title: Elm

text: In the French Revolution, too, "Les arbres de la liberté" (Liberty Trees), often elms, were planted as symbols of revolutionary hopes, the first in Vienne, Isère, in 1790, by a priest inspired by the Boston elm. "L'Orme de La Madeleine" (:the Elm of La Madeleine), Faycelles, Département de Lot, planted around 1790 and surviving to this day, was a case in point. By contrast, a famous Parisian elm associated with the "Ancien Régime", "L'Orme de Saint-Gervais" in the Place St-Gervais, was "felled" by the revolutionaries; church authorities planted a new elm in its place in 1846, and an early 20th-century elm stands on the site today. Premier Lionel Jospin, obliged by tradition to plant a tree in the garden of the Hôtel Matignon, the official residence and workplace of Prime Ministers of France, insisted on planting an elm, so-called 'tree of the Left', choosing the new disease-resistant hybrid 'Clone 762' ("Ulmus" 'Wanoux' =). In the French Republican Calendar, in use from 1792 to 1806, the 12th day of the month Ventôse (= 2 March) was officially named "jour de l'Orme", Day of the Elm.


title: Elm

text: Liberty Elms were also planted in other countries in Europe to celebrate their revolutions, an example being "L'Olmo di Montepaone, L'Albero della Libertà" (:the Elm of Montepaone, Liberty Tree) in Montepaone, Calabria, planted in 1799 to commemorate the founding of the democratic Parthenopean Republic, and surviving until it was brought down by a recent storm (it has since been cloned and 'replanted'). After the Greek Revolution of 1821–32, a thousand young elms were brought to Athens from Missolonghi, "Sacred City of the Struggle" against the Turks and scene of Lord Byron's death, and planted in 1839–40 in the National Garden. In an ironic development, feral elms have spread and invaded the grounds of the abandoned Greek royal summer palace at Tatoi in Attica.


title: Elm

text: In a chance event linking elms and revolution, on the morning of his execution (30 January 1649), walking to the scaffold at the Palace of Whitehall, King Charles I turned to his guards and pointed out, with evident emotion, an elm near the entrance to Spring Gardens that had been planted by his brother in happier days. The tree was said to be still standing in the 1860s.


title: Elm

text: The name of what is now the London neighborhood of Seven Sisters is derived from seven elms which stood there at the time when it was a rural area, planted a circle with a walnut tree at their centre, and traceable on maps back to 1619.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: "This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", with melody based on a Carter Family tune called "When the World's on Fire". When Guthrie was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing "God Bless America" on the radio in the late 1930s, he sarcastically called his song "God Blessed America for Me" before renaming it "This Land Is Your Land".


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: In 2002, "This Land Is Your Land" was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. In 2021, it was listed at No. 229 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: Guthrie's melody was very similar to the melody of "Oh, My Loving Brother", a Baptist gospel hymn that had been recorded by the Carter Family as "When the World's On Fire" and had inspired their "Little Darlin', Pal of Mine." He used the same melody for the chorus and the verses.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: Guthrie's song, however, had a different melodic structure from the hymn or the similar Carter Family melodies, and he used only the first half of those melodies in his song. The melodic structure of the presumed model(s) can be described as "ABCD"—a new melodic phrase for each of its four lines. Guthrie's structure, however, is "ABAC". In other words, Guthrie repeats the beginning of the melody (the "A" section) for his third line; the melodic phrase for his fourth line ("This land was made for you and me") is found in neither the hymn nor the Carter Family melodies.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: Following are the original lyrics as composed on February 23, 1940, in Guthrie's room at the Hanover House hotel at 43rd St. and 6th Ave. (101 West 43rd St.) in New York, showing his strikeouts. The line "This land was made for you and me" does not literally appear in the manuscript at the end of each verse, but is implied by Guthrie's writing of those words at the top of the page and by his subsequent singing of the line with those words.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: The original title was "God Blessed America", but it was struck out and replaced by "This Land Was Made For You & Me". It appears therefore that the original 1940 title was "This Land".


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: According to Joe Klein, after Guthrie composed it "he completely forgot about the song, and didn't do anything with it for another five years." (Since there is a March 1944 recording of the song, Klein should have said "four years".)


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: Note that this version drops the two verses that are critical of the United States from the original: Verse four, about private property, and verse six, about hunger. In 1940, Guthrie was in the anti-war phase he entered after the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, during which he wrote songs praising the Soviet invasion of Poland, attacking President Roosevelt's loans to Finland in defense against the Soviets, and ridiculing lend-lease aid to the United Kingdom. By 1944, after Germany had invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Guthrie returned to vigorous support for U.S. involvement in Europe and a more anti-nationalism stance.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: A March 1944 recording in the possession of the Smithsonian, the earliest known recording of the song, has the "private property" verse included. This version was recorded the same day as 75 other songs. This was confirmed by several archivists for Smithsonian who were interviewed as part of the History Channel program "Save Our History – Save our Sounds". The 1944 recording with this fourth verse can be found on "Woody Guthrie: This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings Volume 1", where it is track 14.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: A 1945 pamphlet which omitted the last two verses has caused some question as to whether the original song did in fact contain the full text. The original manuscript confirms both of these verses.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: As with other folk songs, it was sung with different words at various times although the motives for this particular change of lyrics may involve the possible political interpretations of the verses. Recordings of Guthrie have him singing the verses with different words.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: The verses critical of America are not often performed in schools or official functions. They can be best interpreted as a protest against the vast income inequalities that exist in the United States, and against the sufferings of millions during the Great Depression. The US, Guthrie insists, was made—and could still be made—for you and me. This interpretation is consistent with such other Guthrie songs as "Pretty Boy Floyd" and Guthrie's lifelong struggle for social justice.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: The song was revived in the 1960s, when several artists of the new folk movement, including Bob Dylan, The Kingston Trio, Trini Lopez, Jay and the Americans, and The New Christy Minstrels all recorded versions, inspired by its political message. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded the song in 1962 for their "Moving" album. The Seekers recorded the song for their 1965 album, "A World of Our Own". It was performed many times by the cyclist choir, accompanied by guitarists and a wash-tub bassist, during the Wandering Wheels historic 1966 U.S. coast-to-coast bicycle trip. At the founding convention of the Canadian social democratic New Democratic Party, a version of the song was sung by the attending delegates. Bruce Springsteen first began performing it live on the River Tour in 1980, and released one such performance of it on "Live/1975–85", in which he called it "about one of the most beautiful songs ever written."


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: The song was performed by Springsteen and Pete Seeger, accompanied by Seeger's grandson, Tao Rodríguez-Seeger, at on January 18, 2009. The song was restored to the original lyrics (including the 'There was a big high wall there' and 'Nobody living can ever stop me' verses) for this performance (as per Pete Seeger's request) with exceptions of the changes in the end of the 'Private Property' and 'Relief Office' verses; the former's final line was changed from "This land was made for you and me" to "That side was made for you and me," and the latter's third and fourth lines to "As they stood hungry, I stood there whistling, This land was made for you and me," from the original lyrics, "As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking, Is this land made for you and me?"


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: Voice actress and children's entertainer Debi Derryberry recorded a version for her musical album "What A Way To Play" in 2006.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: In 2010, Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, the surviving members of Peter, Paul and Mary, requested that the National Organization for Marriage stop using their recording of "This Land is Your Land" at their rallies, stating in a letter that the organization's philosophy was "directly contrary to the advocacy position" held by the group.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: In 2019, Arlo Guthrie led a version of "This Land is Your Land" at the July 4 Boston Pops concert. Guthrie sang the 'no trespassing' verse but substituted the first line of the 'private property' verse ('There was a big high wall there, that tried to stop me / And on the wall it said "no trespassing"'), and Queen Latifah sang the 'freedom highway' verse. The 'Relief Office' verse was not included.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: Arlo Guthrie tells a story in concerts on occasion, of his mother returning from a dance tour of China, and reporting around the Guthrie family dinner table that at one point in the tour she was serenaded by Chinese children singing the song. Arlo says Woody was incredulous: "The Chinese? Singing 'This land is your land, this land is my land? From California to the New York island?


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: On January 20, 2021, during the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden, Jennifer Lopez performed some verses of the song as part of a medley with "America the Beautiful". She excluded verses critical of the United States and interposed a Spanish-language translation of a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: As is the case with many well-known songs, it has been the subject of an enormous number of variations and parodies. They include:


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: Many variants of the song have been recorded with lyrics adjusted to fit diverse countries, regions, languages, and ethnic groups. They include:


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: The song has been recorded by many performers over the years, ranging from American Country legend Glen Campbell, hardcore band Hated Youth, all the way to Turkish performer Nuri Sesigüzel to reggae group The Melodians.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: A version called "This badge is your badge", about FC United of Manchester, was written by fan Mickey O'Farrell, and is often sung by fans at the club's matches.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: The song has been sung by characters in many film and television productions, including "Bob Roberts" (1992), "Stepmom" (1998), "Full House", "The Luck of the Irish" (a Disney Channel original movie), "Up in the Air" (2009) and by Renée Zellweger in the 2010 film "My Own Love Song".


