title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: In 1814, a year after the return of William I of the Netherlands to Scheveningen and the Orangist uprising against Napoleonic rule, an independent Dutch army was reformed by the new Kingdom of the United Netherlands. Several militias of the Dutch States Army were integrated into this newly formed Netherlands Mobile Army, and it became an integral part of the allied army during the Hundred Days campaign that culminated in the Battle of Waterloo. Units such as Baron Chassé's were essential to securing victory for the allied army. The army was involved in various conflicts since 1814, including the Waterloo campaign (1815) and different colonial wars (1825–1925).


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: During the Belgian Revolution, from 1830 to 1832, the army was deployed to restore order in the southern provinces. After initial Dutch military success and widespread Belgian defeat during battles of the Ten Days' Campaign, the Belgian rebels appealed to France for military support. The severely outnumbered Dutch troops were forced to retreat when the French agreed to send reinforcements.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The Netherlands continued the policy of neutrality during World War I. This stance arose partly from a strict policy of neutrality in international affairs that started in 1830 with the secession of Belgium. Dutch neutrality was not guaranteed by the major powers in Europe however, nor was it a part of the Dutch constitution. The country's neutrality was based on the belief that its strategic position between the German Empire, German-occupied Belgium, and the British guaranteed its safety. The Dutch military strategy was aimed exclusively at defence and rested to a large extent on the Dutch Water Line, a defensive ring of rivers and lowland surrounding the core Dutch region of Holland, that could be inundated.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: At the beginning of the Second World War, the I Corps was the force strategic reserve and was located in the Vesting Holland, around The Hague, Leiden, Haarlem and in the Westland. The German invasion posed a complete surprise for the army command and shocked the Dutch population. While the Royal Netherlands Army initially managed to slow down the German advance and fought back in intense battles, such as the Battle for The Hague, the Battle of Rotterdam and the Battle of the Afsluitdijk, the devastating German bombing of Rotterdam and the threat of bombing the city of Utrecht forced the Dutch supreme command to capitulate.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The Royal Netherlands army was disbanded during the German occupation, however army personnel continued the battle against the German occupiers during the war. Army resistance began to rise again with the formation of the Princess Irene Brigade and No. 2 (Dutch) Troop (predecessor to the Korps Commandotroepen) as part of the Free Dutch Forces in exile, and with army personnel active in the Dutch resistance. In the East, the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army was defeated by the Japanese in 1942; few elements managed to escape. Today's army grew out of the wartime force, starting with the liberation of parts of the Netherlands in 1944; the Dutch had plans to contribute a 200,000 strong army to the defeat of Germany and Japan.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Between 1945 and 1949, the Royal Netherlands Army, which originally used mainly war volunteers but later was heavily dependent on conscripts, was deployed to the Dutch East Indies during the Indonesian War of Independence. To restore authority, order and peace in the Dutch East Indies, the expeditionary land force First Division 7 December was established in 1946. Approximately 25,000 volunteers and 95,000 conscripts were deployed to the East during the conflict, 4,751 servicemen were killed.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: During the Korean War, 4,748 members of the army, the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Netherlands Marine Corps formed the and were dispatched to East Asia to fight against the troops of the People's Republic of China and North Korea. 122 soldiers were killed in action, 3 soldiers went missing in action.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The I (Netherlands) Corps stood watch alongside its NATO allies in Germany during the Cold War. The corps consisted of three divisions during the 1980s, the 1st, 4th, and 5th (reserve) divisions. It was part of the NATO Northern Army Group. The corps's war assignment, as formulated by Commander, Northern Army Group (COMNORTHAG), would be to:


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Dutch army troops have deployed to Lebanon as part of an international protection force since 1979 War in Lebanon, 1979–1985 UNIFIL. Of the 9,084 soldiers who served in Lebanon, 9 soldiers were killed in action.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The Fall of the Iron Curtain and the ensuing end of the Cold War has had a significant impact on the Dutch armed forces as a whole, but on the army in particular. Mandatory conscription was suspended and surplus equipment deemed unnecessary was sold. An airmobile brigade was formed and co-operation with allied countries, Germany in particular, was intensified. The I (NL) Corps was reduced to the First Division 7 December in 1995, which became part of the newly established I. German/Dutch Corps, and consequently the division headquarters itself was disbanded. In addition, the army increasingly concentrated on peace-keeping and peace-enforcing operations and has been involved in several operations in the former Yugoslavia (1991–present), but also in Cambodia (1992–1994), Haiti (1995–1996), Cyprus (1998–1999), Eritrea and Ethiopia (2001), and most recent in Iraq (2003–2005), Afghanistan (2002–present), Chad (2008–2009) and Mali (2014–2019).


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: As mentioned, peace dividend was collected throughout the 1990s, 2000s and early 2010s resulting in a dramatic downsizing in both budget and size. Of a total of 445 Leopard 2 MBTs originally purchased, 114 tanks and 1 turret were sold to Austria, 100 to Canada, 57 to Norway, 1 driver training tank and 10 turrets to Germany and 38 to Portugal (1 driver training tank). On 8 April 2011, the Dutch Ministry of Defense dissolved the last tank unit and sold the remaining Leopard tanks due another series of large budget cuts while also dismissing 6,000 servicemen and women. On 18 May 2011, the last Leopard 2 fired the final shot at the Bergen-Hohne Training Area. In 2014, the Dutch defence budget hit a new low, 7.4 billion euros (1.09% of GDP), resulting in the combat readiness of both personnel and equipment being subpar. The negative trend was broken from 2015 onwards due to a perceived shifting international security situation. The attitude towards defence changed, mainly caused by increasing tensions with Russia (caused by the downing of the MH17 flight and the annexation of Crimea) and the rise of the Islamic State, resulting in the defence budget seeing an increase of over 50 percent between 2014 and 2020, amounting to 11.04 billion euros (1.35% of GDP) in 2020.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Dutch army personnel was deployed to Bosnia between 1994 and 1995 to, as part of the UN peace force UNPROFOR, to restrain the escalating ethnic violence of the Bosnian War. Three infantry battalion (known as Dutchbats) of the, at the time, recently established 11 Air Assault Brigade were sequentially deployed to guard the United Nations Safe Areas of any possible threats. This mission became infamous following the Siege of Srebrenica and the ensuing Srebrenica massacre. Bosniak-Serb troops under the command of general Ratko Mladic, sentenced to life imprisonment on accounts of participating in genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in 2017, invaded the enclave of Srebrenica and subsequently deported and massacred a large share of the present Muslim men and boys.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: A contingent of 1,345 troops (comprising Army and Dutch Marines, supported by Royal Netherlands Air Force helicopters) was deployed to Iraq in 2003, based at Camp Smitty near As Samawah (Southern Iraq) with responsibility for the Muthanna Province, as part of the Multinational force in Iraq. On 1 June 2004, the Dutch government renewed their stay through 2005. The Netherlands pulled its troops out of Iraq in March 2005, leaving half a dozen liaison officers until late 2005. The Netherlands lost two soldiers in separate attacks.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: From 2015 until the spring of 2018, Dutch special operations forces (KCT and NLMARSOF) deployed advice and assist (A&A) teams to northern Iraq in co-operation with the Belgian Special Forces Group. During this deployment, they provided support to Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi Army forces before, during and after operations in the battle against ISIL, as part of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. The Netherlands currently deploy approximately 60 troops to Iraq.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Between 2001 and 2003, a reinforced army company was deployed to Afghanistan to provide support in maintaining public order, and providing security in and around the capital Kabul. In addition, military assistance was provided to the Afghan National Army and to local security troops. The troops were deployed under the command of NATO's International Security Assistance Force mission.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Between 2006 and 2010, the Netherlands deployed personnel to southern Afghanistan. Together with the Australian armed forces, Dutch forces were assigned the province of Uruzgan as their area of operations. In mid-2006, Dutch special forces of the Korps Commandotroepen as part of the Deployment Task Force successfully deployed to Tarin Kowt to lay the ground for the increasing numbers of engineers who were due to build a base there. By August 2006 the Netherlands had deployed the majority of 1,400 troops to Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan at Multi National Base Tarin Kot (Kamp Holland) in Tarin Kowt (1,200) and Kamp Hadrian in Deh Rahwod (200). PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery pieces were deployed and used in combat for the first time. The Dutch forces operated under the command of the ISAF Task Force Uruzgan and were involved in some of the more intensive combat operations in southern Afghanistan, including Operation Medusa and the Battle of Chora. On 18 April 2008, the second day of his command, the son of the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army Lieutenant-general Peter van Uhm, Lieutenant Dennis van Uhm, was one of two servicemen killed by a road side explosion. As of 1 September 2008, the Netherlands had a total of 1,770 troops in Afghanistan excluding special forces troops. In total, 25 Dutch servicemen were killed in action during the deployment. All Dutch troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan by August 2010.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Since 2015, 160 Dutch troops from the Korps Commandotroepen (rotated with NLMARSOF) and multiple support elements are deployed to the Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif as part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission. Dutch troops co-operate with personnel of the German Kommando Spezialkräfte as part of the German-Dutch lead Special Operations Advisory Team (SOAT). The SOAT provides advice and assistance during operations to an Afghan police tactical unit, the Afghan Territorial Force-888 (ATF-888). The SOAT has been granted authority to deploy in the entirety of Afghanistan.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Special forces of the Korps Commandotroepen have been deployed to Mali since 2014 as part of the UN-mission MINUSMA. The primary task of the Dutch forces has been to gather intelligence concerning local Islamist groups and to protect the people of Mali against radical Islamist groups. Since 2016, personnel of 11th Airmobile Brigade and 13th Light Brigade have been included in rotations. On 6 July 2016, two servicemen of 11 Airmobile Brigade were killed during a mortar firing exercise, a third serviceman was severely wounded. The incident lead to the resignation of the minister of Defence Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Chief of Defence Tom Middendorp after a critical report by the Dutch Safety Board found that the safety-standards were subpar. The Netherlands have ended their troop contribution to the peacekeeping mission in May 2019 to send troops to Afghanistan instead.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The cabinet of the Netherlands announced in 2016 that the Netherlands would contribute troops to the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence mission in Lithuania to protect and reassure countries on NATO's eastern flank—Baltic countries and Poland in particular—of their security following increased political tensions sparked by the Russo-Ukrainian War. The Dutch contribution currently equates to approximately 270 troops, integrated into a multinatinational battle group that is headed by Germany. Each rotation is composed of armoured infantry companies equipped with CV9035NL IFVs and Boxer AFVs, or artillery batteries equipped with PzH 2000NL self-propelled howitzers.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The core fighting element of the army consists of three brigades: 11 Airmobile Brigade, 13 Light Brigade and 43 Mechanised Brigade. The number of full-time professional personnel is 22,850, in addition to around 4,000 reservists. The Royal Netherlands Army is a volunteer force; compulsory military service has not been abolished but has been suspended. The other three services, (the Royal Netherlands Navy, Royal Netherlands Air Force and Royal Marechaussee), are fully volunteer forces as well.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Besides the hierarchical organisation, the Royal Netherlands Army upholds a traditional organisation in which a distinction exists between arms of services. This organisation is purely ceremonial. Generally speaking, combat and combat support units are organised in arms, and support units are organised in services. There are two exceptions: the Engineers and the Signals Service.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The arms and services can in turn be further divided into one, or multiple regiments. These administrative organisations safeguard the traditions of the operational units. Before the Second World War, regiments were merely given a number, with the exception of the and regiments. Since the 1950s however, the regiments were given a historical name. The function of a regiment is strictly ceremonial, and is intended to increase "esprit de corps".


