title: Matteo Renzi

text: From January to April 2015, about 1,600 migrants died on the route from Libya to Lampedusa, making it the deadliest migrant route in the world. On 19 April 2015, a migrant shipwreck took place in the Mediterranean Sea, causing the death of more than 700 migrants from North Africa. Renzi, returning to Rome from a political event in Mantua for the 2015 Italian regional elections, held an emergency meeting with ministers and spoke by telephone to French president François Hollande, Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat, and Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras. The call led to an emergency meeting of European interior ministers to address the problem of migrant deaths. In a speech addressing immigration, Renzi condemned human trafficking as a "new slave trade". About the crisis, Renzi said: "Europe is the greatest political victory of the twentieth century, but it is fuelled by ideals, not by the short-sightedness of those who would raise walls. Europe is in danger of collapsing when it becomes simply a set of self-interests." In January 2016, his Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said: "A choice must be made between Dublin and Schengen. Both agreements cannot hold today."


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 10 June 2015, the Chamber of Deputies passed a motion obliging the government to approve a bill regarding civil unions between same-sex couples. Previously, all of the major political parties in Italy had presented different motions on civil unions, which were all rejected except for the PD's, which also called for civil unions to be approved. Shortly before becoming Prime Minister, Renzi stated that he favoured the introduction of civil unions for same-sex couples. In July 2015, several days after the European Parliament passed a motion calling on all members of the European Union to recognise same-sex relationships, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Italy was violating the Convention on Human Rights by not recognising same-sex couples' "right to family life".


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 7 October, Renzi introduced a bill to the Italian Parliament that would establish same-sex civil unions and gender-neutral cohabitation agreements. The bill passed its first reading in the Senate a week later. Although Renzi secured the support of the PD and the main opposition Forza Italia party, many conservative and Catholic members of parliament from both parties, including one of its coalition partners, the New Centre-Right (NCD), criticised the bill. Despite the bill being put forward on a free vote, Renzi made it clear that he would tie the civil unions bill to a vote of confidence in his government if it did not pass.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Following months of public and parliamentary debate, the Senate voted in favour of Renzi's proposals to legalise civil unions on 25 February 2016, with 173 votes in favour and 71 against. An amendment known as the "stepchild adoption" provision that would have granted parental rights to a non-biological parent in a same-sex union was taken out of the bill at the last moment after it became clear a majority of senators did not support it. Although Renzi had expressed support for the amendment, the decision came after the Five Star Movement backed out of an agreement to pass it; moreover, the amendment was opposed by the NCD. Renzi stated that the bill's passage through the Senate was a "victory for love", although he expressed disappointment that the stepchild provision was not also adopted, and raised the possibility of introducing it in a separate bill at a later date. On 11 May, the Chamber of Deputies approved the final proposals, with 369 votes in favour and 163 against.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi's so-called "schools package" was among its 1,000 days reforms to kickstart the Italian economy, and included hiring based on merit rather than seniority, favouring full-time hiring over substitutes, and increased teachers for disabled children. During a press conference on 3 September 2014, Renzi announced an online consultation with students, teachers, and citizens ahead of the major school reforms promoted by education minister Stefania Giannini. On 9 July 2015, despite the opposition of an overwhelming majority of teachers and students alike to the design of the school reform, this was finally approved by the Chamber of Deputies, with 277 votes against 173.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: During a ceremony at the Italian National Olympic Committee on 1 December 2014, Renzi officially launched the candidacy of Rome for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Renzi stated: "Our country too often seems hesitant. It's unacceptable not to try or to renounce playing the game. Sport in Italy is a way of life and a way of looking at the future. I don't know if we’ll make it, but the Olympic candidacy is one of the most beautiful things we can do for our kids, for us, for Italy." On 21 September 2016, the mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi, a member of the Five Star Movement, told reporters the bid for the games would go no further. Raggi, having long been opposed to Rome hosting the games, cited ongoing financial troubles in the country as the main reason for cancelling the bid. She said hosting the games would be "irresponsible" and would only cause the city to fall into further debt.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: During Renzi's premiership, Milan hosted the Universal Exposition; the themes were technology, innovation, culture, and traditions concerning food. Participants to the Expo, hosted inside the Expo 2015 pavilions, included 145 countries, three international organisations, several civil society organisations, several corporations, and non-governmental organisations.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: The opening of the Expo on 1 May 2015 was met with protest from anti-austerity activists, black bloc, and anarchists caused criminal damage, resulting in the police using tear gas. Expo also created some tensions with the Holy See and the Italian government; Pope Francis condemned the concept of Expo, saying that it "obeys the culture of waste and does not contribute to a model of equitable and sustainable development". As Vatican City invested €3 million to obtain its own pavilion at the event before his appointment to the papacy, Pope Francis said that although it is a good thing that the Church is involved in causes that battle hunger and promote cleaner energy, too much money was wasted on the Expo itself by Vatican City.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: At 03:36 CEST on 24 August 2016, an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the moment magnitude scale struck Central Italy. The epicentre was close to Accumoli, in an area near the borders of the Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, and Marche regions. The earthquake killed 298 people and left more than 4,500 homeless. On 1 September, Renzi appointed Vasco Errani, the former president of Emilia-Romagna who had been already a Special Commissioner during the 2012 Emilia earthquake, as Special Commissioner for Reconstruction.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: A magnitude 6.1 intraplate earthquake struck west of Visso on 26 October at 21:18 local time (19:18 UTC). The earthquake, which occurred two months after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in August, struck about to the northwest of the August earthquake's epicentre. The civil protection estimated the consequences less dramatically than feared. According to official data, a man died because he had suffered a heart attack as a result of the quake.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: A third large, shallow earthquake of USGS preliminary magnitude 6.6 struck north of Norcia at 07:40 local time (06:40 UTC) on 30 October. This quake was the largest in Italy in 36 years, since the 1980 Irpinia earthquake. The three earthquakes caused almost 100,000 homeless.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: During his premiership, Renzi faced several challenging foreign policy situations, such as the European debt crisis, the civil war in Libya, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and the insurgency of the Islamic State in the Middle East. Renzi formed a close relationship with US president Barack Obama, supporting the 2014 military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant with hundreds of Italian troops and four Panavia Tornado aircraft, and also supporting international sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis after the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Renzi forged a positive relationship with Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe, who praised the economic policies of the Renzi government. A key ally of Renzi in the Mediterranean was Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi; the two leaders held many bilateral meetings where they discussed the problem of immigration to Italy and the increasing tensions in the Middle East and North Africa.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In the European Union, Renzi had a close relationship with French president François Hollande and his Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who saw Renzi as a model for his Third Way policies.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Following the 2014 European Parliament election in Italy, which saw the PD receive the highest number of votes of all the individual political parties contesting that election across the entire European Union, Renzi subsequently emerged as the most prominent leader of the PES. This was in opposition to German chancellor Angela Merkel, widely considered the "de facto" leader of the European People's Party; the two leaders have been referred to as "Merkenzi". Renzi and Merkel had many bilateral meetings, the first on 17 March in Berlin, just a few weeks after Renzi's election as Prime Minister, where the two leaders discussed important reforms that the Italian government planned to make both in Italy and in the European Union. On 22 January 2015, Merkel visited Renzi in his home city of Florence, where she publicly lauded the "impressive" reforms carried out by his government. On the following day, the two leaders held a joint press conference in front of Michelangelo Buonarroti's "David".


