Danganronpa

text: The original scenario was written by Kodaka, who aimed to create a dark adventure game. The original concept was rejected for being too gruesome, but it was later approved after retooling. The series has morphed into a franchise that includes manga, anime, and novels. The franchise became one of Spike's most successful works since they previously outsourced their works.


title: Danganronpa

text: The series received many positive reviews from critics, praising the series' characters, tone, and atmosphere. Rui Komatsuzaki's character designs became popular for cosplay. Kodaka's work also inspired staff members from the studio Pierrot in the making of an anime titled "Akudama Drive". By 2021, the "Danganronpa" series reached 5 million copies sold worldwide.


title: Danganronpa

text: The series revolves around an elite high school, , which, every year, scouts , talented high school students who are at the top of their field, along with one "Ultimate Lucky Student" who is chosen by lottery. The three games, "" (2010), "" (2012), and "" (2017) have similar premises. Sixteen talented students who stand out in different fields are trapped by a bear-like machine, Monokuma. Monokuma traps the cast into killing games. The cast is trapped for the rest of their lives in an establishment and the only way to return home is by killing another person and avoiding being found guilty during the class trials. The video games's narratives are connected by related media, expanding the story between titles.


title: Danganronpa

text: The first game was ported to iOS and Android in August 2012, with new features such as retina display support, touch screen controls, and a new image gallery. Two smartphone games, and , were released for Android devices on April 27, 2012 and iOS devices on May 23, 2012. Following the Japanese release of "Danganronpa 1-2 Reload", a PlayStation Vita port of the game and its sequel, "", NIS America released the Vita version of "Trigger Happy Havoc" in North America and Europe in February 2014. Spike Chunsoft later released the game on Steam in February 2016. NIS America also released "Danganronpa 1-2 Reload" for PlayStation 4 in North America and Europe in March 2017, and Japan on May 18, 2017. Another compilation for the Nintendo Switch titled "Danganronpa Decadence" was released in 2021. Besides the trilogy, the compilation offered a new title called "", expanded from the two extra modes of "Danganronpa V3".


title: Danganronpa

text: The spin-off, "", takes place between the events of the first two games, follows Makoto's younger sister, Komaru Naegi, accompanied by Toko Fukawa, as both of them trek through a city overrun by murderous Monokumas, and fighting against a group of children calling themselves the Warriors of Hope. This game was also adapted into the manga "Genocider Mode".


title: Danganronpa

text: Gameplay in the main "Danganronpa" games is split into six chapters which each have three sections: Daily Life, Deadly Life, and Class Trial. Daily Life follows a standard visual novel style as players explore the school grounds, converse with characters, and progress the story. During designated "Free Time" sections, players can interact with a character of their choice, learning more about them and earning new skills that can help them in the Class Trial. Deadly Life is the post-murder investigation part of the story, in which players search for clues and gather evidence for the Class Trial.


title: Danganronpa

text: The Class Trial is the main section of the series, in which the students attempt to determine the culprit. This involves various types of mini-games, the most common of which is the Nonstop Debate. Here, the characters discuss the case in real-time, and the player must spot contradictions in their statements and shoot them using "Truth Bullets" containing the corresponding evidence. Other minigames include Hangman's Gambit, with the goal being to shoot letters to spell out a clue, Bullet Time Battle(1)/Panic Talk Action(2)/Argument Armament("V3") has the player using rhythmic button presses to argue against a character, and Closing Argument, which has the player piece together comic strips depicting the events of a murder.


title: Danganronpa

text: The spin-offs "" and "" use different type of gameplay. The former is a third-person shooter in which the protagonist, Komaru Naegi, uses a megaphone to issue commands at most of the electronic objects in-game, including Monokuma Robots and switches. "Unlimited Battle" is an action game where players use touchscreen controls to fling a team of four of the "Danganronpa" characters at enemies.


title: Danganronpa

text: While at Spike, Kodaka proposed an idea to the company that was known as "Distrust". The concept was similar to that of "Danganronpa", a battle royale style death game in a closed environment between high school students, but the idea was too gruesome and was consequently scrapped. After tweaking the concept, Kodaka successfully pitched it to the company and the game went into production, becoming "Danganronpa". The word "Danganronpa" originated from character designer Rie Komatsuzaki which was first written in kanji but it was later taken to katakana for the logo. Kodaka cites David Lynch as a major inspiration when making the games. He stated "As opposed to being about death, these are games about playing for your life, since killing is much less purposeful without a motive to justify it. This is something you can really see with all his titles.".


title: Danganronpa

text: The first game in the series, titled "", was produced by Yoshinori Terasawa, who was inspired by movies such as "Saw" and "Cube". The game uses a distinct "pop art" style featuring fluorescent pink blood. The game's scenario was written by Kodaka, with character designs by Rui Komatsuzaki. In February 2014, Kodaka revealed on his Twitter account that the story of "Danganronpa" was inspired by the Sega Dreamcast game "Illbleed", as he loved how "crazy" it was. The game was originally conceived as a basic visual novel but, as visual novels were growing less popular, new gameplay elements were added to make it stand out. Due to budget issues, some lines were not given voice acting which left Ogata with the desire to make some important lines in retrospective. She felt a similar feeling with the anime adaptation as she felt it was too trimmed. Kodaka claimed some lines were not befitting to Makoto such as when the player is exploring an area. As a result, he also felt they would have added more fitting lines if Spike had the budget for the game.


title: Danganronpa

text: The game was originally released on PlayStation Portable in Japan on 25 November 2010, and was later ported to iOS and Android devices on 20 August 2012. Prior to the game's release, the company released various promotional material, including a playable demo and trailers, which depicted a different victim from the final game. Two smartphone applications, and , were released for Android devices on 27 April 2012 and iOS devices on 23 May 2012.


title: Danganronpa

text: After the making of the first "Danganronpa" game, there were no plans for a sequel. However, the team split up into different groups to make other projects. Initially reluctant, Kodaka was attracted by the idea of creating the novels "Danganronpa Zero". Terasawa approached Kodaka with the idea of a sequel in a few months. Kodaka wrote both "Zero" and "Goodbye Despair" at the same time. In retrospect, Kodaka considers the novels as needing more structuring work when comparing it with the game. He wrote elements he was doubtful from the first game into the novel as well as more hints towards "Goodbye Despair". As a result, Kodaka recommends gamers first read "Zero" before playing the sequel. A sequel, "", was released for PSP in Japan on 26 July 2012, featuring various gameplay additions.


title: Danganronpa

text: On 10 October 2013, Spike Chunsoft released , a compilation of the first two games, for the PlayStation Vita. Along with higher resolution graphics and touch-screen controls, the compilation added an additional 'School Mode' to the first game, based on the second game's 'Island Mode'. On 6 July 2013, NIS America announced they would be releasing the Vita version of the first game in English under the name "", featuring both English and Japanese audio. This version was released in North America on 11 February 2014, and in Europe and Australia on 14 February 2014. The Vita version of the second game, titled "", was released in North America and Europe in September 2014. Both games were later ported to Steam in 2015 and were released for PlayStation 4 in 2017.


title: Danganronpa

text: On 9 September 2013, Spike Chunsoft announced a spin-off title of the series, "", which was released on Vita on 25 September 2014 and was released in North America and Europe in September 2015. A free-to-play spin-off game, "", was released for iOS in Japan on 7 January 2015. In March 2015, writer Kodaka Kazutaka revealed that "Danganronpa 3" was in early development. The game was revealed in September 2015 as "" for PlayStation 4 and Vita, which was later released in 2017. A Steam port of "" was also in 2017. The game was developed at the same time as the production of the anime series "", which Terasawa and Kodaka described as being difficult; they still try to develop both projects without making any compromises, as such an opportunity does not arise often. The "V3" in the game's title was chosen to differentiate it from the anime. Terasawa and Kodaka described the game's production level as being much higher than that of previous games in the series. With "Killing Harmony" completed, Kodaka claimed that he would take a break from the franchise in a similar fashion to the "Back to the Future" film series, which consists of three installments.


title: Danganronpa

text: A free virtual reality technical demo based on the first game, titled "", was released for PlayStation Plus users in Japan for the PlayStation VR on 13 October 2016. A crossover prequel with "Otogirisō" to the first game, titled "Kirigiri Sou", was released for PC users in Japan on 25 November 2016. In 2017, Spike Chunsoft started hiring staff for a new "Danganronpa" game. In July 2020, it was announced that the franchise's publishing rights outside of Japan will be transferred from NIS America to Spike Chunsoft.


title: Danganronpa

text: As part of the 10th anniversary celebration, enhanced ports of "" and "", titled "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Anniversary Edition" respectively"," were released on smartphone on November 25, followed by Nintendo Switch in December 2021. "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition" was also ported to Xbox One and Microsoft Store on January 17th. These version contains a gallery where players can listen to character voices, as well as view character expressions, in-game illustrations, and character references. On Nintendo Switch, the publisher also released Anniversary Edition of "", as well as "Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp", a brand new exclusive game for the Switch. "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition", "Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Anniversary Edition", "Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Anniversary Edition", and "Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp" were also collected and sold as a bundle titled "Danganronpa Decadence on the Nintendo Switch.


