title: The Nickel Boys

text: After dealing with slavery in his Pulitzer-prize winning novel, "The Underground Railroad", Whitehead did not want to write "another heavy book." However, he felt the election of Donald Trump compelled him to do so. Whitehead deliberately narrowed the scope of the book and grounded it for the sake of realism, choosing not to include the speculative or fantastic elements of his other novels "Zone One" or "The Underground Railroad".


title: The Nickel Boys

text: "The Nickel Boys" is set at a fictionalized version of the Dozier School for Boys, dubbed Nickel Academy. Whitehead first heard of the real life Dozier School on Twitter in 2014. The school opened in 1900 and closed in 2011. The state of Florida ran Dozier, in Marianna, as a reform school. After decades of allegations against the school for allowing the beatings, rapes, torture, and even murder of students by guards and employees, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement began an investigation of the claims in 2010, followed by additional investigations by the United States Department of Justice in 2011, and an ongoing forensic investigation by the University of South Florida which began in 2012. The Department of Justice investigation revealed "systemic, egregious, and dangerous practices exacerbated by a lack of accountability and controls". The University of South Florida investigation discovered some 55 graves on school grounds by December 2012, and has continued to identify potential grave sites as recently as March 2019.


title: The Nickel Boys

text: On the review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, the novel received a cumulative "Rave" rating based on 53 reviews: 41 "Rave" reviews, 10 "Positive" reviews, 1 "Mixed" review, and 1 "Pan" review.


title: The Nickel Boys

text: Parul Sehgal, writing in "The New York Times", said "Whitehead has written novels of horror and apocalypse; nothing touches the grimness of the real stories he conveys here." "The Washington Post" critic Ron Charles wrote, "It shreds our easy confidence in the triumph of goodness and leaves in its place a hard and bitter truth about the ongoing American experiment."


title: The Nickel Boys

text: NPR's Maureen Corrigan said "It's a masterpiece squared, rooted in history and American mythology and, yet, painfully topical in its visions of justice and mercy erratically denied."


title: The Nickel Boys

text: "The New Republic" wrote, ""The Nickel Boys" is fiction, but it burns with outrageous truth." Meanwhile, "The Guardian" wrote, "[Whitehead] demonstrates to superb effect how racism in America has long operated as a codified and sanctioned activity intended to enrich one group at the expense of another."


title: The Nickel Boys

text: In October 2022, a film adaptation of "The Nickel Boys" by MGM's Orion Pictures was announced. RaMell Ross, who will direct the film, adapted the screenplay with Joslyn Barnes. The film's cast will include Aunjanue Ellis, Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater and Fred Hechinger. Whitehead will serve as executive producer of the film.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: Jason Yevgeniy Gastrow (born January 30, 1991), known online as videogamedunkey or simply dunkey, is an American YouTuber known for his YouTube skits and video essays that blend dry humor with video game criticism. As of February 2022, Gastrow's YouTube channel has seven million subscribers, and he has accumulated over three billion views.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: Gastrow has been publishing videos online since 2003. Initially, he created Flash animations that he uploaded on the website Newgrounds under the username "MeatwadSprite". Examples include "Great Yoshi Migration", his first video, and a parody of the Village People song "Y.M.C.A." On the H3h3 Podcast, Gastrow said he wanted to be an animator when he was young.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: Gastrow started his current YouTube channel, "videogamedunkey", in 2010, with a video of him performing a speedrun of the 1991 game "Battletoads". Gastrow recalled that the name "videogamedunkey" came about when he was playing "Left 4 Dead" with a friend. He "told him to pet a donkey or something," and after trapping his friend in the game, told him he would release him if he said "go go magic dunk". In a 2015 Reddit thread, Gastrow mentioned that his channel's profile picture was designed by Newgrounds animator Chris O'Neill. By September 2015, the "videogamedunkey" channel had 1.8 million subscribers. Gastrow's videos have collectively generated over three billion views. Outside of YouTube, Gastrow is active on Twitter and has pages on Facebook and Reddit. He and his wife Leah also run "Dunkey's Castle", an online merchandise shop.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: Gastrow primarily covers video games on his channel. This includes posting reviews, playthroughs, video essays, and montages. He has also reviewed films, such as "The Shining". During his channel's initial years, Gastrow was primarily known for his coverage of the 2009 multiplayer online battle arena game "League of Legends". According to Yannick LeJacq of "Kotaku", Gastrow "had a special place in the "League of Legends" universe for consistently producing some of the best, and definitely the funniest, material in the game's massive community". However, he quit making "League" videos in September 2015, after he was banned for "toxic" behavior, such as repeatedly insulting other players on his team in the in-game chat. Gastrow is also known for popularizing jokes about "Knack" (2013) and its sequel "Knack II" (2017), titles for the PlayStation 4, to the point that the games "became the internet's favorite punchline".


title: Videogamedunkey

text: Gastrow initially signed a contract with internet entertainment platform Machinima, Inc., which according to him took a large cut of his earnings from advertising. In 2013, Gastrow switched from Machinima to Maker Studios, which reportedly took more revenue than Machinima. Microsoft offered to pay if he made four videos for Xbox Live's Summer of Arcade. Shortly after Gastrow uploaded the first video, in which he lambasted the game he was playing, Microsoft took down the video and canceled the deal. Gastrow has since worked with Curse LLC, which he has praised. Gastrow reportedly earns up to 1.7 million a year, and he is "likely the highest-earning cultural commentator with connections to Madison".


title: Videogamedunkey

text: In December 2020, Gastrow released a video in which he stated he would stop making "good videos" and instead switch to a daily schedule. He subsequently released shorter videos on a daily basis that satirized his stated plans and featured clickbait titles. For example, a purported "Minecraft" video involved Gastrow playing as the default Steve avatar from "Minecraft" in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". According to his wife, the switch in content format was because he was "feeling frustrations about the current YouTube landscape and worried about the future", where his and other channels' past curated content has been "overshadowed by the latest trends and low effort stuff" from larger channels. "Polygon" noted that the videos performed better than Gastrow's previous content, anticipating that he was exemplifying the current problems with YouTube to bring the situation to light and would eventually return to his normal curated content.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: In August 2021, Gastrow joked in a live stream that Kanye West's then-upcoming album "Donda" would sample a song from the animated short film "Strawinsky and the Mysterious House" (2012); upon the album's release, the track "Remote Control" sampled the exact clip, leading fans to theorize that West's team watched Gastrow's stream.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: In September 2022, Gastrow and his wife launched Bigmode, a video game publishing company specializing in publishing indie games. Gastrow stated in a video announcing the new company, "I think we're going to bring insane value to the table and the bottom line is: help good games succeed and help them continue to succeed into the future". While there was some criticism by gaming journalists, the announcement was well received by indie developers.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: In November 2022, Gastrow uploaded a video criticizing "Sonic Frontiers", which resulted in the game being review bombed on Metacritic. Gastrow stated he did not intend for the video to spark review bombing and accused "Sonic" fans of leaving negative reviews to make his fans look bad.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: According to himself, Gastrow sometimes writes a script for a video and records voice-overs during post-production, while other times recording along as he plays. Gastrow's videos depicting "League of Legends" and "Overwatch" (2016) are examples of the latter; he stated in an interview that he "would try to cut out the funniest parts." Gastrow's most viewed video, "Ultimate "Skyrim"", depicts him playing "" (2011) using a variety of user-created modifications to the point of breaking the game. Gastrow has cited people he knows, Adult Swim television series such as "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", "Space Ghost Coast to Coast", and the Tim & Eric shows as inspiration, and has said he enjoys watching videos by YouTubers ProJared and Gaming Historian.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: According to "Tone Madison" Reid Kurkerewicz, Gastrow is an example of "new games criticism", a reviewing approach inspired by New Journalism. While most of Gastrow's videos are intended to be humorous, he makes serious ones as well. Gastrow has been noted as a "fierce consumer advocate, deeply skeptical of corporate marketing machines." For instance, he has criticized Nintendo for demonetizing his review of "Super Mario Odyssey" (2017) on copyright grounds, and Microsoft for its business practices, including the cancellation of their Summer of Arcade deal. In his 2017 video "Game Critics", Gastrow denounced websites such as "IGN" for their decentralized opinions, poor writing, "the fuzzy ethics of building relationships with the companies [they're] meant to cover," and the divide between critics and audiences.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: Gene Park of "The Washington Post" described Gastrow as one of the most influential critics on YouTube, noting he has inspired a number of imitators, and called him the Lester Bangs of video games. Like Bangs, Park wrote, Gastrow is an industry outsider, has created modern vernacular, and is an advocate for consumers. Patrick Klepek, writing for "Vice", said Gastrow is one of the few YouTubers he subscribes to, calling him "a video editing maestro whose ability to make you laugh and understand why a game's interesting at the same time is unmatched. Even my wife, who barely plays games, loves Dunkey." Gastrow's ban from "League of Legends" for verbal abuse divided his followers; some defended him while others expressed surprise he considered insulting other players acceptable.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: Gastrow was born on January 30, 1991. He has lived in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. Gastrow's mother is a second grade teacher. In September 2019, Gastrow married fellow YouTuber Leah Bee.


title: Videogamedunkey

text: It is a common misconception and a running gag on the channel that Gastrow is black, which Bee attributes to his voice and the fact that he rarely shows his face in videos.


title: Peace lines

text: The peace lines or peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly republican and nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly loyalist and unionist Protestant neighbourhoods. They have been built at urban interface areas in Belfast and elsewhere.


title: Peace lines

text: The majority of peace walls are located in Belfast, but they also exist in other regions with more than 20 miles of walls in Northern Ireland.


title: Peace lines

text: Although temporary peace walls were built in Belfast in the 1920s (in Ballymacarett) and 1930s (in Sailortown), the first peace lines of "the Troubles" era were built in 1969, following the outbreak of civil unrest and the 1969 Northern Ireland riots. They were initially built as temporary structures, but due to their effective nature they have become wider, longer, more numerous and more permanent. Originally few in number, they have multiplied over the years, from 18 in the early 1990s to at least 59 as of late 2017; in total they stretch over , with most located in Belfast. They have been increased in both height and number since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Three-quarters of Belfast's estimated 97 peace lines and related structures (such as gates and closed roads) are in the north and west of the city. These are also the poorer and more disadvantaged areas of Belfast. 67% of deaths during the sectarian violence occurred within of one of these "interface structures".