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi is seen as an ally of French president François Hollande of the Socialist Party. On 15 March 2014, Renzi met Hollande in Paris, agreeing with him a common economic policy focused not only on the austerity measures imposed by the so-called European troika of the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund but also on more flexible policies to promote economic growth in the European Union. Renzi is a close personal friend of French prime minister Manuel Valls, with the two leaders often regarded as being heirs of the Third Way politics espoused by the likes of Tony Blair. On 7 January 2015, after the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris which caused the death of 17 people, Renzi expressed horror and dismay, offering his best wishes to the people of France, noting his close relationships with the French prime minister and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo. On 11 January, he joined more than forty world leaders and three million people in the Republican marches organised by President Hollande.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi built a constructive relationship with the British prime minister David Cameron of the Conservative Party. During their first meeting on 1 April 2014, Cameron stated that the reforms planned by Renzi were "ambitious" and that together the two men would be able to change the European Union. On the same day, Renzi also met Blair, the former British prime minister whom Renzi had previously called a political inspiration to him. On 2 October, Renzi held a press conference with Cameron in 10 Downing Street, with Cameron lauding their similar policies to reform the European Union and overcome the economic crisis.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 1 August, following his party's strong showing in the European Parliament elections, Renzi nominated his Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini as a candidate to be the new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in the incoming-European Commission to be led by Jean-Claude Juncker, the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg. Mogherini was eventually successfully confirmed as the High Representative, ensuring that Italy controlled one of the two most senior posts in the European Commission.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In September, Renzi participated in the 2014 Wales summit. Before the official start of the summit, he had discussions with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, US president Barack Obama, and the other three leaders of the European G4 to discuss the crisis with Russia. This summit was the first held after the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the 2014 Iraq conflict with the Islamic State of Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 3 February 2015, Renzi received newly elected Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras of SYRIZA in Rome. The two leaders held a joint press conference expressing concerns about austerity measures imposed by the European Commission and stated that economic growth is the only way to solve the crisis. After the press conference, Renzi presented Tsipras with an Italian tie as a gift. Tsipras, who was notable for refusing to ever wear a tie, thanked Renzi and said he would wear the gift in celebration after Greece had successfully renegotiated the austerity measures.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Similar to his predecessors, Renzi continued the long-standing Italian policy of a close relationship with the United States, building a partnership with President Barack Obama. Italy supported the United States in the military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and participated in the international sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis against Russia following their invasion of East Ukraine.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi met Obama for the first time on 24 March 2014 during the latter's trip to Rome. Renzi also held a joint meeting with Obama, Pope Francis, and Italian president Giorgio Napolitano. Obama stated afterwards that he had been impressed by the reforms Renzi wanted to undertake. Renzi himself said that he considered Obama an example for the policies he wanted to achieve.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 22 September, Renzi visited Silicon Valley in California. In San Francisco, he met with young Italian emigrants who have created startup companies in the United States. He also visited the headquarters of Twitter, Google, and Yahoo! to hold talks with chief executives. Renzi was accompanied by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and George Shultz, and by the former American ambassador to Italy Ronald P. Spogli. He later spoke at Stanford University as the guest of university president John L. Hennessy.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: The following day, Renzi spoke at a United Nations summit in New York City, focusing on the problem of climate change. Following the summit, Renzi met former President Bill Clinton and his wife, the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. At the end of his trip, Renzi participated in a reception hosted by Obama.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi was received at the White House in April 2015. He and President Obama discussed many issues, including the war in Donbass, the Libyan Civil War, and ISIL. They discussed Europe's economy, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and climate change and energy security. In October 2015, the Italian government announced that it would prolong its military presence in Afghanistan along with the United States Army in order to continue its security mission and prevent the rise of Islamist forces such as Al-Qaeda and ISIL.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 18 October 2016, President Obama invited Renzi and his wife Agnese Landini to attend an official state dinner at the White House. The two men held a joint press conference during which Obama, the dinner being his final state visit as the United States president, commented that he had "saved the best for last", and the two reiterated their support for one another.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi built up a close relations with Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe; the two Prime Ministers were both against austerity and seeking to reform the constitutions of their countries. On 6 June 2014, Renzi received Prime Minister Abe in Rome. Abe publicly congratulated Renzi for the economic and constitutional reforms being delivered by Renzi's government. The two leaders also met in Tokyo in August 2015 and discussed about relations with China and the stability of East Asia.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 9 June, Renzi travelled to Hanoi, Vietnam, to meet with President Trương Tấn Sang, Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, and the Communist Party of Vietnam's general secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng to sign economic treaties worth around US$5 billion to the Italian economy. In doing so, Renzi became the first Italian prime minister to officially visit Vietnam since 1973, when diplomacy first began between Italy and North Vietnam. During the visit, Renzi placed a wreath in the mausoleum of the former North Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 11 June, Renzi met in Beijing with Chinese president Xi Jinping, who congratulated him for the "important reforms" being undertaken by his government. Xi also stated that China would continue co-operation with Italy ahead of Expo 2015 in Milan. Several months later in October, Renzi met with Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang in Rome to sign twenty treaties worth a total of €8 billion.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 12 June, Renzi met Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana, where they discussed withdrawal of Italian Army from Afghanistan. On 18 November, Renzi travelled to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, where he signed with Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow a number of economic pacts securing increased gas supply.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: During his premiership, Renzi started a policy review led to the creation of the Italy–Africa initiative, which included renewable energy co-operation and a new package of development aid in fields stretching from health care to culture; counterterrorism has been a key part of his agenda, but the East Africa region is also important to stop the migration flows from there to Italy through North Africa, especially Libya.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 4 March 2014, Renzi travelled to Tunisia, where he had a meeting with Mustapha Ben Jafar. With Jafar, Renzi discussed about the problem of illegal immigration to Italy from the coasts of North Africa. The trip to Tunisia was the first official one made by Renzi as Prime Minister. On 18 March 2015, after the Bardo National Museum attack in Tunis, in which 28 people died and four of whom were Italians, Renzi condemned the terrorist attack and said that Italy is close to the Tunisian government and people.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 19 July, Renzi started a major trip to Africa, meeting the Mozambican president Armando Guebuza. Renzi signed economic pacts to create investments by the Italian government-owned oil company Eni in the African country for US$50 billion. The following day, he visited the Republic of the Congo, where he met Congolese president Denis Sassou Nguesso, with whom he signed a co-operation for the extraction of oil in the country. Some journalists like Giuseppe Oddo criticised the meeting with Sassou Nguesso, who is considered one of the more corrupt dictators of Africa. Renzi later met with Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos in Luanda. During the visit, Renzi placed a memorial wreath in the mausoleum of Agostinho Neto, the first Angolan president.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 24 July, under the direction of Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, the government worked for the release of Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, a Sudanese woman had been who sentenced to death for being a Christian. Thanks largely to the good relations between Sudan and Italy, Ibrahim was released and permitted to fly to Italy on a government plane.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 2 December, Renzi went to Algiers, where he met Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal. With the two leaders of the country, Renzi discussed the 2014 Libyan crisis, immigration from North Africa, and also about gas imports from Algeria as an alternative to Russian imports, following the tensions between the European Union and Russia.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In January 2016, Renzi continued his policy toward Africa; he had a three-days trip in Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal. The main tasks of this diplomatic trip was the fight against the Islamic terrorism and the European migrant crisis in the Mediterranean Sea; with Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, Renzi signed an agreement on enhancing co-operation between the Nigerian Police and the Italian Police.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi has been one of the strongest supporters of Libyan prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj and of his government of national union. In August 2016, "la Repubblica" reported that dozens of Italian special forces were operating in Libya for training and intelligence activities. These special forces were operating under the direct command of the Prime Minister's office.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Russia had previously enjoyed a privileged relationship with Italy, particularly under the leadership of Silvio Berlusconi, who was a personal friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Following the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine in Ukraine, relations worsened. On 2 March, Renzi accused Putin of having committed "an unacceptable violation". During a speech to the Chamber of Deputies on 19 March, Renzi stated that the 2014 Crimean status referendum was illegal and that the G8 countries must start co-operating to solve the 2014 Crimean crisis and prevent a return to the Cold War. In June, he subsequently participated in the 40th G7 summit in Brussels, the first one held after the suspension of Russia from the G8 following the annexation of Crimea in March.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi phoned Putin on 28 August, asking him to stop the "intolerable escalation" and to reach a peace agreement with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko to stop the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine in that regions. Renzi and Putin also had a bilateral meeting on 16 October, when Renzi hosted the Asia–Europe Meeting in Milan with 53 other leaders of the world. During the 2014 G-20 Brisbane summit on 15 November, the two leaders had another meeting, where they discussed about the war in Donbass but also on the civil wars in Libya and Syria.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 5 March 2015, Renzi met President Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. The talks between the leaders was focused on international issues, such as settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, the situations in the Middle East and in Libya, as well as fighting terrorism. Putin guaranteed Russian support in case of a United Nations intervention in Libya against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Ahead of the bilateral meeting, Prime Minister Renzi visited and laid flowers at the Moscow bridge, near the Kremlin, on which the Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was murdered a few days before.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Through 2015, Renzi became one of the main supporters of a reduction of international sanctions against Russia and the establishment of a political and military alliance between the Western countries and Russia against Islamic terrorism. Renzi questioned Nord Stream 2, a new Russia–Germany natural gas pipeline, saying: "I found it surprising that the South Stream project was blocked [the Balkan pipeline South Stream was cancelled by Russia in December 2014 following obstacles from the EU], while now we are discussing a doubling up of Nord Stream."


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 2 August 2014, Renzi met with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, holding talks about a variety of issues, including the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. Renzi stated that Italy would support the Egyptian truce proposal, with the two leaders calling for an immediate cease-fire and the beginning of peace negotiations. In making the visit, Renzi became the first Western world leader to visit President el-Sisi since 2014 Egyptian presidential election. On 15 January 2015, after the Islamic State's conquests in Libya, Renzi conducted a long phone call with Sisi, to discuss the terrorist threat in the Mediterranean. The two leaders agreed that the next steps should be political and diplomatic efforts through the United Nations. On 11 July, a car bomb exploded outside the Italian consulate in Cairo, resulting in at least one death and four injured. The Islamic State claimed responsibility.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: The relations between Italy and Egypt dramatically worsened after the murder of Giulio Regeni, an Italian Cambridge University graduate student killed in Cairo following his abduction on 25 January 2016. Regeni was a PhD student at Girton College, Cambridge, researching independent trade unions in Egypt. Due to Regeni's research activities and left-wing political leanings, the security services of el-Sisi's government are strongly suspected of involvement in his murder, although Egypt's media and government deny this and say secret undercover agents belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood carried out the crime in order to embarrass the Egyptian government and destabilise relations between Italy and Egypt.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 20 August 2014, Renzi travelled to Iraq in the midst of the insurgency led by the Islamic State. He met with President Fuad Masum, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and his immediate predecessor Nouri al-Maliki. On the same day, Renzi travelled north to Erbil to meet Mas'ud Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, and Prime Minister Nechervan Barzani. Renzi later told an American journalist that what he witnessed during his trip to Iraq reminded him of the images of the Srebrenica massacre that had horrified him as a child. While Renzi was in Iraq, the Italian Parliament approved a proposal to arm the Peshmerga soldiers fighting against the Islamic State.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: During the 69th United Nations General Assembly on 23 September, Renzi held a bilateral meeting with the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at which they discussed climate change and increasing tensions in the Middle East. On 11 December, Renzi travelled to Ankara for a second meeting with Erdoğan, during which Renzi expressed his support for accession of Turkey to the European Union. On the same day, he met with Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 8 January 2015, Renzi made his first official trip of the year, meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi to address issues of foreign and economic policy, including the Alitalia-Etihad Airways deal. The two leaders discussed joint co-operation domains and enhancing trade exchange and co-operation in energy and aerospace.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: As Prime Minister, Renzi had good relations with both Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. On 21 and 22 July 2015, he visited first Jerusalem, where he met with Netanyahu and addressed the Knesset, and then Ramallah, where he met with Abbas. Renzi was the first leader to visit Israel after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal reached between P5+1 and Iran. Whereas Netanyahu criticised the deal, Renzi supported it, saying that "Israel's security is the security of Europe and mine as well."