title: Danganronpa

text: According to Kodaka, the first two games focus prominently on the ideas of hope and despair. The cast from the first game suffers the later theme when being forced to kill each other in Monokuma's battle royale. Kodaka stated that the games were intended "to portray the disparity faced when someone has killed another person while at the same time portraying the hope of one day achieving salvation." Although the game shares traits from Koushun Takami's 1999 novel "Battle Royale", Kodaka aimed to provide different ideas when writing the script. Originally, the idea was to use adults as protagonists but he instead found high school characters as more potential leads due to their immaturity through the usage of character development and how would they react to a killing game. Voice actress Megumi Ogata who voices Makoto Naegi also commented on these themes; Ogata felt Makoto embodies the philosophy of hope as he brings this to the narrative and the setting.


title: Danganronpa

text: Analyzing these themes further, Ogata said "Danganronpa" often touches on both elements of despair and hope. The characters experience "despair" while they are trapped in the school and Makoto provides more emotional support to the cast across the story, giving the actress a far more optimistic message that the students are going to survive. In "Goodbye Despair" a new character named Nagito Komaeda was introduced with the same Lucky Talent as Makoto. However, the staff considered them opposites based on their ideals of hope. In contrast to Makoto's heroic ideals of obtaining hope, Nagito instead embraces the idea of despair, believing that from any corrupted work the cast can find salvation. The anime "End of Hope's Peak Academy" introduces a rival to Makoto named Kyosuke Munakata who shares similar ideals but is corrupted due to his friends' death, and thus contradicts Makoto's ideals. Across the story, Makoto carries the "burdens of hope" regardless of how difficult are his challenges, allowing him to redeem Kyosuke.


title: Danganronpa

text: For the third and latest game, "", Kodaka decided to focus on a new theme: lie. This is represented through mysteries and surprises the player gets while playing the game. Kodaka claims that games would understand the ideals of lies when presented with the culprits. He was inspired by a mafia-like game where the answers are not provided to the player and thus wanted "Danganronpa" to go through this style in terms of writing. This mostly presented during the new gameplay elements from "Killing Harmony" as the player can enter into hidden routes when interacting with the rest of the cast. However, Kodaka had mixed feelings about it, finding it would come across as forced storytelling. Kodaka also refrained from expanding the theme of romance in the game as he felt the cast would look weak if this was implemented.


title: Danganronpa

text: The games were localized by NIS America. Due to the poor popularity of outsourced games by the Western studio-like "" or "Dead Rising", Spike wanted the "Danganronpa" to remain true to its Japanese release, with Spike Chunsoft CEO Mitsutoshi Sakurai saying that Western fans seemed to embrace Japanese games like the "Final Fantasy" series. Due to delays with it being made, fan translations of the first game were present on the internet before NIS America handled the project. Minor changes were made to the characters' names but the team felt that the team aimed the project to be as faithful and accessible to the Western gamers. Spike's single request to NIS America was keeping the Monokuma's names intact. Due to the premise involving mystery, NIS America was keeping clues and at the same making the Class Trials as challenging as the original ones from Japan. While the English cast did not cause difficulties, Toko Fukawa's English voice actress was the most challenging to find as the character has an alter-ego with a psychopath personality, Genocide Jack. Monokuma was kept intact to make him look funny and at the same time threatening, something the team enjoyed.


title: Danganronpa

text: "Goodbye Despair" was more challenging to localize than the original game due to how much longer the narrative is. The original team tried to work together again on the project to keep themselves familiar with the concepts of the series. In regards to changes NIS America made, Spike Chunsoft was supportive of the ideas they provided. The producer and assistant producers were in direct contact with the original creators of the series, making the interaction between the team to be done quickly. Sonia Nevermind's traits were altered due to how in the Japanese version she was using terms from the 1980s and 1990s in Japan. The team was concerned if her catchphrases should be kept intact for the Western version. Fuyuhiko was also challenging to dub as a result of his initial harsh personality. The casting was made with the help of Bang Zoom!. Similarly, Nagito Komaeda was difficult to dub as a result of his multi-faced personality. Since in the Japanese version both Makoto Naegi and Nagito were voiced by Megumi Ogata, in the English version they decided to also use the same actor: Bryce Papenbrook.


title: Danganronpa

text: The first "Danganronpa" has received two manga adaptations. The first adaptation, illustrated by Saku Toutani, was published in Enterbrain's "Famitsu Comic Clear" web magazine between June 24, 2011, and October 18, 2013, and is told from the perspective of the other students. The second, illustrated by Samurai Takashi and based on "Danganronpa: The Animation", began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's "Shōnen Ace" magazine from July 2013. An official fanbook and comic anthologies based on both the game and the anime have also been published. A mini light novel written by Ryohgo Narita, titled , is unlockable in "Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair" after clearing the game once. The story takes place in an alternate universe where Makoto manages to find an alleged escape switch.


title: Danganronpa

text: The prequel, "Danganronpa Zero", takes place in Hope's Peak Academy shortly after the events of "The Tragedy", following an anterograde amnesiac protagonist, Ryoko Otonashi, while detective Kyoko Kirigiri searches for its perpetrator, the mysterious Izuru Kamukura. The light novel series "Danganronpa Kirigiri", which takes place before the events of the first game, follows a young Kyoko Kirigiri and her assistant Yui Samidare over the course of several years as they set out to become private detectives, rising through the ranks of the .


title: Danganronpa

text: "Kirigiri Sou", which takes place before the first game and after the events of the light novel series "Danganronpa Kirigiri", follows college student Kouhei Matsudaira and Kyoko Kirigiri, as both of them investigate a mysterious mansion ruled by the influence of a plant hybrid doppelgänger of Kyoko (known as Kyoka) created by Santa Shikiba and her "siblings", the Rhinogradentia.


title: Danganronpa

text: The light novel trilogy "Danganronpa Togami", which takes place before and during "The Tragedy", follows Byakuya Togami and his secretary and biographer Blue Ink after he is stranded naked in Prague with her by the Ultimate Despair organization, as the Ultimate Imposter takes over the Togami Conglomerate and announces worldwide that lest he (the real Byakuya) be assassinated within the following 24 hours, the Ultimate Despair group will "end the world." The second volume also focuses on a younger Byakuya and the Imposter as they compete against fifteen of their siblings in the Togami family competition for the position of Togami heir, which quickly devolves into a killing game. The manga series "Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer", which takes place between the events of the first two games, follows rookie and veteran Future Foundation agents Misaki Asano and Takumi Hijirihara, the latter of whom leads a secret parallel life as a vigilante serial killer obsessed with Mukuro Ikusaba, who only kills other murderers.


title: Danganronpa

text: A short story booklet titled , written by Kazutaka Kodaka, was included with special editions of the first Japanese Blu-ray and DVD release of "Danganronpa: The Animation", serving as an origin story relating how Makoto came to be selected as the "Ultimate Lucky Student" of Hope's Peak Academy.


title: Danganronpa

text: Alongside the next anime, a manga spin-off illustrated by Mitomo Sasako, titled "Killer Killer", began serialization in Kodansha's "Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine" from March 9, 2016. Initially released as "Killer Killer", in its third chapter, published on May 9, 2016, the manga series was revealed to be a side-story of "Danganronpa 3". The series focuses on Misaki Asano, a young woman assigned to the Future Foundation's sixth branch. She specializes in murder investigations, and is teamed up with fellow investigator Takumi Hijirihara, who, following "The Tragedy", has secretly become a serial killer, known as the "Killer Killer", obsessed with killing other serial killers the pair are tasked with apprehending. Two comic anthologies were released on September 9, 2016, and another was released on October 25, 2016, by Kadokawa Shoten.


title: Danganronpa

text: In December 2012, Kadokawa Shoten's "Newtype" magazine announced that there would be an anime television series adaptation of the first game, titled "", produced by Lerche and directed by Seiji Kishi. The series aired between 4 July 2013 and 26 September 2013 on MBS' Anime-ism programming block. The final Blu-ray/DVD volume, released on 26 February 2014, features an extended final episode. Funimation simulcast the series as it aired and released it on Blu-ray/DVD in North America on 10 November 2015, while Manga Entertainment released the series in the UK on 9 November 2015. The anime is licensed by Muse Communication in Southeast Asia and aired on Animax Asia in Japanese audio with English subtitles.


title: Danganronpa

text: A second anime series, titled "", aired between July and September 2016. The series is split into two simultaneously airing parts; "Side: Future", which serves as a conclusion to the "Hope's Peak Academy" storyline, and "Side: Despair", which serves as a prequel to the first two games; "Trigger Happy Havoc" and "Goodbye Despair". Seiji Kishi once again directed the series at Lerche, while Norimitsu Kaihō wrote the screenplay. The "Danganronpa" development staff have stated that, while difficult to work on both titles simultaneously, they are giving it since the opportunity to do something like it does not come up often. Initially, an anime adaptation of "Danganronpa 2" had been planned, but in the end the development staff opted for making an anime that takes place after "Danganronpa 2" instead, as Kodaka felt that the "Danganronpa 2" characters' story had ended within that game and that he could not write another about what happened to them afterward very easily. While class trials had originally been considered, it was thought that it would have been too painful for the characters to sit through another one, which was what led to the decision to make the conclusion into an anime.


title: Danganronpa

text: The series was licensed for simulcasting by Funimation. Despite episodes alternating between the Future and Despair arcs when it originally aired, Funimation groups the episodes by arc on its streaming service. An original video animation titled "Super Danganronpa 2.5: Komaeda Nagito to Sekai no Hakaisha", was bundled with "Danganronpa V3" in Japan on 12 January 2017.