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: A widely published quote of Guthrie's about copyright has been cited by some scholars to suggest that he was against copyright protection for his work:


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don't give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: Kembrew McLeod suggested this quote was made by Guthrie in reference to "This Land is Your Land", but that claim is inaccurate. The copyright registration number "#154085" referenced in the quote is for Guthrie's song "California!" (also known as "California! California!" or "California! The Land of the Sky!"). The quote was printed under the lyrics to "California!" in a songbook Guthrie made in 1937 – three years before the first draft of "This Land" was written.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: According to the Carter Family, the melody came from a tune that A.P. Carter had found and recorded with Sarah and Maybelle Carter prior to 1934 and was not original to Guthrie.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: In July 2004, the website JibJab hosted a parody of the song, with John Kerry and George W. Bush singing altered lyrics to comment on the US 2004 Presidential election, resulting in The Richmond Organization, a music publisher that owns the copyright to Guthrie's tune through its Ludlow Music unit, threatening legal action.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: JibJab then sued to affirm their parody was fair use, with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) acting for them. As part of their research on the case they found that the song had been first published by Woody Guthrie in 1945, although the copyright was not registered until 1956. This meant that when Ludlow applied to renew the copyright in 1984 they were 11 years too late as the song had been in the public domain since 1973 (28 years from first publication). The Richmond Organization settled with Jibjab shortly thereafter, agreeing that JibJab were free to distribute their parody. In an interview on NPR, Arlo Guthrie said that he thought the parody was hilarious and he thought Woody would have loved it too. Richmond still, however, claims copyright on other versions of the song, such as those appearing in the 1956 and later publications. Legally, such claims only apply to original elements of the song that were not in the public domain version.


title: This Land Is Your Land

text: The Richmond Organization and Ludlow Music were sued in 2016 over their claims of copyright in a lawsuit led by Randall Newman. In a similar case, Newman previously successfully argued the song "Happy Birthday to You" was public domain. In February 2020, Judge P. Kevin Castel of the Federal District Court in Manhattan dismissed the case because the plaintiffs had already paid the license fee, so there was no legal dispute to adjudicate.


title: Raabta (film)

text: Raabta () is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language romantic action thriller film with a dose of comedy directed by Dinesh Vijan in his directorial debut and co-produced by Vijan, Homi Adajania, Bhushan Kumar. It stars actors Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon, with Jim Sarbh, Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma in supporting roles. The story is based on the concept of reincarnated star-crossed lovers.


title: Raabta (film)

text: The film had faced controversy from producer Allu Aravind of Geetha Arts, who claimed that the film's storyline and characters strongly resembled those of the studio's 2009 film "Magadheera". The film released on 9 June 2017.


title: Raabta (film)

text: Shiv Kakkar is a banker from Amritsar who gets a lucrative opportunity to work in Budapest. He is a fun-loving playboy back home and continues this behaviour in Budapest. Saira Singh is a young woman haunted by mysterious nightmares of drowning to death. She lives by herself in Budapest and works as a chocolatier. Shiv happens to stumble upon Saira's shop while on a date with a woman, but finds himself deeply attracted to Saira. Shocked by the weird connection she feels with Shiv, Saira initially rejects his advances, but eventually succumbs. The next day, Saira reveals that she has never felt such a connection before but is in a mess as she has a boyfriend. Unwilling to let go of their connection, Shiv interrupts Saira's date with her boyfriend Manav and shows her that she would rather be with him than with her boyfriend. Manav breaks up with her, and Shiv and Sairah start spending time together, growing close. One night, they go to a club where Saira tearfully reveals to Shiv that she has a fear of water because her parents drowned after a car accident when she was two years old.


title: Raabta (film)

text: Shiv reveals to Saira that he has to leave for a business trip for a week. They decide to see how they feel after a week's separation. During Shiv's absence, Saira gets to know Zakir and confides in him about her nightmares. During one of their dinners, Zakir drugs Saira and kidnaps her.


title: Raabta (film)

text: Sairah wakes up and finds herself trapped in Zakir's isolated mansion on an island off the coast. She demands him to let her go, but he refuses, saying that he spent his whole life looking for her. He explains that he was madly in love with her in a previous life, but his love remained unrequited. He refuses to let go of her again. When she does not believe him, he shows her a collection of uncannily accurate paintings he made of her at various ages and says she will find the explanation for her nightmares. Thinking he is crazy, she attempts to escape but ends up falling into the ocean, which triggers the memories of her previous life.


title: Raabta (film)

text: Eight hundred years ago, Saira was warrior princess Saiba. She had a childhood best friend, Qaabir (present day Zakir), a fellow warrior from her tribe who was in love with her. Their kingdom was threatened by the Muraakis, led by a wise, old Rajput ruler Muwwaqqil. Qaabir is severely wounded by the fierce warrior Jilaan (present day Shiv), who gives Qaabir an ultimatum to surrender. Saiba challenges Jilaan, and they find themselves attracted to each other. Saiba accepts defeat, surrendering the kingdom to the Muraakis and herself to Jilaan. Qaabir attempts to take Saiba back, but she reveals that she and Jilaan are in love. On their wedding night, a comet falls, and Muwwaqqil realizes that this will be a fateful night. Qaabir ambushes Jilaan and Saiba, and murders Jilaan by wounding him and throws him in the ocean. Saiba jumps into the ocean to save him, but to no avail. Heartbroken on seeing Jilaan die, Saiba decides to drown too. On seeing Saiba dead, Qaabir slits his own throat, killing himself. Muwwaqqil forebodes that these events will repeat.


title: Raabta (film)

text: This time around, when Shiv shows up, Saira decides to fight back against Zakir. When their previous lives' events repeat, Zakir throwing Shiv into the ocean, Shiv drags Zakir down with him, and Zakir dies. Saira jumps into the water and is able to save Shiv. They both swim to shore, only to find the boat on fire and Radha nowhere to be seen. Shiv looks for him in one spot but a little later, he (Radha) is shown holding onto a barrel he didn't explode with Zakir's gun to kill his henchmen.


title: Raabta (film)

text: The film production began in 2015 and it was set to release in 2016. But the film was delayed for a year due to casting issues. In March 2016, a new release date of 9 June 2017 was announced. The film has been majorly shot in Budapest, Hungary and India. Title song Raabta was shot at Tata Castle in Tata, Hungary. The song Sadda Move was shot at Partition Museum, Amritsar. Budget of the film is ₹59.07 Crores (₹590.7 Million). The total number of screen count in India was 1820 and 330 overseas.


title: Raabta (film)

text: Alia Bhatt was initially considered to play the lead role opposite Sushant Singh Rajput, but turned down the role over scheduling conflicts. In December 2015, Asin was approached to play the lead role opposite Rajput, but she turned down the offer because of her decision to not act post marriage. Kriti Sanon was signed on to play the lead female role in the film in February 2016.


title: Raabta (film)

text: "Raabta" makers received a legal notice over plagiarism from "Magadheera" producer Allu Aravind. "Raabta" producers offered to show Arvind the film. They also offered to deposit an escrow amount with the court, but Arvind reportedly rejected both. A source says it was likely Arvind wanted "Magadheera" to be remade in Hindi, and was concerned no one would be interested after "Raabta". On 8 June 2017, the courts ruled in favor of "Raabta" makers.


title: Raabta (film)

text: Bollywood Hungama rated it 3.5/5. The Times of India rated it 3.5/5, writing "If sparks flew more organically, it would have been easier to make a connection with this epic tale of love." Koimoi rated it 2/5, writing "Raabta is a confused film that never establishes a firm balance between its crossover love stories." Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express rated it 1.5/5, writing, "Some questions arise after Raabta has been seen, chief amongst which is one that comes up every time Bollywood tries, and fails, to do a cracking romance. Why is Bollywood incapable of pulling off a full-length film with a pair of lovers connecting, pulling apart, coming together?" India Today rated it 1/5, calling it "A comet-crossed romance which never hits the target."


title: Raabta (film)

text: Critic Rajeev Masand gave the movie one out of five, stating, "This is a movie so singularly pointless, you have to wonder how the writers and the director tricked the financiers into thinking there was a story here worth telling, and why the actors preferred going to shoot every morning instead of sleeping longer hours. This is the kind of film that film critics must endure so you don't have to. Even Denzel Washington couldn't save this film. I’m going with one out of five."


title: Raabta (film)

text: The film's music was composed by Pritam, JAM8 and Meet Bros while lyrics are penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Irshad Kamil and Kumaar. The first song of the film "Ik Vaari Aa" sung by Arijit Singh was released on 21 April 2017. The second track of the film "Raabta" (Title Track) is a remake from 2012 film "Agent Vinod"s "Raabta (Kehte Hain Khuda)" by Irshad Kamil, and by original makers, Amitabh Bhattacharya and Pritam, sung by Arijit Singh and Nikhita Gandhi and were released on 2 May 2017. The third song, "Sadda Move," sung by Diljit Dosanjh and Pardeep Singh Sran and rapped by Raftaar was released on 9 May 2017. The fourth song, titled "Lambiyaan Si Judaiyaan", sung by Singh, Shadab Faridi and Altamash Faridi, was released on 18 May 2017. The fifth track of the film "Main Tera Boyfriend" from J Star's 2015 single "Na Na Na Na", originally written by Kumaar and composed by Sohrabuddin and Sourav Roy, was recreated for this film and was released on 22 May 2017. The sixth and the last song titled "Darasal" voiced by Atif Aslam was released on 1 June 2017. Music director Pritam gave his credit to his launched band JAM8 due to creative differences with producers. He cleared that he wants to work as a solo composer by posting a status on Facebook. The soundtrack consisted of 7 songs and was released on 3 June 2017.


title: Raabta (film)

text: By the opening weekend, the movie collected Rs. 159.3 million nationwide. The lifetime collection of Raabta was Rs. 256.7 million nationwide. The movie made worldwide gross collection of Rs. 390.5 million.


title: D-segment

text: The D-segment is the 4th category of the European segments for passenger cars, and is described as "large cars".


title: D-segment

text: It is equivalent to the Euro NCAP "large family car" size class, and the present-day definition of the mid-size car category used in North America. Compact executive cars are part of the D-segment size category.


title: D-segment

text: Most D-segment cars are sedans/saloons or wagons/estates but hatchbacks, and coupes have been common.


title: D-segment

text: Pricing and specification of D-segment cars can vary greatly, from basic low-cost transport to more luxurious and expensive models.