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In January 2016, Renzi met with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani in Rome, the first visit to Italy by a President of Iran since 1999. The two leaders signed business deals worth up to €17 billion. They also discussed the war against the Islamic State in the Middle East and Libya. On 13 and 14 April, he became the first Western leader to visit Iran after the international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran. In Iran, Renzi met both President Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: After announcing an increase of Italian investment in Central America and South America, Renzi undertook a number of official trips across the continent, travelling to Chile, Peru, and Colombia in October 2015. During his visit to Santiago, Renzi and Chilean president Michelle Bachelet launched a large number of renewable energy projects promoted by the Italian multinational Enel. Renzi also visited the European Southern Observatory of Paranal in the Atacama desert. During these trips, Renzi had numerous meetings with communities of Italian-born Latin Americans in these countries.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In a surprise visit on 28 October, Renzi became the first Italian prime minister in history to make a state visit to Cuba. In doing so, he also became the first G7 leader to meet Cuban president Raúl Castro following the United States–Cuban Thaw of relations between the United States and Cuba.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In February 2016, Renzi met Argentine president Mauricio Macri during a state visit to Buenos Aires; Renzi became the first European leader to meet Macri after the 2015 Argentine general election and the first Italian prime minister since Romano Prodi in 1998 to visit Argentina. During his premiership, Renzi has also developed close relationship with Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Following the defeat in the constitutional referendum and the subsequent resignation as Prime Minister in December 2016, Renzi remained secretary of the Democratic Party (PD). As leader of the main party in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic, he supported the new government led by his former Minister of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni, also a PD deputy. In February 2017, Renzi resigned as secretary, only to be re-elected in the 2017 PD leadership election in April. Following poor results in the 2018 Italian general election, Renzi resigned as secretary for good in March.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In September 2019, Renzi left the PD to found the liberal party Italia Viva (IV). As a member of the PD, the party moved at the opposition in June 2018 against the populist Conte I Cabinet of Lega–Five Star Movement (M5S). In August 2019, Renzi played a key role in returning the PD to government with the M5S and the left-wing Free and Equal; he then joined the government with IV to keep Lega and Matteo Salvini out of power, leading to both the rise and fall of the Conte II Cabinet through the 2021 Italian government crisis in January, and then supporting the national-unity government of the Draghi Cabinet in February 2021.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: During the PD National Assembly on 19 February 2017, Renzi resigned as the party secretary, announcing his candidacy for the next leadership election. A few days before, he launched the movement "In Cammino" ("On the Way") in support of his candidacy. Contextually, a large portion of the party's internal left wing, led by Enrico Rossi and Roberto Speranza, who were endorsed by former party leaders Massimo D'Alema, Pier Luigi Bersani, and Guglielmo Epifani, left the PD and founded Article 1 – Democratic and Progressive Movement (MDP), along with splinters from Italian Left (SI).


title: Matteo Renzi

text: On 6 March, Renzi presented his electoral programme, in which he expressed his intention to renovate the party, Italy, and Europe. He also announced an electoral ticket with the Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina, who became deputy secretary. From 10 to 12 March, Renzi and his supporters participated in Lingotto '17, a convention based in the district of Lingotto in Turin, where the PD was founded ten years before under the leadership of Walter Veltroni. During his speech, Renzi condemned the Five Star Movement, accused of being a populist party controlled by a private company, and Lega Nord, which uses fear to gain votes. Renzi attacked also European bureaucrats and proposed a primary election to appoint the PES candidate for the European Commission presidency and the direct election of the European president. Among the notable participants of the pro-Renzi convention were Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, ministers like Pier Carlo Padoan, Dario Franceschini, Graziano Delrio, Marianna Madia, and Roberta Pinotti, and secretary Maria Elena Boschi. Emma Bonino, Italian Radicals leader and former Foreign Affairs Minister, also participated in the rally.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: The other two candidates for the leadership election were president of Apulia Michele Emiliano and Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando. Emiliano was an outspoken former magistrate with strong support in the poor South expected to join the dissidents in MDP but decided instead to challenge Renzi from within the mainstream party; he is often described as a democratic socialist and populist politician. Orlando is a social-democratic politician and a leading member of the party since the foundation, often described as the candidate of the social-democratic establishment of the party. After having won the March vote by party members with almost 67% of votes, Renzi won the PD's April primary by a landslide with 69.2% of votes, while Orlando received 19.9% and Emiliano 10.9% of votes. On 1 May, Renzi was certified to have been re-elected as the party secretary.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: After the rejection of the constitutional reform, the parliament had to change the Italian electoral law of 2015 proposed by Renzi's government; the so-called "Italicum" regulated only the election of the Chamber of Deputies, and not the one of the Senate, which, had the reform passed, would be indirectly elected by citizens. After the re-election as secretary, Renzi proposed a new electoral law called "Mattarellum bis", better known as "Rosatellum", from the name of his main proponent Ettore Rosato, PD leader in the Chamber of Deputies. This electoral law was similar to the one which was applied in Italy from 1993 to 2004.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: "Rosatellum" used an additional member system, which act as a mixed system, with 36% of seats allocated using a first-past-the-post voting system and 64% using proportional representation, with one round of voting. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate did not differ in the way they allocated the proportional seats, both using the D'Hondt method of allocating seats. The new electoral law was supported by PD and his government ally Popular Alternative but also by the opposition parties Forza Italia and Lega Nord.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Despite many protests from the Five Star Movement and the MDP, the electoral law was approved on 12 October by the Chamber of Deputies with 375 votes in favor and 215 against, and by the Senate with 214 votes against 61 on 26 October.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: The PD's electoral programme for the 2018 Italian general election included, among the main points, the introduction of a minimum hourly wage of €10, a measure that would affect 15% of workers, that is those workers who do not adhere to the national collective agreements; a cut of the contributory wedge for permanent contracts; a relocation allowance and an increase in subsidies for the unemployed; a monthly allowance of €80 for parents for each minor child; fiscal detraction of €240 for parents with children; and the progressive reduction of IRPEF and IRES rates, respectively the Italian income tax and the corporate tax. Moreover, the PD advocated the re-launch of the process of European integration and federation towards the formation of the United States of Europe.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In the election, Renzi's centre-left coalition arrived third behind the centre-right coalition, in which Matteo Salvini's League was the main political force, and the Five Star Movement of Luigi Di Maio that came first as a party. On 5 March, Renzi announced that the PD would be in opposition during this legislature and resign as secretary when a new cabinet is formed. Renzi officially resigned on 12 March during the PD's national directorate, and his deputy secretary Martina was appointed acting leader.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In August 2019, Deputy Prime Minister and Lega's leader Matteo Salvini announced a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte after growing tensions within the majority. Many political analysts believed the no confidence motion was an attempt to force early elections to improve Lega's standing in Parliament, ensuring Salvini could become the next Prime Minister. On 20 August, following the parliamentary debate at the Senate, in which Conte accused Salvini of being a political opportunist who "had triggered the political crisis only to serve his personal interest" and stated "this government ends here", the Prime Minister resigned his post to President Sergio Mattarella. Despite having always opposed it in the past, Renzi strongly advocated the formation of a new government between the PD and the populist Five Star Movement in August 2019. After days of tensions within the PD, Nicola Zingaretti, the new PD's leader, announced his favorable position regarding a new government with the M5S on 28 August, with Conte at its head. On the same day, President Mattarella summoned Conte to the Quirinal Palace for the 29 August to give him the task of forming a new cabinet. Renzi was seen by many political analysts and journalists as the real kingmaker of the new parliamentary majority.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In an interview to "la Repubblica" on 17 September, Renzi announced his intention to leave the PD, creating new parliamentary groups led by him. On the same day, interviewed by Bruno Vespa in his TV show "Porta a Porta", he officially launched the political movement Italia Viva (IV). Between December 2020 and January 2021, discussions arose within the government coalition between Renzi and Prime Minister Conte. Renzi called for radical changes to the government's economic recovery plans after the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and also demanded that Conte cede his mandate over the secret services coordination task. During his end-of-year press conference, Conte declined Renzi's requests, saying that he still had a parliamentary majority. After a few days, Renzi threatened to pull back IV's two ministers, Teresa Bellanova and Elena Bonetti, from the upcoming Council of Ministers, summoned to approve the Next Generation EU.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: During a press conference on 13 January, Renzi announced the resignation of IV's ministers Bellanova and Bonetti, officially opening the 2021 Italian government crisis. Renzi was instrumental in getting Mario Draghi as Prime Minister, with IV supporting Draghi's vote of confidence for a national unity government. In the 2022 Italian presidential election, Renzi supported candidate Pier Ferdinando Casini, a centrist close to the centre-right, having qualms about the precedent of re-electing the incumbent president Mattarella; after Casini failed to gain support and rejecting the candidature of Elisabetta Belloni, the head of secret services, which he criticized as "only [happening] in an anti-democratic country", Renzi joined the governing parties in asking Mattarella to accept a second term.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In the European Parliament elections held on 25 May 2014, the first national election Renzi had faced since becoming Prime Minister, his Democratic Party (PD) won 40.8% of the vote with 11,203,231 votes, becoming by far the largest party in the country with 31 members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The PD won the most votes of any single party across the whole of the European Union, won the largest number of MEPs for any single party, and the largest party within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, the PD's European Parliament group.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: The PD's vote share was the best result for an Italian party in a nationwide election since the 1958 Italian general election, when Christian Democracy won 42.4% of the vote. The positive electoral result enabled Renzi to successfully nominate his Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini as the new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, ensuring that an Italian would occupy one of the European Union's two most powerful political positions.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Giorgio Napolitano announced his immediate retirement as President of Italy on 14 January 2015. Napolitano had been convinced to stand again as president following the political uncertainty generated by the 2013 Italian general election but had made it clear he would retire at some point before June 2015. During the National Assembly of the PD on 29 January, Renzi officially announced that he would endorse Sergio Mattarella, a judge on the Constitutional Court of Italy and a former Minister of Defence, as his candidate for the Italian presidential election to replace Napolitano.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: It had been thought, due to the high threshold a candidate requires in the first three rounds of balloting in a presidential election, that Renzi would be forced to seek a compromise candidate with Silvio Berlusconi; however, despite Berlusconi's stringent opposition to Mattarella, Renzi instructed the PD to abstain from the first three rounds of balloting in an attempt to force a fourth ballot which required a far lower threshold for victory. Despite the risk this strategy involved, centrist parties announced at the last moment that they would support Mattarella on the fourth ballot, and he subsequently won the presidential election with 665 votes out of 1,009 from senators and deputies. Renzi was able to secure his chosen candidate's election by also unexpectedly securing last-minute support from the conservative New Centre-Right, the socialist Left Ecology Freedom, and the liberal Civic Choice.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: After constitutional reforms had passed both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic multiple times, Renzi announced that he would hold a constitutional referendum on 4 December 2016 to seek approval for the changes; whilst the reform was approved by a simple parliamentary majority, it did not achieve the two-thirds necessary to avoid a referendum, as per Article 138 of the Constitution of Italy.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Voters were asked whether they approved of amending the constitution to transform the Senate into a "Senate of Regions", with 100 members made up of regional councillors and mayors of large cities, akin to the Bundesrat of Germany. The reform would have reduced the size of the Senate from 315 to 100, making all senators indirectly elected by regional councils and mayors. The reform would have made it harder for the Senate to veto legislation. Following early results which indicated that the "No" side was clearly ahead, Renzi conceded defeat and resigned.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March after the Italian Parliament was dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi led a centre-left coalition composed by the Democratic Party (PD), the liberal More Europe of Emma Bonino, the centrist Popular Civic List of Beatrice Lorenzin, and the progressive Together of Giulio Santagata. The centre-left was affected by a political schism, when many members of PD's left-wing faction, like Bersani, D'Alema, and Speranza, left the party founding another movement, known as MDP, which run under the joint list Free and Equal led by Pietro Grasso.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In the election, the centre-right coalition, in which Matteo Salvini's League emerged as the main political, won a plurality of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate with 37.0% of votes, while the anti-establishment Five Star Movement led by Luigi Di Maio became the party with the largest number of votes (32.7%). Renzi's centre-left coalition came only third with 22.9% of votes; however, no political group or party won an outright majority, resulting in a hung parliament.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: The nature of Renzi's progressivism is a matter of debate and has been linked both to liberalism and populism. According to Maria Teresa Meli of the "Corriere della Sera", Renzi "pursues a precise model, borrowed from the British Labour Party and Bill Clinton's Democratic Party", comprising "a strange mix (for Italy) of liberal policy in the economic sphere and populism. This means that, on one side, he will attack the privileges of trade unions, especially of the CGIL, which defends only the already protected, while, on the other, he will sharply attack the vested powers, bankers, Confindustria and a certain type of capitalism."