title: Danganronpa

text: The original soundtracks for both the games and the anime are composed by Masafumi Takada. The soundtrack for "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc" was released in Japan by Sound Prestige Records on 14 February 2011, with the ending theme, , performed by Megumi Ogata, which is also used as the anime's final ending theme. The soundtrack for "Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair" was released on 31 August 2012. The soundtrack for "Danganronpa: The Animation" was released by Geneon Universal Entertainment on 28 August 2013. The opening theme for the anime series was "Never Say Never", performed by TKDz2b with Jas Mace, Marchitect and Tribeca, the single of which was included with the first Blu-ray/DVD volume of the anime released on 28 August 2013. The ending theme is by Susumu feat. Soraru, the single of which was released on 4 September 2013. There have also been drama CDs, as well as bonus soundtracks included with limited-edition releases of the games.


title: Danganronpa

text: Monokuma appears in some downloadable content for Spike Chunsoft's role-playing game, "". Costumes of Monokuma and Monomi also appear in the Japanese PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions of "Terraria", which are published by Spike Chunsoft in that region. Another Spike game developed for the PlayStation Portable, "Gachitora: The Roughneck Teacher in High School", allows a player to wear a Monokuma costume if a "Danganronpa" save file is present upon playing "Gachitora". Downloadable outfits based on Monokuma and Monomi also appeared in the "Super Sonico" game, "Motto! SoniComi". Characters from "Danganronpa" appear as downloadable content in "". The roguelike rhythm game "Crypt of the Necrodancer" features remixed music from the "Danganronpa" series, as well as character skins of Makoto Naegi, Monokuma, Monomi, Hajime Hinata, Junko Enoshima, Chiaki Nanami, Ibuki Mioda and Sayaka Maizono. Costumes of Makoto, Kyoko, Junko, Monokuma, Hajime, Chiaki, Nagito and Mikan, as well as a pet of Monomi appear as part of a crossover with the NetEase survival mobile game "Identity V".


title: Danganronpa

text: The franchise had a theatrical play dubbed "Danganronpa The Stage 2016" (ダンガンロンパ THE STAGE 2016.) The play follows Makoto Naegi as he and his classmates must kill each other without being caught by the other students. The play features all the characters from the anime and game. The game is localized to Japan only. A stage play based on the anime "Future Arc" was made with InnocentSphere's Hideyuki Nishimori directing and writing the scripts. It premiered on 20 July 2018.


title: Danganronpa

text: The series was a commercial success. As of 7 November 2018, the game series had sold over of 930,000 units in Japan. The best-selling Danganronpa game in Japan is "", which sold a total of 258,250 units on the PlayStation Portable. In Europe and the United States, combined sales of the first two games on PlayStation Vita, "Trigger Happy Havoc" and "Goodbye Despair", have surpassed 200,000 copies sold as of April 2015. Spike Chunsoft reported in March 2018 that the two games each sold an additional 200,000 units through Steam. By 2021, the series reached 5 million copies sold worldwide.


title: Danganronpa

text: "USGamer" claimed that the popularity behind "Danganronpa" not only comes from the plot and gameplay but also the "zany, multifaceted characters" based on how expressive and distinctive they are. The tension provoked by the trials was said to be the most important part of the gameplay as the player feels confused about what character could have been the murderer of a case. "Hardcore Gamer" said it has an "uncanny ability to leave its players slack-jawed at the sights of the unraveling plot points." "Destructoid" praised its art style and well thought out story. The media focused on the art style and character designs, which they felt helped to easily tell apart characters and enjoy their interactions with leads. A major praise in regards to the narrative are the twists revealed through class trial like Nagito Komaeda's true character in "Goodbye Despair" or Kaede Akamatsu's last action in "Killing Harmony". This also led to articles focused on the game's strongest characters based on intelligence or major role in the series. However, the trials have often received criticism for being easy to solve. The latest game, "Killing Harmony", attracted divisive comments from fans due to its ending which involves the characters being aware of their fictional nature and the emotional catharisis they have suffered as a result of the series' popularity.


title: Danganronpa

text: The cast in general was well received with several of them often being the subject of cosplay based on their distinctive designs, with multiple favoriting Junko Enoshima and series' mascot Monokuma. In November 2019, a Monokuma costume created controversy in Austin, Texas after drag queen Erika Klash was denied entry to a Whataburger while dressed as the character, after performing in-character at the Austin International Drag Festival at the club Elysium for five years. Klash later received an apology from a Whataburger representative over the incident, both in-person and on Twitter. The reveal of the true gender of one character in the first game received mixed reception from some critics, who called the discovery "a cheap plot device".


title: Danganronpa

text: The series has won multiple awards, including the first one: "GameFan" as Game of the Year, Best Sony Portable Exclusive Game, and Best Adventure Game. "Game Informer" awarded it Best Vita Exclusive, Best New Character (Monokuma) while RPGFan gave it the "Best Story", and "Best Graphic Adventure", while "Goodbye Despair" received "Famitsu"s Game of the Year (Readers), "Hardcore Gamer"s Best PS Vita Game, "Best New Character" (Monokuma), and "Best Adventure Game", while in the Japan Game Awards it won the "Award of Excellence". In 2017, "Famitsu" readers voted "Danganronpa" among the top four adventure games of all time, along with "Steins;Gate", "" and "". "Killing Harmony" won the Excellence Prize at the Famitsu Awards and the award for "Best Plot Twist" in "Game Informer"s 2017 Adventure Game of the Year Awards. In a "Famitsu" poll celebrating the franchise's tenth anniversary, the series remained more popular within female players than male players. The survey also included the fact that "Danganronpa" is mostly popular within young adults despite the magazine claiming the game were created to appeal to older gamers.


title: Danganronpa

text: In 2014, The 19th Animation Kobe committee chose Seiji Kishi to receive their Individual Award for the stretch of his career including "", "Arpeggio of Blue Steel", and "Hamatora". "GamesRadar" writer Kenneth Shepard acclaimed the "End of Hope's Peak Academy" series, stating that despite the franchise changing media from games, the narrative was appropriate for the television series. He added that he felt that the anime managed to bring closure to Makoto's story arc and felt his story easy for newcomers rather than just returning players. The finale of the series' "Hope Arc" earned positive reception for how it handled the respective finales of Makoto's and Hajime's/Izuru's journeys, despite lacking the appeal the original games had in the usage of antagonists.


title: Danganronpa

text: According to Kodaka, "Ace Attorney"s success in North America was due to how it distinguished itself from most visual novels with its gameplay mechanics, which "Danganronpa" later built upon and helped it also find success in North America. He further noted that the team behind the games were surprised by the popularity of the three games, claiming they were not aiming "Danganronpa" to be a popular game. As a result, he found that the franchise was so successful that it rivaled Atlus's role-playing game series "Persona". Anime director Tomohisa Taguchi was impressed with Kodaka's work at "Danganronpa" and it inspired him to make a new work together: the anime "Akudama Drive".