title: D-segment

text: In 2020 the fifteen highest selling D-segment cars in Europe were the BMW 3 Series, Volkswagen Passat, Tesla Model 3, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4/S4/RS4, Škoda Superb, Volvo S60/V60, Peugeot 508, Audi A5/S5/RS5, Ford Mondeo, Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, BMW 4 Series, Volkswagen Arteon, Toyota Camry and Polestar 2.


title: D-segment

text: 2019 - After years of decline, the midsized car segment is actually up 1% in 2019 to 1.05 million sales, maintaining a 6.7% share of the overall car market.


title: D-segment

text: 2020 - The midsized car segment is down 25% in 2020 to just under 790,000 sales, as its share of the European car market drops to 6.6%, slightly down from 6.7% last year. And luxury brands have now officially taken over control of this class, improving their share to 62.3% from 60.5% last year and claiming four of the top-5 positions. The top-3 players all gain share, outperforming not only the class but also the overall market.


title: D-segment

text: "Note: this list includes cars from these decades which carried a different nameplate or numeric designation to the modern day equivalent, and in some cases there is no modern day direct equivalent"


title: Ruben Fleischer

text: Ruben Samuel Fleischer (born October 31, 1974) is an American film director, film producer, television producer, music video director, and commercial director who lives in Montclair, New Jersey. He is best known as the director of "Zombieland" (2009), his first feature film, and its sequel "" (2019). He has also directed the films "30 Minutes or Less", "Gangster Squad", "Uncharted", and 2018's "Venom" featuring the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Prior to features, he directed television commercials for such brands as Cisco, Eurostar, ESPN, and Burger King, and music videos for such artists as M.I.A., Electric Six, DJ Format and Gold Chains.


title: Ruben Fleischer

text: Fleischer was born and raised in Washington, D.C, the son of Karen Lee (née Samuel) and David Elliot Fleischer, who is a physician at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona and a professor of medicine. His brother, Lucas, works in new media. His father was born to a Jewish family, while his mother converted to Judaism. Fleischer was raised in Reform Judaism.


title: Ruben Fleischer

text: After graduating with a major in history from Wesleyan University, Fleischer moved to San Francisco, where he worked as a freelance HTML programmer, unsure what he wanted to do with his life.


title: Ruben Fleischer

text: Taking the advice of close friend Mike White (also a Wesleyan graduate), Fleischer worked as a PA in the writers' office of "Dawson's Creek". He eventually turned to directing and worked his way through the industry, tackling music videos and television commercials before landing his first feature film, "Zombieland", in 2009. His second feature, "30 Minutes or Less", opened in theaters on August 12, 2011.


title: Ruben Fleischer

text: Fleischer directed "Gangster Squad", a 2013 action thriller film, based on the special tactical group created by the LAPD to combat the Los Angeles crime family. He next directed "Venom", a film about Marvel Comics character Eddie Brock, starring Tom Hardy; it was released on October 5, 2018.


title: Ruben Fleischer

text: In 2019, he directed "", reuniting the four original leads. In February 2020, he was hired to direct "Uncharted", based on the video game series of the same name. In September 2022, he was hired to direct "Now You See Me 3".


title: Organisation internationale de la Francophonie

text: The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a lingua franca or customary language, where a significant proportion of the population are francophones (French speakers), or where there is a notable affiliation with French culture.


text: The organization comprises 88 member states and governments; of these, 54 states and governments are full members, 7 are associate members and 27 are observers. The term (with a lowercase "f"), or "francosphere" (often capitalized in English), also refers to the global community of French-speaking peoples, comprising a network of private and public organizations promoting equal ties among countries where French people or France played a significant historical role, culturally, militarily, or politically.


text: The modern organisation was created in 1970. Its motto is ", , " ("equality, complementarity, and solidarity"), a deliberate allusion to France's motto . Starting as a small group of French-speaking countries, the Francophonie has since evolved into a global organization whose numerous branches cooperate with its member states in the fields of culture, science, economy, justice, and peace.


text: The convention which created the Agency for Cultural and Technical Co-operation ("Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique") was signed on 20 March 1970 by the representatives of the 21 states and governments under the influence of African Heads of State, Léopold Sédar Senghor of Senegal, Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia, Hamani Diori of Niger and Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.


text: Based on the sharing of the French language, the missions of this new intergovernmental organization are the promotion of the cultures of its members and the intensification of the cultural and technical cooperation between them, as well as the solidarity and the connection between them through dialogue.


text: The Francophonie project ceaselessly evolved since the creation of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Co-operation, it became the intergovernmental Agency of the Francophonie ("Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie") in 1998 to remind its intergovernmental status. Finally in 2005, the adoption of a new Charter of the Francophonie ("la Charte de la Francophonie") gives the name to the Agency of international Organisation of the Francophonie ("Organisation internationale de la Francophonie").


text: The position of Secretary-General was created in 1997 at the seventh leaders' summit held in Hanoi. Canadian Jean-Louis Roy was secretary of the "Agence de coopération culturelle et technique" from 1989 until the formal creation of the "Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie" in 1997 with former Secretary-General of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali as the first secretary-general of "La Francophonie". Abdou Diouf, the former president of the Republic of Senegal, became Secretary General on January 1, 2003. He was reelected on 29 September 2006, for a second mandate during the Summit of the Francophonie of Bucharest, and elected again in 2010 at the Summit of the Francophonie of Montreux for another mandate which ran until 31 December 2014. At the 2014 summit in Dakar, former Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean was chosen to lead the organization starting in January 2015.


text: The Secretary General of the Francophonie is elected during the Summit, and serves as the spokesperson and the official representative internationally of the political actions of the Francophonie. The Secretary General is responsible for proposing priority areas for multilateral Francophonie actions. Their job is to facilitate Francophone multilateral cooperation and to ensure that programs and activities of all operating agencies work in harmony. The Secretary General carries out their four-year mandate under the authority of the three main institutions of the Francophonie: the Summits, the Ministerial Conference and the Permanent Council.


text: The Summit, the highest authority in the Francophonie, is held every two years and gathers the heads of states and governments of all member states of the OIF around certain themes of discussion. It is chaired by the head of state or government of the host country and this person assumes that responsibility until the next summit. By enabling the heads of state and government to hold a dialogue on all international issues of the day, the summit serves to develop strategies and goals of the Francophonie so as to ensure the organisation's influence on the world scene.


text: The Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie gathers the foreign or francophone affairs ministers of member states and governments every year to ensure the political continuity of the Summit. This conference ensures that the decisions made during the previous Summits are carried out and to plan the next Summit. It also recommends new members and observers to the Summit.


text: The Permanent Council of the Francophonie gathers the Ambassadors of the member countries, chaired by the General Secretary of the Francophonie and under the authority of the Ministerial Conference, its main task is to plan Summits. This conference also supervises the execution of the Summit decisions made by the ministerial conferences on a day-to-day basis, about the examination of the propositions of the budget distribution.


text: The objectives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF) are to represent to the French-speaking authorities, the interests of the French-speaking communities, to promote the democracy, the rule of law and the respect of human rights. Furthermore, it follows the execution by the operators of the Francophonie of action plans elaborated by the Conference of the members using French as a common language It also favours the cooperation and strengthens the solidarity within the French-speaking communities, mainly towards the parliaments of the South. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie is constituted by member sections representing 77 parliaments or interparliamentary organizations. The Secretary General is the French senator Jacques Legendre.


text: The Agency of the Francophonie is the main operator of the cultural, scientific, technical, economic and legal cooperation programs decided at the Summits. It is also the legal seat of the Secretary General and is used by him as an administrative support. The agency also contributes to the development of the French language and to the promotion of the diverse languages and cultures of its members, while encouraging mutual understanding between them and the Francophonie. For this reason, it is a place of exchange and dialogue and its simultaneous in Francophone countries.


text: The Agency's headquarters are in Paris and it has three regional branches in Libreville, Gabon; Lomé, Togo; and Hanoi, Vietnam.


text: Mauritania's membership was suspended on 26 August 2008, pending democratic elections, after a military coup d'état. Madagascar's membership was suspended in April 2009 due to an unconstitutional transfer of power on 17 March 2009. Mali's membership was also suspended in March 2012 due to a coup d'état, and then the Central African Republic was suspended for instances of la Francophonie at the 88th session of the CPF (March 2012), as well as Guinea-Bissau on 18 April 2012 for the same reason. Thailand, an observer nation, was suspended in 2014 following the 2013–14 political crisis. In 2018, Louisiana became the first US state to join, as an observer. In 2021, the government of Nova Scotia announced its intention to apply for observer status.


text: Although Algeria has one of the largest French-speaking communities in the world, it is not a member of the organisation.


text: The International Organization of the Francophonie relies on five operating agencies to carry out its mandate: l’Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF); TV5Monde; l’Association Internationale des Maires Francophones (AIMF); l'Association des Fonctionnaires Francophones des Organisations Internationales (AFFOI); and l’Université Senghor d’Alexandrie.


text: Established in 1961 in Montreal, the Association of Francophone Universities gathers institutions of higher education and research among the Francophone countries of Africa, the Arab world, Southeast Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean.


text: Its mission is to contribute to the construction and consolidation of a scientific space in French. It supports the French language, cultural and linguistic diversity, law and democracy, and the environment and sustainable development. It also provides an important mobility program for the students, the researchers and the professors.


text: Established in 2008 in The Hague, the Assemblée des francophones fonctionnaires des organisations internationales (AFFOI) gathers international civil servants from all international organisations of the world—such as United Nations, the European Commission of the African Union—and coming from the member countries of the Francophonie.


text: Its mission is to support the French language and the linguistic diversity within International Organisations. Every year the association coordinates the day of French language within International Organisations. It also organizes seminaries to increase awareness about the importance of linguistic, cultural and conceptual diversity. The president is the French international civil servant Dominique Hoppe.