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Each infantry regiment of the Royal Netherlands Army consists of a single battalion. The current order of battle includes a total of seven infantry battalions – of these, two are classed as foot guards and the remainder as line infantry.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The staff support companies of 11 Airmobile Brigade, 13 Light Brigade and 43 Mechanised Brigade are part of the , the and , respectively.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The cavalry arm currently consists of two active regiments – the and the . One has responsibility for the army's active reconnaissance units, while the other has been formed as the parent regiment for units equipped with main battle tanks (MBTs).


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Prior to 2012, the army also included full armoured regiments equipped with MBTs. One of these, the , was disbanded in 2007 due to budget cuts. The other two, the (former 1st Hussar Regiment) and the (former 2nd Hussar Regiment) were disbanded, along with the army's full armoured capability, in 2012 as a result of further cuts to the Dutch defence budget.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: In 2016, a German armoured unit, 414 Panzer Battalion, was attached to the Dutch 43 Mechanised Brigade, at the same time becoming a combined German-Dutch unit, with one of the three tank companies and part of the staff and support companies manned with Dutch troops.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The services () consist of the logistical service, which comprises four regiments, and four stand-alone support services. The Royal Netherlands Army consists of the following services and regiments:


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The Royal Netherlands Army uniform has multiple categories, ranging from ceremonial uniforms to combat dress to evening wear. In addition, the (special) service dress uniform and mess dress uniform can both be worn in a tropics colourway.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The combat uniform () is the day-to-day combat uniform, known as (GVT M93) and consists of a Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) jacket and trousers with additional items such as thermals and waterproofs that can be worn underneath. Army combat uniforms are fitted with a distinctive unit insignia on the right arm, while the Dutch flag and the wearer's regiment or corps are worn on the left arm. To optimise the effectiveness of the uniform, multiple camouflage patterns are in use:


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The service dress uniform () is used for everyday office, barracks and non-field duty purposes. The uniform was designed by the famous couturier Frans Molenaar and entered service in 2000. It consists of trousers, a jacket, dress shirt, neck tie and headgear (beret, peaked cap or side cap), in a gray-green fabric. The special dress uniform () is worn for certain formal occasions. It consists of the garments of the service dress uniform, differing by the white dress shirt, black neck tie, white gloves, decorations worn in Prussian arrangement, while officers wear an orange sash around the waist.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The mess dress uniform () is worn during formal occasions, such as a dinner or a ball and consists of a black smoking, complemented with a peaked cap and miniature medals.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Each regiment and corps within the army has its own full dress uniform (), which is a ceremonial uniform that is worn during ceremonies and special occasions.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: In past eras, music was used as a means of communication on the battlefield, and today military music retains an important role during military ceremonies such as enlistments and changes of command, and national events such as and the annual Remembrance of the Dead ceremony on 4 May. In addition, military bands provide the musical accompaniment during the presentation of letters of credence. Currently, there are four active military bands and fanfare orchestras within the Royal Netherlands Army:


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: All regiments and corps are granted a colour () or standard (), including (since 2002) the artillery corps, which at the time was a breach with tradition. The colours and standards form the embodiment of the history and character of the respective regiment or corps. The standards are smaller in size because of a historical reason: horseback units would often struggle with the large sized poles of the regular colours, and therefore chose to wield a shorter version. To this day, the mounted units of the Royal Netherland Army, such as cavalry, field artillery and horse artillery, use the smaller sized standards. The Royal Marechaussee, which used to be a mounted unit of the Royal Netherlands Army, owns a standard as well.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: In contrast to the functional use of colours and standards in the past, during which they served as landmarks on the battlefield, their contemporary role has been greatly reduced. Nonetheless, they continue to play an important role during various military ceremonies. For example, soldiers swear the oath of enlistment while holding the respective colour or standard. Moreover, the colours and standards constitute an important connection between military units and the Royal House of the Netherlands. Only the sovereign can grant a military unit a colour or standard, therefore the royal cypher of the monarch that granted the regiment its (original) colour is displayed. In addition, the colours and standards are often inscribed with (historical) battle honours. By prominently displaying them, the aim is to add to the "esprit de corps", uphold the collective memory and serve as inspiration for future actions of the respective unit.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The ranks of the Royal Netherlands were established by Royal Decree of Queen Juliana in 1956. Each regiment and corps has a distinctive cap badge and beret. Many units also call soldiers of different ranks by different names, for example a NATO OR-1 private is called a hussar () in cavalry regiments and a cannoneer () in artillery units.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The Royal Netherlands Army's basic weapon is the Colt C7NLD or Colt C8NLD assault rifle, produced by Colt Canada (formerly Diemaco). The weapons received an extensive update in 2009: the rifle's black furniture was replaced by dark earth furniture. New parts include a new retracting stock, the Diemaco IUR with RIS rails for mounting flashlights and laser systems, and a vertical foregrip with built-in bipod; the thermold plastic magazines have now become brown in color. The ELCAN sighting system has also disappeared in favour of the Swedish made Aimpoint CompM4 red dot sight. In addition, the weapon can be enhanced further using the Picatinny rail with attachments such as the Heckler & Koch UGL under-barrel grenade launcher. Special operations forces of the Korps Commandotroepen choose to use modified HK416 assault rifles and HK417 designated marksman rifles. The standard secondary weapon across all branches of the Armed forces of the Netherlands is the Austrian-made Glock 17 pistol.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Sniper groups () are equipped with HK417, Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Magnum, its successor Accuracy International AXMC, and Barrett M82 sniper rifles. Support fire is provided by the FN Minimi light machine gun (LMG), the FN MAG general purpose machine gun (GPMG), FN M2 QCB heavy machine gun (HMG) and the H&K GMG automatic grenade launcher, while indirect fire support is provided by M6 60mm or L16 81mm mortars.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The army's main battle tank is the Leopard 2. The Swedish-made CV90 (designated as CV9035NL) is the infantry fighting vehicle of the army, supported on the battlefield by Boxer MRAV armoured fighting vehicles. Reconnaissance units use the light armoured Fennek reconnaissance vehicle.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: The Fire Support Command currently operates two artillery systems: three batteries equipped with Pantserhouwitser 2000NL self-propelled howitzers and one battery equipped with 120mm Rayé Tracté heavy mortars. Air defence is provided by the modernised MIM-104 Patriot long-range air defence system operated by the Joint Ground-based Air Defence Command. Both the PAC-2 surface-to-air missile and PAC-3 anti-ballistic missile are in use. In addition, army personnel operate NASAMS 2 medium-range surface-to-air missiles, Fennek Stinger Weapon Platforms, and Hensoldt radar systems. These systems are operated combinedly in the Army Ground Based Air Defence System (AGBADS).