title: BM-21 Grad

text: The BM-21 "Grad" () is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-Soviet border conflict. "BM" stands for "boyevaya mashina" ( – combat vehicle), and the nickname means "hail". The complete system with the BM-21 launch vehicle and the M-21OF rocket is designated as the M-21 field-rocket system. The complete system is more commonly known as a Grad multiple rocket launcher system.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: In NATO countries the system, either the complete system or the launch vehicle only, was initially known as the M1964. Several other countries have copied the Grad or have developed similar systems. In Russian service its intended replacement is the 9A52-4 Tornado. Many similar 122 mm MLRS systems are made by different countries based on the BM-21 Grad.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: The M-21 field rocket system with a BM-21 launch vehicle (122 mm multiple rocket launcher (MRL) system) entered service with the Soviet Army in 1963 to replace the aging 140 mm BM-14 system. The launch vehicle consists of a Ural-375D 6x6 truck chassis fitted with a bank of 40 launch tubes arranged in a rectangular shape that can be turned away from the unprotected cab.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: The vehicle is powered by a water-cooled V8 180 hp gasoline engine, has a maximum road speed of , a road range of up to , and can cross fords up to deep. The original vehicle together with supporting equipment (including the re-supply truck 9T254 with 60 rockets) is referred to by the GRAU index "9K51". The launcher itself has the industrial index of "2B5". In 1976, the BM-21 was mounted on the newer Ural-4320 6x6 army truck.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: The three-member crew can emplace the system and have it ready to fire in three minutes. The crew can fire the rockets from the cab or from a trigger at the end of a cable. All 40 rockets can be away in as little as 20 seconds, and can be fired individually or in small groups in several-second intervals. A PG-1M panoramic telescope with a K-1 collimator can be used for sighting.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: Each rocket is slowly spun by rifling in its tube as it exits, which along with its primary fin stabilization keeps it on course. Rockets armed with high explosive-fragmentation, incendiary, or chemical warheads can be fired . Newer high explosive and cargo (used to deliver anti-personnel or antitank mines) rockets have a range of and more. Warheads weigh around , depending on the type.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: The number of rockets that each vehicle is able to quickly bring to bear on an enemy target makes it effective, especially at shorter ranges. One battalion of eighteen launchers is able to deliver 720 rockets in a single volley. The system has lower precision than gun artillery and cannot be used in situations that call for pinpoint accuracy. It relies on a large number of shells dissipating over an area for a certain hit rate on specific targets. Because of the short warning time for the impact of the whole volley, the BM-21 is still considered an effective weapon.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: Adaptations of the launcher were/are produced by several countries including China, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Poland and Romania.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: The Egyptians domestically manufacture the rockets Sakr-18 and Sakr-36, with a respective range of and , and the latest Sakr-45 with a superior range of . Rather than a standard HE-Frag round, the Egyptian military prefers a cluster munition, which can be extremely effective against lightly armored equipment and troop concentrations. Both rockets, as well as the original Soviet models of course, are fired by locally manufactured rocket launchers like the RL-21 (copy of BM-11) and RC-21 (copy of BM-21, similar to the Hadid HM20). The Helwan Machine Tools Company also produces portable systems with one, three, four and eight launch tubes.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: Since 2006 Hamas has fired 122 mm Grad rockets, copies made in Iran, and Eastern-bloc versions modified to expand their range into Israel. The rockets were believed to be brought into the Gaza Strip via tunnels from Egypt. Some of the rockets were of a Chinese Grad variant. Hamas sources said they were pleased by the performance of the Chinese variants of the BM-21 Grad rocket, which demonstrated a far greater range and blast impact than Palestinian-made rockets, as well as Russian-origin Grads or Katyushas.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: Hamas have used small man-portable single-tube launchers for rockets in attacks against Israel, designated 122 mm 9P132/BM-21-P. The 122 mm Grad rockets used in Gaza have a range of about , and can reach the Israeli towns of Ashdod, Beer-Sheva, Ofakim, Gedera, Kiryat Gat, Ashqelon, Sderot, Rehovot, Kiryat Malachi and Gan Yavne.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: They also published a clip claiming device mounted used as a multi-barrel rocket launcher on vehicle used for first time in Gaza. On 7 April 2011, the Iron Dome system successfully intercepted a Grad rocket launched from Gaza for the first time. The rockets were launched without their dedicated platforms and by untrained operators which causes very low accuracy. Over 50% of the rockets miss entire cities and over 10% end up hitting the sea.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: The Homicho Ammunition Engineering Complex produces the rockets while the Bishoftu Motorization Engineering Complex produces the launching tubes and has converted existing trucks to diesel engine. Bishoftu motorization has also produced a six tube launcher to be mounted on light trucks.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: D.I.O. from Iran produces copies of the BM-11 and BM-21 systems that can fire the original Soviet rockets as well as the locally developed "Arash" with a range of . There is also a rocket with a range of .


title: BM-21 Grad

text: Various 122mm-type rockets were deployed by Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, modified to deliver nerve agents to targets. This included the 40-inch long, domestically produced Grad MLRS-compatible "Borak" warhead designed to disperse sarin gas.


title: BM-21 Grad

text: The original "GRAD" rocket has a range of about . The first modification called "G-M" increased the range to about , while the second modification "G-2000" further increased the range to about . The latest technology development has allowed new Grad rockets to have 52 km range. The range may also vary due to the type of warhead.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian economist, academic, banker and civil servant who served as prime minister of Italy from February 2021 to October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as President of the European Central Bank (ECB) between 2011 and 2019. Draghi was also Chair of the Financial Stability Board between 2009 and 2011, and Governor of the Bank of Italy between 2006 and 2011.


title: Mario Draghi

text: After a lengthy career as an academic economist in Italy, Draghi worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., throughout the 1980s, and in 1991 returned to Rome to become Director General of the Italian Treasury. He left that role after a decade to join Goldman Sachs, where he remained until his appointment as Governor of the Bank of Italy in 2006. His tenure as Governor coincided with the 2008 Great Recession, and in the midst of this he was selected to become the first Chair of the Financial Stability Board, the global standard-setter that replaced the Financial Stability Forum.


title: Mario Draghi

text: He left those roles after his nomination by the European Council in 2011 to serve as President of the ECB. He presided over the institution during the Eurozone crisis, becoming famous throughout Europe for saying that he would be prepared to do "whatever it takes" to prevent the euro from failing. In 2014, Draghi was listed by "Forbes" as the eighth-most powerful person in the world. In 2015, "Fortune" magazine ranked him as the world's "second greatest leader". He is also the only Italian to be listed three times in the "Time 100" annual listicle. In 2019, Paul Krugman described him as "the greatest central banker of modern times." Moreover, thanks to his monetary policies, he is widely considered the "saviour of the euro" during the European debt crisis. He has been nicknamed "Super Mario" by some media, a nickname that was popularised during his time as President of the ECB, when he was credited by numerous sources as having played a key role in combatting the Eurozone crisis.


title: Mario Draghi

text: After Draghi's term as ECB President ended in 2019, he initially returned to private life. On 3 February 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Draghi was invited by President Sergio Mattarella to form a government of national unity (Draghi Cabinet), following the resignation of Giuseppe Conte. After successful negotiations with parties including the League (Lega), the Five Star Movement (M5S), the Democratic Party (PD), and Forza Italia (FI), Draghi was sworn in as Prime Minister on 11 February, pledging to oversee effective implementation of COVID-19 economic stimulus. Draghi has been rated highly in public opinion polls in Italy during his time as prime minister; at the end of his first year in office "Politico Europe" ranked him as the most powerful person in Europe and "The Economist" named Italy as "Country of the Year", singling out Draghi's leadership as central to its nomination.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 14 July 2022, the M5S revoked support to Draghi's coalition government regarding a decree concerning economic stimulus to offset the energy crisis. On the same day, despite having largely won the confidence vote, Draghi announced his resignation as prime minister, which was rejected by President Mattarella. On 21 July, Draghi resigned for a second time following the failure of the confidence vote to pass with an absolute majority due to the withdrawals of M5S, Lega, and FI. On the same day, President Mattarella accepted the resignation and Draghi remained in office as caretaker prime minister. He was succeeded by Giorgia Meloni on 22 October 2022.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Mario Draghi was born in Rome in 1947 to an upper-class family; his father Carlo, who was born in Padua, first joined the Bank of Italy in 1922, and later worked for the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (IRI) and for the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro; while his mother, Gilda Mancini, who was born in Monteverde, Campania, near Avellino, was a pharmacist. He is the eldest of three children including Andreina, an art historian, and Marcello, an entrepreneur. When he was 15 years old, his father died; at 19, his mother died.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Draghi studied at the Massimiliano Massimo Institute, a Jesuit school in Rome, where he was a classmate of the future chairman of Ferrari, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the future prefect and civil servant Gianni De Gennaro and the future television presenter Giancarlo Magalli. In 1970, he graduated with honours in economics at the Sapienza University of Rome, under the supervision of Keynesian economist Federico Caffè; his graduation dissertation was titled "Economic integration and the variation of exchange rates". In his dissertation, Draghi was particularly critical of Luxembourg Prime Minister Pierre Werner's remarks that European monetary union was "premature". Draghi went on to earn a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976, this time with a dissertation titled "Essays on economic theory and applications", under the supervision of Franco Modigliani and Robert Solow.