text: TV5Monde is the first international French language television network, available in many countries. On television and online the audience of TV5Monde has grown rapidly. TV5 is one of the three largest television networks in the world (along with the BBC and CNN), and is considered one of the greatest achievements of the Francophonie. It provides wide access to original television programmes in French, and contributes to the development of the language and French-speaking cultures. It broadcasts the different forms of the French language spoken around the world, with all their accents. It reaches beyond native speakers of French; the majority of those who can receive it and part of its audience comprise viewers for whom French is not the mother tongue. Thanks to subtitles in various languages, it provides access to the Francophonie to non-French speakers - it is translated into 12 languages.


text: The International Association of French-speaking Mayors was created in Quebec City in 1979 on the initiative of Jean Pelletier and Jacques Chirac, then the respective mayors of Quebec City and Paris. It is an operating agency for urban development gathering 48 countries or governments. The goal is to establish close cooperation in all areas of municipal activities. Its missions are to strengthen local democracy, building municipal capacities, and to support the populations. The association pursues its actions in the domains of health, culture, youth and education, urban development, training, and municipal infrastructures.


text: The project of creating a French-speaking university in the service of African development was presented and adopted following the Dakar Summit in 1989. The Senghor University in Alexandria, Egypt is a private postgraduate institution that trains managers and high-level trainers in areas that are a priority for development in Francophone Africa. It directs the capacities of the managers and trainers to the action and the exercise of responsibilities in certain domains for the development: the project management, the financial institutions, the environment, the nutrition-health and of the cultural heritage. The Senghor University regularly organizes seminaries to help its students and of the public specialized in the domains of its action, by collaborating with the other operators and the institutions of the Francophonie.


text: The International Organization of the Francophonie leads political actions and multilateral cooperation according to the missions drawn by the Summits of the Francophonie. The Summits gather the Heads of states and governments of the member countries of the International Organization of the Francophonie where they discuss international politics, world economy, French-speaking cooperation, human rights, education, culture and democracy. Actions of the International Organization of the Francophonie are scheduled over a period of four years and funded by contributions from its members.


text: The "Charte de la Francophonie" defines the role and missions of the organization. The current charter was adopted in Antananarivo, on 23 November 2005. The summit held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 26–27 November 2004 saw the adoption of a strategic framework for the period 2004–2014.


text: The primary mission of the organization is the promotion of the French language as an international language and the promotion of worldwide cultural and linguistic diversity in the era of economic globalization. In this regard, countries that are members of the Francophonie have contributed largely to the adoption by the UNESCO of the (20 October 2005).


text: At the national level, there is the problem of promoting the French language within the context of its co-existence with other partner or international languages in most member countries, especially in Africa. Maintaining the relative importance of the status of French is an imperative that requires solidarity and the pooling of means and resources among countries committed to the French language within their respective societies.


text: The Francophonie has been a pioneer in terms of the recognition of cultural diversity and dialogue of cultures. It must find ways of confronting the trend towards uniformity that accompanies globalization and fostering the preservation and development of cultural diversity.


text: Similar to the Commonwealth of Nations, the Francophonie has as its stated aims the promotion of democracy and human rights. Following the 3 November 2000 "Déclaration de Bamako", the Francophonie has given itself the financial means to attain a number of set objectives in that regard.


text: The Francophonie intends to contribute significantly to promoting peace, democracy and support for the rule of law and human rights by focusing on prevention. Political stability and full rights for all, the subject of the Bamako declaration, are considered key to sustainable development.


text: The Francophonie has chosen to provide its member countries with access to the expertise of its extensive intergovernmental, institutional, academic and non-governmental network with a view to building national capacities, resolving conflict and providing support for ending crises.


text: In recent years, some participating governments, notably the governments of Canada and Quebec, pushed for the adoption of a Charter in order for the organization to sanction member States that are known to have poor records when it comes to the protection of human rights and the practice of democracy. Such a measure was debated at least twice but was never approved.


text: The International Organization of the Francophonie aims at connecting the various peoples using French as a common language through their knowledge. Education, like access to autonomy and information for all, begins with all children having access to a full primary education free of any inequality. It involves an integrated approach of teaching and training from primary to secondary school that will lead to employment. Education policies must also give French an integral place alongside the partner languages. Last, the research potential of French-language academic streams must be promoted.


text: The Francophonie is committed to working towards sustainable development by supporting the improvement of economic governance, capacity building, cooperation and the search for common positions in major international negotiations.


text: It's necessary to manage durably the natural resources, particularly the energy and the water, and politics are established to make sure of the conservation of these resources with effective anti-poverty campaigns.


text: In 2013, the United Nations Volunteers programme received a financial contribution from the Federal Public Service (FPS) Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of Belgium for the years 2013 and 2014 to support the outreach to the francophone world and the promotion of volunteerism via its Online Volunteering service.


text: The membership of the OIF has climbed from 21 in 1970 to 88 member states and territories in 2018. This sharp increase in the number of member states, many of whom have only the remotest connection with the French language and culture, has been a matter of growing concern. In their 1996 study on the Francophone space, linguists Daniel Baggioni and Roland Breton pointed out, alluding to the recent applications of Bulgaria and Angola to join the OIF, that only politico-diplomatic criteria could explain these odd extensions of the OIF. Xavier Deniau, founder of the "Association des parlementaires de langue française" (now the Parliamentary assembly) and author of "La Francophonie", expressed concern that the enlargement of the OIF to countries where French is practically nonexistent risks diluting the effectiveness of the organisation. Despite calls for a moratorium on the admission of new members, each new Sommet de la Francophonie has witnessed the admission of batches of new members that have little, if anything, to do with the French language: Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Dominican Republic, the United Arab Emirates, Estonia and Montenegro in 2010; Qatar and Uruguay in 2012; Mexico, Costa Rica and Kosovo in 2014. On that occasion, the Montreal daily Le Devoir, which reports extensively on the OIF and its summits, remarked that several members of this "merry madhouse" that the OIF had become did not even recognise Kosovo as a country. The “endless enlargement” of the Organisation accelerated following the arrival at the head of the OIF of former UN Secretary General Boutros-Ghali who declared early in his term in 1998 that French being in his opinion the language of solidarity, tolerance, respect for the individual, cultural diversity, universality and openness, the OIF needed to open itself to non francophones. The motivation of small and mid-size countries in joining the organisation appears to be a desire to increase their international visibility. In October 2018, the Irish Minister of State for European Affairs explained that Ireland's accession to the OIF with observer status was one of the steps set out in 'Global Ireland', the Government's initiative to double the scope and impact of Ireland's global footprint in the period to 2025.


text: Following the arrival of Boutros-Ghali, the OIF had also seen a steady increase in the number of its missions and priority action areas — peace and conflict prevention, human rights, democracy, international cooperation, sustainable development, cultural and linguistic diversity, education and training, youth, gender equality, civil society — bringing a fundamental shift from the cultural to the political sphere. Jacques Legendre, the French senate's rapporteur on the Francophonie, expressed his concern that the OIF was becoming "a second-rate duplicate of the General Assembly of the UN". Many actors of the francophone sphere interested in the future of the organisation, including Former French ministers or secretaries of state for the Francophonie such as Pierre-André Wiltzer and Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, have been calling on the OIF to refocus on its fundamentals: language and culture.


text: Human rights and fundamental freedoms, despite having been declared "categorical imperatives" by Secretary General Boutros-Ghali in 1998, are routinely abused by many members states of the OIF. The deplorable track record of many OIF member states regarding human rights came to the fore during the 1999 Francophonie Summit in Moncton, Canada, when Canadian dailies loudly denounced the organisation's silence regarding widespread human rights abuses by member states ruled by "tyrants". It was pointed out that no less than 35 member states of the OIF had been accused of human rights violations by Amnesty International, while 15 member states were among the countries listed by Reporters Without Borders as systematically violating freedom of the press. Prime Minister Chrétien and President Chirac felt compelled to declare at the close of the summit that a human rights observatory would be established to tackle the problem. Given that during his 12-year tenure, President Chirac, dubbed "Papa Afrique" or "Chirac l'Africain", had confided more than once that Africa was not ready for multipartism ("l'Afrique n'est pas mûre pour le multipartisme") and was known for his close relationship with many entrenched African strongmen, calling Omar Bongo of Gabon, Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo, Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo and Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso "personal friends", nothing came out of this declaration. The French daily "Le Monde" noted at the time that if respect for fundamental freedoms was to become a criterion for membership in the OIF, the organisation would simply cease to exist.


text: French President Macron's surprise announcement in May 2018 that France officially backed the nomination of Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda's longtime foreign minister, as the next secretary general of the OIF was seen by many as a setback for the defense and promotion of human rights. An open letter signed by four former French ministers for international cooperation condemned this move, on one hand because it was taken unilaterally by the French president without consultation with the other member states of the organisation and on the other because it disregarded President Kagame’s lamentable track record on human rights. "How will the Francophonie be able to promote freedom of the press, as part of its mission of advocating for human rights, if it's headed by one of the key leaders of a country that's trampled on media freedom and repressed journalists for 18 years?" asked Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders.