title: Peace lines

text: The stated purpose of the peace lines is to minimise inter-communal violence between Catholics (most of whom are nationalists who self-identify as Irish) and Protestants (most of whom are unionists who self-identify as British).


title: Peace lines

text: The peace lines range in length from a few hundred metres (yards) to over . They may be made of iron, brick, steel or a combination of the three and are up to high. Some have gates in them (sometimes staffed by police) that allow passage during daylight but are closed at night.


title: Peace lines

text: In recent years, they have even become locations for tourism. Black taxis now take groups of tourists around Belfast's peace lines, trouble spots and famous murals.


title: Peace lines

text: The most prominent peace lines in the past few years separate the nationalist Falls Road and unionist Shankill Road areas of West Belfast; the nationalist Short Strand from the unionist Cluan Place areas of East Belfast, the unionist Corcrain Road and the nationalist Orbins Drive in Portadown and the unionist Fountain Estate and nationalist Bishop Street area of Derry.


title: Peace lines

text: In 2008, a public discussion began about how and when the peace lines could be removed. Belfast City Council agreed to develop a strategy regarding the removal of peace walls on 1 September 2011. At the end of 2011, several local community initiatives resulted in the opening of a number of interface structures for a trial period. A study was released in 2012 indicating that 69% of residents believe that the peace walls are still necessary because of potential violence.


title: Peace lines

text: In January 2012, the International Fund for Ireland launched a Peace Walls funding programme to support local communities who want to work towards beginning to remove the peace walls. In May 2013, the Northern Ireland Executive committed to the removal of all peace lines by mutual consent by 2023.


title: Peace lines

text: In 2017, the Belfast Interface Project published a study entitled "Interface Barriers, Peacelines & Defensive Architecture" that identified 97 separate walls, barriers and interfaces in Belfast. A history of the development of these structures can be found at the Peacewall Archive.


title: Peace lines

text: In September 2017, the Northern Ireland Department of Justice published its Interface Programme, established to deliver the commitment made by the Northern Ireland Executive to remove all Interface structures by 2023 under the Together: Building a United Community Strategy.


title: Peace lines

text: In September 2019, a series of events were held in Belfast to mark the anniversary of 50 years of peace lines in the city. This included an international conference alongside other events to discuss the past and possible future of the peace lines.


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gareth Paul Gates (born 12 July 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show "Pop Idol" in 2002. As of 2008, Gates had sold over 3.5 million records in the UK. He is also known for having a stutter, and has talked about his speech impediment publicly. Gates used the McGuire Programme to manage his stutter and is now a speech coach with the programme.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In 2009, Gates moved into musical theatre, playing the title role in the West End production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat" at the Adelphi Theatre. In 2009–2011, Gates completed an 18-month stint as Marius, initially in the touring production and then in the West End production of "Les Misérables". He also took the roles of Eddie in the musical "Loserville", Warner in "Legally Blonde" in 2012 and Dean in "Boogie Nights the Musical in Concert" in 2013. He was part of the pop group 5th Story, set up for "The Big Reunion".


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gates was born in West Bowling, Bradford, to Paul and Wendy (née Farry) Broadbent. He has three sisters, Nicola (born 1985), Charlotte (born 1991), and Jessica (born 1993) and grew up with his cousin James (born 1986) who was fostered by the family. His parents regularly foster other children. Gates and his sisters attended Dixons City Technology College in West Bowling, Bradford where Gates studied art and music at GCSE level.


title: Gareth Gates

text: He joined Bradford Cathedral choir at age nine. He was head chorister by the age of eleven, singing solo for the Queen when she visited in 1997. Gates achieved Grade 8 in piano, classical guitar and singing. He became a Christian through Bradford's Abundant Life church, where he played his guitar. He gained a reserve place at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester before the finals of "Pop Idol".


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gates was the runner-up to Will Young on the first series of "Pop Idol" in February 2002. Gates auditioned with Flying Without Wings and was put through to the next round of the show. Despite not winning the competition, he was soon signed up by Simon Cowell to the BMG label.


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gates' first single, a cover of "Unchained Melody", entered the UK Singles Chart at number one. The single went double-platinum in the UK, and was voted 2002's The Record of the Year by ITV viewers. This was followed by another number-one single, "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)". His third single, a double A-side "Suspicious Minds"/"The Long and Winding Road", a duet with "Pop Idol" winner Will Young, also reached number one. His fourth, "What My Heart Wants to Say", reached number five. Gates's debut album "What My Heart Wants to Say" achieved first week sales of 100,000 copies, peaking at number two in the UK Albums Chart, and eventually earned double platinum status in the UK.


title: Gareth Gates

text: "Smash Hits" magazine dedicated 7 October 2002 as International Gareth Gates Day. In 2003, Gates sang the 2003 Comic Relief charity single, "Spirit in the Sky", with The Kumars. The single was a UK number-one for two weeks. He also appeared in Comic Relief's "Celebrity Driving School". Through Comic Relief, he became involved with Body and Soul, a charity that helps people affected by HIV and AIDS.


title: Gareth Gates

text: His next single, "Sunshine", reached number three and was taken from his second album "Go Your Own Way", which was released in October 2003. However, the album was far less successful than his debut album. It peaked at number eleven in the UK before dropping to No. 32 the following week, and only spent four weeks on the album chart altogether. The album enjoyed slightly more success in a number of Asian countries however, and Gates won MTV Asia's award for Best International Male in 2003/04. He was awarded the same title by MTV China and MTV Taiwan.


title: Gareth Gates

text: His next single, "Say it Isn't So", reached number four in late 2003, but proved to be Gates' last single release in the UK until April 2007. At the start of 2004 he did an arena tour of the UK, then continued to promote his album throughout Europe and Asia, before taking a break and training as a speech coach and course instructor with the McGuire Programme.


title: Gareth Gates

text: By this point, Gates had sold just over three million music singles in the UK, including the second and sixth best selling singles in 2002 ("Unchained Melody", which sold 1.4 million, and "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)", which sold 581,000) and the second best selling single in 2003 ("Spirit in the Sky", 561,000 copies). All three of these singles were listed in the Top 100 singles of the decade (2000–2009) as announced on Radio 1 with Spirit in the Sky at no. 62, Anyone of Us (no. 56), and Unchained Melody (no. 2). The biggest selling single of the decade was "Anything is Possible"/"Evergreen" by Will Young, whom Gates had lost the Pop Idol contest to. In the 2003 film, "Seeing Double", alongside pop group S Club, Gates played a clone version of himself. He also promoted AIDS awareness through a charity concert to 50,000 people with MTV in Indonesia.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In 2003 and 2004, it was reported that Gates was being dropped by his record company BMG. The reports, which also cited low sales of his second album and low concert ticket sales as reasons, were denied by both Gates and the record company at the time. Gates was later dropped from the label in April 2006 before the release of any new material.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In 2006, Gates appeared in a television documentary for ITV1 called "Whatever Happened To Gareth Gates?", which dealt with his experiences in the music industry and his life outside it. The documentary was screened in December 2006, and confirmed a new record deal with UMTV (part of Universal) and a new album as well as showcasing snippets of the new material. An early preview of his new album was given at a secret gig on 29 November 2006. Gates had been working with writers such as Sacha Skarbek (who has worked with James Blunt), Ricky Ross (of Deacon Blue), Gary Clark and Pete Gordeno, and new the album was produced by Martin Terefe, Jon Hall and Nick Whitecross.


title: Gareth Gates

text: Since 2004 Gates had also been working with singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke. Initial contact was apparently made through Lucie Silvas. Gates' regular acoustic guitarist, Graham Kearns, also worked with Tzuke and has writing credits with Gates on both albums. Appearing at the Limelight venue in Crewe during Tzuke's October 2004 tour, Gates sang backing vocals to a surprised audience on Tzuke's track "Bully" (from her album "Secret Agent"). A song Gates co-wrote with Tzuke, "Dark Days", appeared on Tzuke's 2007 album "Songs 1".


title: Gareth Gates

text: On 30 March 2007, Gates appeared on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross", the first time he had participated in an interview for a mainstream television chat-show since his speech improvement.


title: Gareth Gates

text: The first single from Gates' third album was "Changes" which was released on 9 April 2007. The single peaked at Number 14. A second single, "Angel on My Shoulder", was released on 18 June 2007, peaking at Number 22. Both singles remained in the UK Top 40 for only one week. Gates' third album, "Pictures of the Other Side", was released on 25 June 2007. It proved to be Gates' lowest selling album to date and spent only two weeks on the UK album chart, entering at Number 23 before falling to Number 66 the following week, then dropping out of the chart altogether.


title: Gareth Gates

text: On 6 July 2008, Gates starred in the line-up for "A Spoonful of Stiles & Drewe", a charity fundraiser to celebrate 25 years of musical theatre composers George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Gates played the part of Robbie in a preview of a new musical "Soho Cinders" and features on the album.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In 2008, Gates appeared on ITV1's "Dancing on Ice" with skating partner Maria Filippov, finishing fourth, losing a place in the final to Zaraah Abrahams and dancing partner Fred Palascak.


title: Gareth Gates

text: During his time working with Judie Tzuke, Gates also co-wrote the song "Christmas and I'm Home" with her. It was first premiered live by Gates in 2004 in Bradford, and Tzuke recorded the song with pianist Haim Cotton. Tzuke's version was released commercially in November 2008, as a charity single download and as a physical CD single sold exclusively through the CD Baby website.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In 2009, Gates was cast in the lead role in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Adelphi Theatre, London. Taking over the role from Lee Mead, Gates began the role on 7 February 2009 and continued to play the part until the final performance on 30 May 2009.