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: For environments that require protection against Small Arms and Light Weapons and improvised explosive devices, the army uses the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle. The Ministry of Defence has recently placed an order for 1,175 new medium multirole protected vehicles, the Iveco Medium Tactical Vehicle. The newly developed vehicles are due to commence entering service in early 2023. Multiple versions of the Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen are in use across the army, including light armoured combat versions such as the G280 CDI. The Volkswagen Amarok has replaced a large portion of the Mercedes-Benz fleet that was used for day-to-day utility work and peace time operations. Special operations forces (SOF) operate the Dutch-made Defenture VECTOR which is tailor-made for special operations.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Engineer regiments employ several specialist engineering vehicles based on Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks such as the Buffel armoured recovery vehicle, the Leguaan armoured vehicle-launched bridge and the Kodiak combat engineering vehicle. The army employs a variety of (logistical) utility vehicles, including four-, six-, ten- and fifteen-tonne trucks, mainly produced by DAF and Scania. Electronic warfare and CBRN defence units operate the TPz Fuchs armoured personnel carrier. In addition, during operations that require a high degree of mobility, army personnel have access to Luchtmobiel Speciaal Voertuig, KTM motorcycles and Suzuki quads.


title: Royal Netherlands Army

text: Multiple types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are operational within the army. This includes the Black Hornet Nano, AeroVironment RQ-11B DDL Raven, Boeing Insitu ScanEagle, AeroVironment Wasp III, AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma and Boeing Insitu RQ-21 Blackjack UAVs. A large share of UAVs are operated by the 107 Aerial Systems Battery of the Joint ISTAR Command. In addition, the Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) unit of 13 Light Brigade experiments with and operates various unmanned ground vehicles, including the THeMIS produced by Milrem Robotics and the Mission Master of Rheinmetall.


title: Andre Royo

text: Andre Royo (born July 18, 1968) is an American actor, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins on the HBO crime drama series "The Wire", and his appearances on "Fringe", "Party Down", "How to Make It in America", and the 2013 film "The Spectacular Now". Royo also appeared as Lucious Lyon's (Terrence Howard) defense attorney Thirsty Rawlings on the FOX drama series "Empire".


title: Andre Royo

text: Royo was born in the the Bronx borough of New York City on July 18, 1968, and is of African American and Cuban heritage. According to Royo, in auditions he had been told by some casting directors that he was "not Black enough" or "not Latino enough" for certain parts.


title: Andre Royo

text: Royo attended Mount Saint Michael Academy in The Bronx from 1982 until 1986. Royo is married to Jane Choi and they have one daughter named Stella.


title: Andre Royo

text: Royo made his acting debut in a minor role in the 1998 film "L.A. Without a Map". In 1999, he made one-episode guest appearances on the television series "Law & Order" and "Third Watch". Additionally, in the "Law & Order" episode 'Prince of Darkness', Royo can be seen sitting in the audience of the courtroom, directly behind the defendant. In 2000, he had a small role in John Singleton's remake of the 1971 blaxploitation film "Shaft". He also appeared in the 2002 movie "G", which was based on "The Great Gatsby".


title: Andre Royo

text: Royo is mostly known for his starring role on the HBO crime-drama series "The Wire" as the drug addict and confidential informant Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins, a regular character since the show's first season. Royo's portrayal of this character was so convincing that, during on-location filming, he was once approached by a Baltimore resident and given a small package of heroin, with the man saying to the in-character Royo: "Man, you need this more than I do." Royo has called this incident his "street Oscar."


title: Andre Royo

text: In 2008, he made a brief appearance in "" as a soldier in a unit that was sent back in time. That same year, he was introduced as the character Stephen Canfield during the third season of the television series "Heroes". In 2008, Royo also played the role of a drug addicted homeless serial killer in the "Criminal Minds" season 4 episode "".


title: Andre Royo

text: In October 2009, Royo was featured at a Harvard University panel discussion along with fellow actors from "The Wire" Sonja Sohn and Michael K. Williams. The panel discussed the value of "The Wire" as a media source at-risk youth can relate to and learn positive life lessons from. In 2010, Royo guest starred on the Starz original series "Party Down". Later that year, he was a guest star in the third season premiere as well as the seventh and eighteenth episodes of the Fox television series "Fringe", playing a cab driver in the parallel universe.


title: Andre Royo

text: In 2012, Royo appeared in the NBC police drama "Prime Suspect" as Santana Cordero, an accused murderer killing witnesses before he was tried. He appears in the 2012 film "Red Tails" as Antwan "Coffee" Coleman. Royo then starred as a bully's alcoholic father in a "Key & Peele" sketch. In 2013, Royo portrayed geometry teacher Mr. Aster in the 2013 romantic-comedy drama film "The Spectacular Now". Royo was a guest, playing Otis in the episode "" on Paul Scheer's action comedy series "" on Cartoon Network's late-night block Adult Swim. He then was a guest voice in the "Bob's Burgers" episode "Nude Beach" playing himself, and then voiced an exterminator named Marcus in a 2014 episode titled "Tina and the Real Ghost". He appeared in the 2015 drama film "Lila & Eve", as a character named Skaketti, alongside Jennifer Lopez and Viola Davis.


title: Andre Royo

text: In 2015, Royo appeared in "Marvel's Agent Carter" series portraying Spider Raymond, who ran the night club "La Martinique", but he became more notorious for being an illegal trader. He also appeared in Showtime's "Happyish" as Barry, mutual friend of the main characters, Thom and Lee Payne. In Amazon Prime's "Hand of God", Royo portrayed San Vincente's Mayor Robert "Bobo" Boston. On Fox's "Empire", he played Thirsty Rawlings, a shifty defense attorney.


title: Andre Royo

text: He appears alongside Octavia Spencer in the Apple TV+ series "Truth Be Told", where he portrays an attorney.


title: Deborah Van Valkenburgh

text: Deborah Gaye Van Valkenburgh (born August 29, 1952) is an American actress best known for her screen debut as Mercy in the 1979 cult film "The Warriors", and her role as Jackie Rush for five seasons (1980–1985) on the television situation comedy "Too Close for Comfort". In 2012, she won the Best Supporting Actress in a Fantasy Film award at the PollyGrind Underground Film Festival for the film "Road to Hell".


title: Deborah Van Valkenburgh

text: Van Valkenburgh graduated from Shaker High School in Latham, New York in June 1970. She graduated from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, with a BFA in Painting & Drawing. She started her acting career on Broadway performing in "Hair". Deborah also appearing in Off-Broadway plays Honeybee, "The Tempest", "Six Characters in Search of an Author", "Hay Fever", When Did You last See Your Mother?, "Iolanthe", It Ain't Aardvark, and Minutemen.


title: Deborah Van Valkenburgh

text: Besides acting in many New York plays, she has acted in regional and touring company productions of Mooney's Kid Don't Cry, "The Children's Hour", and "A View From the Bridge". Van Valkenburgh has studied acting with William Esper and John Shea, ballet with Ballet Arts Carnegie Hall and modern dance with James Cunningham. She also studied puppet production with "Jim Henson", voice with Kirk Nurock and Richard Green, and improvisation with Dan Richter.


title: Labrys

text: Labrys () is, according to Plutarch ("Quaestiones Graecae" 2.302a), the Lydian word for the double-bitted axe. In Greek it was called ("pélekus"). The Ancient Greek plural of "labrys" is labryes ().


title: Labrys

text: Many scholars including Evans assert that the word "labyrinth" is derived from "labrys" and thus, would imply 'house of the double axe'. A priestly corporation in Delphi was named "Labyades"; the original name was probably "Labryades", servants of the double axe. In Roman times at Patrai and Messene, a goddess Laphria was worshipped, commonly identified with Artemis. Her name was said to be derived from the region around Delphi.


title: Labrys

text: In Crete the "double axe" is not a weapon, however, and it always accompanies women, not a male god. Beekes regards the relation of "labyrinth" with "labrys" as speculative, and rather proposes a relation with (), 'narrow street', or to the Carian theonym Dabraundos ().


title: Labrys

text: It is also possible that the word "labyrinth" is derived from the Egyptian, meaning: "the temple at the entrance of the lake”. The Egyptian labyrinth near Lake Moeris is described by Herodotus and Strabo. The inscription in on reads   (). The conventional reading is ("labyrinthoio potnia"; 'mistress of the labyrinth'). According to some modern scholars it could read * (*"daphyrinthoio"), or something similar, and hence be without a certain link with either the or the labyrinth.


title: Labrys

text: A link has also been posited with the double axe symbols at Çatalhöyük, dating to the Neolithic age. In Labraunda in Caria, as well as in the coinage of the Hecatomnid rulers of Caria, the double axe accompanies the storm god Zeus Labraundos. Arthur Evans notes,


title: Labrys

text: In ancient Crete, the double axe was an important sacred symbol of the supposed Minoan religion. In Crete the double axe only accompanies female goddesses, never male gods. It seems that it was the symbol of the arche of the creation (Mater-arche). Small versions were used as votive offerings and have been found in considerable numbers; the Arkalochori Axe is a famous example. Minoan double axes have also recently been found in the prehistoric town of Akrotiri (Santorini Island) along with other objects of apparent religious significance.


title: Labrys

text: The double axe appears to have carried important symbolism the ancient Thracian Odrysian kingdom related to the Thracian religion and to the royal power. It is argued that in ancient Thrace the double axe was an attribute of Zalmoxis. The double axe appears on coins from Thrace and is believed to be the symbol of the kings of the Odrysae, who believed they could trace their lineage to Zalmoxis. A fresco from the Thracian tomb near Aleksandrovo in south-east Bulgaria, dated to  , depicts a large-size naked man wielding a double axe.


title: Labrys

text: In the Near East and other parts of the region, eventually, axes of this sort often are wielded by male divinities and appear to become symbols of the thunderbolt, a symbol often found associated with the axe symbol. In Labraunda of Caria the double-axe accompanies the storm-god Zeus Labraundos. Similar symbols have been found on plates of Linear pottery culture in Romania. The double-axe is associated with the Hurrian god of sky and storm Teshub. His Hittite and Luwian name was Tarhun. Both are depicted holding a triple thunderbolt in one hand and a double axe in the other hand. Similarly, Zeus throws his thunderbolt to bring storm. The "labrys", or "pelekys", is the double axe Zeus uses to invoke storm and, the relatively modern Greek word for lightning is "star-axe" ( ) The worship of the double axe was kept up in the Greek island of Tenedos and in several cities in the south-west of Asia Minor, and it appears in later historical times in the cult of the thunder god of Asia Minor (Zeus Labrayndeus).


title: Labrys

text: In the context of the mythical Attic king Theseus, the labyrinth of Greek mythology is frequently associated with the Minoan palace of Knossos. This is based on the reading of Linear B "da-pu-ri-to-jo-po-ti-ni-ja" as ("mistress of the labyrinth"). It is uncertain, however, that "labyrinth" can be interpreted as "place of the double axes" and moreover that this should be Knossos; many more have been found, for example, at the Arkalachori Cave, where the famous Arkalochori Axe was found.