title: Matteo Renzi

text: "The Daily Telegraph" referred to Renzi as "a prominent centrist voice in Europe". Renzi has occasionally been compared to former British prime minister Tony Blair for his political views. Renzi himself has previously cited Blair as an inspiration for him, and said to be a supporter of Blair's ideology of the Third Way, which attempts to synthesise liberal economics and left-wing social policies. In an interview with the Italian talk show "Che tempo che fa", Renzi stated that his meeting with Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton was the most interesting part of his trip to the United States because he considered them as models of the reformist left. Renzi endorsed the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign in an interview where he also expressed admiration for the policies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi is in favour of the recognition of civil unions for same-sex couples and stepchild adoptions, a situation which occurs when at least one parent has children from a previous relationship that are not genetically related to the other parent. For this, Renzi was criticised by the participants of the Family Day, an anti-LGBT demonstration which took place three times in Italy; the Prime Minister was accused of having changed his opinion about the recognition of same-sex couples. Renzi participated in the first Family Day in 2007, while he was president of Florence province and a member of the centrist The Daisy party.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi was sometimes described as the "de facto" leader of the centre-left Party of European Socialists, in opposition to the centre-right European People's Party associated with Angela Merkel; the two leaders were together often referred to as "Merkenzi".


title: Matteo Renzi

text: According to public opinion surveys in May 2014, just after the European Parliament elections, Renzi's approval rating was 74%, the highest ever rating for an Italian politician serving as Prime Minister; the highest absolute consensus at 84% was recorded in November 2011 by Mario Monti, who presided over a technical, bipartisan government. His lowest approval in office was in June 2015, with just over 35%; upon leaving the office of Prime Minister, his approval rating further shrank to 15% by April 2020.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In the 2010s, Italy underwent a wave of populism and post-modern leadership likened to Renzi's style. As a "master of telepolitics", Renzi used his own skills and accomplishments as evidence of his ability to lead, promoted the Internet as a platform for democracy, and used heavy emotional appeals along with relatable, persuasive language to advocate for his positions. In 2014, Renzi was ranked as the third most influential person in the world under 40 in the 40 Under 40 list by "Fortune", and in the FP Top 100 Global Thinkers by "Foreign Policy". Both as Prime Minister and mayor of Florence, Renzi has been renowned as an assiduous user of social networks, especially Twitter, where he is followed by more than two million people. Renzi's use of social networks was a contributing factor to his victory in the 2013 PD leadership election.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: Renzi has stated that he is a fan of the American TV series "House of Cards"; some journalists, including the book's author Michael Dobbs and Enrico Letta, noted similarities between the rise to power of the character Francis Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, and the manner in which Renzi replaced Letta as Prime Minister in 2014. This comparison surfaced in the media again in June 2015, when a phone conversation from January 2014 between Renzi and a general of the Guardia di Finanza, Michele Adinolfi, was leaked to "Il Fatto Quotidiano". During the conversation, Renzi described Letta as "incapable" and told Adinolfi that he would replace him as Prime Minister, which would happen less than a month later. In October 2016, Renzi stated to have stopped watching the TV series after its second season. After Letta retired from politics in 2015, he came back to accept the PD leadership in March 2021, about one year and a half after Renzi left the PD and his new party was struggling at the polls.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In December 2018, Renzi presented a TV series called "Firenze secondo me" ("Florence According to Me"), broadcast by "Nove" TV channel. It is a historical and artistic documentary, in which Renzi presents the city of Florence, narrating historical events and showing the most famous sites of cultural interest, like Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi Gallery, the Vasari Corridor, the Basilica of Santa Croce, Palazzo Pitti, and the Boboli Gardens.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In February 2022, the Florence Prosecutors' office requested a trial of eleven suspects, among them Renzi, for alleged funding irregularities related to Renzi's Open Foundation. Alongside his consultations in Saudi Arabia, for which he received €1.1 million and was criticized due to praising Saudi Arabia's cheap labour costs and referring to it as a "New Renaissance", Renzi's public image suffered and he received criticism from Saudi dissident Sa'ad Al-Faqih.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: In 1999, Renzi married Agnese Landini, a teacher, with whom he has three children: two sons, Francesco and Emanuele, and a daughter, Ester. The Renzi family are regular Mass-goers and are active in the Association of Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts, the largest Scouting association in Italy. In addition to his native Italian, Renzi can also speak French and some English. He is an avid football fan and supports ACF Fiorentina, the team of his hometown Florence.


title: Matteo Renzi

text: At the 2014 Italian local elections, his sister Benedetta was elected a municipal councillor for the PD in Castenaso, a small town near Bologna. Renzi's father Tiziano was the city secretary of the PD for Rignano sull'Arno, near Florence, until March 2017; he was previously a municipal councillor for Christian Democracy from 1985 to 1990.


title: Acheron

text: The Acheron (; "Acheron" or Ἀχερούσιος "Acherousios"; "Acherontas") is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . Its source is near the village Zotiko, in the southwestern part of the Ioannina regional unit, and it flows into the Ionian Sea in Ammoudia, near Parga.