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gates performed at the charity event "Broadway To West End by Special Arrangement" on 4 October 2009 at the Drury Lane Theatre, singing "Why God, Why?" as a solo and "The Last Night of the World" as a duet with Ima Castro. Both songs come from the musical "Miss Saigon". The event was to honour the work of orchestrator William David Brohm and raised funds for CLIC Sargent Cancer care.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In June 2009, it was announced that Gates was joining the cast of the International 25th Anniversary World Tour production of "Les Misérables" in the role of Marius. Gates had been offered the choice of playing Marius in London's West End or in the anniversary tour, but opted for the tour as it was a new production and there was the opportunity to make the part his own. A live cast recording, "Les Misérables Live", was recorded in Manchester and released as a double album in September 2010 on the label First Night Records.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In December 2009, Gates took part in ITV's "All Star Family Fortunes", along with his then wife Suzanne, mum Wendy, sister Nicola and best friend Matt, and won £30,000 for The Bobby Moore Fund for bowel cancer. Other TV and sporting activities for charity have included an appearance on Sky's "Don't Forget the Lyrics!" and ITV's "Mr. and Mrs." again for the Bobby Moore Fund and various events for the Rhys Daniels Trust.


title: Gareth Gates

text: Following the final performance of the anniversary tour at The Barbican, London, in October 2010, Gates joined the West End production of "Les Misérables" at Queen's Theatre where he continued to play the part of Marius until June 2011.


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gates took a break from musical theatre to work on other projects, including writing a new album, but planned to return in March 2012, taking the part of Claude in the UK touring production of "Hair" It was later announced that the musical would not proceed as efforts to rescue the tour following the bankruptcy of the original production company had failed.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In January 2012, Gates featured in a one night only charity production of "Children of Eden" playing the part of Cain/Japeth in aid of Crohn's disease.


title: Gareth Gates

text: A documentary, "Stop My Stutter", was broadcast on BBC Three in February 2012. In the documentary, Gates worked with five young men and women who've stammered since childhood. Speaking of the documentary, he said "Hopefully this documentary will give people an insight into something that most take for granted – speaking!"


title: Gareth Gates

text: Instead, Gates played Eddie in the new musical "Loserville" at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2012. The musical was written by Busted's James Bourne and Elliot Davis. Along with Gates, the cast also included "EastEnders" Aaron Sidwell and Lil' Chris.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In early 2013 he toured in the musical "Boogie Nights", with members of The Osmonds, Louise Lytton, Shane Ritchie, Chico & Andy Abraham.


title: Gareth Gates

text: On 27 December 2013, it was announced that Gates, along with Dane Bowers (from Another Level), Kenzie (from Blazin' Squad), Adam Rickitt, and Kavana would be forming a "supergroup" called 5th Story for the ITV2 documentary "The Big Reunion". Following the programme, the newly formed group toured in October 2014 as part of the Big Reunion Boyband Tour.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In January 2014, Gates again took part in "Dancing on Ice" for the final series, partnered this time by Brianne Delcourt. This year's show consisted of former series champions and public favourites. He finished in 7th place, and went on to appear in the very last "Dancing on Ice" tour in March and April 2014.


title: Gareth Gates

text: A compilation album, "The Very Best of Gareth Gates", was released by Sony Music in March 2014. It includes the hit singles from his first two albums and two other tracks from his first album (all of which are owned by Sony Music), plus three brand new acoustic tracks which he recorded with his guitarist Pete Rinaldi. The album failed to chart.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In 2016, Gates starred as Willard in a national tour of "Footloose". He took several breaks during the tour, and during his absences his part was played by Lee Brennan.


title: Gareth Gates

text: During spring 2017, Gates appeared in Robin Hood Easter Panto at various locations within the United Kingdom.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In June 2022, Gates hosted a Bradford-based Jubilee party, "Big 80s Festival", in celebration of the Queen's seventieth year on the throne. Gates said, "I speak to people in Bradford. To see a huge act, they often have to go to a different city. Whether that’s over to Manchester, Leeds or even Birmingham. To bring all these acts to Bradford, we are trying to do something where we are now their go-to events company to see world class acts. Our main aim is make sure the people of Bradford don’t have to travel and they can get all these shows on their doorstep."


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gates lived in Chiswick, West London, with wife Suzanne Gates (née Mole) until their split in 2012. The couple met when she was a dancer at the Record of the Year awards in 2002, which Gates won for "Unchained Melody". In October 2006, "The People" newspaper incorrectly reported that they had secretly married. However, Gates and Mole got engaged on New Year's Eve 2007 and were married on 18 July 2008 in a private ceremony for family and friends. The couple had a child together on 6 April 2009, a girl they named Missy.


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gates met his former partner "Coronation Street" star Faye Brookes when they starred together in "Legally Blonde: The Musical", shortly before he split from his wife.


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gates qualified as a speech coach and latterly as a course instructor with the McGuire Programme where he helps those with stammers similar to his own. He co-led his first full course in February 2005 and in August 2006 he instructed his first course single-handedly in Galway, Ireland. He led his second at Bournemouth in November 2006.


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gates spoke to MPs including David Amess, Robert Buckland, and Steve Brine at the Palace of Westminster as part of a briefing on communication disability hosted by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and the Centre for Social Justice. Gates said "By speaking today I hope to shed light on the issues that surround speech and language difficulties. In particular, through my own experiences, I want to explain how the inability to converse and communicate drastically shapes and moulds people's lives. It determines the sort of people they become and the paths they follow." On 18 October 2011, his work as an ambassador, raising awareness of the issues surrounding speech difficulties was recognised at the Giving Voice Awards Ceremony.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In 2012, Gates, alongside Jonathan Wilkes, then-wife Suzanne and Wilkes' wife Nikki, set up the Gates and Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts for young people from ages 5–18, in his home town of Bradford. Gates and Wilkes opened a second academy in Milton Keynes. During an interview with BBC Radio Leeds on 16 June 2012, Gates announced plans to open a further academy in Leeds. After the separation from his wife, the partnership was broken up, though Gates now has three performing arts academies of his own in Yorkshire.


title: Gareth Gates

text: In 2009, it was reported that Gates has made an estimated £6.5 million during his career to date. The "Irish Independent" newspaper reported that Gates was one of a number of celebrities with investments in the company Ingenious Media, which backed a number of films, including "Avatar" and "".


title: Gareth Gates

text: On 7 September 2008, Gates played for England against The Rest of the World in Soccer Aid 2008 at Wembley in aid of UNICEF.


title: Gareth Gates

text: Gates is a patron of the HIV/AIDS charity Body and Soul and of The Bobby Moore Fund, which supports research into bowel cancer. He took part in the 2009 Cosmo Everyman campaign to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer.


title: Buddha's hand

text: Citrus medica" var. "sarcodactylis, or the fingered citron, is an unusually-shaped citron variety whose fruit is segmented into finger-like sections, resembling those seen on representations of the Buddha. It is called Buddha's hand in many languages including English, Chinese (), Japanese (), Korean (), Vietnamese (quả phật thủ), and French (main de Bouddha).


title: Buddha's hand

text: The different cultivars and variations of this citron variety form a gradient from "open-hand" types with outward-splayed segments to "closed-hand" types, in which the fingers are kept together. There are also half-fingered fruits, in which the basal side is united and the apical side fingered. The origin of this kind of citron is commonly traced back to South or East Asia, probably northeastern India or China, where most domesticated citrus fruits originate.


title: Buddha's hand

text: "Citrus medica" var. "sarcodactylis" is, like any other citron variety, a shrub or small tree with long, irregular branches covered in thorns. Its large, oblong leaves are pale green and grow about four to six inches. Its white flowers are tinted purplish from the outside and grow in fragrant clusters. The fruit's fingers contain only the white part of the fruit and sometimes a small amount of acidic pulp, but many of them are completely juiceless and some are seedless.


title: Buddha's hand

text: The plant is sensitive to frost, as well as intense heat and drought. It grows best in a temperate climate. Trees can be grown from cuttings taken from branches two to four years old. It is very commonly grafted onto sufficient rootstock.


title: Buddha's hand

text: Buddha's hand fruit is very fragrant and is used predominantly in China and Japan for perfuming rooms and personal items such as clothing.


title: Buddha's hand

text: The fruit may be given as a religious offering in Buddhist temples. According to tradition, Buddha prefers the "fingers" of the fruit to be in a position where they resemble a closed rather than open hand, as closed hands symbolize to Buddha the act of prayer. In China, the Buddha's hand fruit is a symbol of happiness, longevity, and good fortune. It is also a traditional temple offering and a New Year's gift.


title: Buddha's hand

text: The fingered citron is cultivated as an ornamental tree in gardens and containers on patios and terraces.


title: Buddha's hand

text: Unlike other citrus fruits, most varieties of the Buddha's hand fruit contain no pulp or juice. Though esteemed chiefly for its "exquisite form and aroma", the Buddha's hand fruit can also be eaten (often as a zest or flavouring) in desserts, savory dishes, and alcoholic beverages (such as vodka or rice liquor) or candied as a sweet. The sliced, dried peel of immature fruits is also prescribed as a tonic in traditional medicine.


title: Hinamatsuri (manga)

text: Yoshifumi Nitta, a mid-level Yakuza of the Ashikawa-gumi, finds his normal life thrown into chaos when a girl from the future literally drops on his head without warning. Knowing nothing more than her name, Hina, and the fact that she has incredible psychokinetic powers, Yoshifumi reluctantly becomes her "de facto" father. However, Hina's arrival sets off a chain reaction of events that affects everyone in the city, especially after more girls from the future arrive to bring her back or terminate her.


title: Hinamatsuri (manga)

text: "Hinamatsuri" is written and illustrated by Masao Ōtake. It was serialized in Enterbrain's magazine "Harta", formerly known as "Fellows!", from June 15, 2010 to July 15, 2020. Its chapters were collected in nineteen "tankōbon" volumes. English manga publisher One Peace Books has licensed the series for publication in North America.