title: Labrys

text: On Greek coins of the classical period (e. g. Pixodauros) a type of Zeus venerated at Labraunda in Caria that numismatists call "Zeus Labrandeus" () stands with a sceptre upright in his left hand and the double-headed axe over his shoulder.


title: Labrys

text: It is sometimes used as a symbol of Hellenic polytheism. As a symbol of the neopagan Goddess movement, the labrys represents the memory of pre-patriarchal matristic societies.


title: Labrys

text: In Kyrgyzstan, "Labrys" is an LGBT rights organization. The group's goal is to improve the quality of life for all LGBT individuals in their country as well as Central Asia.


title: Labrys

text: In the 1970s, the labrys was adopted by the lesbian community, as a lesbian feminist symbol, representing strength and self-sufficiency.


title: Labrys

text: The labrys lesbian flag, created in 1999, involves a labrys superimposed on an inverted black triangle and set against a violet background.


title: Labrys

text: The double axe is used by Cretan folklore preservation societies and associations both in Greece and abroad, on occasion with the spelling "lavrys" reflecting modern Greek pronunciation.


title: Labrys

text: In Greece, the labrys was employed as a symbol of Metaxism. During the totalitarian period of the 4th of August Regime (1936–1941), it represented the regime-sponsored National Organization of Youth (EON), as its leader, Ioannis Metaxas, believed it to be the first symbol of all Hellenic civilizations.


title: Labrys

text: The labrys symbol was also used prominently by the Vichy France regime, being featured on the personal flag of Chief of State Philippe Pétain, on coins, and in various propaganda posters.


title: Labrys

text: In the 1960s the labrys was also used by the Italian neo-fascist and far-right movement Ordine Nuovo, most prominently on their flag.


title: Labrys

text: While double axes are common in modern high fantasy settings, in reality they were not commonly used in combat.


title: Labrys

text: Double-bit axes were common in North American forestry: One blade would be sharp and used for felling, whilst the other was a little blunter for limbing. As the forest workers (lumberjacks) were often away from civilization for long periods of time they needed a way to amuse themselves. Thus the sport of double-bit axe throwing was born. In recent decades the sport has been formalised with Swedish company Gränsfors Bruk writing the rules most widely accepted. There are now multiple clubs across Europe that throw double-bit. The sport of double-bit was formalised in the 1990s, whereas hatchet throwing was formalised in 2006.


title: Flagship

text: A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed, or best known.


title: Flagship

text: Over the years, the term "flagship" has become a metaphor used in industries such as broadcasting, automobiles, education, technology, airlines, and retail to refer to their highest profile or most expensive products and locations.


title: Flagship

text: In common naval use, the term "flagship" is fundamentally a temporary designation; the flagship is wherever the admiral's flag is being flown. However, admirals have always needed additional facilities, including a meeting room large enough to hold all the captains of the fleet and a place for the admiral's staff to make plans and draw up orders. Historically, only larger ships could accommodate such requirements.


title: Flagship

text: The term was also used by commercial fleets, when the distinction between a nation's navy and merchant fleet was not clear. An example was "Sea Venture", flagship of the fleet of the Virginia Company, which was captained by Royal Navy Vice-Admiral Christopher Newport yet bore the Merchant Navy admiral of the company's fleet, Sir George Somers, during the ill-fated Third Supply of 1609.


title: Flagship

text: In the age of sailing ships, the flagship was typically a first rate; the aft of one of the three decks would become the admiral's quarters and staff offices. This can be seen on , the flagship of Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, still serving the Royal Navy as the ceremonial flagship of the First Sea Lord from Portsmouth, England. Non-first rates could serve as flagships, however: , a frigate (a fourth rate), served as flagship for parts of the United States Navy during the early 19th century.


title: Flagship

text: In the 20th century, ships became large enough that the larger types, cruisers and up, could accommodate a commander and staff. Some larger ships may have a separate flag bridge for use by the admiral and his staff while the captain commands from the main navigation bridge. Because its primary function is to coordinate a fleet, a flagship is not necessarily more heavily armed or armored than other ships. During World War II, admirals often preferred a faster ship over the largest one.


title: Flagship

text: Modern flagships are designed primarily for command and control rather than for fighting, and are also known as command ships.


title: Flagship

text: As with many other naval terms, "flagship" has crossed over into general usage, where it means the most important or leading member of a group, as in the flagship station of a broadcast network. The word can be used as a noun or an adjective describing the most prominent or highly touted product, brand, location, or service offered by a company. Derivations include the "flagship brand" or "flagship product" of a manufacturing company, "flagship store" of a retail chain, or "flagship service" of a hospitality or transportation concern.


title: Flagship

text: Most states in the United States provide public university education through one or more university systems, with each system having multiple campuses located throughout the state. The phrase flagship institution or flagship university may be applied to an individual school or campus within each state system. The College Board, for example, defines flagship universities as the best-known institutions in the state, noting that they were generally the first to be established and are frequently the largest and most selective, as well as the most research-intensive public universities. These schools are often land-grant research universities. According to Robert M. Berdahl, then-chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, the phrase "flagship" came into existence in the 1950s when the Morrill Act schools were joined by newer institutions built in a wave of post-war expansion of state university systems.


title: Flagship

text: Berdahl notes further that because flagships are generally the oldest schools within a system, they are often the largest and best financed and are perceived as elite relative to non-flagship state schools. He comments that "Those of us in 'systems' of higher education are frequently actively discouraged from using the term 'flagship' to refer to our campuses because it is seen as hurtful to the self-esteem of colleagues at other institutions in our systems. The use of the term is seen by some as elitist and boastful. It is viewed by many, in the context of the politics of higher education, as 'politically incorrect.' ... Only in the safe company of alumni is one permitted to use the term."


title: Flagship

text: Nevertheless, the term "flagship university" is still used in official contexts by various state university system boards of governors, state legislatures, and scholars. Additionally, state universities often self-designate themselves as flagships. Higher education agencies, research journals, and other organizations also use the term, though their lists of flagship universities can differ greatly. One list of 50 flagship universities (one per state) is employed by the Higher Education Coordinating Board, the College Board, the Princeton Review and many other state and federal educational and governmental authorities for a variety of purposes including tuition and rate comparisons, research studies and public policy analyses.


title: Flagship

text: Despite its ubiquity, this list of 50 flagships is not the only state-by-state examination of flagships. In a 2010 article, Standard & Poor's created its own list of flagship universities, noting that each state had typically one or two institutions with flagship characteristics. The Education Sector, an education policy organization, used a different list of 51 flagship universities in an August 2011 study of college debt. Several states had multiple universities categorized as flagships due to "less of a clear distinction between a single flagship and other public universities" in those states. Additionally, several states were not included in the study due to insufficient comparative data. There are many instances in which more than one school in a state has claimed to be, or has been described as, a "flagship".


title: Flagship

text: In February 2012, Idaho's State Board of Education made a controversial decision to strike the word "flagship" from the University of Idaho's mission statement. The Board's President Richard Westerberg explained that this revision was made as part of the board's many changes made to multiple Idaho universities' mission statements in an effort to ensure all statements were consistent and collegial in nature rather than comparative or competitive.


title: Flagship

text: Flagship stores are core stores for brand name retailers, larger than their standard outlets and stocking greater inventory, often found in prominent shopping districts such as Fifth Avenue in New York, Oxford Street in London, İstiklal Avenue in İstanbul or Tokyo's Ginza.


title: Flagship

text: A flagship station is the principal station of a radio or television broadcast network. It can be the station that produces the largest amount of material for the network, or the station in the parent company's home city, or both. The term dates back to the mid twentieth century years of broadcasting when headquarters stations produced programs for their networks.


title: Flagship

text: For example, the flagship stations of the ABC, NBC and CBS television and radio networks are their owned and operated outlets in New York City. Likewise, public television's WNET served as primary member station for National Educational Television (NET), a forerunner to the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).


title: Flagship

text: In sports broadcasting, the "flagship" is a team's primary station in their home market, which produces game broadcasts and feeds them to affiliates. For example, WGN was the flagship station of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, which has an extensive Cubs radio network spanning several states.


title: Flagship

text: The term flagship is also used to describe an automaker's top (i.e. largest/most expensive/most prestigious) vehicle. Modern examples include the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Toyota Century, Hongqi L5, and Land Rover's Range Rover.


title: Flagship

text: American Airlines obtained copyright to the term “Flagship” on May 3, 1937 per the Catalog of Copyright Entries. As of December 20, 2019 as stated in a legal document, this includes "the marks “Flagship,” “Flagship Lounge” and “Flagship Suite” (the “Flagship Marks”)—to describe premium air travel services for first and business class passengers since the 1930s and 1940s." Delta Airlines also uses/used the word "Flagship" to describe its top lines, as pointed out by AA and being argued legally in December 2019 and into 2020.


title: Flagship

text: Within conservation biology, the term flagship species refers to a species or taxon that is a symbol or rallying point to catalyze conservation actions.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: The Royal Game of Ur is a two-player strategy race board game of the tables family that was first played in ancient Mesopotamia during the early third millennium BC. The game was popular across the Middle East among people of all social strata and boards for playing it have been found at locations as far away from Mesopotamia as Crete and Sri Lanka. It closely resembles another ancient game called the Game of Twenty Squares or Game of Twenty (see below).