title: Mario Draghi

text: From 1975 to 1981, Draghi was first Professor of Economic and Financial Policy at the University of Trento, then of Macroeconomics at the University of Padua, and later of Mathematical Economics at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice. In 1981, he was appointed Professor of Economic and Monetary Policy at the University of Florence a position that he held until 1994. During this time, he also spent time as Executive Director of the World Bank in Washington, D.C.. In 1983, Draghi was also appointed a counsellor to then-Minister of Treasury Giovanni Goria.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In 1991, Minister of Treasury Guido Carli and Bank of Italy Governor Carlo Azeglio Ciampi appointed Draghi as Director General of the Italian Treasury; Draghi held this senior position in the civil service until 2001. During his time at the Treasury, he chaired the committee that revised Italian corporate and financial legislation, and drafted the law that continues to govern Italian financial markets. Draghi was also among the main proponents of the privatisations of many state-owned companies which occurred in the Italian economy through the 1990s. He also chaired the management committee of SACE, implementing a complete reformation of the group and managing the transition from the "Mani Pulite" corruption scandal. Draghi returned to chair SACE between 1998 and 2001, before the subsequent privatisation. During these years, he was also a board member of several Italian banks and corporations, like Eni, Institute for Industrial Reconstruction, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro and Istituto Mobiliare Italiano.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In 2001, he left the Treasury to become a fellow of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Draghi was also appointed as Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs International in 2002. He was also made a member of the firm's management committee, holding all of these roles until 2005. He led Goldman Sachs's European strategy and its engagements with major European corporations and governments. After the revelation that off-market swaps had been systematically used by the Greek Government, facilitated by Goldman Sachs, Draghi stated that he "knew nothing" about the arrangement, and "had nothing to do with it". During this period, Draghi also worked as a trustee at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and also spent time as a consultant at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In December 2005, it was announced that Draghi would become Governor of the Bank of Italy. He officially took up the position on 16 January 2006. In April 2006, he was elected by fellow central bank governors to become Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum; this body would later be re-organised to become the Financial Stability Board in April 2009 on behalf of the G20, bringing together representatives of governments, central banks and national supervisors institutions in the wake of the financial crisis. As the inaugural FSB Chairman, Draghi was responsible to the G20 leaders, and worked to promote international financial stability, improve the functioning of markets and reduce systemic risk through information exchange and international cooperation between supervisors.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In his capacity as Bank of Italy Governor, Draghi was also a member of the Governing and General Councils of the European Central Bank and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements. He also represented Italy on the Board of Governors at both the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank. On 5 August 2011, he made a contribution to domestic political debate when, together with the ECB President Jean Claude Trichet, he published a notable letter to the Italian Government of Silvio Berlusconi to recommend a series of economic measures that should urgently be implemented in Italy.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Draghi had for years been mentioned as a possible successor to Jean-Claude Trichet, whose term as President of the European Central Bank was due to end in October 2011. On 13 February 2011, Wolfgang Münchau, associate editor of the "Financial Times", endorsed Draghi as the best candidate for the position. A few days later, "The Economist" wrote that "the next president of the world's second-most-important central bank should be Mario Draghi". Draghi subsequently won the support of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for the position, who expressed a desire to see an Italian take the pre-eminent economic policymaking role within the European Union. On 17 May 2011, the Council of the European Union recommended the nomination of Draghi as President of the ECB. Draghi's nomination was later approved by the European Parliament and the ECB itself, and on 24 June 2011 his appointment was signed-off by EU leaders. During the nomination process, some concerns were raised about Draghi's past employment at Goldman Sachs. As a member of the Group of Thirty, founded by the Rockefeller Foundation, he was accused in "Der Spiegel", "Tagesschau.de" and "Die Welt" of having a conflict of interest as president of the ECB. Draghi moved to Frankfurt and formally took up the role of ECB President on 1 November 2011, the day after Trichet's term expired.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In December 2011, Draghi brokered a €489 billion three-year loan program from the ECB to EU banks. Draghi's ECB also promptly repealed the final two interest rate hikes of Trichet's term, stating this would ease the continuing European sovereign debt crisis. In February 2012, Nobel Prize laureate in economics, Joseph Stiglitz argued that on the issue of the impending Greek debt restructuring, the ECB's insistence that it should be "voluntary", as opposed to a default agreed by Greek authorities, would be "a gift" to the financial institutions that sold credit default insurance on that debt, a position Stiglitz argued was a moral hazard. In March 2012, a second, larger round of ECB loans to EU banks was initiated, this time called the Long-Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO). One commentator, Matthew Lynn, saw the ECB's injection of funds, along with quantitative easing from the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, as feeding increases in oil prices in 2011 and 2012.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In July 2012, in the midst of renewed fears about sovereigns in the eurozone, Draghi stated in a panel discussion that, under his leadership, the ECB "is ready to do "whatever it takes" to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough." This statement was heavily reported throughout the EU and the world's financial markets, and initially led to a steady decline in bond yields (borrowing costs) for eurozone countries, in particular Spain, Italy and France. In light of what had been slow political progress on solving the eurozone crisis, Draghi's statement has come to be seen subsequently as the major turning point in the fortunes of the eurozone, with numerous policymakers and commentators describing it as having been essential to the continuation of the euro currency.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Draghi has since come to be prominently associated with the phrase "whatever it takes". Beginning in 2013, Draghi was criticised in the context of the scandals rising around the bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which according to at least one German publication was making very risky deals.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In April 2013, Draghi said in response to a question regarding membership of the eurozone, "These questions are formulated by people who vastly underestimate what the euro means for the Europeans, for the euro area. They vastly underestimate the political capital that has been invested in the euro." In 2015, in an appearance before the European Parliament, Draghi said that the future of the eurozone was at risk unless member countries gave up some independence and created more Pan-European government institutions. "We have not yet reached the stage of a genuine monetary union," Draghi said. Failure of eurozone countries to harmonise their economies and create stronger institutions would, he said, "put at risk the long-term success of the monetary union when faced with an important shock." In 2015, Draghi said that his political ideas belong to liberal socialism.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 31 October 2019, his mandate as ECB President expired and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde was appointed as his successor.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Between December 2020 and January 2021, tensions arose within Italy's ruling coalition, with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi taking contrary positions on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy as well as its deep economic consequences. On 13 January, Renzi announced the resignation of the two Cabinet Ministers from his party, Italia Viva, triggering the collapse of the second Conte Government. On 26 January, after days of inconclusive negotiations with political parties, Conte tendered his resignation as Prime Minister to President Mattarella.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 2 February 2021, following failed consultations between parties to nominate a replacement, President Mattarella announced he would summon Draghi to the Quirinal Palace, with the intention of giving him the task of forming a technocratic government. The following day, Draghi accepted the task of forming a new government and began consultations with party leaders. Draghi quickly secured the support of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), the centrist Italia Viva (IV), the left-wing Free and Equal (LeU), and other small liberal and centrist parties. After an initial delay, Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing League, and Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right Forza Italia, jointly announced they too would support Draghi. Finally, on 11 February, the membership of the Five Star Movement (M5S) approved the party's support for Draghi, with 59.3% of party members voting in favour of joining the new government.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 12 February, Draghi unveiled the members of his Cabinet, which included representatives from all of the above political parties, including 9 ministers from the outgoing cabinet, as well as independent technocrats. The following day, Draghi was sworn in as Prime Minister. Draghi's cabinet was described as a national unity government in the wake of its announcement.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 17 February, Draghi won a confidence vote in the Senate, with 262 votes in favour, 40 against and 2 abstentions. On the following day, he won a further confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies with 535 votes in favour, 56 against and 5 abstentions; this margin represented one of the largest ever majorities in the history of the Italian Republic. During his first speech as Prime Minister to both houses of the Italian Parliament, Draghi stated that the Italy that emerged after the COVID-19 pandemic would have to undergo a period of reconstruction similar to post-World War II Italy, and that it would be his government's responsibility to begin this process. He also stressed that his government would adopt a strongly pro-European position, and emphasised the importance of Italy remaining within the Eurosystem.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 13 May, it was announced that Draghi would forgo his annual salary of €115,000 for being Prime Minister.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Addressing the nation shortly after becoming Prime Minister, Draghi stated that it would be his government's priority to plan a route out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and pledged to reorganise the country's pandemic response units; on 27 February, Draghi replaced the Head of the Civil Protection, Angelo Borrelli, with Fabrizio Curcio, and on 1 March, he replaced the Extraordinary Commissioner for the COVID-19 Emergency, Domenico Arcuri, with the Army General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, who received the additional mandate of reorganising and implementing the vaccination campaign. Borrelli and Arcuri had both been considered close to former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Following discussions with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Draghi announced that he had agreed to ensure vaccines produced in Italy were prioritised for distribution to the population of the European Union. On the following day, Draghi made international headlines by authorising the blocking of a shipment of 250,000 Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccines that were originally intended to travel to Australia. This led to harsh criticism by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Conversely, Draghi's decision was praised by other European leaders, such as French President Emmanuel Macron. In mid-March, the Italian Government announced it would pause the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, after reports that some Italians treated with it had developed blood clots, although no death cases have been reported directly due to the vaccine.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 16 March 2021, Draghi had a phone call with the French President Macron concerning the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine and of the eventual decisions of the European Medicines Agency that will take a definitive decision on 18 March 2021.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 15 March 2021, Draghi placed the majority of Italy under so-called 'full lockdown' conditions, with non-essential businesses closing and travel restricted, in response to an increase in the transmission of COVID-19, although unlike the 2020 lockdown, factories and some other workplaces were allowed to remain open. Announcing the lockdown, Draghi vowed that Italy would see its vaccination programme triple in April, reaching 500,000 people per day by that time. Around this time, Draghi's approval rating as Prime Minister reached a new high of 63% in opinion polls.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 16 April, during a press conference with his health minister Roberto Speranza, Draghi announced that restrictions will be eased from 26 April, allowing the reopening of bars and restaurants, stating that "it is possible to look to the future with prudent optimism and confidence".