title: Hinamatsuri (manga)

text: A 12-episode anime television series adaptation by Feel aired from April 6 to June 22, 2018. The series is directed by Kei Oikawa with Keiichirō Ōchi writing the scripts and Nippon Columbia producing the music. Rie Murakawa performed the opening theme song "Distance", while Yoshiki Nakajima performed the ending theme as his character Yoshifumi Nitta. The second ending theme titled by Yoko Ishida is used in episode 6, while episode 12 uses two ending themes: by Haruka Chisuga and by Ari Ozawa as her character Mao, respectively. Crunchyroll simulcast the anime, while Funimation streamed an English dub.


title: Dave Brockie

text: David Murray Brockie (August 30, 1963 – March 23, 2014) was a Canadian-American musician, who was the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Gwar, in which he performed as Oderus Urungus. He performed as a bassist and lead singer in the bands Death Piggy, X-Cops, and the Dave Brockie Experience (DBX), and starred in the comedy/horror TV sitcom "Holliston" as Oderus Urungus. Brockie died of a heroin overdose in 2014.


title: Dave Brockie

text: David Brockie was the youngest of two adopted sons of William and Marion Brockie, both of whom were originally from the United Kingdom. David's older brother, Andrew, died from complications of AIDS in the early 1990s. While born in Canada, at age 3 his parents emigrated to the United States. David grew up in Fairfax, VA on Portsmouth Rd., near the intersection of Braddock Rd. and Route 123 (Chain Bridge Rd.).


title: Dave Brockie

text: He attended Oak View Elementary School and graduated from James W. Robinson Secondary High School in 1981. David's interest in playing music began in high school. David was a huge fan of Monty Python's Flying Circus and frequently impersonated their skits with friends. He possessed a vivid imagination and was very creative throughout his youth.


title: Dave Brockie

text: Brockie portrayed Oderus Urungus, Gwar's lead singer, from Gwar's inception in 1984 until his death. Oderus appeared as an intergalactic humanoid barbarian with devil horns and a meaty-looking face, and carried a long sword named "Unt Lick" and a cuttlefish around his loins.


title: Dave Brockie

text: According to the character's backstory, Oderus Urungus is 50 billion years old, and was assembled on a planet called Scumdogia in "Syntho Womb 5" after pieces of his moldy war frame were found scattered throughout the galaxy. His only true companion was his cuttlefish, though lost for a short period it returned to its true resting place, strategically placed over his loins.


title: Dave Brockie

text: According to interviews, Oderus's father was a supercomputer, and his mother was a petri dish. During a reading of "Goodnight Moon", Oderus revealed that he was born into a gladiatorial arena, during which time he was given a sword, and battled an onslaught of "slowtards" who were trying to rape him. It is suggested in the lyrics of "Fire in the Loins" (from "RagNaRok") that Slymenstra Hymen is his sister, but this is never fully explained.


title: Dave Brockie

text: Oderus Urungus was the only character to have existed in every incarnation of Gwar until his death, having started as a guitarist, then moving to bass, and finally lead vocals.


title: Dave Brockie

text: Like all of Gwar's characters, Oderus underwent several design changes since his inception. He first started out as a relatively normal-looking character with a papier-mâché helmet with spikes that appeared to be made out of aluminum foil. This eventually progressed into a rubber wig. In the late 1980s Brockie, along with Chuck Varga, created the now-famous original design mask.


title: Dave Brockie

text: After "Hell-O!", he added large shoulder pads. These remained relatively unchanged (except for materials used) until 1994, when Brockie experimented with a new style - the left arm resembled a very mutated tentacle. The change did not last, and by the year's end, the design returned to the World War I-era German helmet-shaped shoulder pads. This version can be found in the "Saddam A Go-Go" video from the "Rendezvous With RagNaRok" movie.


title: Dave Brockie

text: In 2001, after the filming of "It's Sleazy", Brockie redesigned the shoulder pads to their current design - two skulls with longer, more blade-shaped points. The disfigured face remained relatively unchanged since 1988, with slight additions made in 2001 (the redesign of Oderus was in collaboration with the medieval violence-themed "Violence Has Arrived" album, released in November of that year) – two horns, roughly six or seven inches (178 mm) in length.


title: Dave Brockie

text: For the "Beyond Hell" album and tours both preceding and succeeding said album, Oderus's mask was once again redesigned. It appeared more decayed and distorted than the previous masks, and there was exposed flesh on the forehead and the mask had a lighter color to it. The beard was fuller and larger and had red and green highlights in it. The most recent Oderus mask had longer horns and cheek bones that stood out more.


title: Dave Brockie

text: As the front man for the band, Dave Brockie was the most interviewed among the group, alternating between himself and Oderus Urungus. All of Gwar's major television appearances included Dave portraying Oderus.


title: Dave Brockie

text: Oderus appeared semi-regularly on the late-night Fox News talk show "Red Eye w/Greg Gutfeld" as the Intergalactic Correspondent from July 8, 2009, to September 30, 2010.


title: Dave Brockie

text: On April 3, 2012, the television sitcom "Holliston" had its world television premiere on the FEARnet cable television network. Created by horror filmmaker Adam Green ("Hatchet", "Frozen"), the series starred Dave Brockie in his "Oderus Urungus" character as series lead Adam Green's imaginary alien friend and guardian angel who lives in his closet. In each episode, whenever "Adam" faced a personal problem, "Oderus" would come out of his closet and dish out advice that was both hilariously and terribly misguided, oftentimes causing "Adam" to have even worse problems.


title: Dave Brockie

text: The series included heavy metal icon Dee Snider of Twisted Sister. "Holliston" was an instant success with horror and metal fans and a second season was green-lit the morning after the second episode had aired. The second season of "Holliston" began airing on television on June 4, 2012. Brockie toured and appeared with his castmates as "Oderus Urungus" at many live performances of "Holliston" across the United States in 2012 and 2013. Green appeared on stage with Gwar several times when the band had him introduce their encore performance. The full "Holliston" cast was murdered on stage and fed to both Gwar's world maggot and meat grinder at several US shows.


title: Dave Brockie

text: A third season of "Holliston" was being scripted by Green when Brockie died in March 2014. When asked in interviews about how he would address the loss of Brockie and whether or not "Holliston" would indeed continue, Green stated, "I am too heartbroken over the loss of my friend and brother to think about that right now." Green says he will be focusing on his other upcoming film projects until he is emotionally ready to turn his attention back to his TV series and that "it will take me however long it may take me."


title: Dave Brockie

text: Green joined Jello Biafra and Randy Blythe on stage as one of the speakers at Brockie's public memorial in Richmond, Virginia in August 2014 where he delivered a 15 minute eulogy to the crowd and posted a public eulogy in his blog on www.ariescope.com that included the full audio of Brockie's final voice mail to him. In the voice mail message, Brockie calls Green from Gwar's tour in Australia simply to say, "I miss my Holliston family and I love you… like a little motherfucking little brother. I love you very much."


title: Dave Brockie

text: In 2012, he joined the 11th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers.


title: Dave Brockie

text: In 1990, Brockie was arrested by police for obscenity after a Charlotte, North Carolina concert, that almost led to him being deported (Brockie was, at the time, a Canadian citizen and did not have a driver's license), taking the "Cuttlefish of Cthulhu" (an on-stage prop meant to represent Oderus's penis) into custody as "evidence". In the end, Brockie was not deported but was banned from North Carolina for a year.


title: Dave Brockie

text: The arrest was written into the Oderus Urungus mythology. Oderus attracts trouble wherever he goes, including one instance where, according to the storyline of Gwar's "America Must Be Destroyed" album and "Phallus in Wonderland" movie, Corporal Punishment of The Morality Squad ambushes and detaches the Cuttlefish. This is detailed in the song "Ham On The Bone" (although the song predates the event in question by more than a year, it fits the context of the story perfectly).


title: Dave Brockie

text: Since that incident, Oderus had made it a point to appear with the Cuttlefish whenever possible. Though some tours downplayed the "fish", Gwar's more recent tours had utilized a re-designed Cuttlefish as a means to spray the audience with various fluids.


title: Dave Brockie

text: Though he was the lead vocalist of Gwar, Dave Brockie played other instruments with the band. His original position was as one of the (three) guitarists, though other Slave Pit members (as well as Brockie himself) claimed that he was a very poor guitarist. Don Drakulich, a.k.a. Sleazy P. Martini, has given a similar answer in the "Ask Sleazy" section of Bohab Central (the largest Gwar fansite), even going so far as to say that all of Brockie's guitar parts on "Let There Be Gwar" were removed.


title: Dave Brockie

text: As a bass player, however, Brockie fared much better. In the "Live From Antarctica" concert video, Oderus played bass on "Cool Place To Park", while Michael Bishop (then Beefcake the Mighty) sang – though Bishop was capable of singing and playing at the same time, his thrashing and jumping made that impossible. Brockie also played bass on the tracks "Eat Steel" and "Fight", on Gwar's album "This Toilet Earth" (both these tracks feature Bishop's Beefcake on vocals). Additionally, Brockie played bass for X-Cops as Patrolman Cobb Knobbler, as well as the Dave Brockie Experience.


title: Dave Brockie

text: Brockie stated he grew up a "rocker"; he started out listening to heavy metal as a kid, then immediately became more absorbed into punk rock as a teenager, especially the 1980s hardcore punk scene. Brockie stated his favorite punk bands were Bad Brains, Black Flag, Dayglo Abortions and Charged GBH. He got back into heavy metal when thrash metal bands, such as Metallica and Slayer began to emerge.


title: Dave Brockie

text: On Sunday March 23, 2014, Brockie was found dead, his body sitting upright in a chair in his home, by a fellow band member. The cause of death was determined to be a heroin overdose. Gwar's management confirmed Brockie's death on the official Gwar website on March 24.


title: Dave Brockie

text: Fellow musicians honored his memory, including Lamb of God lead singer Randy Blythe, Foo Fighters lead singer Dave Grohl, and "The Daily Beast" writer Andy Hinds. Oderus Urungus was given a traditional Viking funeral in a public memorial prior to the 5th annual GWAR-B-Q event on August 15, 2014. Brockie is not buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, but has a memorial marker.


title: Dave Brockie

text: After Brockie's death, a fan petition was started to persuade the developers of "Mortal Kombat X" to include Oderus into the game as a tribute to Brockie. In addition, a second petition was made to persuade the developers of "Killer Instinct" to include Oderus.


title: Dave Brockie

text: As a part of the band's complex mythology, on the Gwar Eternal Tour, Mr. Perfect tells Gwar that he stole Oderus Urungus' immortality and impaled him on his own sword.


title: Dave Brockie

text: Brockie was survived by his father, William Brockie. In April 2015, William Brockie filed suit in Richmond, Virginia, Circuit Court against the surviving band members and their management company, Slave Pit Inc., seeking "$1 million in compensatory damages, punitive damages, and injunctive relief on claims of conversion, breach of contract, and unauthorized use of David Brockie's image."