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: At the height of its popularity, the game acquired spiritual significance, and events in the game were believed to reflect a player's future and convey messages from deities or other supernatural beings. The Game of Ur remained popular until late antiquity, when it stopped being played, possibly evolving into, or being displaced by, a later form of tables game. It was eventually forgotten everywhere except among the Jewish population of the Indian city of Kochi, who continued playing a version of it called 'Asha' until the 1950s when they began emigrating to Israel.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: The Game of Ur received its name because it was first rediscovered by the English archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley during his excavations of the Royal Cemetery at Ur between 1922 and 1934. Copies of the game have since been found by other archaeologists across the Middle East. The rules of the Game of Ur as it was played in the second century BC have been preserved on a Babylonian clay tablet written by the scribe Itti-Marduk-balāṭu.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: Based on this tablet and the shape of the , British Museum curator Irving Finkel reconstructed the basic rules of how the game might have been played. The object of the game is to run the course of the board and bear all one's pieces off before one's opponent. Like modern backgammon, the game combines elements of both strategy and luck.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: The Game of Ur was popular across the Middle East and boards for it have been found in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Cyprus, and Crete. Four gameboards bearing a very close resemblance to the Royal Game of Ur were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. These boards came with small boxes to store dice and game pieces and many had senet boards on the reverse sides so that the same board could be used to play either game and merely had to be flipped over.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: The game was popular among all social classes. A graffito version of the game carved with a sharp object, possibly a dagger, was discovered on one of the human-headed winged bull gate sentinels from the palace of Sargon II (721–705 BC) in the city of Khorsabad.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: The Game of Ur eventually acquired superstitious significance and the tablet of Itti-Marduk-balāṭu provides vague predictions for the players' futures if they land on certain spaces, such as "You will find a friend", "You will become powerful like a lion", or "You will draw fine beer". People saw relationships between a player's success in the game and their success in real life. Seemingly random events, such as landing on a certain square, were interpreted as messages from deities, ghosts of deceased ancestors, or from a person's own soul.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: A 2013 study of nearly 100 well-dated game boards across the Near East shows significant changes over 1200 years of time in the layout of squares on the board. This indicates that game rules and game play were not static, but changed over time. The study further shows the game was transmitted from Mesopotamia to the Levant around 1800 BC, from the Levant to Egypt around 1600 BC where it picked up small innovations in board design (additional squares), and from Egypt or the Levant to Cyprus and Nubia. Several apparently failed innovations in board design also appear (i.e., only one example of a specific board design is known from the archaeological record).


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: It is unclear what led to the Game of Ur's eventual decline during late antiquity. One theory holds that it evolved into backgammon; whereas another holds that early forms of backgammon eclipsed the Game of Ur in popularity, causing players to eventually forget about the older game. At some point before the game fell out of popularity in the Middle East, it was apparently introduced to the Indian city of Kochi by a group of Jewish merchants.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: Members of the Jewish population of Kochi were still playing a recognizable form of the Game of Ur, which they called Aasha, by the time they started emigrating to Israel in the 1950s after World War II. The Kochi version of the game had twenty squares, just like the original Mesopotamian version, but each player had twelve pieces rather than seven, and the placement of the twenty squares was slightly different.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: The British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley discovered five gameboards of the Game of Ur during his excavation of the Royal Cemetery at Ur between 1922 and 1934. Because the game was first discovered in the Royal Cemetery at Ur, it became known as the "Royal Game of Ur", but later archaeologists uncovered other copies of the game from other locations across the Middle East. Each of the boards discovered by Woolley date to around 3,000 BC.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: All five boards were of an identical type, but they were made of different materials and had different decorations. Woolley reproduced images of two of these boards in his 1949 book, "The First Phases". One of these is a relatively simple set with a background composed of discs of shell with blue or red centers set in wood-covered bitumen. The other is a more elaborate one completely covered with shell plaques, inlaid with red limestone and lapis lazuli. Other gameboards are often engraved with images of animals.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: When the Game of Ur was first discovered, no one knew how it was played. Then, in the early 1980s, Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum, translated a clay tablet written 177 BC by the Babylonian scribe Itti-Marduk-balāṭu describing how the game was played during that time period, based on an earlier description of the rules by another scribe named Iddin-Bēl. This tablet was written during the waning days of Babylonian civilization, long after the time when the Game of Ur was first played.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: It had been discovered in 1880 in the ruins of Babylon and sold to the British Museum. Finkel also used photographs of another tablet describing the rules, which had been in the personal collection of Count Aymar de Liedekerke-Beaufort, but was destroyed during World War I.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: This second tablet was undated, but is believed by archaeologists to have been written several centuries earlier than the tablet by Itti-Marduk-balāṭu and to have originated from the city of Uruk. The backs of both tablets show diagrams of the gameboard, clearly indicating which game they are describing. Based on these rules and the shape of the gameboard, Finkel was able to reconstruct how the game might have been played.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: The Game of Ur is a race game and it is probably an ancestor of the tables family of games that are still played today and include Backgammon. The Game of Ur is played using two sets of seven game pieces, similar to those used in draughts or checkers. One set of pieces is white with five black dots and the other set is black with five white dots. The gameboard is composed of two rectangular sets of boxes, one containing three rows of four boxes each and the other containing three rows of two boxes each, joined by a "narrow bridge" of two boxes.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: The gameplay involves elements of both luck and strategy. Movements are determined by rolling a set of four-sided, tetrahedron-shaped dice. Two of the four corners of each die are marked and the other two are not, giving each die an equal chance of landing with a marked or unmarked corner facing up. The number of marked ends facing upwards after a roll of the dice indicates how many spaces a player may move during that turn. A single game can last up to half an hour and can be very intense. Games are very often unpredictable and close at the end.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: The object of the game is for a player to move all seven of their pieces along the course ("two proposed versions of which are shown at right") and off the board before their opponent. On all surviving gameboards, the two sides of the board are always identical with each other, indicating that the two sides of the board belong to each player. When a piece is on one of the player's own squares, it is safe from capture.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: When it is on one of the eight squares in the middle of the board, the opponent's pieces may capture it by landing on the same space, sending the piece back off the board so that it must restart the course from the beginning. This means there are six "safe" squares and eight "combat" squares. There can never be more than one piece on a single square at any given time, so having too many pieces on the board at once can impede a player's mobility.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: When a player rolls a number using the dice, they may choose to move any of their pieces on the board or add a new piece to the board if they still have pieces that have not entered the game. A player is not required to capture a piece every time they have the opportunity. Nonetheless, players are required to move a piece whenever possible, even if it results in an unfavorable outcome. All surviving gameboards have a colored rosette in the middle of the center row.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: According to Finkel's reconstruction, if a piece is located on the space with the rosette, it is safe from capture. Finkel also states that when a piece lands on any of the three rosettes, the player gets an extra roll. In order to remove a piece from the board, a player must roll exactly the number of spaces remaining until the end of the course plus one. If the player rolls a number any higher or lower than this number, they may not remove the piece from the board.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: One archaeological dig uncovered twenty-one white balls alongside a set of the Game of Ur. It is believed that these balls were probably used for placing wagers. According to the tablet of Itti-Marduk-balāṭu, whenever a player skips one of the boxes marked with a rosette, they must place a token in the pot. If a player lands on a rosette, they may take a token from the pot.


title: Royal Game of Ur

text: The Game of Twenty or Game of Twenty Squares is another ancient tables game similar to the Royal Game of Ur. Egyptian gaming boxes often have a board for this game on the opposite side to that for the better known game of Senet. It dates roughly to the period from 1500 BC to 300 BC and is known to have been played in the region that includes Babylon, Mesopotamia and Persia as well as Egypt. The board comprises two distinct sections; a quadrant of 3 x 4 squares, like that in the Ur game, and a row or 'arm' of 8 squares projecting from the central row of the quadrant. It has five rosettes. The rules are not precisely known but it appears likely that players entered at their 5 pieces onto the arm and aimed to bear them off from the sides of the quadrant, perhaps having contested the arm by hitting opposing pieces off.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: Florence Foster Jenkins is a 2016 biographical film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Nicholas Martin and Julia Kogan. It stars Meryl Streep as Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress known for her generosity and poor singing. Hugh Grant plays her manager and long-time companion, St. Clair Bayfield. Other cast members include Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Nina Arianda.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: Filming began in May 2015, and the premiere was held in London on 12 April 2016. The film was released on 6 May 2016 in the United Kingdom, 13 July in France and 12 August in the United States. At the 89th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Costume Design and earned Streep her 20th nomination for Best Actress. It received four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: In 1944, Florence Foster Jenkins is a New York City socialite heiress who founded the Verdi Club to celebrate her love of music. St. Clair Bayfield, a British Shakespearean actor, is her manager and long-time companion. Florence lives in a grand hotel suite, while Bayfield lives in an apartment with his mistress, Kathleen Weatherley. Florence suffers from long-term syphilis, contracted from her first husband.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: Florence decides to resume singing lessons after she sees Lily Pons in concert with Bayfield. She hires pianist Cosmé McMoon, who is shocked by her terrible singing, but Bayfield and vocal coach Carlo Edwards, the assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, pretend she is wonderful. Bayfield warns McMoon of dire consequences if he criticizes her.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: Bayfield arranges a small recital, handpicking the attendees. Loyal Verdi Club members watch respectfully, but others barely contain their laughter. Encouraged by her good reviews, she arranges to make a recording at Melotone as a Christmas gift for members of the Verdi Club. Florence gives McMoon a copy and recalls that Bayfield was an unsuccessful actor and that she hid negative reviews from him. She also informs McMoon of her history as a piano player and teacher, having once played for the President as a child. McMoon realizes that Florence is not as musically inept as he had thought.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: Florence and McMoon write and perform original songs together. One song is broadcast on the radio, to the horror of Bayfield and Kathleen, though many listeners find it comedic and enjoy it. Florence informs Bayfield that she has booked Carnegie Hall for a performance and will give away a thousand tickets to soldiers. Bayfield fails to dissuade her. He gets into a fight with a group of men laughing at Florence and McMoon's song at a bar. Kathleen, resenting the lack of attention, leaves him.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: McMoon confides to Bayfield that he fears that the recital will humiliate him and ruin his career. Bayfield replies that he gave up his acting career to support his wife and urges McMoon do the same for his friend. With Bayfield playing emotional blackmail on McMoon's every heartstring, McMoon reluctantly agrees to accompany Florence, though fully expecting to flop spectacularly at Carnegie Hall.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: The concert is packed and attended by celebrities such as Cole Porter and Tallulah Bankhead. McMoon arrives late which unnerves Florence, but Bayfield and McMoon encourage her to go on – Florence then writes McMoon into her will backstage before the two go out onto the stage. When Florence begins singing, the soldiers laugh and shout. Her supporters and friends, however, scold them and cheer for her to keep singing. She continues her performance. However, "New York Post" columnist Earl Wilson tells Bayfield he will write a damning review and refuses his bribes.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: Bayfield, with McMoon's help, buys every copy of the "New York Post" in the neighborhood and throws them away. Despite their best efforts Florence hears about the review, retrieves a copy of the review from a trash can, and is so upset she collapses and becomes severely ill. As she is dying in bed, Florence imagines herself singing beautiful opera, and takes a bow with McMoon and Bayfield to a standing ovation. She tells Bayfield that though people may say she could not sing, no one can say she "did not" sing.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: Prior to reading the Nicholas Martin and Julia Kogan script, Frears did not have much knowledge about Jenkins beyond the portrayal of her in the West End play "Glorious!" by Peter Quilter. On the strength of the script, Frears became interested and did research by watching various YouTube videos of her. Upon watching the videos Frears noted that "You’re laughing and she touches you. It’s inherently ridiculous and courageous at the same time." He and Streep were determined that despite the subject matter the audience should side with Florence. Frears did not envisage Streep in the role but after her name was brought up Frears agreed, noting that he thought it would be something fresh for her. Streep worked with a singing coach to help her prepare for the role of Jenkins. Frears praised her performance, stating "You can only sing badly if you are a good singer."