title: Mario Draghi

text: In June 2021, the more contagious SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant became predominant in Italy. To contain the spread of new variants, in August 2021 the government extended the requirement of the EU Digital COVID Certificate, also known as "Green Pass", to the participation in sports events and music festivals, but also to the access to indoor places like bars, restaurants and gyms, as well as to long-distance public transportation. On 15 October, Italy became the first country in the world to establish a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination certificate or a negative test, for the entire work force, public and private. On 24 November, Draghi announced the introduction of COVID-19 vaccination certificate for all the recreational activities, like cinemas, bars, restaurants and sport games, thus eliminating the possibility of attending one of these activities with a negative test only.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 5 January 2022, amid a new increase in COVID-19 cases following the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant, the government introduced compulsory vaccination for all Italian citizens above the age of 50.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In July and August, Draghi led the process to overhaul Italy's criminal and civil justice system, with an aim of reducing the time taken to resolve cases. Among other things, the reform package abolished one of the two levels of appeal applied to most cases in the Italian judiciary. The reforms had long been argued for by several political parties, on the basis that the slow legal system disincentivised external investment into Italy. On 3 August 2021, the package of reforms passed the Italian Parliament after Draghi announced that he would consider the vote a question of confidence in his government. Draghi also announced that the passage of judicial overhaul would be linked to the allocation of €200bn in post-pandemic stimulus funds from the European Union. The judicial overhaul represented the first successful reform package of the Italian justice system in several decades.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In October 2021, the Draghi Government passed its budget for 2022. The budget modified the pension reform approved by the Conte Government, known as "Quota 100", which enabled retirement at age 62 with 38 years of contributions, introducing instead the so-called "Quota 102" (which allows retirement at age 64 with 38 years of contributions). Italian trade unions opposed the reform and organised a general strike in protest in late November and early December 2021. The Draghi government's budget also modified the citizens' income, a universal basic income introduced by Conte. The new income introduces a gradual decline in the allowance after six months and its revocation after two rejected job offers.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 30 December 2021, Draghi oversaw passage of an additional budget proposal, including an overhaul of the Italian taxation system, the introduction of a new series of tax credits and wide-ranging company tax cuts, subsidies for firms that hire young people and new mothers, subsidised mortgages for people buying their first property, and a fund set aside in order to mitigate rising energy prices. At the end of 2021, the "Economist" magazine named Italy as its 'Country of the Year', awarded each year to the country judged to have made the most improvement over the course of one year. The magazine singled out Draghi's leadership as central to the decision.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In the 2022 presidential election, Draghi was widely seen as a probable successor of incumbent president Sergio Mattarella. However, on 29 January 2022, Draghi publicly supported the re-election of Mattarella as president, ending media speculation that he himself could succeed Mattarella, and pledged to oversee an overhaul of Italian competition law and public procurement policy in the following six months, with a view to increase the performance of the economy.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 18 February 2022, amid the global energy crisis, the Draghi Government approved a package of €8bn euro to support the economy, heavily affected by the rise of energy costs.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Since the beginning of his premiership, Draghi implemented an active foreign policy focused on the Mediterranean Sea, North Africa and the Middle East in order to increase Italy's influence over the area. On 6 April 2021, Draghi visited Libya, in his first international trip, during which he met Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, saying he wanted to strengthen ties with the Arab country, a former colony of Italy. The trip was described as an attempt to reduce the Turkish and Egyptian influences over Libya, following the aftermath of the civil war. Days later, Draghi publicly labelled Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a "dictator", harshly criticising him for his behaviour after a meeting with European leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, during which, according to Draghi, he "humiliated President von der Leyen". The statement caused immediate reactions from the Turkish government. Turkey's foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu summoned Italian ambassador and described Draghi's words as an "unacceptable populist rhetoric", while many other prominent members of Erdoğan's cabinet strongly attacked Draghi. However, Draghi was backed by several European leaders, including the head of the European People's Party, Manfred Weber. On 14 April, Erdoğan accused Draghi of being an "appointed and unelected Prime Minister", describing his statement as "rude and impertinent".


title: Mario Draghi

text: In June 2021, Draghi attended his first G7 summit in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. During the meeting, Draghi led discussions on strategy for avoiding adverse market reactions to stimulus spending. During the summit, Draghi held a bilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. Draghi praised Biden, saying he had improved relations between the European Union and the United States.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In August 2021, following the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan amid the Taliban offensive, the Italian government took part in the evacuation from Kabul. Within the Operation "Aquila Omnia", nearly 5,000 Afghans were evacuated by the Italian Armed Forces and brought to Italy.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 30 and 31 October 2021, Rome hosted the annual G20 summit. Draghi and the other leaders mainly discussed climate change, COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic global recovery in health, economic and political terms. The only leaders who did not attend the G20 were the Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the Russian President Vladimir Putin.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 26 November 2021, Draghi signed the "Quirinal Treaty", with the French president Emmanuel Macron, at the Quirinal Palace, in Rome. The treaty is aimed to promote the convergence and coordination of French and Italian positions in matters of European and foreign policies, security and defence, migration policy, economy, education, research, culture and cross-border cooperation.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Under Draghi's premiership, a new approach toward Russia was implemented; the new Italian foreign policies was described by the "Financial Times" as "one of the biggest foreign policy shifts in years". On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine; Draghi harshly condemned Russia's attack, calling for an immediate ceasefire and promising "whatever it takes to restore Ukrainian sovereignty". He added that it was "impossible to have meaningful dialogue with Moscow", demanding Russia to unconditionally pull its forces back to the internationally established borders. Despite initial reluctance, on 26 February, during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Draghi agreed to support the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT network, the international financial transactions system. On 22 March, Draghi broke with other European leaders when he publicly supported the application of Ukraine to join the European Union. Draghi was also among the main proponents of the freezing of a large part of Russian Central Bank's 643 billion dollars of foreign currency reserves.


title: Mario Draghi

text: As of May 2022, the Italian government allocated 500 million euros to support Ukrainians arriving in Italy and 110 million in financial assistance for the Ukrainian government. Moreover, Italy sent also military equipment to Ukraine. On 3 May 2022, Draghi addressed the European Parliament dealing with several themes. According to Draghi, the EU needed to embrace "pragmatic federalism" in multiple policy sectors, like security, economy and defence.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 16 June 2022, Draghi visited Kyiv alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The three leaders had a long meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss various issues such as Ukraine's application to be an EU member and the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine. The trip was considered "historic" by various commentators.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 13 July 2022, after months of tensions regarding economic policies implemented by the government as well as the military response to the war in Ukraine, Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement (M5S) and former prime minister, revoked the support to the government on the so-called "decreto aiuti" (), concerning economic stimulus to contrast the ongoing economic and energy crisis, opening a political crisis within the majority. On the following day, the Senate approved the decree with 172 votes, but the M5S abstained, leaving the Senate floor. After a few hours, following a meeting with president Mattarella, Draghi officially announced his resignation as prime minister, stating that "the pact of trust and confidence underlying the government action had failed." However, the resignation was rejected by Mattarella, who invited Draghi to explain the political situation to the Parliament on 20 July.


title: Mario Draghi

text: On 20 July, Draghi held a speech in front of the Senate, harshly condemning the positions that M5S and Lega held during the last months of the cabinet. In the evening, the government failed to reach the absolute majority in the confidence vote as Lega, FI and M5S decided not to take part in the ballot, "de facto" causing the fall of the government. On the following day, after a speech in front of the Chamber of Deputies, Draghi officially resigned as prime minister. Mattarella accepted his resignation, but Draghi remained in office as caretaker prime minister, until the formation of a new government following the 2022 general election.


title: Mario Draghi

text: In 1973, Mario Draghi married Maria Serenella Cappello, of noble origins and descendant of Bianca Cappello, and an expert in English literature, with whom he has two children: Federica, who worked as investment director of Genextra Spa and board member of Italian Angels for Biotechis, and Giacomo, a finance analyst, who worked as an interest-rate derivative trader at investment bank Morgan Stanley until 2017, and is now at the LMR Partners hedge fund.