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: On October 2, 2006, a shooting occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV took hostages and shot ten girls (aged 6–13), killing five, before committing suicide in the schoolhouse. The emphasis on forgiveness and reconciliation in the Amish community's response was widely discussed by the national media. The West Nickel Mines School was later demolished, and a new one-room schoolhouse, the New Hope School, was built at another location.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: Roberts backed a pickup truck to the front of the Amish schoolhouse and entered it at approximately 10:25 a.m. EDT, soon after the children had returned from recess. He asked the teacher, Emma Mae Zook, and the students if they had seen a missing clevis pin on the road. Survivors said he mumbled his words and did not make direct eye contact. After they said they had not seen a clevis pin, he went back to his truck and reentered the school holding a Springfield Armory XD 9mm handgun. He ordered the boys to help him carry items into the classroom from the truck. Zook and her mother, who was visiting, took this opportunity to escape and run toward a nearby farm for help. Roberts saw them leave, and ordered one of the boys to stop them, threatening to shoot everyone if they got away.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: They reached the farm, where they asked Amos Smoker to call 9-1-1. Meanwhile, the boys carried in lumber, a shotgun, a stun-gun, wires, chains, nails, tools, a small bag and wooden board with multiple sets of metal eye-hooks. The bag held a change of clothes, toilet paper, candles, and flexible plastic ties. Using wooden boards, Roberts barricaded the front door.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: Roberts ordered the girls to line up against the chalkboard and allowed a pregnant woman, three parents with infants, and all remaining boys to exit. One girl, nine-year-old Emma Fisher, escaped without her older sister.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: Smoker's 9-1-1 call was recorded at 10:36 a.m. An article, "Revisiting the Amish Schoolhouse Massacre", described the situation prior to the arrival of the first Pennsylvania State Police troopers: "An Amish adult male from this farm, with his two large dogs, took the bold opportunity to stealthily approach the windowless back wall of the schoolhouse. Hoping for an opportunity to help the little girls, he slowly crept around one side of the wooden structure and positioned himself as an observer next to a side window." It continued, "Observing that the first police patrol vehicle to approach the scene was not slowing down to stop, the Amish man quickly withdrew from his hiding place and sprinted towards the roadway to wave down the trooper, who did a fast U-turn and parked. That would be the last successful attempt at an unnoticed move upon the building by anyone."


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: The first trooper had arrived at approximately 10:42, about six or seven minutes after the 9-1-1 call. The police, while waiting for reinforcements, attempted to communicate with Roberts via the PA system in their patrol cars. They asked Roberts to throw out his weapons and exit the schoolhouse. Roberts refused, demanding that the officers leave. By 11:00 a.m. a large crowd — including police officers, emergency medical technicians, and residents of the village — had assembled both outside the schoolhouse and at a nearby ambulance staging area. County and state police dispatchers had briefly established telephone contact with Roberts as he continued to threaten violence against the children.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: During interviews conducted later it became apparent that all of the girls recognized the danger they were in. Some conversed among themselves throughout the ordeal. Shortly before Roberts began shooting, two sisters, Marian and Barbara Fisher, ages 13 and 11, requested that they be shot first, so that the others might be spared. Barbara was wounded, while Marian was killed.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: At approximately 11:07 a.m., Roberts began shooting the victims. State troopers immediately approached. As the first trooper in line reached a window, the shooting stopped abruptly; Roberts had committed suicide. During the shooting, he fired at least 13 rounds from his pistol.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: The gunman, identified as Charles Roberts IV, aged 32, was a milk tanker truck driver who served several Amish farms in the Nickel Mines area (including some of the victims' families). He had three children and a wife, for whom he left four separate suicide notes. When State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller interviewed Roberts' co-workers, they claimed to have noticed a "change" in him during the months immediately prior to the shooting. They also claimed that he seemed to return to normal in the week just before the shooting. Miller hypothesizes that this "calm" may have been when he (Roberts) decided to do the shooting. Miller also noted that Roberts' neighbors reported his mood as unusually jovial during this time period. Just five days prior to the shooting, a similar hostage crisis and shooting had occurred in Colorado, and a possible connection was investigated.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: Roberts was at the time a resident of nearby Georgetown, another unincorporated area of Bart Township. His wife last saw him at 8:45 a.m. when they walked their children to a bus stop before she left. When Mrs. Roberts returned home a little before 11:00 a.m., she discovered four suicide notes; one addressed to herself and one to each of their three children. Roberts telephoned his wife from the schoolhouse using his cellphone and told her that he had molested two young female relatives (between the ages of 3 and 5) 20 years previously (when he was 12) and had been daydreaming about molesting again. One note Roberts left behind indicated his despondency concerning a daughter who died approximately 20 minutes after birth nine years earlier. He stated that he had "been having dreams for the past couple of years about doing what he did 20 years ago and he has dreams of doing them again", according to State Police Commissioner Colonel Jeffrey Miller. On October 4, 2006, the two relatives whom Roberts said he molested 20 years ago told police that no such abuse had ever happened, resulting in even greater confusion concerning the gunman's motive and mental state. K-Y Jelly, a lubricant most commonly used for sexual intercourse, was also found in the schoolhouse among Roberts' belongings, possibly suggesting multiple motives for the incident.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: Several 911 calls were made on October 2, 2006. Transcripts of the shooting related 911 calls were released to the public on October 10, 2006. The known callers include Amos Smoker (the man who made the first call reporting an armed invader at the school), Mr. Roberts (the shooter) and his wife Marie. The local 911 dispatchers sent the calls to either the local Lancaster County law enforcement dispatch or the state police. Lancaster County is unable to provide transcripts for the calls transferred outside of Lancaster County dispatch, such as calls transferred to the state police.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: At 10:35 a.m., Amos Smoker called 911 for the school teacher, Emma Mae Zook, after Ms. Zook ran from the schoolhouse to a nearby farm seeking help. About the time of this initial call for help, the shooter released a pregnant woman, three parents with infants, and all 15 male students.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: The first police officer arrived approximately six minutes later. As the first few troopers approached the building, Roberts ordered them to leave or he would start shooting. An agitated Roberts continued to demand that police leave as the troopers attempted to communicate with Roberts via the PA system in their police cars.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: At 10:41, a second caller reported the incident, and was transferred to the State Police. At 10:55, Roberts was reaching the final part of his plan. He had arranged the bound girls at the front of the classroom, near the chalkboard. Roberts made two cellphone calls, one to his wife and the next to police. He warned the 911 dispatcher that if state police were not off the property in two seconds, he would kill the children. The dispatcher attempted to delay him and transfer the call to the State Police, but Roberts ended the call. Two of the girls then began negotiating with Roberts. They pleaded for him to shoot them first. This allowed the girls a little extra time for possible rescue. At approximately 11:07 a.m., Roberts implemented his threats and the sound of rapid gunfire was heard. Shortly before 11:00 a.m., Mrs. Roberts returned home from her regular Bible study group. Soon after finding a suicide note her husband left for her on the kitchen table and a brief and disturbing emotional telephone call from her husband, Mrs. Roberts called emergency services. The 911 dispatcher connected her, by telephone, to the State Police.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: After the police entered the schoolhouse, all of the wounded girls were taken to hospitals. Two had died in the school house, one was pronounced dead on arrival at Lancaster General Hospital, and two sisters survived until the early hours of October 3 when their life support was ended. The surviving victims of the attack were taken to Lancaster General Hospital, stabilized, then transferred to hospitals with pediatric trauma care. Three children were admitted to Penn State Children's Hospital, four to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and one to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware, reported a state police spokesman. One child was initially transported to the Reading Hospital and Medical Center via helicopter, and then transported to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia after being stabilized. Reports stated that three of the girls were shot "execution-style" in the back of the head, with one dying in the arms of a trooper.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: The ages of the victims ranged from six to thirteen. According to "The Washington Post", police and coroner accounts of the children's wounds differed dramatically; Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said Roberts shot his victims in the head at close range, with 17 or 18 shots fired in all, including the one he used to take his own life as police stormed into the school by breaking through the window glass. Janice Ballenger, deputy coroner in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, counted at least a dozen shotgun pellet inflicted wounds in one child alone before asking a colleague to take over and continue for her.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: Inside the school, Ballenger said, "there was not one desk, not one chair, in the whole schoolroom that was not splattered with either blood or glass. There were bullet holes everywhere, everywhere." As a result of their actions, State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller presented the State Police Medal of Honor to ten Pennsylvania State Troopers in appreciation for their efforts to assist the victims. Local police officers and emergency personnel were presented commendations by the Bart Township Fire Company.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: On the day of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the murdered Amish girls was heard warning some young relatives not to hate the killer, saying, "We must not think evil of this man". Another Amish father noted, "He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he's standing before a just God". Jack Meyer, a member of the Brethren community living near the Amish in Lancaster County, explained: "I don't think there's anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts".