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: On 27 March 2015, Simon Helberg was set to play Cosmé McMoon, a pianist and the accompanist to Jenkins. Rebecca Ferguson was added to the cast on 1 April 2015. On 13 April 2015, Nina Arianda joined the film to play Agnes Stark, a showgirl struggling to move up into high society with the help of her husband.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: Principal photography on the film began in May 2015 in London. Pathé released a first-look photo on 22 May, featuring Streep and Grant as Jenkins and Bayfield, respectively. Filming was done in Hoylake and Liverpool city centre.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: Filming took place in Liverpool and the city was transformed into 1940s New York City, with Liverpool's Drury Lane being turned into Central Park West, where Streep and Grant were spotted filming in June 2015. Production concluded on 20 July 2015.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: In September 2015, Paramount Pictures acquired U.S distribution rights to the film. The film had its world premiere at the Belfast Film Festival on 23 April 2016. The film was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 6 May 2016 and in the United States on 12 August 2016.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: "Florence Foster Jenkins" was released on Digital HD on 29 November 2016 and on Blu-ray and DVD on 13 December 2016.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: , "Florence Foster Jenkins" had grossed $27.4 million in North America and $28.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $56 million.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: In the United States and Canada, "Florence Foster Jenkins" was released on 12 August 2016, against "Pete's Dragon" and "Sausage Party", and was projected to gross $5–7 million from 1,500 theaters in its opening weekend. It went on to open to $6.6 million, finishing 8th at the box office.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 87%, based on 229 reviews, with an average rating of 7.13/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Florence Foster Jenkins" makes poignant, crowd-pleasing dramedy out of its stranger-than-fiction tale – and does its subject justice with a reliably terrific turn from star Meryl Streep." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 71 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Florence Foster Jenkins (film)

text: Wai Chee Dimock, writing in the "Los Angeles Review of Books", linked the film to "Hamlet" and "The Magic Flute", saying that the film "is neither tragedy nor farce, but a passable admixture of the two, defining both negatively."


title: Novo-Ogaryovo

text: Novo-Ogaryovo (), also transliterated as "Novo-Ogarevo", is an estate in the Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, located by the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway west of the city of Moscow. It operates as the suburban residence of the President of Russia, officially recognized as such in 2000, although, throughout President Vladimir Putin's second tenure, he has spent progressively more time at Novo-Ogaryovo, so much so that it has been unofficially termed the "de facto" residence of the head of state.


title: Novo-Ogaryovo

text: Novo-Ogaryovo was constructed in the first half of the 1950s on the foundation of a 19th-century villa, at the behest of Georgy Malenkov, using his architect daughter's design. Construction work was under way when Malenkov was removed from his position of Premier of the Soviet Union in 1955, and the place was then used as a "gosdacha", a "state "dacha"", or vacation retreat for housing guests, for receptions, and as a workplace for various government committees.


title: Novo-Ogaryovo

text: Since 1991, Novo-Ogaryovo has been reserved as a government residence, mostly unused until Russian President Vladimir Putin (in office from 31 December 1999) had it renovated in 2000. A six-meter-high wall surrounds the Presidential residence.


title: Novo-Ogaryovo

text: In October 2012, Putin announced his intention to work at Novo-Ogaryovo to avoid commuting into Moscow, due to the city's extensive traffic congestion.