title: Acheron

text: The Acheron also features prominently in Greek mythology, where it is often depicted as the entrance to the Greek Underworld where souls must be ferried across by Charon (although some later sources, such as Roman poets, assign this role to the river Styx).


title: Acheron

text: Ancient Greek mythology saw the Acheron, sometimes known as the "river of woe", as one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld.


title: Acheron

text: Most classical accounts, including Pausanias (10.28) and later Dante's "Inferno" (3.78), portray the Acheron as the entrance to the Underworld and depict Charon ferrying the souls of the dead across it. Ancient Greek literary sources – such as Pindar, Aeschylus, Euripides, Plato, and Callimachus – also place Charon on the Acheron. Roman poets, including Propertius, Ovid, and Statius, name the river as the Styx, perhaps following the geography of Virgil's underworld in the "Aeneid," where Charon is associated with both rivers.


title: Acheron

text: The Homeric poems describe the Acheron as a river of Hades, into which Cocytus and Phlegethon both flowed.


title: Acheron

text: The Roman poet Virgil called the Acheron the principal river of Tartarus, from which the Styx and the Cocytus both sprang. The newly dead would be ferried across the Acheron by Charon in order to enter the Underworld.


title: Acheron

text: The Suda describes the river as "a place of healing, not a place of punishment, cleansing and purging the sins of humans".


title: Acheron

text: According to later traditions, Acheron had been a son of Helios and either Gaia or Demeter, who was turned into the Underworld river bearing his name after he refreshed the Titans with drink during their contest with Zeus. By this myth, Acheron is also the father of Ascalaphus by either Orphne or Gorgyra.


title: Acheron

text: The river called Acheron with the nearby ruins of the Necromanteion (oratory of the dead) is found near Parga on the mainland of Greece opposite Corfu. Another branch of Acheron was believed to surface at the Acherusian cape (now Karadeniz Ereğli in Turkey) and was seen by the Argonauts according to Apollonius of Rhodes. Greeks who settled in Italy identified the Acherusian lake into which Acheron flowed with Lake Avernus. Plato in his "Phaedo" identified Acheron as the second greatest river in the world, excelled only by Oceanus.


title: Acheron

text: He claimed that Acheron flowed in the opposite direction from Oceanus beneath the earth under desert places.


title: Acheron

text: The word is also occasionally used as a synecdoche for Hades itself. Virgil mentions Acheron with the other infernal rivers in his description of the underworld in Book VI of the "Aeneid". In Book VII, line 312 he gives to Juno the famous saying, "flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo": 'If I cannot bend the will of Heaven, I shall move Hell.' The same words were used by Sigmund Freud as the dedicatory motto for his seminal book "The Interpretation of Dreams", figuring Acheron as psychological underworld beneath the conscious mind.


title: Acheron

text: The Acheron was sometimes referred to as a lake or swamp in Greek literature, as in Aristophanes' "The Frogs" and Euripides' "Alcestis".


title: Acheron

text: In Dante's "Inferno", the Acheron river forms the border of Hell. Following Greek mythology, Charon ferries souls across this river to Hell. Those who were neutral in life sit on the banks.


title: Acheron

text: In Christopher Marlowe's play, "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus," Acheron is mentioned in Act I, scene iii, wherein Doctor Faustus conjures Mephistophiles: "Sint mihi dei Acherontis propitii," or "May the gods of Hell (Acheron) be propitious unto me."


title: Acheron

text: In Shakespeare's play, "Macbeth", Acheron is referenced as a euphemism for the gates of hell by Hecate in Act III, scene v: "Get you gone, and at the pit of Acheron meet me i' th' morning."


title: Acheron

text: The name Acheron was used as a reference within the "Alien" film franchise for the planet LV426 (where the crashed alien vessel containing the face-huggers was originally found). Known solely by its alphanumeric designation during the first film, the planet was named as Acheron during the sequel "Aliens" (1986).


title: Acheron

text: Robert E. Howard used Acheron as the name of an ancient kingdom, ruled by evil sorcerers a few thousand years before The Hyborian Age. In "The Hour of the Dragon", the only novel-length Conan the Barbarian story by Howard, the wizard Xaltotun, formerly of Acheron, is resurrected by necromancy and is Conan's main antagonist. It was used again, in the same sense, by the movie "Conan the Barbarian".


title: Acheron

text: "Acheron" was the French privateer ship that Captain Jack Aubrey pursued in the epic period war-drama film "" (2003).


title: Acheron

text: The name Acheron is used for the Lawful (Neutral) Evil Outer Plane in "Dungeons & Dragons", however it is described as consisting of a huge number of iron cubes of varying size, instead of a river.


title: Acheron

text: There are multiple references to Acheron in the lore of the "Destiny" video games, including a weapon called the "Acheron SR5".


title: Acheron

text: Acherus The Ebon Hold is an undead floating necropolis in "World of Warcraft" and is the starting area for all death knights. It is the headquarters of the Knights of the Ebon Blade formerly known as Death Knights of Acherus in service of the "Lich King".


title: Acheron

text: This river was also the site of the battle between Acheron Charon and Pegasus Seiya and Andromeda Shun, when the Bronze Saints descended into the Underworld during the Hades arc in "Saint Seiya"


title: Acheron

text: It is also the episode title of the two-part season eleven of the AMC post-apocalyptic horror television series "The Walking Dead".