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them. Amish community members visited and comforted Roberts' widow, parents, and parents-in-law. One Amish man held Roberts' sobbing father in his arms, reportedly for as long as an hour, to comfort him. The Amish have also established a charitable fund for the family of the shooter. About 30 members of the Amish community attended Roberts' funeral, and Marie Roberts, the widow of the killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral of one of the victims.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: Marie Roberts wrote an open letter to her Amish neighbors thanking them for their forgiveness, grace, and mercy. She wrote, "Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. Gifts you've given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you." The Amish do not normally accept charity, but because of the extreme nature of the tragedy, donations were accepted. Richie Lauer, director of the Anabaptist Foundation, said the Amish community, whose religious beliefs prohibit them from having health insurance, will likely use the donations to help pay the medical costs of the children who were hospitalized.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: Some commentators criticized the quick and complete forgiveness with which the Amish responded, arguing that forgiveness is inappropriate when no remorse has been expressed, and that such an attitude risks denying the existence of evil, while others were approving. Donald Kraybill and two other scholars of Amish life noted that "letting go of grudges" is a deeply rooted value in Amish culture, which remembers forgiving martyrs including Dirk Willems and Jesus himself. They explained that the Amish willingness to forgo vengeance does not undo the tragedy or pardon the wrong, but rather constitutes a first step toward a future that is more hopeful.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: The West Nickel Mines School was demolished the following week, on October 12, 2006. The site was left as a quiet pasture. The New Hope School was built at a different location, near the original site. It opened on April 2, 2007, precisely six months after the shooting. The new school was built intentionally as "different" as possible from the original, including the style of the flooring.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: The girls wounded in the shooting made measurable progress in the year after the shooting. Sarah Ann Stoltzfus did not have full vision in her left eye but was back at school — she had not been expected to survive. Barbie Fisher was pitching in school softball but had undergone another shoulder operation in hopes of strengthening her right arm. Rachel Ann Stoltzfus returned to school in the months after the shooting. Esther King returned to school in the months after the shooting, graduated, and was working on the family farm.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: The youngest victim, Rosanna King, had not been expected to survive and was sent home. She had serious brain injuries and is said to recognize family members and frequently smiles, but remains unable to walk, talk, or feed herself.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: After the tragedy, several funds were established to assist the survivors. The Nickel Mines Children's Fund was established to aid the families of the children who had been shot, especially since the Amish did not have medical insurance to pay for medical care. By 2007, some $4.3 million was reported to have been donated to this fund. The Roberts Family Fund, also administered by the Amish, was established to provide money for Roberts' widow.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: Several nonfiction books have been written about the shooting, including "Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy" by Donald Kraybill, Steven Nolt, and David L. Weaver-Zercher.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: On March 28, 2010, the Lifetime Movie Network premiered a television movie about the Nickel Mines shooting, "Amish Grace", based on the book "Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy". It was the highest rated movie on Lifetime Movie Network to that date.


title: West Nickel Mines School shooting

text: The play "The Amish Project" by Jessica Dickey is a fictional account of the shooting told through monologues delivered by various people affected by the shooting, from both the Amish and outside community.


title: Keno

text: Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries.


title: Keno

text: Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some variants draw fewer numbers) are drawn at random, either with a ball machine similar to ones used for lotteries and bingo, or with a random number generator.


title: Keno

text: Each casino sets its own series of payouts, called "paytables". The player is paid based on how many numbers were chosen (either player selection, or the terminal picking the numbers), the number of matches out of those chosen, and the wager.


title: Keno

text: There are a wide variety of keno paytables depending on the casino, usually with a larger "house edge" than other games, ranging from less than 4 percent to over 35 percent in online play, and 20-40% in in-person casinos. By way of comparison, the typical house edge for non-slot casino games is under 5%.


title: Keno

text: The word "keno" has French or Latin roots (Fr. "quine" "five winning numbers", L. "quini" "five each"), but by all accounts the game originated in China. Legend has it that the invention of the game saved an ancient city in time of war, and its widespread popularity helped raise funds to build the Great Wall of China. In modern China, the idea of using lotteries to fund a public institution was not accepted before the late 19th century.


title: Keno

text: Chinese lottery is not documented before 1847 when the Portuguese government of Macao decided to grant a licence to lottery operators. According to some, results of keno games in great cities were sent to outlying villages and hamlets by carrier pigeons, resulting in its Chinese name 白鸽票 "báigē piào", with the literal reading "white dove tickets" in Mandarin, but in Southern varieties of Chinese spoken in Guangdong simply meaning "pigeon tickets", and pronounced "baak-gaap-piu" in Cantonese (on which the Western spelling 'pak-ah-pu' / 'pakapoo' was based).


title: Keno

text: The Chinese played the game using sheets printed with Chinese characters, often the first 80 characters of the "Thousand Character Classic", from which the winning characters were selected. Eventually, Chinese immigrants introduced keno to the West when they sailed across the Pacific Ocean to work on construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 19th century, where the name was Westernized into boc hop bu and puck-apu. By 1866 it had already become a widely popular gambling game in Houston, Texas, under the name 'Keno'.


title: Keno

text: Keno payouts are based on how many numbers the player chooses and how many of those numbers are "hit", multiplied by the proportion of the player's original wager to the "base rate" of the paytable. Typically, the more numbers a player chooses and the more numbers hit, the greater the payout, although some paytables pay for hitting a lesser number of spots. For example, it is not uncommon to see casinos paying $500 or even $1,000 for a “catch” of 0 out of 20 on a 20 spot ticket with a $5.00 wager. Payouts vary widely by casino. Most casinos allow paytable wagers of 1 through 20 numbers, but some limit the choice to only 1 through 10, 12 and 15 numbers, or "spots" as keno aficionados call the numbers selected.


title: Keno

text: The probability of a player hitting all 20 numbers on a 20 spot ticket is approximately 1 in 3.5 quintillion (1 in 3,535,316,142,212,174,320).


title: Keno

text: Even though it is highly improbable to hit all 20 numbers on a 20 spot ticket, the same player would typically also get paid for hitting “catches” 0, 1, 2, 3, and 7 through 19 out of 20, often with the 17 through 19 catches paying the same as the solid 20 hit. Some of the other paying "catches" on a 20 spot ticket or any other ticket with high "solid catch" odds are in reality very possible to hit:


title: Keno

text: Probabilities change significantly based on the number of spots and numbers that are picked on each ticket.


title: Félix Faure

text: Félix François Faure (; 30 January 1841 – 16 February 1899) was the President of France from 1895 until his death in 1899. A native of Paris, he worked as a tanner in his younger years. Faure became a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Seine-Inférieure in 1881. He rose to prominence in national politics up until unexpectedly assuming the presidency, during which time France's relations with Russia improved. Writer Émile Zola's famous "J'Accuse…!" open letter was written to Faure in "L'Aurore" in 1898 in the course of the Dreyfus affair. Faure's state funeral at Notre-Dame Cathedral on 23 February 1899 was the scene of an attempted coup d'état led by French nationalist poet Paul Déroulède, who was later exiled to Spain.


title: Félix Faure

text: Félix François Faure was born in Paris, the son of a maker of small furniture pieces Jean-Marie Faure (1809–1889) and his first wife, Rose Cuissard (1819–1852).


title: Félix Faure

text: Having started as a tanner and merchant at Le Havre, Faure acquired considerable wealth, was elected to the National Assembly on 21 August 1881, and took his seat as a member of the Left, interesting himself chiefly in matters concerning economics, railways and the navy. In November 1882, he became under-secretary for the colonies in Ferry's ministry, and retained that post till 1885. He held the same post in Tirard's ministry in 1888, and in 1893 was made vice-president of the chamber.


title: Félix Faure

text: In 1894, he obtained cabinet rank as minister of marine in the administration of Charles Dupuy. In the following January, he was unexpectedly elected President of the Republic upon the resignation of President Casimir-Perier. The principal cause of his elevation was the determination of the various sections of the moderate republican party to exclude Henri Brisson, who had had a plurality of votes on the first ballot, but had failed to obtain an absolute majority. To accomplish this end, it was necessary to unite the party, and such unity could be secured only by the nomination of someone who offended no one. Faure answered this description exactly.


title: Félix Faure

text: He granted amnesty to the anarchist movements in 1895, enabling the return from exile in England of several famous anarchists, such as Émile Pouget.


title: Félix Faure

text: In 1898 (and for the first few years of the following century), the French automobile industry was the largest in the world. President Faure was not impressed. Invited to address industry leaders at what, in retrospect, is recorded as the first Paris Motor Show, Faure told his audience, "Your cars are very ugly and they smell very bad" ("").


title: Félix Faure

text: His fine presence and his tact on ceremonial occasions rendered the state some service when he received the Tsar at Paris in 1896, and in 1897 returned his visit, after which meeting the Franco-Russian Alliance was publicly announced again. The latter days of Faure's presidency were consumed by the Dreyfus affair, which he was determined to regard as (, "adjudicated with no further appeal"). This drew against him the criticism of pro-Dreyfus intellectuals and politicians, such as Émile Zola and Georges Clemenceau.


title: Félix Faure

text: Félix Faure was initiated in Le Havre, at "L'aménité", a lodge of Grand Orient de France, on 25 October 1865.


title: Félix Faure

text: In 1897, Faure met Marguerite Steinheil, who became his mistress. Faure died suddenly at the age of 58 from apoplexy in the Élysée Palace on 16 February 1899, while engaged in sexual activities in his office with the then 30-year-old Marguerite Steinheil. It has been reported that Felix Faure had his fatal seizure while Steinheil was performing oral sex on him, but the exact nature of their sexual activities is unknown and such reports may have stemmed from various (puns) made up afterward by his political opponents.


title: Félix Faure

text: One such pun was to nickname Madame Steinheil . Georges Clemenceau's epitaph of Faure, in the same trend, was ""; Clemenceau, who was also editor of the newspaper , wrote that "upon entering the void, he [Faure] must have felt at home". After his death, some alleged extracts from his private journals, dealing with French policy, were published in the Paris press.


title: Félix Faure

text: The French barque "President Felix Faure", named for the President, was involved in a 1908 case of shipwreck at the Antipodes Islands, south of New Zealand, the survivors being stranded for sixty days before being rescued.


title: Félix Faure

text: Faure's liaison with Marguerite Steinheil was the subject of the film "The President's Mistress" (2009) broadcast on Eurochannel, with Cristiana Reali in Steinheil's role, and was referenced in the opening episode of the television series, "Paris Police 1900" (2021), with Évelyne Brochu as Steinheil.


Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps is a British sitcom that ran from 26 February 2001 to 24 May 2011. First broadcast on BBC Two, it starred Sheridan Smith, Will Mellor, Natalie Casey, Ralf Little, Kathryn Drysdale and Luke Gell. Created and written by Susan Nickson and set in her hometown of Runcorn, Cheshire, it originally revolved around the lives of five twentysomethings. Little departed after the sixth series, and Smith and Drysdale left after the eighth series. The ninth and final series had major changes with new main cast members and new writers.


The core cast was augmented by various recurring characters throughout the series, portrayed by Beverley Callard, Lee Oakes, Hayley Bishop, Thomas Nelstrop, Freddie Hogan and Georgia Henshaw. The title was inspired by the 1980 song "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please" by Splodgenessabounds. On 23 July 2011, it was confirmed that the series would not return due to the BBC making room for new comedies and feeling that the series had come to a natural end after the departures of most of the main cast members.


title: Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps

text: The BBC's Head of Comedy and original executive producer of the show, Geoffrey Perkins, saw writer Susan Nickson's work on Channel 4's "Lloyd's Bank Film Challenge", entitled "Life's A Bitch", which starred Sean Hughes and Kathy Burke. At age 14, Nickson was asked by Perkins to come and work with the BBC after a few years, and she created "Two Pints" when she was 18.


text: The BBC tried to persuade the producers of the Channel 4 soap opera "Hollyoaks" to get Will Mellor and Natalie Casey to work with them when they appeared in the show. Ralf Little and Sheridan Smith were cast soon after completing work on another BBC sitcom, "The Royle Family". Although initially reluctant, Little agreed to audition when he realised that "Two Pints" would be very different from "The Royle Family". Kathryn Drysdale was brought in after producers saw her perform at drama school.


text: The show's unaired pilot starred Little and Mellor, though the characters of Janet, Louise, and Donna were portrayed by Clare Buckfield, Lucy Punch, and Maxine Peake. Little and Smith play couple Jonny and Janet, alongside Mellor and Casey as Gaz and Donna. The latter two had previously portrayed a couple in "Hollyoaks". Smith also considered herself lucky that she had already worked with Little before, as playing such a close couple would have been awkward for both. Mellor stated in an interview how he sees Casey as a younger sister, which made kissing scenes awkward. Smith also classes Casey as the "mummy" in the show, due to her knowledge and problem-solving skills. Typically, episodes end with a particularly dramatic scene, such as Jonny breaking the news to Janet that her parents turned down his request for her hand in marriage.


text: BBC Two broadcast the first series, while BBC Choice screened the second series but was re-branded as BBC Three shortly before it screened the third series, and showed the first run of each new series from then on. BBC Two also repeated the show, though only once, every Thursday. Series four ended with Jonny being shot by armed police and viewers were asked to vote, by text or phone, on his fate. Series 5 began with a funeral, but it was revealed to be that of Donna's mother. Some series are accompanied by a special programme featuring bloopers. The show, titled "Two Pints of Lager Outtakes", features interviews with cast and crew, each explaining the difficulties of getting various scenes to be performed as expected.


text: The outcome of the final episode of series 8 was decided by the public, who were asked to vote on whether Gaz should be with Donna or Janet. Following the finale of series 8, which was broadcast on 10 May 2009, the audience chose Donna with 76.9% of the vote. The final episode concluded with Donna at Gaz's bedside.


text: Although "Two Pints" is largely comedic, it sometimes (especially at the end of a series) becomes more dramatic and serious. Such cliffhangers have included Janet and Jonny's split, Jonny being shot, Gaz's coma, and Janet's imminent departure to be a cruise singer. Will Mellor has described the show as being "driven by sex and alcohol" and the show is known for its adult and sometimes scatological humour, mostly involving references to sex and bodily functions. Vulgar language is also freely used, except for the word "fuck", which is uttered only once during the last episode of each series.


text: The first six series with the original cast including Ralf Little ran until 2006 when Little said he would not return to the series. Will Mellor hinted at the series continuation in television interviews, one being "Loose Women", and more or less confirming it on "The Paul O'Grady Show". Little announced during an interview for "This Morning" on 19 September 2007 that he would not be returning for the following series due to an overwhelming schedule, and Jonny was therefore killed off-screen in the first episode of the seventh series.


text: An eighth series was confirmed by Mellor in an interview in the "Metro" on 21 April 2008, in which he said that they would be filming the series from November 2008 to January 2009. In January 2009, the BBC announced recording dates for the next series at BBC Television Centre from 1 February to 3 April. A special edition for Comic Relief was also recorded on 25 January. The eighth series began airing on 8 March 2009 starting with a Comic Relief special, which featured characters from "Coming of Age" and "Grownups", as a curtain raiser, with subsequent episodes as normal. Natalie Casey, Kathryn Drysdale, Luke Gell, Will Mellor and Sheridan Smith all returned and the new character of Wesley was played by Thomas Nelstrop.


text: Two special episodes of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps were filmed in 2009. The first was set a few minutes after the ending of the previous episode, its cast being limited to Janet, Wesley and Tim, and was recorded on 13 August 2009 at BBC TV Centre. It was a musical extravaganza set entirely inside the Archer and was broadcast on 15 December 2009. The second, ""Sliding Gaz"", was recorded on 18 August 2009 and shown on 22 December 2009. The cast consists of Donna and Gaz only and shows Donna in a "sliding doors" technique, imagining Gaz being healthy and also paralysed.


text: In April 2010, it was revealed that the show was to return, albeit 'refreshed' by the BBC, which could mean cast changes, and the loss of the creator of the show, Susan Nickson, who is reportedly moving on to work in America. Location filming for series 9 is set to begin in Runcorn on 25 January as reported in The Runcorn Weekly News. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the show the official BBC website uploaded many of the viewers' favourite clips as well as Will Mellor and Natalie Casey presenting a 5-minute video about the 10 things you didn't know about the show. A plot summary of the new 2011 Ninth Series was then revealed by the BBC. Original cast members Sheridan Smith and Kathryn Drysdale announced in 2010 that they would not be returning to the show. They were written out of the series and their departures were mentioned in the first episode of series 9. On 23 July 2011, following a decline in ratings and feeling the series had come to a natural end following the departures of half of the main cast members the BBC decided that the show would not return for a tenth series.


text: In 2020 Will Mellor announced he wanted to bring the series back for a one-off special in 2021 to celebrate 20 years of the show, reuniting and featuring the original cast including Ralf Little whose character had been killed off in series 6. However, due to COVID-19 and unable to reunite the whole cast this never came into production. Mellor and Little later reunited and starred in their own podcast series “Two Pints With Will & Ralph”. The podcast was somewhat successful with the duo touring the show in 2022.


text: In 2022 in an interview speaking on the potential of the series returning Mellor said. “Fans are going mad for it, so we've got the audience. It's called Two Pints: Last Orders. It's revamped, it's really funny," he explained. "It's been brought up to the modern day but Gaz and Johnny are still very old school and sit in the pub talking about pies and beer.


text: The BBC said no, they don't want to revisit Two Pints," Mellor admitted, before explaining that he and Nickson aren't going to let the rejection get them down. "Now we're going to look for someone else, whether it's another channel, whether it's Britbox or Netflix, because there's a massive audience for this."


title: Kelantan

text: Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: "Klate") is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is "Darul Naim" (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode").


title: Kelantan

text: Kelantan is located in the north-eastern corner of the peninsula. Kelantan, which is said to translate as the "Land of Lightning" (see alternate theories below), is an agrarian state with green paddy fields, rustic fishing villages and casuarina-lined beaches. Kelantan is home to some of the most ancient archaeological discoveries in Malaysia, including several prehistoric aboriginal settlements.


title: Kelantan

text: Due to Kelantan's relative isolation and largely rural lifestyle, Kelantanese culture differs somewhat from Malay culture in the rest of the peninsula; this is reflected in the cuisine, arts and the unique Kelantanese Malay language, which is unintelligible even for some speakers of standard Malay.


title: Kelantan

text: Kelantan is positioned in the north-east of the Malay Peninsula. It is bordered by Narathiwat Province of Thailand to the north, Terengganu to the south-east, Perak to the west and Pahang to the south. To the north-east of Kelantan is the South China Sea.


title: Kelantan

text: There are a number of suggestions for the origin of the name Kelantan. One theory proposes that the word Kelantan comes from a modified version of the word "gelam hutam", i.e. the Malay word for the cajuput, or swamp tea tree ("Melaleuca leucadendron"). Other theories claim that the name comes from the Malay word "kilatan", "shiny or glittery" or "kolam tanah", "clay pool". Kelantan was called Kalantan () by the Siamese when it was under their influence.


title: Kelantan

text: Another occasionally quoted suggestion is that Kelantan derived originally from the Indian "Kolaan Thana" or "Kolaam Thana", which meant "Land of Kolaan" or "Land of Kolaam", the term "kolaan" or "kolaam" referring to the floor paintings or diagrams in the numerous Hindu temples which dotted the land in the very ancient days. This theory supposes that "Kolaan Thana" or "Kolaam Thana" gradually became "Kelantan" to fit in better with the spoken dialect of the local people.


title: Kelantan

text: Kelantan's early history is not very clear, but archaeological evidence shows human settlement in prehistoric times.


title: Kelantan

text: Early Kelantan had links to the Funan Kingdom, the Khmer Empire, Sri Vijaya, Majapahit and Siam. Around 1411, Raja Kumar, the ruler of Kelantan, became independent of Siam, and Kelantan became an important centre of trade by the end of the 15th century.


title: Kelantan

text: In 1499, Kelantan became a vassal state of the Malacca Sultanate. With the fall of Malacca in 1511, Kelantan was divided up and ruled by petty chieftains, paying tribute to Patani, then the supreme Malay Kingdom of the eastern peninsula. By the early 17th century, most of these Kelantan chiefs became subject to Patani. However, the queen of Patani was deposed in 1651 by the raja of Kelantan, starting a period of Kelantanese rule in Patani.