title: Mario Draghi

text: Draghi is a Catholic of Jesuit education and is devoted to St. Ignatius of Loyola. Draghi has homes in Rome's Parioli district and in Città della Pieve in Umbria. He is a supporter of A.S. Roma, one of the football teams of his hometown, and a great fan of basketball. In 2015 he identified himself as a liberal socialist.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility, to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Although the term "guerrilla warfare" was coined in the context of the Peninsular War in the 19th century, the tactical methods of guerrilla warfare have long been in use. In the 6th century BC, Sun Tzu proposed the use of guerrilla-style tactics in "The Art of War". The 3rd century BC Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus is also credited with inventing many of the tactics of guerrilla warfare through what is today called the Fabian strategy. Guerrilla warfare has been used by various factions throughout history and is particularly associated with revolutionary movements and popular resistance against invading or occupying armies.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Guerrilla tactics focus on avoiding head-on confrontations with enemy armies, typically due to inferior arms or forces, and instead engage in limited skirmishes with the goal of exhausting adversaries and forcing them to withdraw. Due to this, guerrilla tactics are rarely used for anything other than defence. Organized guerrilla groups often depend on the support of either the local population or foreign backers who sympathize with the guerrilla group's efforts.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: The Spanish word is the diminutive form of ('war'). The term became popular during the early-19th century Peninsular War, when, after the defeat of their regular armies, the Spanish and Portuguese people successfully rose against the Napoleonic troops and defeated a highly superior army using the guerrilla strategy. In correct Spanish usage, a person who is a member of a unit is a () if male, or a (]) if female.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: The term "guerrilla" was used in English as early as 1809 to refer to the individual "fighters" (e.g., "The town was taken by the guerrillas"), and also (as in Spanish) to denote "a group or band" of such fighters. However, in most languages "guerrilla" still denotes the specific style of warfare. The use of the diminutive evokes the differences in number, scale, and scope between the guerrilla army and the formal, professional army of the state.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Prehistoric tribal warriors presumably employed guerrilla-style tactics against enemy tribes. Evidence of conventional warfare, on the other hand, did not emerge until 3100 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: The Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu, in his "The Art of War" (6th century BC), became one of the earliest to propose the use of guerrilla warfare. This inspired developments in modern guerrilla warfare.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: In the 3rd century BC, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, widely regarded as the "father of guerrilla warfare", devised the Fabian strategy, which the Roman Republic used to great effect against Hannibal's army. This strategy would influence guerrilla tactics into the modern era.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: In the medieval Roman Empire, guerrilla warfare was frequently practiced between the eighth through tenth centuries along the eastern frontier with the Umayyad and then Abbasid caliphates. Tactics involved a heavy emphasis on reconnaissance and intelligence, shadowing the enemy, evacuating threatened population centres, and attacking when the enemy dispersed to raid. In the later tenth century this form of warfare was codified in a military manual known by its later Latin name as "De velitatione bellica" ('On Skirmishing') so it would not be forgotten in the future.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Since the Enlightenment, ideologies such as nationalism, liberalism, socialism, and religious fundamentalism have played an important role in shaping insurgencies and guerrilla warfare.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: In the 17th century, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, founder of the Maratha Empire, pioneered "Shiva sutra" or "Ganimi Kava" (Guerrilla Tactics) to defeat the many times larger and more powerful armies of the Mughal Empire.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Kerala Varma (Pazhassi Raja) (1753-1805) used guerrilla techniques in his war against the British East India Company in India between 1790 and 1805.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Arthur Wellesley adopted the term "guerrilla" into English from Spanish usage in 1809, after the Pazhassi revolt against the British. Arthur Wellesley (in India 1797-1805) had commanded forces assigned to defeat Pazhassi's techniques, but failed.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: The Moroccan military leader Abd el-Krim ( - 1963) and his father unified the Moroccan tribes under their control and took up arms against the Spanish and French invaders in 1920. For the first time in history, tunnel warfare was used alongside modern guerrilla tactics, which caused considerable damage to both the colonial armies in Morocco.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: In the early 20th century Michael Collins and Tom Barry both developed many tactical features of guerrilla warfare during the guerrilla phase of the 1919-1921 Irish War of Independence. Collins developed mainly urban guerrilla-warfare tactics in Dublin city (the Irish capital). Operations in which small Irish Republican Army (IRA) units (3 to 6 guerrillas) quickly attacked a target and then disappeared into civilian crowds frustrated the British enemy. The best example of this occurred on Bloody Sunday (21 November 1920), when Collins's assassination unit, known as "The Squad", wiped out a group of British intelligence agents ("the Cairo Gang") early in the morning (14 were killed, six were wounded) - some regular officers were also killed in the purge. That afternoon, a Royal Irish Constabulary force consisting of both regular RIC personnel and the Auxiliary Division took revenge, shooting into a crowd at a football match in Croke Park, killing fourteen civilians and injuring 60 others.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: In west County Cork, Tom Barry was the commander of the IRA West Cork brigade. Fighting in west Cork was rural, and the IRA fought in much larger units than their fellows in urban areas. These units, called "flying columns", engaged British forces in large battles, usually for between 10 - 30 minutes. The Kilmichael Ambush in November 1920 and the Crossbarry Ambush in March 1921 are the most famous examples of Barry's flying columns causing large casualties to enemy forces.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: The Algerian Revolution of 1954 started with a handful of Algerian guerrillas. Primitively armed, the guerrillas fought the French for over eight years. This remains a prototype for modern insurgency and counterinsurgency, terrorism, torture, and asymmetric warfare prevalent throughout the world today. In South Africa, African National Congress (ANC) members studied the Algerian War, prior to the release and apotheosis of Nelson Mandela; in their intifada against Israel, Palestinian fighters have sought to emulate it. Additionally, the tactics of Al-Qaeda closely resemble those of the Algerians.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: The Mukti Bahini (Bengali: মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary and civilians during the War of Liberation that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971. An earlier name Mukti Fauj was also used.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Guerrilla warfare is a type of asymmetric warfare: competition between opponents of unequal strength. It is also a type of irregular warfare: that is, it aims not simply to defeat an invading enemy, but to win popular support and political influence, to the enemy's cost. Accordingly, guerrilla strategy aims to magnify the impact of a small, mobile force on a larger, more-cumbersome one. If successful, guerrillas weaken their enemy by attrition, eventually forcing them to withdraw.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Tactically, guerrillas usually avoid confrontation with large units and formations of enemy troops but seek and attack small groups of enemy personnel and resources to gradually deplete the opposing force while minimizing their own losses. The guerrilla prizes mobility, secrecy, and surprise, organizing in small units and taking advantage of terrain that is difficult for larger units to use. For example, Mao Zedong summarized basic guerrilla tactics at the beginning of the Chinese Civil War as:"The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue." At least one author credits the ancient Chinese work "The Art of War" with inspiring Mao's tactics. In the 20th century, other communist leaders, including North Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh, often used and developed guerrilla warfare tactics, which provided a model for their use elsewhere, leading to the Cuban "foco" theory and the anti-Soviet Mujahadeen in Afghanistan.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: In addition to traditional military methods, guerrilla groups may rely also on destroying infrastructure, using improvised explosive devices, for example. They typically also rely on logistical and political support from the local population and foreign backers, are often embedded within it (thereby using the population as a human shield), and many guerrilla groups are adept at public persuasion through propaganda and use of force.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Many guerrilla movements today also rely heavily on children as combatants, scouts, porters, spies, informants, and in other roles. It has drawn international condemnation. Many states also recruit children into their armed forces.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Some guerrilla groups also use refugees as weapons to solidify power or politically destabilize an adversary. The Colombian armed conflict displaced millions of Colombians, and so did the tribal guerrilla warfare (against Soviets) in Afghanistan. The civilian population living in the area might be suspected of having collaborated with the enemy and find itself displaced, as the guerrillas fight for territory.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: The growth of guerrilla warfare in the 20th century was inspired in part by theoretical works on guerrilla warfare, starting with the "Manual de Guerra de Guerrillas" by Matías Ramón Mella written in the 19th century and, more recently, Mao Zedong's "On Guerrilla Warfare", Che Guevara's "Guerrilla Warfare", and Lenin's text of the same name, all written after the successful revolutions carried by them in China, Cuba and Russia, respectively. Those texts characterized the tactic of guerrilla warfare as, according to Che Guevara's text, being "used by the side which is supported by a majority but which possesses a much smaller number of arms for use in defense against oppression".


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: In the 1960s, the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara developed the "foco" () theory of revolution in his book "Guerrilla Warfare", based on his experiences during the 1959 Cuban Revolution. This theory was later formalised as "focal-ism" by Régis Debray. Its central principle is that vanguardism by cadres of small, fast-moving paramilitary groups can provide a focus for popular discontent against a sitting regime, and thereby lead a general insurrection. Although the original approach was to mobilize and launch attacks from rural areas, many "foco" ideas were adapted into urban guerrilla warfare movements.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: There is no commonly accepted definition of "terrorism", and the term is frequently used as political propaganda by belligerents (most often by governments in power) to denounce opponents whose status as terrorists is disputed.


title: Guerrilla warfare

text: Contrary to some terrorist groups, guerrillas usually work in open positions as armed units, try to hold and seize land, do not refrain from fighting enemy military force in battle and usually apply pressure to control or dominate territory and population, or deny that control to the enemy. While the primary concern of guerrillas is the enemy's active military units, terrorists largely are concerned with non-military agents and target mostly civilians. Guerrilla forces principally fight in accordance with the law of war ("jus in bello"). In this sense, they respect the rights of innocent civilians by refraining from targeting them.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The BMW 5 Series is an executive car manufactured and marketed by BMW since 1972, succeeding the New Class Sedans, and currently in its seventh generation.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The 5 Series was initially available as a sedan, with a wagon/estate body style (marketed as "Touring") added in 1991 and a 5-door fastback configuration (marketed as "Gran Turismo") available from 2009 to 2017. Each successive generation carries a distinct internal "E-" designation.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The first generation of 5 Series was powered by naturally aspirated four-cylinder and six-cylinder petrol engines. Following generations have been powered by four-cylinder, six-cylinder, V8 and V10 engines that are either naturally aspirated or turbocharged. Since 1982, diesel engines have been included in the 5 Series range.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The 5 Series is BMW's second-best-selling model after the 3 Series. On 29 January 2008, the 5 millionth 5 Series was manufactured, a 530d sedan in Carbon Black Metallic.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: BMW's three-digit model naming convention began with the first 5 Series, thus the 5 Series was BMW's first model line to use "Series" in the name.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E12 is the first generation of 5 Series, and was manufactured for model years 1972–1981. It replaced the New Class sedans and was produced in the sedan body style. The initial models were powered by four-cylinder engines, with a six-cylinder engine introduced a year later.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E28 is the second generation of 5 Series, manufactured for model years 1981-1988 as a sedan. It was initially offered with petrol four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: In 1983, a diesel engine became available for the first time in a 5 Series. The E28 was the first 5 Series with the centre console angled towards the driver and the option of anti-lock brakes (ABS).