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Amanda Anisimova ( ; , ; born August 31, 2001) is a Russian-American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA ranking of No. 21 in the world, and has been ranked in the top 100 since shortly after turning 17 years old. Anisimova has won two WTA Tour titles and reached three WTA finals in total.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: With her father Konstantin as her longtime coach and her older sister also a tennis player, Anisimova began playing tennis at a very young age. Her parents decided to move to Florida when Anisimova was very young to give their children better training opportunities. As a junior, Anisimova was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world. She won the 2017 US Open girls' singles title, as well as two other Grade-A titles. She also became the first American finalist at the French Open girls' singles event in 14 years. On the WTA Tour, Anisimova rose to prominence at the 2018 Indian Wells Open, where she scored her first top-10 victory at age 16 against Petra Kvitová. She won her first WTA title at the Copa Colsanitas in April 2019 at age 17, and her second title at the Melbourne Summer Set in January 2022 at age 20.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Her first two breakthroughs at Grand Slam events came in 2019. At the Australian Open, she defeated No. 11 Aryna Sabalenka, one of the leading contenders for the title, to reach the fourth round. At the French Open, she upset Simona Halep, the defending champion and world No. 3, to become the youngest semifinalist at the tournament in over a decade. The next time she reached the fourth round of a major was at the 2022 Australian Open where she won a match against defending champion Naomi Osaka. In 2022 she reached first Wimbledon Championships quarterfinal, where she was coached by Andis Juška.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Amanda Anisimova was born in Freehold Township, New Jersey to Olga Anisimova and Konstantin Anisimov. She has an older sister, Maria, who played college tennis for the University of Pennsylvania while attending Wharton's undergraduate business school. Her parents emigrated from Russia to the United States a few years before she was born to give their older daughter better opportunities. They worked in the finance and banking industries, and neither played competitive tennis while growing up.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova started playing tennis at age five. She credits her sister as her inspiration for taking up the sport, saying, "When I was little she was playing tennis. I always saw her playing, and I wanted to do it too. That's how I got into it and my parents got into it too." Her family moved to Florida when she was very young, so Amanda and her sister would have more opportunities to train and find other coaches. Her father long acted as her primary coach while she was a junior, and her mother has also helped coach her. Additionally, she had worked with Nick Saviano starting from when she was 11 years old. Max Fomine, who has also been an assistant coach for the Bryan brothers, has served as her travelling coach.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova achieved a career high ITF junior ranking of No. 2 in the world in 2016. Early in her junior career she entered the 2015 Abierto Juvenil Mexicano ranked outside the top 300, but unexpectedly won the high-level Grade A tournament at age 14. She continued to excel in 2016, winning the Grade 1 Copa del Café and reaching the final at the Grade A Copa Gerdau. On the strength of these results Anisimova was the No. 2 seed at the French Open. In her second career junior Grand Slam tournament, she became the first American finalist at the girls' event since Ashley Harkleroad in 2002 before finishing runner-up to Rebeka Masarova. During the summer, she competed in the USTA Girls' 18s National Championship as the No. 5 seed and finished in 4th place.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: As a 15-year-old Anisimova won two more big titles, the first at the Grade 1 Yucatán Cup in late 2016 and the second at the Grade A Copa Gerdau in early 2017 where she had been a finalist a year earlier. Following these titles, she played in only two more ITF junior tournaments that year, both of which were Grand Slams. She capped off her junior career by winning her first Grand Slam title at the US Open, where she defeated fellow American Coco Gauff in the final and did not drop a set during the tournament. Anisimova was also a member of the United States team that won the 2017 Junior Fed Cup, but did not play in the final tie due to illness.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: In the middle of 2016, Anisimova received a wildcard into US Open qualifying, her first professional tournament. She won her debut match against world No. 124, Verónica Cepede Royg, at the age of 14, before losing in the following round. Following her junior title at the 2017 Copa Gerdau in February, Anisimova stayed in Brazil and played in a $25K event in Curitiba. She reached her first final on the pro tour at the tournament, despite this being her first professional main draw. A few weeks later, Anisimova was awarded a wildcard into the Miami Open, where she lost to Taylor Townsend, in three sets, in her WTA Tour main-draw debut.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: During the clay-court season, Anisimova won the USTA French Open Wildcard Challenge by reaching back-to-back finals at the $80K event in Indian Harbour Beach and the $60K event in Dothan, Alabama the following week. These results also helped her crack the top 300 of the WTA rankings. In her Grand Slam debut, she lost her first-round match at the French Open to Kurumi Nara. Nonetheless, she became the youngest player to participate in the main draw since Alizé Cornet in 2005. After forgoing the grass-court season, Anisimova continued to play on the ITF Pro Circuit. She broke into the top 200 by capturing her first career professional title at the $60K event in Sacramento, California towards the end of July while she was still 15 years old.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova's first two tournaments of the year were the inaugural Challenger Series events at Newport Beach and Indian Wells. She qualified for both main draws, and her semifinal at Indian Wells helped her earn a main-draw wildcard into the WTA Tour event there the following week. At the Indian Wells Open, Anisimova became the youngest player to reach the fourth round since Nicole Vaidišová in 2005. She defeated Pauline Parmentier for her first career WTA Tour match win before upsetting No. 23, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and then No. 9, Petra Kvitová, which ended Kvitová's 14-match win streak. Her run ended against No. 5 Karolína Plíšková. Anisimova was also awarded a wildcard into the Miami Open. She won her opening match against Wang Qiang despite injuring her right foot in the third set. This injury forced her to withdraw from the tournament and kept her out for four months. At the time, she had risen to a career-high ranking of No. 128 in the world.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova returned to tennis in July at the Silicon Valley Classic. She qualified for the main draw and won her first match back, which was also against Wang Qiang. She then reached the third round of the Cincinnati Open to return to the top 150. After losing her opening match as a wildcard at the US Open, Anisimova next entered the Japan Open. In her first tournament as a 17-year-old, she qualified for the main draw and made it to her first career WTA final, dropping just one set overall and none in the main draw before the final. She defeated top seed and world No. 41, Zhang Shuai, in the semifinals before finishing runner-up to second seed Hsieh Su-wei. With this performance, she cracked the top 100 for the first time.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova played one tune-up event before the Australian Open, reaching the quarterfinals at the Auckland Open. Despite having never won a singles match at a major, Anisimova made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open. She won her first three matches in straight sets, including a victory over one of the favorites for the title in world No. 11, Aryna Sabalenka, before losing to eventual finalist Petra Kvitová. The following two months, she did not record more than a single match win at any of her next four tournaments.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Having skipped the clay-court season the previous year due to injury, Anisimova entered the Copa Colsanitas in Colombia without any match wins on clay at the WTA level. Nonetheless, she won the tournament for her first WTA title. As the sixth seed, she won four of her five matches in three sets, including the final against Astra Sharma. Anisimova closed out the clay-court season by becoming the youngest semifinalist at the French Open since Vaidišová in 2006. During the tournament, she defeated No. 11 Sabalenka again in the second round and then upset the defending champion and world No. 3, Simona Halep, in the quarterfinals. She did not lose a set until the semifinals when she was defeated by the eventual champion and world No. 8, Ashleigh Barty, despite coming from behind to win the first set, after losing the first five games and needing to save two set points in the sixth game. With this result, she rose to No. 26 in the world.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova had less success in the second half of the season. Her best result was a quarterfinal at the Stanford Classic, where she lost to the eventual champion Zheng Saisai. She dealt with a back injury during the event, which led her to withdraw from both Premier 5 events within the next month. Late in August, she withdrew from the US Open following the death of her father. She entered two more tournaments afterwards, winning one match in total before ending her year early. Nonetheless, she reached as high as No. 21 in the world near the end of the season. She qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy, the second-tier year-end championships, but did not accept the invitation.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova began the year at the Auckland Open, where, after defeating Kateryna Kozlova, Daria Kasatkina, and Eugenie Bouchard, she fell to Serena Williams in the semifinals.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova started the season at the Melbourne Summer Set 2 and made the final, her first final appearance since 2019. She won the title by defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: At the Australian Open, Anisimova came from a set down and saved two match points in the final set to defeat reigning champion, Naomi Osaka, in three sets in the third round. This marked the second time she has beaten a defending champion at a major, having beaten Simona Halep at the 2019 French Open. She subsequently lost to world No. 1 and eventual champion, Ash Barty, in the fourth round, in straight sets. As a result she moved 19 positions up in the rankings to No. 41 on 31 January 2022.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: At the 2022 Mutua Madrid Open she reached the quarterfinals defeating two Belarusian players en route top-10 player Aryna Sabalenka, her fifth top-10 win and World No. 17 Victoria Azarenka for her 10th top-20 win of her career. In the quarterfinals, she lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: At the 2022 Wimbledon Championships she reached the quarterfinals at this Major for the first time in her career defeating Harmony Tan but not before defeating 11th seed Coco Gauff in the previous round. In the quarter finals, Anisimova lost to Simona Halep in straight sets. Anisimova hit 28 unforced errors compared to 6 for Halep.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova is an aggressive baseliner, with powerful groundstrokes from both wings. Her two-handed backhand is her most potent weapon, and is hit consistently with depth, speed, and power; she produces many winners with her backhand down-the-line. Her forehand is also strong, and is hit flat with a condensed swing, allowing her to generate sharp angles with this stroke. She can hit her forehand effectively at any ball height, rendering her forehand deadly on any surface. She is fast around the court, and her footwork is quick and intricate, allowing her to extend rallies until she can create an opportunity to hit a winner. One of her greatest strengths is her return of serve, especially when returning second serves, neutralising powerful serves with a crosscourt inside-out forehand or a backhand down-the-line, making her one of the most effective returners on the WTA Tour. The cleanness of her ball-striking, point construction, and powerful groundstrokes make her a formidable opponent on any surface.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova is currently dating Tyler Roos, a former "The Amazing Race Australia" contestant and the son of Australian rules football legend Paul Roos.


title: Amanda Anisimova

text: Anisimova is sponsored by Nike for clothing and shoes, and by Wilson for racquets. She is also sponsored by Gatorade and Therabody.


title: Executive officer

text: An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, or "XO", is the second-in-command, reporting to the commanding officer. The XO is typically responsible for the management of day-to-day activities, freeing the commander to concentrate on strategy and planning the unit's next move.


title: Executive officer

text: While there is no clear line between principal executive officers and inferior executive officers, principal officers are high-level officials in the executive branch of U.S. government such as department heads of independent agencies. In "Humphrey's Executor v. United States", 295 U.S. 602 (1935), the Court distinguished between executive officers and quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial officers by stating that the former serve at the pleasure of the president and may be removed at their discretion. The latter are removed only with procedures consistent with statutory conditions enacted by Congress. The decision by the Court was that the Federal Trade Commission was a quasi-legislative body because of other powers it had, and therefore, the president could not fire an FTC member for political reasons. Congress can't retain removal power over officials with executive function ("Bowsher v. Synar"). However, statutes can restrict removal if not purely executive ("Humphrey"’s executor), but can't restrict removal of purely executive officer ("Myers v. United States," 272 U.S. 52 (1926)). The standard is whether restriction "impedes the president’s ability to perform his constitutional duty" ("Morrison v. Olson", 487 U.S. 654 (1988)).


title: Executive officer

text: In business, executive officers are usually the top staff members of a corporation, the chief executive officer (CEO) being the best-known type. The definition varies; for instance, the California Corporate Disclosure Act defines "executive officers" as the five most highly compensated officers not also sitting on the board of directors. In many insurance policies, executive officer means, in the case of a corporation, any chairman, chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, president, or general counsel. In the case of a sole proprietorship, an executive officer is the sole proprietor. In the case of a partnership, an executive officer is a managing partner, senior partner, or administrative partner. In the case of a limited liability company, an executive officer is any member, manager, or officer.


title: Executive officer

text: In charity/voluntary sector/non-profit, the executive officer(s) are those appointed to drive the day-to-day decisions of the organization. This is normally a formal appointment made by the executive board of trustees. Specific responsibilities and scope vary and are usually called out in a governance document.


title: Executive officer

text: In the units of some military forces, the executive officer is the second-in-command, reporting to the commanding officer (CO).


title: Executive officer

text: In most non-naval military services that are land-based (except the U.S. Army, where an executive officer is the second-in-command of certain units) or in joint military organizations, the executive officer is an administrative staff position versus a command position. XOs in these positions typically assist a commander or deputy commander (or in the case of joint staffs or joint commands, a director) by managing day-to-day activities such as management of the senior officer's schedule, screening of documents or other products, and oversight of the senior officer's administrative support staff.


title: Executive officer

text: Management of individual assets in the airline industry is derived from the military terminology, where an executive officer or first officer, is the second in command of the aircraft. In a fixed wing aircraft, the first officer sits in the right-hand seat, but on a rotary wing aircraft, they sit on the left. Management of the airline as a whole is more in-line with the corporate example above.


title: Executive officer

text: The term 'Executive officer' is used in the Indian Navy. Abbreviated as EXO, the officer is the second-in-command of a ship or shore establishment. In the Indian Army, second-in-command (2IC) is the designation used.