title: Novo-Ogaryovo

text: In April 2020, Putin self-isolated at Novo-Ogaryovo after meeting with the head doctor of City Clinical Hospital No. 40, Moscow, who later tested positive for COVID-19.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar are the banknotes or bills (in common lexicon) of Canada, denominated in Canadian dollars (CAD, C$, or $ locally). Currently, they are issued in $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 denominations. All current notes are issued by the Bank of Canada, which released its first series of notes in 1935. The Bank of Canada has contracted the Canadian Bank Note Company to produce the Canadian notes since then. The current series of polymer banknotes were introduced into circulation between November 2011 and November 2013. Banknotes issued in Canada can be viewed at the Bank of Canada Museum in Ottawa.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: The currently produced banknote series of the Canadian dollar both consist of polymer banknotes: the 7th series (Frontier), which was launched in 2011, and the 8th series, which was launched in 2018.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Notes are issued by the Bank of Canada, but the actual production of the banknotes is outsourced to the Canadian Bank Note Company in accordance with the specifications and requirements of the Bank of Canada. All wording on the notes appears in both of Canada's official languages, English and French. Banknotes were printed on paper composed of pure cotton. Cotton fibre was discontinued and replaced by a synthetic polymer starting in 2011, with the last of the paper banknotes being made available in November 2013.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Efforts to reduce counterfeiting in recent years have sharply reduced the number of counterfeit notes in circulation. The number of counterfeit notes passed annually in Canada peaked in 2004, when 553,000 counterfeit notes were passed. Counterfeiting has decreased annually since that peak, with only 53,536 notes passed in 2010. The new Frontier series of banknotes significantly improves security primarily by using a polymer substrate to make up the note instead of the previously used fabric. Even as Canada's counterfeiting problem escalated, the shift to polymer was viewed as too expensive. A polymer note costs 19 cents to produce, compared to 9 cents for a typical cotton-paper note. All older cotton-paper banknotes prior to the 2013 polymer series are now considered unfit for circulation due to their lacking of modern security features, such as a metallic stripe. Financial institutions must return the banknotes to the Bank of Canada, which will destroy them. Individuals may keep the banknotes indefinitely.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Counterfeiting is measured using a system borrowed from chemistry known as parts per million (PPM). Normally used to judge the potency of molecules in a solution, PPM in the counterfeit sense refers to the number of fake banknotes found in circulation for every one million genuine notes. In 1990, Canada's counterfeit ratio was just 4 PPM, ranking its currency among the most secure in the world. By the late 1990s, the rise of powerful and affordable home computers, store-bought graphics software, easy-to-use scanners and colour ink-jet printers were breeding a new generation of counterfeiters. The number of fake Canadian bills rose as high as 117 PPM by 1997. In 2004 Canada's counterfeit rate had ballooned to 470 PPM. In 2012, the counterfeiting rate had fallen to its lowest point, at 28 PPM. It has since started modestly rising to 36 PPM in 2014. The Bank of Canada's medium-term planning target is to stay below 30 PPM. Most G20 nations used 50 PPM as their benchmark to stay below.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: The first paper money issued in Canada denominated in dollars were British Army notes, issued between 1813 and 1815 in denominations between $1 and $400. These were emergency issues due to the War of 1812. The first banknotes were issued in 1817 by the Montreal Bank.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Large numbers of chartered banks were founded in the 1830s, 1850s, 1860s and 1870s, although many issued paper money for only a short time. Others, including the Montreal Bank (later called the Bank of Montreal), issued notes for several decades. Until 1858, many notes were issued denominated in both shillings/pounds and dollars (5 shillings = $1 therefore 1 pound = $4). A large number of different denominations were issued, including $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $10, $20, $25, $40, $50, $100, $500, $750 and $1,000. After 1858, only dollar denominations were used. The Bank Act of 1871 limited the smallest denomination the chartered banks could issue to $4, increased to $5 in 1880. To facilitate purchases below $5 without using Dominion notes, some charted banks issued notes in unusually domesticated denominations, such as the $6 and $7 notes issued by the Molsons Bank in 1871.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Before Canadian Confederation, dollar-denominated notes were issued by the governments of the Colony of British Columbia, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Of these, the Province of Canada, established in 1841, was the most prolific issuer of paper money. Notes were produced for the government by the Bank of Montreal between 1842 and 1862, in denominations of $4, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. In 1866, the Province of Canada began issuing its own paper money, in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 and $500. The Dominion of Newfoundland issued notes denominated in Newfoundland dollars from 1901 until it joined Confederation in 1949.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: For a temporary period following Confederation in 1867, Province of Canada notes served as the Dominion of Canada's first national currency, and notes were dispatched from Ontario and Quebec to the other provinces. In 1870, the first Dominion of Canada notes were issued in denominations of 25¢, $1, $2, $500 and $1,000. $50 and $100 notes followed in 1872. The bulk of later government note production was of $1 and $2 notes, with a $4 denomination added in 1882. $5 notes were issued starting in 1912. The last 25¢ notes, known as shinplasters due to their small size, were dated 1923. Special notes called Bank Legals were issued by the Dominion of Canada only to banks for transferring large sums of money in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $50,000. Issuance of all Dominion notes ceased in 1935, after the establishment of the Bank of Canada.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Some municipalities also issued dollar-denominated notes. This was most prevalent in the 1930s, when "depression scrip" was issued in an attempt to alleviate the effects of the Great Depression on local citizens. The province of Alberta also launched its own scheme in 1936 by issuing prosperity certificates.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: In 1934, with only ten chartered banks still issuing notes, the Bank of Canada was founded and began issuing notes in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $25, $50, $100, $500 and $1000. In 1944, the chartered banks were prohibited from issuing their own currency, with the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal among the last to issue notes. Since then, the Bank of Canada has been the sole issuer of banknotes denominated in Canadian dollars. A liability of more than $12 million remains on the Bank of Canada's books up to the present day, representing the face value of Dominion of Canada, provincial, and chartered bank notes still outstanding.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: The 1935 series was the only series to have included $25 and $500 denominations. Both denominations were short lived. The $25 note was withdrawn on 18 May 1937. Stacks of unissued 1935 $500 notes were destroyed in February 1938, and issued $500 notes were recalled and withdrawn from circulation five months later.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Some of the most significant recent developments in Canadian currency were the withdrawal of the $1, $2, and $1,000 notes in 1989, 1996, and 2000 respectively.The $1 and $2 denominations have been replaced with coins, colloquially referred to as the "loonie" and "toonie" respectively, with the loonie simultaneously replacing the $1 bill as well as the preceding Voyageur dollar coin, the latter of which remains legal tender. In 2000, the $1,000 note was removed at the request of the Solicitor General of Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as it was reported that they were largely being used for money laundering and organized crime.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: The Bank of Canada was created in 1934 and given responsibility, through an Act of Parliament, to regulate the country's money supply and to "promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada." Accordingly, it was given the exclusive right to issue bank notes in Canada. On 11 March 1935, the Bank of Canada issued its first series of bank notes.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: The creation of a second series of bank notes, only two years after the first issue, was prompted by changes in Canadian government legislation requiring the Bank of Canada to produce bilingual bank notes. Another contributing factor was the death of King George V on 20 January 1936, and the subsequent abdication of Edward VIII.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: The third series of banknotes of the Canadian dollar issued by the Bank of Canada was the Canadian Landscape series. The banknotes were designed in 1952 following the accession of Elizabeth II to the throne after the death of her father George VI. Her portrait appeared on all denominations in the series. The banknote designs differed significantly from the 1937 series, though the denomination colours and bilingual printing were retained. The design changes were made to portray themes more typical of Canada. This was the first series to include the Canadian coat of arms, which appeared centrally in the background of the obverse.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: The banknote series became known as the "Devil's Head" series, because the hair behind the Queen's head looked somewhat like a grinning demon. This led to design modifications for all denominations. The second variant of the series was issued in 1956.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Because of a growing concern over counterfeiting, the Bank of Canada began to release a new series of bank notes in 1969.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: This was the last series to feature a $1 banknote, with the banknote replaced by a dollar coinknown as a "loonie" for its design of a loon on the obversein 1987; printing of the $1 banknote ceased in 1989. However, there was a 21-month period where both the $1 bill and coin were produced concurrently, from June 1987 to April 1989.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: In 1986 the Bank of Canada introduced new banknotes called the Birds of Canada series. The design on the back of each note features a bird indigenous to Canada with a background representing the typical landscape for that bird. The portraits on the front of the note were made larger than those of previous series, and a metallic patch was introduced on the larger notes. Each banknote weighs . This series was the first to include a bar code with the serial number. This allows the visually impaired to distinguish notes with the use of a hand-held device that tells the note's denomination.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: This was also the last series that the $2 and $1,000 notes were issued. The $2 note was withdrawn in 1996 and replaced by the $2 coin, known as the "toonie". The $1,000 note was withdrawn by the Bank of Canada on 12 May 2000, at the request of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as part of a program to reduce organized crime. At the time, 2,827,702 of the $1,000 bills were in circulation; by 2011, fewer than 1 million were in circulation, most held by organized crime.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Beginning in 2001, the Bank of Canada introduced a new series of notes called "Canadian Journey", featuring images of Canadian heritage and excerpts from Canadian literature. The $10 was first issued on 17 January 2001; the $5 on 27 March 2002; the $100 note on 17 March 2004, the $20 on 29 September 2004, and the $50 on 17 November 2004.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: The $20, $50, and $100 notes introduce watermark security features for the first time on Canadian currency since the four-dollar Dominion notes; they also boast significantly expanded holographic security features. Also among the new features are a windowed colour-shifting thread woven into the paper, a see-through number, and enhanced fluorescence under ultraviolet lighting. These features are designed to help Canadians protect themselves by detecting counterfeit notes. All post-2001 series notes also include the EURion constellation, on both sides of the note. The new notes have a tactile feature, which is a series of raised dots (but not Braille) in the upper right corner on the face of each note to aid the visually impaired in identifying currency denominations.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: The newer security features on the $20, $50, and $100 notes were added to an updated version of the $10 note released on 18 May 2005, and the Bank of Canada began issuing a $5 note with upgraded security features on 15 November 2006, as part of its ongoing effort to improve the security of Canadian bank notes. The illustrations on the front and back of the upgraded notes are the same as those on the $5 and $10 notes issued in 2001 and 2002.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: The "Canadian Journey" literary excerpts are printed in English and French, with the English versions being:


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Canadian Journey banknotes (2004 style) incorporates background colour and consists of series years 2001, 2003, 2003A, 2004, 2004A and 2006. All the notes except the $100 note have additional series years 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2009A (some banknotes only). The $100 2009 series began issuing to the public in early 2010 and was printed in 2009 before they were issued. The 2004 to 2009 series of the $100 note was withdrawn from the circulation in November 2011. The $50 note was withdrawn on 26 March 2012, and $5–$20 notes would be withdrawn in the next 2 years before it will be officially announced.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Beginning in 2011, the Bank of Canada introduced a new series of polymer banknotes. The $100 note was issued on 14 November 2011; the $50 was issued on 26 March 2012; the $20 banknote was issued on 7 November 2012, and the $10 and $5 denominations were issued on 7 November 2013.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: These are the first Canadian notes produced on polymer. In place of a watermark are two visual features: a translucent maple leaf and a transparent window. The leaf includes a security feature that, when viewed close to the eye with a single-point light source behind, produces a circular image displaying the note's denomination. The window is fringed by maple leaves; at its top is a smaller version of the portrait, and at its bottom a light-refracting metallic likeness of an architectural feature from the parliament buildings. The portraits on the face are more centred on the note. The backs of the notes introduce new cultural and thematic imagery, but the literary quotation is not continued. The polymer notes continue the tactile feature, from the Canadian Journey series.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: On International Women's Day 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that an "iconic" Canadian woman would be featured on one of the upcoming notes.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: On 8 December 2016, the Government of Canada and the Bank of Canada announced that civil rights activist Viola Desmond would replace John A. Macdonald (who had been on the face of the $10 note since 1971) as the first non-royal woman to appear alone on a regularly circulated Bank of Canada note. This note was released to the public on 19 November 2018.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: Beginning in 2018, newly designed Canadian banknotes (initially the $10 note) were vertical in orientation.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: ‡ Withdrawn from circulation. Most currency withdrawn from circulation is still legal tender. As of 1 January 2021, the $1, $2, $25, $500 and $1,000 bills from every Bank of Canada series are no longer legal tender. Despite the introduction of new notes, older notes are still in use.


title: Banknotes of the Canadian dollar

text: + Two varieties were printed, the first with conventional serial numbers, the second with the double date "1867–1967" appearing twice instead. Neither type is scarce. Both varieties also have on the obverse a stylized maple leaf with the double date below it.


title: Alica Schmidt

text: Alica Schmidt (; born 8 November 1998) is a German runner. She was part of the national team that came second in the 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2017 European Athletics U20 Championships, and third in the same discipline at the 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships. She was previously a fitness coach of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. Schmidt was part of the German relay squad at the 2020 Summer Olympics, though she did not compete.


title: Alica Schmidt

text: Schmidt was born in 1998 in Worms, Germany. Her family now lives in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. She attended Fresenius University of Applied Sciences.


title: Alica Schmidt

text: Schmidt started competing in the 200 metres, 400 metres, and 800 metres running events. In 2018, she started competing in 400 metres hurdles events. Schmidt began her career training at MTV Ingolstadt.


title: Alica Schmidt

text: In 2017, Schmidt came second in the 200 metres event at the under-20s German Championship. At the 2017 European Athletics U20 Championships, Schmidt was part of the German 4 × 400 metres relay team that finished second, alongside Vanessa Aniteye, Meike Gerlach and Corinna Schwab. Their time of 03:33:08 was faster than the previous age group world record, but they finished behind the Ukrainian team, who set the new world record. It was the first medal at the Championships for an Ingolstadt athlete since 1999. Schmidt also set a personal best time of 54.23 seconds in a qualifying round of the individual 400 metres event at the Championships. She was withdrawn from the individual 400 metres final in order to focus on the relay event. In the same year, she came second at the German under-20 Championship in the 400 metres event.