The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 6, 2012. It coincided with the reelection of President Barack Obama. Elections were held for all 435 seats representing the 50 U.S. states and also for the delegates from the District of Columbia and five major U.S. territories. The winners of this election cycle served in the 113th United States Congress. This was the first congressional election using districts drawn up based on the 2010 United States Census.


title: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections

text: Although Democratic candidates received a nationwide plurality of more than 1.4 million votes (1.2%) in all House elections, the Republican Party won a 33-seat advantage in the state-apportioned totals, thus retaining its House majority by 17 seats. Democrats had picked up 27 seats, enough to win back control of the House, but most of these gains were canceled out due to Republican gains as well as reapportionment, leaving the Democrats with a net gain of eight seats.


text: This disparity – common in close elections involving single-member district voting – has generally been attributed to targeted, widespread Republican gerrymandering in the congressional redistricting process following the 2010 United States Census. Some analysts believe that in addition to Republican gerrymandering, another factor that helped the GOP maintain control of Congress (despite receiving fewer votes) was "unintentional gerrymandering," as the high concentration of Democrats in urban centers led to "wasted votes" in districts that easily elected Democratic candidates. The GOP also had a greater number of incumbents, and incumbents tend to have an advantage in elections.


text: In the 20th century, the party with a plurality of the popular vote was unable to receive a majority in the House on four occasions- 1952 and 1996, in which the Republicans held a majority in the House. Meanwhile, the 1914 and 1942 elections were the last time that the Democrats won a majority in the House without winning the popular vote.


text: As of 2022, this is the last congressional election in which the Democrats won a House seat in West Virginia.


text: Forty-one Representatives retired. Thirty-four of those seats were held by the same party, six seats changed party.


text: Twenty-two Democrats retired. Fourteen of those seats were held by Democrats, five were won by Republicans, and three seats were eliminated in redistricting.


text: Nineteen Republicans retired. Fifteen of those seats were held by Republicans, one was won by a Democrat, and three seats were eliminated in redistricting.


text: As a result of redistricting, many incumbents were forced to compete against each other in the same district, which resulted in a larger number of incumbents being defeated in primaries.


text: Thirteen representatives lost renomination: Eight were lost in redistricting battles pitting incumbents against each other, and five incumbents lost nomination to non-incumbent challengers.


text: Six Republicans lost renomination: three in redistricting races and three to a non-incumbent challenger. All the seats were held by Republicans.


text: Ten incumbent Democrats lost re-election; four to fellow Democrats and six to Republicans. Four losses were in California: two due to redistricting putting two incumbents together (resulting in a net loss of two for the Democrats) and two due to the state's top two primary. Two incumbents outside of California lost to Republican incumbents after being redistricted to the same district.


text: Sixteen incumbent Republicans, ten of whom were first elected in 2010, lost re-election to Democrats.


text: There were six special elections in 2012. Winners would have a seniority advantage over other freshmen. Two elections were held separate from the November elections and four elections were held concurrent with the November elections.


text: Arizona gained one seat in reapportionment. A second open seat was created when a pair of Republicans were redistricted into the same district. Primary elections were August 28, 2012.


text: California retained its fifty-three seats: four new seats were created when four pairs of Representatives were redistricted to run against each other. An additional Republican incumbent, Gary Miller, won re-election in an entirely different district from the one he had previously represented. The election featured the first use of the top-two primary system in which primary elections list candidates from all parties on one ballot, and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election. Two elections (30th and 44th districts) featured two Democratic incumbents running against each other.


text: Florida gained two seats in reapportionment. As a result of the Fair Districts Amendment, approved by voters via referendum in 2010, the legislature could not take incumbency into account in drawing the lines. As a result, two incumbent Republicans, John Mica and Sandy Adams, were drawn into the same district, creating a third new seat.


text: Illinois lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbent Republicans into the same district.


text: Iowa lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbents, a Democrat and a Republican, into the same district.


text: Louisiana lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbent Republicans into the same district.


text: Massachusetts lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbent Democrats into the same district, although one, John Olver, retired in advance of the legislature's approval of new maps. Primary elections were held September 6, 2012.


text: Michigan lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of Democrats into the same district. Primary elections were held August 7, 2012.


text: Missouri lost one seat in reapportionment; two Democrats were drawn into the same district as a result. Primary elections were held August 7, 2012.


text: New York lost two seats in reapportionment. After the legislature failed to reach agreement, New York conducted its 2012 congressional elections under a map drawn by a federal magistrate judge. Two incumbent Representatives saw their districts eliminated; one, Maurice Hinchey, chose to retire, while the other, Bob Turner, chose to run for the U.S. Senate. A third incumbent impacted by redistricting, Gary Ackerman, chose to retire, creating an open seat.


text: Ohio lost two seats in reapportionment. Three pairs of incumbents were redistricted together, and one new seat was created.


text: Pennsylvania lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing two incumbent Democrats to run against each other, with the seat ultimately being won by a Republican challenger in November.


text: Texas gained four seats in reapportionment. After the initial redistricting map drawn by the Texas Legislature was denied pre-clearance by a federal district court under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, Texas conducted its 2012 congressional elections under a court-ordered interim map.


text: Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner is elected to a four-year term during U.S. presidential election years. It is the only seat in the House elected for a four-year term.


title: Samantha Sloyan

text: Samantha Sloyan is an American actress. Sloyan is best known for her roles in "In the Key of Eli", "Scandal", "Hush", "Midnight Mass", and "Grey's Anatomy".


title: Samantha Sloyan

text: Samantha Sloyan was born in Los Angeles County, California. She is the daughter of actors James Sloyan and Deirdre Lenihan, and has one brother, Daniel Sloyan.


title: Samantha Sloyan

text: Sloyan first appeared the 2003 independent feature film "My Life with Morrissey" as a florist. She continued to appear in a few short films such as "No Shoulder", "Shamelove", and "Autodoc". In 2009, she produced and starred in the short film "Plus One". Sloyan has also guest-starred in several television series such as "The Beast", "The Forgotten", "", and "NCIS". She played a recurring role as a White House employee named Jeannine Locke in the first three seasons of "Scandal". She also guest-starred in another ShondaLand production titled "Private Practice" in 2010. Sloyan continued to appear in smaller films, including "In the Key of Eli", "Tape 407", and the television movie "Murder in Mexico: The Bruce Beresford-Redman Story".


title: Samantha Sloyan

text: In 2014, Sloyan guest-starred in four television series "Castle", "Parks and Recreation", "Hawaii Five-0", and "Rizzoli & Isles". She began a recurring role in the ShondaLand production "Grey's Anatomy" as Dr. Penelope Blake. She first appeared in the eleventh season episode "How to Save a Life", which included the death of lead character, Derek Shepherd, played by Patrick Dempsey. She appeared again in the 12th season, including the show's 250th episode "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", which was mostly focused on Sloyan's character.


title: Samantha Sloyan

text: In 2021, Sloyan portrayed Catholic fanatic Beverley Keane in the miniseries "Midnight Mass" directed by Mike Flanagan.


title: Samantha Sloyan

text: On stage, Sloyan acted at the Geffen Playhouse and the Segerstrom Center for the arts. She received the LADCC and "LA Weekly" awards for her performance in "Munched".


title: Mahdist War

text: The Mahdist War (; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later the forces of Britain. Eighteen years of war resulted in the nominally joint-rule state of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899–1956), a "de jure" condominium of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Egypt in which Britain had "de facto" control over the Sudan. The Sudanese launched several unsuccessful invasions of their neighbours, expanding the scale of the conflict to include not only Britain and Egypt but also the Italian Empire, the Congo Free State and the Ethiopian Empire.


title: Mahdist War

text: The British participation in the war is called the Sudan campaign. Other names for this war include the Mahdist Revolt, the Anglo–Sudan War and the Sudanese Mahdist Revolt.


title: Mahdist War

text: Following the invasion by Muhammad Ali in 1819, Sudan was governed by an Egyptian administration. Because of the heavy taxes it imposed and because of the bloody start of the Turkish-Egyptian rule in Sudan, this colonial system was resented by the Sudanese people.


title: Mahdist War

text: Throughout the period of Turco-Egyptian rule, many segments of the Sudanese population suffered extreme hardship because of the system of taxation imposed by the central government. Under this system, a flat tax was imposed on farmers and small traders and collected by government-appointed tax collectors from the Sha'iqiyya tribe of northern Sudan. In bad years, and especially during times of drought and famine, farmers were unable to pay the high taxes. Fearing the brutal and unjust methods of the Sha'iqiyya, many farmers fled their villages in the fertile Nile Valley to the remote areas of Kordofan and Darfur. These migrants, known as "jallaba" after their loose-fitting style of dress, began to function as small traders and middlemen for the foreign trading companies that had established themselves in the cities and towns of central Sudan. The jallaba were also known to be slave trading tribes.


title: Mahdist War

text: By the middle 19th century the Ottoman Imperial subject administration in Egypt was in the hands of Khedive Ismail. Khedive Ismail's spending had put Egypt into huge debt, and when his financing of the Suez Canal started to crumble, the United Kingdom stepped in and repaid his loans in return for controlling shares in the canal. As the most direct route to India, the jewel in the British Crown, the Suez Canal was of paramount strategic importance, and British commercial and imperial interests dictated the need to seize or otherwise control it. Thus an ever-increasing British role in Egyptian affairs seemed necessary. With Khedive Ismail's spending and corruption causing instability, in 1873 the British government supported a program whereby an Anglo-French debt commission assumed responsibility for managing Egypt's fiscal affairs. This commission eventually forced Khedive Ismail to abdicate in favor of his son Tawfiq in 1877, leading to a period of political turmoil.


title: Mahdist War

text: Also in 1873, Ismail had appointed General Charles "Chinese" Gordon Governor of the Equatorial Provinces of Sudan. For the next three years, General Gordon fought against a native chieftain of Darfur, Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur.


title: Mahdist War

text: Upon Ismail's abdication in 1877, Gordon found himself with dramatically decreased support. Exhausted by years of work, he resigned his post in 1880 and left early the next year. His policies were soon abandoned by the new governors, but the anger and discontent of the dominant Arab minority was left unaddressed.


title: Mahdist War

text: Although the Egyptians were fearful of the deteriorating conditions, the British refused to get involved, as Foreign Secretary Earl Granville declared, "Her Majesty’s Government are in no way responsible for operations in the Sudan".