title: Executive officer

text: The term XO is not used in most British Army or Royal Marines units, where the designation second-in-command (2i/c) is used as a formal appointment. However, the position does exist in some specialist regiments within the Royal Artillery where the exact duties vary. In the Royal Air Force, the term XO is informally used between officers and airmen, referring to the officer who is second-in-command. It is, however, formally used in the Royal Navy. In smaller vessels, such as submarines and frigates, the executive officer also holds the position of first lieutenant. Originally, the second-in-command was usually referred to as the first lieutenant (or as "number one"), although it is becoming more common to hear the term XO. On larger ships of the Royal Navy, in which the XO holds the rank of commander, the XO is usually referred to simply as "the commander". The XO also heads the executive department.


title: Executive officer

text: There are executive officer slots in each company, battalion, regiment, and brigade, though generally not at higher levels of command until the army level. The XO is typically the second-in-command, and serves as the day-to-day manager of the command staff. The XO is typically responsible for the management of day-to-day activities, such as administration, maintenance, and logistics, freeing a commander to concentrate on tactical/operational planning and execution and a general officer commander to concentrate on similar planning and execution at the operational-strategic level. The XO may take charge in the absence of the commander, the exception being commands with a deputy commander, although recent army command reductions have either merged the two, or eliminated the deputy.


title: Executive officer

text: A few organizations within the army maintain authorizations for a chief warrant officer to serve as an XO/2IC. One example of this is the Modular Ammunition Platoon, where the ammunition technician acts as the second-in-command during the absence of the platoon leader. While the experience gained as an XO is highly beneficial for an army officer's professional development, it is not necessarily a prerequisite for a command position. At the army level of command, a commanding general will have a deputy commanding general as second in command and an "executive officer" on their personal staff who works as their liaison to the general staff and an aide-de-camp who takes care of their calendar and personal needs.


title: Executive officer

text: The executive officer is the billet of the officer who is second-in-command at the company/battery, battalion/squadron, and Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU)/regiment/aviation group (i.e., Marine Aircraft Group, Marine Air Control Group, and Marine Wing Support Group) level. Per the "Marine Corps Manual", paragraph 1007.5: "The executive officer shall be an officer of the organization who is eligible to succeed to command, and normally will be the officer next in rank to the commander. As the direct representative of the commander, all orders issued by the executive officer shall have the same force and effect as though issued by the commander. The executive officer shall conform to and effectuate the policies and orders of the commander and shall be prepared to assume command at any time the need should arise." At higher levels of command, the second-in-command is the assistant division/wing commander or, in the case of a Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), deputy commander. For those commands having a general officer (usually a brigadier general) in command without a designated assistant commander or deputy commander, such as a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) or Marine Logistics Group (MLG), the chief of staff (a colonel) is the second-in-command. Unlike their U.S. Navy counterparts, XOs of U.S. Marine Corps squadrons in U.S. Naval Aviation do not "fleet up" to become CO.


title: Executive officer

text: The executive officer is the billet of the officer who is second-in-command. An XO is assigned to all ships, aviation squadrons, and shore units and installations, and is responsible to the captain for all ship's work, drills, exercises, personnel organization, and the policing and inspection of the ship. When the ship goes to action stations, the XO confirms that the ship actually is ready for combat and reports this to the captain. The XO's own action station is in a separate part of the ship from that of the captain, so that a single hit will not likely incapacitate both officers. On small ships with no first lieutenant, gunnery officer, or navigator, the executive officer may also be responsible for the duties of those officers. Carrier air wings in the U.S. Navy do not have an XO, but have a deputy commander (DCAG) instead; for shore-based or functional naval air wings headed by a commodore, the equivalent position is the deputy commodore.


title: Executive officer

text: In the U.S. Coast Guard, on board small cutters and patrol boats that are commanded by either a junior officer or a senior enlisted member, executive chief petty officers or executive petty officers are usually assigned to serve as second-in-command.


title: Executive officer

text: On U.S. aircraft carriers, per Title 10 United States Code, both the captain (i.e., the commanding officer or CO) and the XO assigned to the ship are naval aviators or naval flight officers. Although not specified by 10 U.S.C., large, air-capable amphibious assault ships will have one of the two senior positions (CO or XO) occupied by a surface warfare officer and the other by a naval aviator or naval flight officer, alternating at each change of command. In naval aviation, in U.S. Navy squadrons (other than fleet replacement squadrons and the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron {viz., Blue Angels}), the XO will eventually "fleet up" to become the CO of that squadron after twelve to fifteen months as XO. This fleet up model was also adopted in the early 2000s for XO and CO positions of both large amphibious assault ships (but not aircraft carriers) and "Arleigh Burke"-class guided missile destroyers. In addition to operational and tactical responsibilities, XOs also shoulder most of the CO's administrative burden, to include oversight of the command's administrative officer (if assigned) and administrative department.


title: Executive officer

text: The term of XO in the Navy and Coast Guard should not be confused with the term "executive assistant" ("EA") in those services, the latter being an officer in the rank of captain (O-6) who serves either dual-hatted as, or in addition to, the chief of staff to a flag officer.


title: Executive officer

text: In the U.S. Air Force, XO is not a command or second-in-command position. Instead, it is used to designate a company grade officer or junior field grade officer who serves as a staff administrative assistant to a senior officer, starting with a commander at the squadron level or above (e.g., squadron, group, wing, numbered air force, major command). In the other uniformed services, this position may be called an aide, an "executive assistant" or an adjutant.


title: Executive officer

text: Like the Army, while experience gained as an XO is highly beneficial for an Air Force officer's professional development, it is not necessarily a prerequisite for a command position. However, it is often the norm that nearly all Air Force commanders will have been an XO at some point earlier in their careers. For officers holding second-in-command positions, the U.S. Air Force uses the titles of "vice commander" (CV), or "deputy commander" (CD) for an officer who serves as the second-in-command for an organization above squadron level. For a squadron level organization, the second-in-command is typically termed the "director of operations" or "operations officer" (DO). These latter terms were previously used for similar positions at the group and wing level until renamed as the "operations group commander (OG/CC). The rank of an executive officer in the U.S. Air Force can vary from a junior officer supporting a mid level commander up to a senior field grade (FGO) supporting a general officer.


title: Executive officer

text: The U.S. Air Force uses the term "executive officer" for officers assigned as personal staff officers to general officers. Their role is similar to aides-de-camp in the U.S. Army, and Marine Corps and flag aides and flag lieutenants in the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard.


title: Executive officer

text: A unique application of the term is executive officer to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and commander, United States European Command. This position is typically held by a brigadier general or rear admiral (LH) and is drawn from all of the armed services. The duties involve serving as both an "executive assistant" to Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and also includes command responsibilities for the U.S. military community at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Belgium.


title: Flo Milli

text: Tamia Monique Carter (born January 9, 2000), known professionally as Flo Milli, is an American rapper. She rose to prominence after her songs "Beef FloMix" and "In the Party" went viral on the social media platform TikTok, eventually leading them to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Afterwards she signed a recording deal with Justin Goldman's '94 Sounds and RCA Records.


title: Flo Milli

text: Flo Milli released her debut mixtape, "Ho, Why Is You Here?" (2020), to critical acclaim. The mixtape earned an entry on the "Billboard" 200, and was placed on the list of the '200 Greatest Hip Hop Albums of All Time' by "Rolling Stone" (2022). She was also nominated for Best New Artist at the 2020 BET Hip Hop Awards. In July 2022, she released her debut album "You Still Here, Ho?."


title: Flo Milli

text: Tamia Monique Carter was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. Her birthday is January 9, 2000. She wrote her first song at 9 years old, and began rapping at age 11, forming rap group Real & Beautiful, later known as Pink Mafia, which she dissolved at age 14. After watching an episode of BET's music video countdown show "106 & Park" that featured Nicki Minaj, she was inspired and began writing short verses that grew into songs. Speaking about her high school experience, she said, "I dealt with everything, so it just taught me that the only thing that matters is my opinion of myself." She released her first solo song, "No Hook", in 2015. She grew up listening to Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton and Erykah Badu.


title: Flo Milli

text: In October 2018, Flo Milli recorded the original version of her breakout single, "Beef FloMix", a freestyle over the instrumental of rapper and producer Ethereal's 2014 track "Beef" featuring rapper Playboi Carti. It went viral on Instagram and other social media sites, including TikTok, reaching number two on Spotify's Viral 50 in April 2019. A fully-produced version of the song was released in July 2019, and received over 46 million streams on Spotify. Flo Milli's follow-up single was "In the Party", released in October 2019. She performed at Rolling Loud Los Angeles in December 2019. By the end of 2019, she had signed to record executive Justin Goldman's label '94 Sounds and RCA Records. In February 2020, she released the single "My Attitude". Her singles "Not Friendly" and "Eat It Up" were released in March and April 2020 respectively. In June 2020, Flo Milli released the J. White Did It-produced single "Like That Bitch". A music video for the track was released in July 2020, alongside another single, "Weak". Flo Milli's debut mixtape, "Ho, Why Is You Here?", was released on July 24, 2020, to critical praise.


title: Flo Milli

text: On August 10, 2020, it was announced that Flo Milli had signed an exclusive global co-publishing deal with Pulse Music Group. The company described the deal, which encompasses her entire catalog, as "a highly competitive signing situation". Singer Saygrace featured Flo Milli on the remix of her single, "Boys Ain't Shit", in August 2020. She appeared in the music video for G-Eazy's single, "Down", featuring Latto, in September 2020. Flo Milli was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2020 BET Hip Hop Awards in September 2020.