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E28 M5 began a line of M5 high performance models that has continued through every generation since. It was powered by the S38B35 and the M88/3 six-cylinder engines.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E34 is the third generation of the 5 Series, manufactured for model years 1988–1996. It was launched in the sedan body style, with the range expanded in 1990 to include the "Touring" wagon/estate body style.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E34 was the first 5 Series to be available with the wagon body style, all-wheel drive and V8 engines. It also saw the introduction of stability control (ASC), traction control (ASC+T) a 6-speed manual transmission and adjustable damping (EDC) to the 5 Series range.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: Nine different engine families were used over its lifetime, consisting of four-cylinder, six-cylinder and V8 petrol engines, and six-cylinder diesel engines.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E34 M5 is powered by the S38 six-cylinder engine and was produced in sedan and wagon body styles.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E39 is the fourth generation of 5 Series, which was manufactured for model years 1995–2004. It was launched in the sedan body style, with the wagon/estate body style (marketed as "Touring") introduced in 1996.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E39 was the first 5 Series to use aluminium components in the front suspension. The proportion of chassis components using aluminium significantly increased for the E39, in order to reduce weight. It was also the first 5 Series where a four-cylinder diesel engine was available.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: V8 models used recirculating ball steering (as per previous 5 Series generations), however rack and pinion steering was used for the first time, in the four-cylinder and six-cylinder models. Unlike its E34 predecessor and E60 successor, the E39 was not available with all-wheel drive.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E60/E61 is the fifth generation of the 5 Series, which was sold from 2003 to 2010. The body styles of the range are:


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E60 generation introduced various electronic features to the 5 Series, including iDrive, head-up display, active cruise control, active steering and voice control. The E60 also was the first 5 Series available with a turbocharged petrol engine, a 6-speed automatic transmission and regenerative braking. New safety features for the E60 included adaptive headlights, night vision, active headrests, Lane Departure Warning and high intensity emergency brake lights.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The E60/E61 M5 was released in 2005 and was powered by the S85 V10 engine. It was sold in the sedan and wagon body styles, with most cars using a 7-speed automated manual transmission ("SMG III"). However, in the North American Markets, there was the option to buy the BMW M5 in a manual version.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The BMW F10/F11/F07/F18 is the sixth generation of the BMW 5 Series, which was manufactured for model years 2010–2017. The body styles of the range are:


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The F07 Gran Turismo was the only 5 Series to date produced as a fastback. The F10 was also the first 5 Series to offer a hybrid drivetrain, a turbocharged V8 engine, an 8-speed automatic transmission, a dual-clutch transmission (in the all f10 series ), active rear-wheel steering (called "Integral Active Steering"), electric power steering, double-wishbone front suspension, an LCD instrument cluster (called "Black Panel Display") and automatic parking (called "Parking Assistant").


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The F10 M5 was powered by the S63 twin-turbo V8 engine with a 7-speed dual clutch transmission. It was the first M5 to use a turbocharged engine. Like the previous generation, the F10 M5, in North America was sold with a manual transmission.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The BMW G30/G31/G38 is the seventh generation of the 5 Series. It was officially announced in October 2016, and sales began in February 2017.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The fastback 5 Series GT model from the previous generation is no longer offered, and was moved to the 6 Series range.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The G30 is based on the same modular platform as the 7 Series (G11). BMW plans to release a saloon- and estate-style plug-in hybrid, the "530e iPerformance", which would have the advanced driver-assistance systems found in the 7 Series.


title: BMW 5 Series

text: The F90 M5 is the M5 performance model for the G30 generation, and is the first M5 to employ an all-wheel drive powertrain. The X-Drive system allowed for the front differential to disconnect and provide a rear-wheel drive experience to the vehicle. It is powered by an upgraded version of the S63 twin-turbo V8 engine used in the previous generation F10 M5.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: Igor Youriévitch Bogdanoff (; 29 August 1949 – 3 January 2022) and Grégoire "Grichka" Youriévitch Bogdanoff (; 29 August 1949 – 28 December 2021) were French twin television presenters, producers, and essayists who, from the 1970s on, presented various subjects in science fiction, popular science, and cosmology. They were involved in a number of controversies, most notably the Bogdanov affair, in which the brothers were alleged to have written nonsensical advanced physics papers that were nonetheless published in reputable scientific journals.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff were identical twin brothers born to Maria "Maya" Dolores Franzyska Kolowrat-Krakowská (1926–1982), of Bohemian and Polish descent, and Yuri Mikhaïlovitch Bogdanoff (1928–2012), an itinerant Russian farm worker, later a painter.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: Igor was born 40 minutes before Grichka. They had no connection to, or involvement with, their father's family, and were raised by their maternal grandmother, Countess Bertha Kolowrat-Krakowská (1890–1982), in her castle in southern France.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: Bertha Kolowrat-Krakowská belonged to the noble Kolowrat family of Bohemia and was married to Count Hieronymus Colloredo-Mannsfeld (1870–1942), a member of the Austrian princely house of Colloredo-Mannsfeld. Her pregnancy by African-American tenor Roland Hayes caused her to forfeit access to her four elder children, to her palatial homes in Berlin and Prague, and also her reputation in European society. She tried to sustain her episodic relationship with Hayes after her divorce and his return to the United States, but declined his offer to legally adopt and raise their daughter, Maria, who became Igor and Grichka's mother.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: Although the Bogdanoff twins claimed to be descended paternally from a noble Muslim Tatar family traceable to the beginning of the 17th century (originally from Penza, one of whose mirzas converted to Orthodox Christianity, and was rewarded with the title of prince by a decree from Tsar Feodor III; the mirza did not exercise this right, and the title of "Prince Bogdanoff" was lost by the end of the 19th century), there is scant evidence for that. Genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner observed: "The Bogdanov twins claim that their father was a member of a princely Russian family. Other than a statement by Dr. Stanislaus Dumin (included in a message posted by the twins on 7 January 2005 to the alt.talk.royalty Usenet newsgroup), there isn't much evidence to support this claim." Journalist and documentary filmmaker Maud Guillaumin, author of "Le mystère Bogdanoff" (L'Archipel, 2019), comprehensively examined the twins' account, noting it to comprise "approximations and historical inaccuracies"; she found that Yuri Bogdanoff had gone to Spain as a young man, and, unable to return to the USSR as he would have been considered a spy and imprisoned, went to France and began "a life of wandering from farm to Pyrenean farm" before, in 1948 aged 21, arriving at the castle of his future mother-in-law, "renowned in the Gers for employing Slavs". Guillaumin noted that "the twins totally deny this sad odyssey. They explain that they have found proof that their father was the descendant of a prince, the right arm of Tsar Peter the Great", that "according to them, Youra was a young artist [...] he would have followed 'a solid training as a painter as a free auditor at the Beaux-Arts'", and that "it was there, according to the twins, who love romance, that a "famous writer" met in Paris would have introduced Youra to their grandmother". Guillaumin's interview with the Bogdanoff twins' godmother, Monique David, contradicted their romantic account, and established that the twins' mother, Maya, was pregnant with them at the time of her marriage to Yuri Bogdanoff, whom the countess considered an unworthy match for her daughter. She "chased him away", leading him to be absent from his sons' lives until they were ten years old, and subsequently divorced from Maya.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: The brothers began careers in television, hosting several popular programs on science and science fiction. The first of these, "Temps X" ("Time X"), ran from 1979 to 1989 and introduced several British and American science-fiction series to the French public, including "The Prisoner", "Star Trek", and "Doctor Who", in addition to featuring musical guests such as Jean-Michel Jarre.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: In 2002, the Bogdanoffs launched a new weekly television show, "Rayons X" ("X Rays"), on the French public channel France 2. In August 2004, they presented a 90-minute special cosmology program.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: Grichka Bogdanoff received a Ph.D. degree in mathematics from the University of Burgundy (Dijon) in 1999. In 2002, Igor Bogdanoff received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Burgundy. Both brothers received the lowest passing grade of "honorable".


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: In 2001 and 2002, the brothers published five papers (including "Topological field theory of the initial singularity of spacetime") in peer-reviewed physics journals. Controversy over the Bogdanoffs' work began on 22 October 2002, with an email sent by University of Tours physicist Max Niedermaier to University of Pittsburgh physicist Ezra T. Newman. Niedermaier suggested that the Bogdanoffs' Ph.D. theses and papers were "spoof[s]", created by throwing together instances of theoretical-physics jargon, including terminology from string theory: "The abstracts are delightfully meaningless combinations of buzzwords ... which apparently have been taken seriously."


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: Copies of the email reached American mathematical physicist John C. Baez, and on 23 October he created a discussion thread about the Bogdanoffs' work on the Usenet newsgroup "sci.physics.research", titled "Physics bitten by reverse Alan Sokal hoax?" Baez was comparing the Bogdanoffs' publications to the 1996 Sokal affair, in which physicist Alan Sokal successfully submitted an intentionally nonsensical paper to a cultural studies journal in order to criticize that field's lax standards for discussing science. The Bogdanoffs quickly became a popular discussion topic, with most respondents agreeing that the papers were flawed.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: The story spread in public media, prompting Niedermaier to offer an apology to the Bogdanoffs, admitting that he had not read the papers himself. The Bogdanoffs' background in entertainment lent some plausibility to the idea that they were attempting a deliberate hoax, but Igor Bogdanoff quickly denied the accusation.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: In October 2002, the Bogdanoffs released an email containing apparently supportive statements by Laurent Freidel, then a visiting professor at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Soon after, Freidel denied writing any such remarks, telling the press that he had forwarded a message containing that text to a friend.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: The online discussion was quickly followed by media attention. "The Register" reported on the dispute on 1 November 2002, and stories in "The Chronicle of Higher Education", "Nature", "The New York Times", and other publications appeared soon after. These news stories included commentary by physicists.


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: One of the scientists who approved Igor Bogdanoff's thesis, Roman Jackiw of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke to "The New York Times" reporter Dennis Overbye. Overbye wrote that Jackiw was intrigued by the thesis, although it contained many points he did not understand. Jackiw defended the thesis. In contrast, Ignatios Antoniadis (of the École Polytechnique), who approved Grichka Bogdanoff's thesis, later reversed his judgment of it. Antoniadis told "Le Monde":


title: Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff

text: I had given a favorable opinion for Grichka's defense, based on a rapid and indulgent reading of the thesis text. Alas, I was completely mistaken. The scientific language was just an appearance behind which hid incompetence and ignorance of even basic physics.