title: Mahdist War

text: Among the forces historians see as the causes of the uprising are ethnic Sudanese anger at the foreign Turkish Ottoman rulers, Muslim revivalist anger at the Turks' lax religious standards and willingness to appoint non-Muslims such as the Christian Charles Gordon to high positions, and Sudanese Sufi resistance to "dry, scholastic Islam of Egyptian officialdom." Another widely reported potential source of frustration was the Turco-Egyptian abolition of the slave trade, one of the main sources of income in Sudan at the time.


title: Mahdist War

text: In the 1870s, a Muslim cleric named Muhammad Ahmad preached renewal of the faith and liberation of the land, and began attracting followers. Soon in open revolt against the Egyptians, Muhammad Ahmad proclaimed himself the Mahdi, the promised redeemer of the Islamic world. In August 1881 the then-governor of the Sudan, Raouf Pasha, sent two companies of infantry each with one machine gun to arrest him. The captains of the two companies were each promised promotion if their soldiers were the ones to return the Mahdi to the governor. Both companies disembarked from the steamer that had brought them up the Nile to Aba Island and approached the Mahdi's village from separate directions. Arriving simultaneously, each force began to fire blindly on the other, allowing the Mahdi's scant followers to attack and destroy each force in turn at the Battle of Aba.


title: Mahdist War

text: The Mahdi then began a strategic retreat to Kordofan, where he was at a distance from the seat of government in Khartoum. This movement, couched as a triumphal progress, incited many of the Arab tribes to rise in support of the Jihad the Mahdi had declared against the Turkish oppressors.


title: Mahdist War

text: The Mahdi and the forces of his Ansar arrived in the Nuba Mountains of south Kordofan around early November 1881. Another Egyptian expedition dispatched from Fashoda arrived around one month later; this force was ambushed and slaughtered on the night of 9 December 1881. Consisting, like the earlier Aba Island force, of two 200 man strong Egyptian raised infantry companies, this time augmented with an additional 1,000 native irregulars, the force commander – Colonel Rashid Bay Ahman – and all his principal leadership team, died. It is unknown if any of Colonel Ahman's troops survived.


title: Mahdist War

text: As these military incursions were happening, the Mahdi legitimized his movement by drawing deliberate parallels to the life of the Prophet Muhammad. He called his followers Ansar, after the people who greeted the Prophet in Medina, and he called his flight from the British, the hijrah, after the Prophet's flight from the Quraysh. The Mahdi also appointed commanders to represent three of the four Righteous Caliphs; for example, he announced that Abdullahi ibn Muhammad, his eventual successor, represented Abu Bakr Al Sidiq, the Prophet's successor.


title: Mahdist War

text: The Egyptian administration in the Sudan, now thoroughly concerned by the scale of the uprising, assembled a force of 4,000 troops under Yusef Pasha. In mid 1882, this force approached the Mahdist gathering, whose members were poorly clothed, half starving, and armed only with sticks and stones. However, supreme overconfidence led the Egyptian army into camping within sight of the Mahdist 'army' without posting sentries. The Mahdi led a dawn assault on 7 June 1882, which slaughtered the army to a man. The rebels gained vast stores of arms and ammunition, military clothing and other supplies.


title: Mahdist War

text: With the Egyptian government now passing largely under British control, the European powers became increasingly aware of the troubles in the Sudan. The British advisers to the Egyptian government gave tacit consent for another expedition. Throughout the summer of 1883, Egyptian troops were concentrated at Khartoum, eventually reaching the strength of around 7,300 infantry, 1,000 cavalry, and an artillery force of 300 personnel hauling between them 4 Krupp 80mm field guns, 10 brass mountain guns and 6 Nordenfeldt machine guns. This force was placed under the command of a retired British Indian Staff Corps officer William Hicks and twelve European officers. The force was, in the words of Winston Churchill, "perhaps the worst army that has ever marched to war"—unpaid, untrained, and undisciplined, its soldiers having more in common with their enemies than with their officers.


title: Mahdist War

text: El Obeid, the city whose siege Hicks had intended to relieve, had already fallen by the time the expedition left Khartoum, but Hicks continued anyway, although not confident of his chances of success. Upon his approach, the Mahdi assembled an army of about 40,000 men and drilled them rigorously in the art of war, equipping them with the arms and ammunition captured in previous battles. On 3 and 4 November 1883, when Hicks' forces actually offered battle, the Mahdist army was a credible military force, which utterly defeated Hicks' army—only about 500 Egyptians survived—at the Battle of El Obeid.


title: Mahdist War

text: At this time, the British Empire was increasingly entrenching itself in the workings of the Egyptian government. Egypt was groaning under a barely maintainable debt repayment structure for her enormous European debt. For the Egyptian government to avoid further interference from its European creditors, it had to ensure that the debt interest was paid on time, every time. To this end, the Egyptian treasury, initially crippled by corruption and bureaucracy, was placed by the British almost entirely under the control of a 'Financial Advisor', who exercised the power of veto over all matters of financial policy. The holders of this office—first Sir Auckland Colvin, and later Sir Edgar Vincent—were instructed to exercise the greatest possible parsimony in Egypt's financial affairs. Maintaining the garrisons in the Sudan was costing the Egyptian government over 100,000 Egyptian pounds a year, an unmaintainable expense.


title: Mahdist War

text: It was therefore decided by the Egyptian government, under some coercion from their British comptrollers, that the Egyptian presence in the Sudan should be withdrawn and the country left to some form of self-government, likely headed by the Mahdi. The withdrawal of the Egyptian garrisons stationed throughout the country, such as those at Sennar, Tokar and Sinkat, was therefore threatened unless it was conducted in an orderly fashion. The Egyptian government asked for a British officer to be sent to the Sudan to co-ordinate the withdrawal of the garrisons. It was hoped that Mahdist forces would judge an attack on a British subject to be too great a risk, and hence allow the withdrawal to proceed without incident. It was proposed to send Charles 'Chinese' Gordon. Gordon was a gifted officer, who had gained renown commanding Imperial Chinese forces during the Taiping Rebellion. However, he was also renowned for his aggression and rigid personal honour, which, in the eyes of several prominent British officials in Egypt, made him unsuitable for the task. Sir Evelyn Baring (later the Earl of Cromer), the British Consul-general in Egypt, was particularly opposed to Gordon's appointment, only reluctantly being won over by the British press and public. Gordon was eventually given the mission, but he was to be accompanied by the much more level-headed and reliable Colonel John Stewart. It was intended that Stewart, while nominally Gordon's subordinate, would act as a brake on the latter and ensure that the Sudan was evacuated quickly and peacefully.


title: Mahdist War

text: Gordon left England on 18 January 1884 and arrived in Cairo on the evening of 24 January. Gordon was largely responsible for drafting his own orders, along with proclamations from the Khedive announcing Egypt's intentions to leave the Sudan. Gordon's orders, by his own request, were unequivocal and left little room for misinterpretation.


title: Mahdist War

text: Gordon arrived in Khartoum on 18 February, and immediately became apprised of the vast difficulty of the task. Egypt's garrisons were scattered widely across the country; three—Sennar, Tokar and Sinkat—were under siege, and the majority of the territory between them was under the control of the Mahdi. There was no guarantee that, if the garrisons were to sortie, even with the clear intention of withdrawing, they would not be cut to pieces by the Mahdist forces. Khartoum's Egyptian and European population was greater than all the other garrisons combined, including 7,000 Egyptian troops and 27,000 civilians and the staffs of several embassies. Although the pragmatic approach would have been to secure the safety of the Khartoum garrison and abandon the outlying fortifications and their troops to the Mahdi, Gordon became increasingly reluctant to leave the Sudan until "every one who wants to go down [the Nile] is given the chance to do so," feeling it would be a slight on his honour to abandon any Egyptian soldiers to the Mahdi. He also became increasingly fearful of the Mahdi's potential to cause trouble in Egypt if allowed control of the Sudan, leading to a conviction that the Mahdi must be "crushed," by British troops if necessary, to assure the stability of the region. It is debated whether or not Gordon deliberately remained in Khartoum longer than strategically sensible, seemingly intent on becoming besieged within the town. Gordon's brother, H. W. Gordon, was of the opinion that the British officers could easily have escaped from Khartoum up until 14 December 1884.


title: Mahdist War

text: Whether or not it was the Mahdi's intention, in March 1884, the Sudanese tribes to the north of Khartoum, who had previously been sympathetic or at least neutral towards the Egyptian authorities, rose in support of the Mahdi. The telegraph lines between Khartoum and Cairo were cut on 15 March, severing communication between Khartoum and the outside world.


title: Mahdist War

text: Gordon's position in Khartoum was very strong, as the city was bordered to the north and east by the Blue Nile, to the west by the White Nile, and to the south by ancient fortifications looking on to a vast expanse of desert. Gordon had food for an estimated six months, several million rounds of ammunition in store, with the capacity to produce a further 50,000 rounds per week, and 7,000 Egyptian soldiers. But outside the walls, the Mahdi had mustered about 50,000 Dervish soldiers, and as time went on, the chances of a successful breakout became slim. Gordon had enthusiastically supported the idea of recalling the notorious former slaver Pasha Zobeir from exile in Egypt to organize and lead a popular uprising against the Mahdi. When this idea was vetoed by the British government, Gordon proposed a number of alternative means to salvage his situation successively to his British superiors. All were similarly vetoed. Among them were:


title: Mahdist War

text: Eventually it became impossible for Gordon to be relieved without British troops. An expedition was duly dispatched under Sir Garnet Wolseley, but as the level of the White Nile fell through the winter, muddy 'beaches' at the foot of the walls were exposed. With starvation and cholera rampant in the city and the Egyptian troops' morale shattered, Gordon's position became untenable and the city fell on 26 January 1885, after a siege of 313 days.