title: Flo Milli

text: In January 2021, Flo Milli released the single, "Roaring 20s". In June 2021, she was included on the "XXL" Freshman Class of 2021. She was nominated for Best New Artist at the BET Awards 2021.


title: Flo Milli

text: Jon Caramanica of "The New York Times" described Flo Milli as a "clever, cheerful lyricist". Jessica McKinney of "Complex" wrote, "The Mobile, Alabama rapper's bubbly, intoxicating delivery defies regional sounds, making her a versatile artist whose music can travel well beyond her hometown. She's a star." Rapper ppcocaine cited Flo Milli as an influence on their music.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: Michael Stahel Farmer, Baron Farmer (born 17 December 1944) is a British businessman, former treasurer of the Conservative Party, and life peer in the House of Lords.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: Farmer was born on 17 December 1944 in Tonbridge, Kent, England. His sister, actress Suzan Farmer, died in September 2017. Michael has described how he and his sister had a violent and chaotic early childhood, characterised by 'poverty, neglect and shame.' His father, David Farmer, a metals trader, died due to his alcoholism when he was aged four, while they narrowly avoided being removed from their mother's care due to her own struggle with alcohol.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: Farmer started work at eighteen. He began as a difference account clerk and messenger in a London Metal Exchange member firm, earning eight pounds a week, and spent most of his career in the City of London, involved in the trading of base metals, especially copper.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: By the late 1980s, Farmer headed the global base metal trading at Phibro Salomon Brothers and in 1999 his trading company, the Metal & Commodity Company Ltd, was floated on the London Stock Exchange under the title MG Plc. He was subsequently a founding partner of the Red Kite Group of hedge funds, which provides mine finance and futures investment opportunities for funds.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: Farmer supported the former leader, David Cameron when he accepted the Centre for Social Justice's "Breakthrough Britain" report emphasising the wider social repercussions of family breakdown.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: On 5 September 2014 Farmer was created a life peer as Baron Farmer, "of Bishopsgate in the City of London" and in the House of Lords joined the Conservative benches. His maiden speech was about women's homelessness, domestic violence and social exclusion.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: He is also a vocal supporter of welfare and prison reform, and was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to carry out a review of how supporting men in prison to have better family and other relationships can reduce reoffending rates. Following its acceptance of his recommendations, the MoJ commissioned a further review from Lord Farmer on the importance of relationships for female offenders' rehabilitation, which is also being implemented.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: The frequency of his speaking appearances, voting record and tabling of written questions is above average in the House of Lords.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: As a parliamentarian Farmer has spoken about family hubs and other measures to ensure families who need it receive early help; boosting statutory help for children leaving local authority care; improving children and young people's mental health and wellbeing, including by reducing family breakdown and regulating access to pornography; enabling upwards social mobility and better life chances; and addressing the persecution of Christians in North Korea, the Middle East and the United Kingdom.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: He introduced a Private Member's Bill which would make family impact assessments statutory for all changes to government policy and spending and that would ensure the Government keeps track of family stability rates (the number of children who grow up with both their parents).


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: He was a member of the Select Committee on Social Mobility and the Joint Committee on the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: He and Samantha Callan founded the Family Hubs Network in 2019 to support the spread of Family Hubs across the whole of the United Kingdom.


title: Michael Farmer, Baron Farmer

text: In 1975, in the City of London, Farmer married Jennifer Potts. They have three children. His son George Farmer, is CEO of the social networking service, Parler and in 2019 married the American political commentator Candace Owens.


title: Post-translational modification

text: Post-translational modification (PTM) is the covalent and generally enzymatic modification of proteins following protein biosynthesis. This process occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum and the golgi apparatus. Proteins are synthesized by ribosomes translating mRNA into polypeptide chains, which may then undergo PTM to form the mature protein product. PTMs are important components in cell signaling, as for example when prohormones are converted to hormones.


title: Post-translational modification

text: Post-translational modifications can occur on the amino acid side chains or at the protein's C- or N- termini. They can extend the chemical repertoire of the 20 standard amino acids by modifying an existing functional group or introducing a new one such as phosphate. Phosphorylation is a highly effective mechanism for regulating the activity of enzymes and is the most common post-translational modification. Many eukaryotic and prokaryotic proteins also have carbohydrate molecules attached to them in a process called glycosylation, which can promote protein folding and improve stability as well as serving regulatory functions. Attachment of lipid molecules, known as lipidation, often targets a protein or part of a protein attached to the cell membrane.


title: Post-translational modification

text: Other forms of post-translational modification consist of cleaving peptide bonds, as in processing a propeptide to a mature form or removing the initiator methionine residue. The formation of disulfide bonds from cysteine residues may also be referred to as a post-translational modification. For instance, the peptide hormone insulin is cut twice after disulfide bonds are formed, and a propeptide is removed from the middle of the chain; the resulting protein consists of two polypeptide chains connected by disulfide bonds.


title: Post-translational modification

text: Some types of post-translational modification are consequences of oxidative stress. Carbonylation is one example that targets the modified protein for degradation and can result in the formation of protein aggregates. Specific amino acid modifications can be used as biomarkers indicating oxidative damage.


title: Post-translational modification

text: Sites that often undergo post-translational modification are those that have a functional group that can serve as a nucleophile in the reaction: the hydroxyl groups of serine, threonine, and tyrosine; the amine forms of lysine, arginine, and histidine; the thiolate anion of cysteine; the carboxylates of aspartate and glutamate; and the N- and C-termini. In addition, although the amide of asparagine is a weak nucleophile, it can serve as an attachment point for glycans. Rarer modifications can occur at oxidized methionines and at some methylene groups in side chains.


title: Post-translational modification

text: Post-translational modification of proteins can be experimentally detected by a variety of techniques, including mass spectrometry, Eastern blotting, and Western blotting. Additional methods are provided in the #External links section.


title: Post-translational modification

text: In 2011, statistics of each post-translational modification experimentally and putatively detected have been compiled using proteome-wide information from the Swiss-Prot database. The 10 most common experimentally found modifications were as follows:


title: Post-translational modification

text: Some common post-translational modifications to specific amino-acid residues are shown below. Modifications occur on the side-chain unless indicated otherwise.


title: Post-translational modification

text: Protein sequences contain sequence motifs that are recognized by modifying enzymes, and which can be documented or predicted in PTM databases. With the large number of different modifications being discovered, there is a need to document this sort of information in databases. PTM information can be collected through experimental means or predicted from high-quality, manually curated data. Numerous databases have been created, often with a focus on certain taxonomic groups (e.g. human proteins) or other features.


title: Don Ho

text: Donald Tai Loy Ho (August 13, 1930 – April 14, 2007) was a Hawaiian traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer. He is best known for the song "Tiny Bubbles" from the album of the same name.


title: Don Ho

text: Ho was a singer of Native Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent. He was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako to Emily (Honey) Leimaile Silva and James Ah You Puao Ho, but he grew up in Kāneohe on the windward side of the island of Oahu. He was a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools in 1949 and he attended Springfield College on a football scholarship in 1950, but returned home to earn a Bachelor's degree in sociology at University of Hawai'i in 1953. In 1954, Ho entered the United States Air Force doing his primary training at Columbus AFB, Mississippi and spent time flying C-97s with the Military Air Transport Service. Transferred to Travis AFB, California, he went to the local city of Concord and bought an electronic keyboard from a music store, and recalls, "That's when it all started."


title: Don Ho

text: Don married his high school sweetheart, Melva May Kolokea Wong, on November 22, 1951. She was the mother to his first six children. They were married for 48 years, until Melva's death on June 8, 1999. While in the military, Ho traveled from state to state with his young family until he was called home to help his mother with the family bar business called Honey's.


title: Don Ho

text: Ho left the United States Air Force in 1959 due to his mother's developing illness and began singing at her club in Kaneohe. Honey's became a hotspot for the local entertainment and the growing customers from the Kaneohe Marine Base servicemen. Ho always honored the military remembering his own years of military service. In 1963, he moved the Kāneohe Honey's to Waikīkī. After much success, and little room to grow, promoter Kimo Wilder McVay sought Don to play at a night club called "Duke's" owned by Duke Kahanamoku, where he caught the attention of record company officials.


title: Don Ho

text: Ho was originally signed to Reprise Records. Ho released his debut album, "The Don Ho Show!", in 1965 and began to play high-profile locations in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and New York City. In 1966 he released his second album, a live compilation called "Don Ho – Again!", which charted in the early part of that year. In the fall of 1966, Ho released his most famous song, "Tiny Bubbles", which charted on both the pop (#57 Billboard) and easy listening charts and caused his subsequent album, also called "Tiny Bubbles", to remain in the album Top 200 for almost a year. Another song associated with Don was "Pearly Shells". From 1964 to 1969, Don's backing group was The Aliis: Al Akana, Rudy Aquino, Benny Chong, Manny Lagodlagod and Joe Mundo.


title: Don Ho

text: In his stage show, Ho would make jokes about being sent in the mid-1950s to Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi and being Hawaiian. Don Ho enjoyed asking for a show of hands of veterans of World War II. He would ask for all the Pearl Harbor survivors to stand. He would tell the men from the European Theater, "you got your glory in the movies" that they could watch. The veterans of the Pacific Theater were invited on stage to join the hula dancers.