title: Alica Schmidt

text: In October 2017, Schmidt started training at , after moving to Brandenburg for personal reasons. Ahead of the 2019 season, Schmidt joined SCC Berlin. She was part of the German team that came third in the 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships. At the 2019 German Athletics Championships, Schmidt came third in the under-23s 400 metres event, and was part of the SCC Berlin team that came second in the 4 × 400 metres relay event. During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, Schmidt trained alone, and ran through forests.


title: Alica Schmidt

text: Schmidt was in the German squad for the 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships. Schmidt was selected for the German relay squad at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics; she travelled to the games as a substitute in the mixed relay, in which she did not run. She came second in the 400 metres event at the 2022 German Indoor Athletics Championships, behind Corinna Schwab. Schmidt chose not to compete at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships, in order to focus on her outdoor season. Schmidt was part of the German team that finished sixth in the final of the 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2022 European Athletics Championships.


title: Alica Schmidt

text: In 2017, Australian magazine "Busted Coverage" described Schmidt as "the world's sexiest athlete". After hearing of this, Schmidt said: "I do not know why I got this title. Sport clearly comes first." She attributed this for an increase in her social media followers; in 2018, she had 208,000 Instagram followers, in 2020, she had 745,000 followers, and in 2021, she had over 2 million followers on the platform. Schmidt is sponsored by Puma.


title: Surbhi Chandna

text: Surbhi Chandna (born 11 September 1989) is an Indian actress. She made her acting debut in 2009 with the role of Sweety in "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah" and had her first major role in "Qubool Hai" as Haya. Chandna is best known for her portrayal of Annika Oberoi in "Ishqbaaaz" and Bani Singhania in supernatural franchise "Naagin 5". She is currently seen portraying Manmeet Shergill in Colors TV's romantic "Sherdil Shergill".


title: Surbhi Chandna

text: Chandna debuted on television in 2009 with a cameo in the most longest-running sitcom ever, "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah" that airs on Sony SAB. After a break of four years, she essayed Suzanne in Star Plus's "Ek Nanad Ki Khushiyon Ki Chaabi… Meri Bhabhi".


title: Surbhi Chandna

text: From 2014 to 2015, she portrayed the deaf and mute Haya in Zee TV's romantic drama "Qubool Hai". In 2015, she had a small part as Aamna Khan in her first Bollywood venture, the Vidya Balan starrer "Bobby Jasoos".


title: Surbhi Chandna

text: From 2016 to 2018, Chandna played Annika Oberoi in Star Plus's "Ishqbaaaz". For her performance, she won several awards including the Indian Television Academy Award, Asian Viewers Television Award, Gold Award and Lions Gold Award. In 2017, she also appeared in the spin-off of Ishqbaaaz titled "Dil Boley Oberoi".


title: Surbhi Chandna

text: From 2019 to 2020, Chandna portrayed Dr.Ishani Arora in Star Plus's "Sanjivani". From 2020 to 2021, she portrayed Bani Singhania in Colors TV's "Naagin" opposite Sharad Malhotra.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (, transliteration: ', "Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee"), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the Syrian Civil War. It was formed on 28 January 2017 as a merger between Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra Front), the Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. During the foundation declaration, then-Emir Abu Jaber Shaykh described the Levant Liberation Committe "an independent entity" free from all the previous relations and allegiances as a result of the newly formed union, thereby disassociating itself from factions such as the Al-Nusra Front. Proclaiming the nascent organisation as "a new stage in the life of the blessed revolution”, Abu Jaber called upon all factions of the Syrian opposition to unite under its Islamic leadership and wage a "popular Jihad" to achieve the objectives of the Syrian revolution; namely ousting of the Assad regime and its Hezbollah partners from Syrian territories and form an Islamic government.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: After the announcement, additional groups and individuals joined. The merged group is currently led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and former Ahrar al-Sham leaders, although the High Command consists of leaders from other groups. Many groups and individuals defected from Ahrar al-Sham, representing their more conservative and Salafist elements. The Ansar al-Din Front and Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement have since split off from Tahrir al-Sham. It had an estimated 6,000-15,000 members in 2022.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham gives allegiance to the Syrian Salvation Government, which is an alternative government of the Syrian opposition in Idlib Governorate.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: Al-Nusra/JFS co-operated with Ahrar al-Sham for much of 2015–16. Leading Ahrar al-Sham cleric Abu Jaber had long criticized al-Nusra's affiliation to al-Qaeda as setting back the cause of the rebels, and had also been the focus of attempts to unify Islamist rebel elements. He led a more Islamist and less nationalist faction within Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Ahrar, which supported merger of Ahrar al-Sham with JFS. There were merger talks in late 2016, but these broke down. In early 2017 it clashed with rival Islamist groups in Idlib, in particular Ahrar al-Sham, but Jaish al-Ahrar detached itself from Ahrar al-Sham to merge with JFS in a new body.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: Abdullah al-Muhaysini, Abu Taher al-Hamawi, and Abd ar-Razzaq al-Mahdi worked on the formation of the group. The new formation was announced on 28 January 2017.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: According to Syria analyst Charles Lister, Ahrar al-Sham lost some 800-1,000 defectors to HTS, but gained at least 6,000-8,000 more from the merger into its ranks of Suqor al-Sham, Jaish al-Mujahideen, Fastaqim Union and the western Aleppo units of the Levant Front, and the Idlib-based units of Jaysh al-Islam. JFS meanwhile lost several hundred fighters to Ahrar al-Sham, but gained 3,000-5,000 fighters from its merger with Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zinki, Liwa al-Haq, Jaish al-Sunna, and Jabhat Ansar al-Din into HTS. Nour al-Din al-Zenki had at one time been supported by the US.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: Soon after the group's formation, many local Syrians began referring to the group as Hetesh, which was an Arabic acronym meant as a pejorative, similar to the "Daesh" label applied to ISIL by much of the Arab world. This labeling indicated that many Syrians saw Tahrir al-Sham as no different from ISIL, especially given the similarities between Tahrir al-Sham's recent attacks and ISIL's massive offensive on rebel forces in 2014.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: HTS suffered losses from air attacks by Coalition forces. On 3 February, a US airstrike struck a Tahrir al-Sham headquarters in Sarmin, killing 12 members of HTS and Jund al-Aqsa. 10 of the killed militants were HTS members. The airstrike also killed HTS commander Ibrahim al-Rihaal Abu Bakr, according to analyst Kyle Orton.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: There has been resistance to HTS by civilians in rebel areas it controls. On 3 February, hundreds of Syrians demonstrated under the slogan "There is no place for al-Qaeda in Syria" in the towns of Atarib, Azaz, Maarat al-Nu'man to protest against HTS. In response, supporters of HTS organized counter-protests in al-Dana, Idlib, Atarib, and Khan Shaykhun. In Idlib pro- Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham protests were held waving pictures of its emir Abu Jaber on 3 February 2017. Attendance at a speech by HTS cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini was manipulated by drawing internally displaced persons and impoverished people with promises of motorcycles and refrigerators through a raffle.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: On 4 February 2017, a US airstrike killed al-Qaeda commander Abu Hani al-Masri, who was a part of Ahrar al-Sham at the time of his death. It was reported that he was about to defect to Tahrir al-Sham before his death. On the same day, Tahrir al-Sham official Muslah al-Alyani criticized other groups for not joining Tahrir al-Sham, arguing that any group that "fought for Islam" would be bombed, regardless of terrorist designations. In his statement, he indicated that one of the reasons why most Ahrar al-Sham fighters refused to join Tahrir al-Sham was because the latter group contained terrorist-designated individuals.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: Around 8 February, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi confirmed that 2 senior Jabhat Fateh al-Sham leaders loyal to al-Qaeda, including former al-Nusra deputy leader Sami al-Oraydi, left Tahrir al-Sham after its formation.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: A speech was released by Abu Jaber on 9 February. He emphasized his group being an "independent entity" and praised his "brothers" in the "Syrian Jihad". The statement included derogatory rhetoric on Shia Muslims, saying the Shiites (“rejectionists”) will “enslave the region" if the rebels lose the war.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: On 12 February, the Bunyan al-Marsous Operations Room, of which Tahrir al-Sham was a member, launched an offensive against the Syrian Army in Daraa's Manshiyah district. Tahrir al-Sham forces reportedly began the attack with 2 suicide bombers and car bombs.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: On 13 February, clashes erupted between the previously-allied Tahrir al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa, also called Liwa al-Aqsa, in northern Hama and southern Idlib.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: On 15 February, Ahrar al-Sham published an infographic on its recent defections, claiming that only 955 fighters had defected to Tahrir al-Sham. There were also reports that Ahrar al-Sham, the Sham Legion, Jaysh al-Izza, the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria, and the Tamkin Brigade would soon merge to form a new organization called the Syrian Liberation Front.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: On 19 February, HTS arrested local FSA commander Anas Ibrahim in Atarib, and, in response, an anti-HTS protest was held in the town.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: On 20 February, a Ma'arat al-Numan Shura Council was created by the Sham Legion, Ahrar al-Sham, and Tahrir al-Sham.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: On 22 February, the Combating Terrorism Center reported that Jabhat Fateh al-Sham had formed the Tahrir al-Sham group due to its fear of being isolated, and to counter Ahrar al-Sham's recent expansion during the clashes in the Idlib Province.


title: Tahrir al-Sham

text: On 22 February, the last of Liwa al-Asqa's 2,100 militants left their final positions in Khan Shaykhun, with unconfirmed reports in pro-government media that they were to join ISIL in the Ar-Raqqah Province after a negotiated withdrawal deal with Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkistan Islamic Party. Afterward, Tahrir al-Sham declared terminating Liwa al-Aqsa, and promised to watch for any remaining cells.