title: Mahdist War

text: The British Government, reluctantly and late, but under strong pressure from public opinion, sent a relief column under Sir Garnet Wolseley to relieve the Khartoum garrison. This was described in some British papers as the 'Gordon Relief Expedition', a term Gordon strongly objected to. After defeating the Mahdists at the Battle of Abu Klea on 17 January 1885, the column arrived within sight of Khartoum at the end of January, only to find they were too late: the city had fallen two days earlier, and Gordon and the garrison had been massacred.


title: Mahdist War

text: The British also sent an expeditionary force under Lieutenant-General Sir Gerald Graham, including an Indian contingent, to Suakin in March 1885. Though successful in the two actions it fought, it failed to change the military situation and was withdrawn. These events temporarily ended British and Egyptian involvement in Sudan, which passed completely under the control of the Mahdists.


title: Mahdist War

text: Muhammad Ahmad died soon after his victory, on 22 June 1885, and was succeeded by the Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, who proved to be an able, albeit ruthless, ruler of the Mahdiyah (the Mahdist state).


title: Mahdist War

text: Between 1886 and 1889 a British expedition to relieve the Egyptian governor of Equatoria made its way through central Africa. The governor, Emin Pasha, was rescued, but the expedition was not without its failures, such as the disaster that befell the rear column.


title: Mahdist War

text: According to the Hewett Treaty of 3 June 1884, Ethiopia agreed to facilitate the evacuation of Egyptian garrisons in southern Sudan. In September 1884, Ethiopia reoccupied the province of Bogos, which had been occupied by Egypt, and began a long campaign to relieve the Egyptian garrisons besieged by the Mahdists. The bitter campaigning was led by the Emperor Yohannes IV and Ras Alula. The Ethiopians under Ras Alula achieved a victory in the Battle of Kufit on 23 September 1885.


title: Mahdist War

text: Between November 1885 and February 1886, Yohannes IV was putting down a revolt in Wollo. In January 1886, a Mahdist army invaded Ethiopia, seized Dembea, burned the Mahbere Selassie monastery, and advanced on Chilga. King Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam led a successful counteroffensive as far as Gallabat in the Sudan in January 1887. A year later, in January 1888, the Mahdists returned, defeating Tekle Haymanot at Sar Weha and sacking Gondar. This culminated in the end of the Ethiopian theatre at the Battle of Gallabat


title: Mahdist War

text: In the intervening years, Egypt had not renounced her claims over Sudan, and the British authorities considered these claims legitimate. Under strict control by British administrators, Egypt's economy had been rebuilt, and the Egyptian army reformed, this time trained and led by British officers and non-commissioned officers. The situation evolved in a way that allowed Egypt, both politically and militarily, to reconquer Sudan.


title: Mahdist War

text: Since 1890, Italian troops had defeated Mahdist troops in the Battle of Serobeti and the First Battle of Agordat. In December 1893, Italian colonial troops and Mahdists fought again in the Second Battle of Agordat; Ahmed Ali campaigned against the Italian forces in eastern Sudan and led about 10–12,000 men east from Kassala, encountering 2,400 Italians and their Eritrean Ascaris commanded by Colonel Arimondi. The Italians won again, and the outcome of the battle constituted "the first decisive victory yet won by Europeans against the Sudanese revolutionaries". A year later, Italian colonial forces seized Kassala after the successful Battle of Kassala.


title: Mahdist War

text: In 1891 a Catholic priest, Father Joseph Ohrwalder, escaped from captivity in Sudan. In 1895 the erstwhile Governor of Darfur, Rudolf Carl von Slatin, managed to escape from the Khalifa's prison. Besides providing vital intelligence on the Mahdist dispositions, both men wrote detailed accounts of their experiences in Sudan. Written in collaboration with Reginald Wingate, a proponent of the reconquest of Sudan, both works emphasized the savagery and barbarism of the Mahdists, and through the wide publicity they received in Britain, served to influence public opinion in favour of military intervention.


title: Mahdist War

text: In 1896, when Italy suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Ethiopians at Adwa, the Italian position in East Africa was seriously weakened. The Mahdists threatened to retake Kassala, which they had lost to the Italians in 1894. The British government judged it politic to assist the Italians by making a military demonstration in northern Sudan. This coincided with the increased threat of French encroachment on the Upper Nile regions. Lord Cromer, judging that the Conservative-Unionist government in power would favour taking the offensive, managed to extend the demonstration into a full-fledged invasion. In 1897, the Italians gave back to the British the control of Kassala, returning in Italian Eritrea, in order to get international recognition of their colony.


title: Mahdist War

text: Herbert Kitchener, the new "Sirdar" (commander) of the Anglo-Egyptian Army, received his marching orders on 12 March, and his forces entered Sudan on the 18th. Numbering at first 11,000 men, Kitchener's force was armed with the most modern military equipment of the time, including Maxim machine-guns and modern artillery, and was supported by a flotilla of gunboats on the Nile. Their advance was slow and methodical, while fortified camps were built along the way, and two separate Narrow gauge railways were hastily constructed from a station at Wadi Halfa: the first rebuilt Isma'il Pasha's abortive and ruined former line south along the east bank of the Nile to supply the 1896 Dongola Expedition and a second, carried out in 1897, was extended along a new line directly across the desert to Abu Hamad—which they captured in the Battle of Abu Hamed on 7 August 1897—to supply the main force moving on Khartoum. It was not until 7 June 1896 that the first serious engagement of the campaign occurred, when Kitchener led a 9,000 strong force that wiped out the Mahdist garrison at Ferkeh.


title: Mahdist War

text: In 1898, in the context of the scramble for Africa, the British decided to reassert Egypt's claim on Sudan. An expedition commanded by Kitchener was organised in Egypt. It was composed of 8,200 British soldiers and 17,600 Egyptian and Sudanese soldiers commanded by British officers. The Mahdist forces (sometimes called the Dervishes) were more numerous, numbering more than 60,000 warriors, but lacked modern weapons.


title: Mahdist War

text: After defeating a Mahdist force in the Battle of Atbara in April 1898, the Anglo-Egyptians reached Omdurman, the Mahdist capital, in September. The bulk of the Mahdist army attacked, but was cut down by British machine-guns and rifle fire.


title: Mahdist War

text: The remnant, with the Khalifa Abdullah, fled to southern Sudan. During the pursuit, Kitchener's forces met a French force under Major Jean-Baptiste Marchand at Fashoda, resulting in the Fashoda Incident. They finally caught up with Abdullah at Umm Diwaykarat, where he was killed, effectively ending the Mahdist regime.


title: Mahdist War

text: The British set up a new colonial system, the Anglo-Egyptian administration, which effectively established British domination over Sudan. This ended with the independence of Sudan in 1956.


title: Mahdist War

text: Textiles played an important role in the organisation of the Mahdist forces. The flags, banners, and patched tunics ("jibba") worn and used in battle by the anṣār


title: Mahdist War

text: had both military and religious significance. As a result, textile items like these make up a large portion of the booty which was taken back to Britain after the British victory over the Mahdist forces at the Battle of Omdurman in 1899. Mahdist flags and "jibbas" were adapted from traditional styles of textiles used by adherents of Sufi orders in Sudan. As the Mahdist war progressed, these textiles became more standardised and specifically colour coded to denote military rank and regiment.


title: Mahdist War

text: Sufi flags typically feature the Muslim shahada – "There is no God but Allah; Muḥammad is Allah’s Messenger" – and the name of the sect’s founder, an individual usually regarded as a saint. The Mahdī adapted this form of flag for military purposes. A quotation from the Koran was added – "Yā allah yā ḥayy yā qayūm yā ḍhi’l-jalāl wa’l-ikrām" (O Allah! O Ever-living, O Everlasting, O Lord of Majesty and Generosity) – and the highly charged claim – "Muḥammad al-Mahdī khalifat rasūl Allah" (Muḥammad al-Mahdī is the successor of Allah’s messenger).


title: Mahdist War

text: After the fall of Khartoum, a "Tailor of Flags" was set up in Omdurman. The production of flags became standardised and regulations concerning the colour and inscriptions of the flags were established. As the Mahdist forces became more organized, the word "flag" (rayya) came to mean a division of troops or a body of troops under a commander. The flags were colour coded to direct soldiers of the three main divisions of the Mahdist army – the Black, Green and Red Banners (rāyāt).


title: Mahdist War

text: The patched "muraqqa'a", and later, the "jibba", was a garment traditionally worn by followers of Sufi religious orders. The ragged, patched garment symbolised a rejection of material wealth by its wearer and a commitment to a religious way of life. Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi decreed that this garment should be worn by all his soldiers in battle. The decision to adopt the religious garment as military dress, enforced unity and cohesion among his forces, and eliminated traditional visual markers differentiating potentially fractious tribes. During the years of conflict between Mahdist and Anglo-Egyptian forces at the end of the 19th century, the Mahdist military "jibba" became increasingly stylised and patches became colour-coded to denote the rank and military division of the wearer.


title: Richardson family murders

text: Three members of the Richardson family were murdered in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada in April 2006. The murders were planned and committed by the family's 12-year-old daughter Jasmine Richardson and her 23-year-old boyfriend Jeremy Steinke, now going by the name Jackson May. Richardson and Steinke were each convicted on three counts of first-degree murder. Richardson, who had turned 13 before being convicted, is thought to be the youngest person in Canada ever convicted of multiple first-degree murder counts. Her 10-year sentence was completed on May 6, 2016.


title: Richardson family murders

text: At 1:00 p.m. on April 23, 2006, the bodies of husband Marc Richardson, 42, and wife Debra, 48, were found in the basement of their home, and the body of their son Tyler Jacob, 8, was discovered upstairs. Absent from the home at that time was the couple's 12-year-old daughter Jasmine. For a time it was feared that she might have also been a victim, but she was arrested the following day in the community of Leader, Saskatchewan, about away, with her 23-year-old boyfriend Jeremy Allan Steinke. Both were charged with the three murders. Later, on May 3, 2006, Steinke's friend Kacy Lancaster, 19, was charged with being an accessory, for driving them away in her pickup truck later in the day and for disposing of evidence.