title: Kelantan

text: The legendary Cik Siti Wan Kembang was said to have reigned over Kelantan sometime between the 16th and 17th centuries.


title: Kelantan

text: Around 1760, Long Yunus, an aristocratic warlord of Patani origin succeeded in unifying the territory of present-day Kelantan and enthroned by his father-in-law Ku Tanang Wangsa, Regent of Terengganu as "Yang di-Pertuan Muda" or Deputy Ruler of Kelantan. Long Yunus was succeeded in 1795 by his son-in-law Tengku Muhammad Sultan Mansur of Terengganu. The enthronement of Tengku Muhammad by Terengganu was opposed by Long Yunus' sons, thus triggering a war against Terengganu by Long Muhammad, the eldest son of Long Yunus. The pro-Terengganu faction was defeated in 1800 and Long Muhammad ruled Kelantan with the new title of "Sultan" as Sultan Muhammad I. Nevertheless, the death of childless Long Muhammad triggered another civil war among claimants to the throne. His nephew and son of Long Tan (Temengggong), Long Senik Mulut Merah, triumphed over his uncles and cousins and assumed the throne in 1835 as Sultan Muhammad II.


title: Kelantan

text: Sultan Muhammad II leveraged on his loose alliance with Siam to form the modern Kelantan state, centered in his new fort on the eastern bank of the Kelantan river, which became Kota Bharu in 1844.


title: Kelantan

text: Under the terms of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, the Thais relinquished their claims over Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis to the British Empire, and Kelantan thus became one of the Unfederated Malay States with a British Adviser.


title: Kelantan

text: Kelantan was where the Japanese first landed during their invasion of Malaya, on 8 December 1941. In 1943, Kelantan was transferred by the Japanese to Thailand and became a province of Thailand. Kelantan reverted to Malaya upon the end of World War 2 in August 1945.


title: Kelantan

text: Kelantan became part of the Malayan Union in 1946 and then the Federation of Malaya on 1 February 1948, and together with other Malayan states attained independence on 31 August 1957. On 16 September 1963, Kelantan became one of the states of Malaysia.


title: Kelantan

text: Rising high on the slopes of Gunung Korbu, the second highest peak in Peninsular Malaysia, the Nengiri River flows east to merge first with the Galas, and then with the Lebir — the latter born in the wilds of Taman Negara National Park — before turning decisively northwards and emptying into the shallow waters of the South China Sea. From Kuala Krai the conjoined streams become the Kelantan River (also known as Sungai Kelantan), a broad, mud-coloured stream which dominates the fertile coastal plains and defines the geography of the region. The Kelantan River valley is a fertile rice-bowl, rich in hardwoods and rubber and lush with tropical fruits.


title: Kelantan

text: For centuries, Kelantan was all but separated from the rest of the country by the Titiwangsa Mountains, a mountain range running from north to south through the peninsula. Weeks of hard travel were required to reach Kelantan. The "easy way" to Kelantan was to sail around the peninsula, braving the sea and pirates. For this reason Kelantan's history often involves the sea, and boats. Even today, many of its people are very much tied to the sea. A discussion with many coastal residents will confirm that their ancestors, as far back as they know, were "of the sea."


title: Kelantan

text: During the 1920s, in the days of British colonial rule, a railway line was built, linking Tumpat on the state's northern coast, through the jungles of upper Kelantan and Pahang and then on to other states. Also, between the 1920s and 1980s, trunk roads were built to link Kelantan with adjacent states. Presently, one can travel by road from the capital city Kuala Lumpur to Kota Bharu using national highway 8 through the mountain range within 8 hours.


title: Kelantan

text: Kelantan has a tropical climate, with temperatures from 21 to 32 °C and intermittent rain throughout the year. The wet season is the east-coast monsoon season from November to January.


title: Kelantan

text: Kelantan has a chiefly agrarian economy dominated by rice, rubber and tobacco. Fishing along its 96-kilometre coastline is also an important economic activity. Cottage industries which employ traditional skills in handicraft production such as batik, woodcarving and songket weaving are also evident. Logging activities are active given the vast remaining area of forest. In recent years, tourism, especially to offshore islands, has increased in importance. A few reputable hotels have been established and more modern shopping malls have been opened to cater for urban folks.


title: Kelantan

text: Kota Bharu, the capital, is the major urban centre, and there are also plans to open up the southern portion of the state under an ambitious multimillion-dollar development project. The main market at the city centre is a top attraction.


title: Kelantan

text: Kelantan had a GDP per capita in 2006 at RM7,985. The State Socioeconomic Report 2017 published on 26 July 2018 reported that Kelantan has a GDP per capita of RM13,593 in 2017, significantly lower than any other state in Malaysia.


title: Kelantan

text: A part of the deeply conservative Malay heartlands, Kelantan has been ruled by the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) since 1990. It is currently one of three Malaysian states ruled by PAS after the 2018 elections, the others being Terengganu and Kedah.


title: Kelantan

text: The state of Kelantan is almost synonymous with PAS, as Kelantan has been under PAS rule for two lengthy periods. (Neighbouring Terengganu has also been under PAS rule twice, but for short periods each time [1959–1962 and 1999–2004].) The first period of PAS rule in Kelantan began two years after independence, in 1959, and lasted 18 years (1959–1977); the current period is 28 years long and counting (1990- ). In November 1977, a state of emergency in Kelantan was declared by the federal government following a political crisis and street violence. An election took place soon after the emergency which was won by UMNO.


title: Kelantan

text: The interval between the two periods of PAS government, when the Barisan Nasional coalition ruled the state, was about 12 years (11 March 1978 to 21 October 1990). In the 1990 General Election, PAS returned with an overwhelming victory, winning all the 39 State and 13 Parliamentary seats. The victory was achieved through the PAS-led coalition, called Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU). In the following General Election in 1995, PAS won again, though with a reduced majority. PAS won big in 1999, due in significant part to Malay anger over the treatment of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim by then–Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed and other officials of the national government. However, PAS very nearly lost control of Kelantan, retaining it with only a 1-seat majority, in 2004, when Barisan Nasional, under the new leadership of Abdullah Badawi following Tun Mahathir's retirement, won by a landslide nationally. However, after the 2008 Malaysian general election, PAS regained the two-thirds majority of seats in the state assembly.


title: Kelantan

text: For years, PAS has attempted to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic Law on Kelantan. It has succeeded in imposing certain social strictures such as single-sex queues in supermarkets; separate public benches for men and women; and limiting entertainment centres to prohibit "salacious behaviour". Proposals to institute punishments such as amputation of limbs for thievery and execution for blasphemy (collectively known as Hudud Law), however, have been blocked by the national government on constitutional grounds.


title: Kelantan

text: One of the most controversial steps PAS has taken in Kelantan is to place tough restrictions or outright bans on the traditional performance of syncretic Malay theatrical forms, such as Wayang Kulit, Mak Yong, Dikir Barat, and Main Puteri. PAS also took action to vanish any sculpture that looked like human or animal, modified versions without the traditional references to Hindu dewa–dewi and traditional Malay "hantu" (spirits or ghosts) and otherwise in keeping with orthodox Islam are, however, tolerated in certain cases. Also restricted are public performances by women: Aside from Quran recitals, such performances are completely banned if any men are in the audience. While PAS has maintained that these steps were essential to promote Islam and put an end to immoral behaviour among the Muslim population, many consider them an act of defiance against Barisan Nasional's laws — which are more tolerant or laxer, depending on one's viewpoint — and also a major loss to Malay traditional arts.


title: Kelantan

text: A 2019 directive from the office of the Sultan prohibited state government buildings from displaying portraits of individuals other than the Sultan, Crown Prince, previous Sultan, and the state's First Minister. This was quickly amended to also allow portraits of the Malaysian King and Queen.


title: Kelantan

text: PAS has also ardently defended the practice of child marriage, a practice that been the focus of recent controversy due to recent cases in Kelantan.


title: Kelantan

text: On 9 May 1975, an agreement was signed between the Kelantan Chief Minister of the time Datuk Mohamed Nasir, and the Chairman of Petronas, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. According to the terms of the agreement, Kelantan was to receive cash payment ('bayaran tunai', the term 'royalties' was not used in the agreement) of 5 percent a year biannually, for any oil found in Kelantan or its coastal areas. In return, Kelantan grants Petronas to exclusive rights to "petroleum whether lying onshore or offshore of Malaysia".


title: Kelantan

text: As to the issue whether Kelantan has the right to claim oil royalties from federal government as enumerated in the Assignment Deed. The question arises put so much legal complication and it is trans-border many relevant statues namely Petroleum Development Act 1974, Petroleum Mining Act 1966 and requires legal interpretation on some provisions in Federal Constitution. Being the supreme law of the land, any law or any agreements enacted inconsistent with Federal Constitution is void. Since, Malaysia is a federation of 13 states, the division of powers between two level of governments (central government and state government) are the most important feature in the federal constitution. Relevant with the issue, Article 76 gives powers to two level of governments accordingly set out in Schedule Ninth. In Schedule 9, List I of the Federal Constitution, the following topics are assigned to the Federal Government:


title: Kelantan

text: It is clear, from the Schedule, Peninsular Malaysia states has the constitutional right to fees for permits and licences for extraction of any petroleum that is derived from their land and territorial waters. Anything beyond territorial waters, such as on the continental shelf, is entirely in federal hands. However, because exploration of oil and gas is approximately 150 km from Kota Bharu and beyond the territorial water of Kelantan. Relying on that, Emeritus Professor Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi concludes Kelantan has no constitutional right to regulate it and to receive compensation for it. He further argued given the agreement deed to support Kelantan rights over royalties will render as unconstitutional and void under the doctrine of severability (constitutional parts of the law remain even if other parts are unconstitutional), as the Assignment by Kelantan gives to Petronas the ownership of all petroleum "whether lying onshore or offshore of Malaysia" was an overstatement, and Kelantan has no rights to what lies off the shores of the whole of Malaysia. Indeed, it is the rights of federal government guaranteed by constitution that extraterritorial operations are in their hands.