title: Richardson family murders

text: According to friends of Jasmine, Richardson's parents had grounded her for dating Steinke due to the age disparity. Her friends had also criticized their relationship. Shortly after her arrest, Steinke asked her to marry him, and she agreed. According to friends of Steinke, he told them he was a 300-year-old vampire. He allegedly told his friends that he liked the taste of blood, and wore a small vial of blood around his neck. He also had a user account at the VampireFreaks.com website. The girl had a page at the same site, leading to speculation they met there. However, an acquaintance of Steinke later said the couple actually met at a punk rock show in early 2006. The couple were also found to be communicating at Nexopia, a popular website for young Canadians. Various messages they sent to each other were available to the public, before the accounts were removed by Nexopia staff.


title: Richardson family murders

text: Richardson's user page, under the name "runawaydevil", falsely said she was 15 and ended with the text "Welcome to my tragic end". Just hours prior to committing the murders, Steinke and some friends reportedly watched the 1994 film "Natural Born Killers", about a young couple who go on a violent killing spree. Steinke told his friends that he and his girlfriend should go about their plans in a similar manner, but without sparing her little brother. Steinke also said to an undercover officer: 'You ever watch the movie "Natural Born Killers"?... I think that's the best love story of all time...'.


title: Richardson family murders

text: Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, Richardson's name could no longer be published in Canada after she became a suspect. Under the same act, twelve is the youngest possible age at which a person can be charged with a crime; convicts who were under fourteen years of age at the time they committed a crime cannot be sentenced as adults, and cannot be given more than a ten-year sentence. On July 9, 2007, Richardson, who had by then turned 13, was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in the killings. She is believed to be the youngest person ever convicted of a multiple murder in Canada.


title: Richardson family murders

text: On November 8, 2007, she was sentenced to the maximum allowed under law for someone her age, 10 years imprisonment. Her sentence included credit for eighteen months already spent in custody, to be followed by four years in a psychiatric institution and four-and-a-half years under conditional supervision in the community.


title: Richardson family murders

text: In September 2011, Richardson began attending classes at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta during the final years of her sentence. She was released from a ten-year sentence at a psychiatric hospital in the fall of 2011, and in October 2012 it was reported her rehabilitation was going well, and she expressed remorse for her actions that experts considered genuine.


title: Richardson family murders

text: In May 2016 her sentence was completed, and she was freed of any further court-ordered conditions, restrictions or supervision after a final sentence review on May 6, 2016.


title: Richardson family murders

text: Steinke admitted to the murder of the parents in conversation with an undercover police officer while in custody. He was tried in November 2008 and found guilty by a jury on three counts of first-degree murder for the killings of the three Richardson victims. On December 15, 2008, Steinke was sentenced to three life sentences, one for each first-degree murder count. The sentences are to be served concurrently, and Steinke will be eligible for parole after serving twenty-five years.


title: Richardson family murders

text: The accessory to murder charge against the couple's friend, Kacy Lancaster, was dropped, and she pleaded guilty to an obstruction charge in Medicine Hat provincial court. She received one year house arrest as part of the plea bargain, and was ordered to refrain from drugs and alcohol.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: Federico Bernardeschi (; born 16 February 1994) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the Italy national team. His nickname is "Brunelleschi", after the famous Florentine architect, for his technique and elegance on the pitch.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: Bernardeschi began his playing career with Atletico Carrara and Polisportiva Ponzano. In 2003, he moved to the Fiorentina youth system, where he spent 10 years, before spending one season on loan at Crotone during the 2013–14 season. He returned to Fiorentina the following season. In July 2017, he was sold to Juventus, with whom he won three consecutive Serie A titles, among other trophies. In July 2022, upon the completion of his contract with Juventus, Bernardeschi became a free agent and signed with Toronto FC.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: At international level, Bernardeschi has represented Italy at youth level since 2011, eventually making his senior debut in 2016, and was a member of the nation's squads at UEFA Euro 2016 and UEFA Euro 2020, winning the latter tournament.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: Bernardeschi began playing football at age six with Atletico Carrara. A year later he transferred to Ponzano, a football school of Empoli, before arriving at Fiorentina, who assigned him to the "Pulcini" age group at the age of nine in 2003.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: After passing through the ranks of the Fiorentina youth system, he spent the 2013–14 season on loan at Crotone in Serie B. He made his professional debut at 19 years old, on 8 September 2013 against Pescara, when he entered the field after 75 minutes, replacing Soufiane Bidaoui. At the end of the season Bernareschi scored 12 goals in 39 appearances and Crotone exercised the option to acquire half the player's contract in co-ownership.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: On 20 June 2014, Fiorentina officially redeemed Crotone's half of Bernardeschi's contract, and he was inserted into the first team under the direction of Vincenzo Montella. During the 2014–15 season he obtained 10 appearances and three goals in all competitions, partially hampered by a fracture to his ankle


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: which kept him out from November 2014. He made his Serie A debut on 14 September 2014, at the age of 20, coming off the bench in the 57th minute of a 0–0 home draw against Genoa. Four days later, he made his debut in European debut in a 3–0 home win over Guingamp in the Europa League, in which he also scored his first goal for the club. After returning to the team following his injury, he scored his first goal in Serie A on the final matchday of the season, in a 3–0 home win over Chievo on 31 May 2015.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: He was awarded the number 10 shirt at the start of the 2015–16 season, previously worn by the likes of Giancarlo Antognoni and Roberto Baggio. On 26 November 2015, Bernardeschi scored two goals in a 2–2 away draw against Basel in the Europa League group stage. On 6 February 2016, Bernardeschi scored his second goal in Serie A, during a 1–1 away draw against Bologna.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: On 24 July 2017, Bernardeschi was signed by Juventus, one of Fiorentina's main rivals, for €40 million on a five-year deal. Although he was named as a possible candidate for the number 10 shirt in the media, he eventually chose the number 33, stating: "The No. 10 is a number I like but I'll need to earn it. Taking the No. 33 is the correct choice at this point." On 13 August, he made his club debut, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 defeat to Lazio in the 2017 Supercoppa Italiana. He made his UEFA Champions League debut on 12 September, coming on as a second-half substitute for Rodrigo Bentancur in a 3–0 away loss to Barcelona. On 1 October, he made his first start for Juventus, and scored his first goal for the club, also assisting another for Gonzalo Higuaín, in a 2–2 away draw against Atalanta. He scored his first Champions League goal on 5 December, after coming off the bench, netting his club's second goal in a 2–0 away win over Olympiacos; the result allowed Juventus to advance to the knock-out stages of the competition. On 9 February 2018, Bernardeschi returned to Florence, receiving vulgar insults from home fans throughout the match; he scored a free kick in the second half to silence the crowd.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: Bernardeschi scored his first goal of the 2018–19 season in Juventus's opening Serie A match on 18 August 2018, netting the winner in a 3–2 away victory over Chievo in injury time. On 12 March 2019, Bernardeschi made a great sprint that resulted in a penalty kick in a 3–0 win over Atlético Madrid in the Champions League. In that match, he also made an assist.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: On 4 July 2020, Bernardeschi made his 100th appearance for Juventus in a 4–1 home win over rivals Torino in Serie A. On 26 July, he scored his first and only league goal of the season in a 2–0 home win over Sampdoria, which allowed Juventus to clinch the Serie A title.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: During the second-half of the 2020–21 season under new manager Andrea Pirlo, Bernardeschi was converted into a full-back for Juventus after excelling in the position in a Coppa Italia win against Genoa on 13 January 2021.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: On 15 July 2022, Bernardeschi signed for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC as a designated player on a four-year contract; he reunited with Italian compatriots Lorenzo Insigne and Domenico Criscito. He made his debut for the club on 23 July 2022, in a 4–0 home victory against Charlotte FC. Bernardeschi assisted the second goal of the match scored by Michael Bradely and scored the third goal of the match, despite only featuring in the opening half. The performance earned him a spot on the MLS Team of the Week. In the 2022 Canadian Championship Final against Vancouver three days later at BC Place, he set-up Lukas MacNaughton's temporary equaliser in the second half with a "trivela" cross to tie the game 1–1; he later converted a penalty in the resulting shoot-out, although Toronto ultimately lost 5–3.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: On 5 March 2014, he made his debut with the Italy under-21, in a Euro 2015 qualifying match against Northern Ireland. He took part at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship under manager Luigi Di Biagio.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: In June 2017, he was included in the Italy under-21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship by manager Di Biagio. In Italy's final group match on 24 June, Bernardeschi score the only goal in a 1–0 win over eventual champions Germany, which allowed Italy to advanced to the semi-finals of the competition. Italy were eliminated by Spain in the semi-finals on 27 June, following a 3–1 defeat, with Bernardeschi scoring Italy's temporary equaliser. He was named to the team of the tournament for his performances.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: From 10 to 12 March 2014, Bernardeschi was called up to the senior national team by coach Cesare Prandelli as part of an internship to evaluate young players ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, confirmed on the next meeting between 14 and 15 April.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: Bernardeschi received his first official call up to the Italy senior squad by manager Antonio Conte in March 2016 for friendlies against Spain and Germany. He made his international debut for Italy on 24 March, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 home draw against Spain, and was involved in Lorenzo Insigne's goal. On 31 May, he was named to Conte's 23-man Italy squad for UEFA Euro 2016. He made his only appearance of the tournament on 22 June, in Italy's final group match, which ended in a 1–0 defeat to Ireland. He scored his first senior international goal on 11 June 2017, in a 5–0 home win over Liechtenstein in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.


title: Federico Bernardeschi

text: On 12 October 2019, Bernardeschi scored in a 2–0 home win over Greece, which sealed Italy's qualification for Euro 2020.