title: Children in the military

text: British SAS special forces are allegedly involved in training child soldiers in Yemen. Reportedly at least 40% of soldiers fighting for the Saudi-led coalition are children.


title: Children in the military

text: In June 2019, Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, blocked the inclusion of Saudi Arabia on the US list of countries that recruit child soldiers, dismissing his experts' findings that a Saudi-led coalition has been using children in Yemen's civil war.


title: Children in the military

text: In 2004 the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (now Child Soldiers International) reported that in Asia thousands of children are involved in fighting forces in active conflict and ceasefire situations in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Government refusal of access to conflict zones has made it impossible to document the numbers involved. In 2004 Myanmar was unique in the region as the only country where government armed forces forcibly recruited and used children between the ages of 12 and 16. Johnny and Luther Htoo, twin brothers who jointly led the God's Army guerrilla group, were estimated to have been around ten years old when they began leading the group in 1997.


title: Children in the military

text: Militias recruited thousands of child soldiers during the Afghan civil war over three decades. Many are still fighting now for the Taliban. Some of those taken from Islamic religious schools or madrassas, are used as suicide bombers and gunmen. A propaganda video of boys marching in camouflage uniform and using slogans of martyrdom was issued in 2009 by the Afghan Taliban's leadership. This included a eulogy to a 14-year-old Taliban fighter who allegedly killed an American soldier.


title: Children in the military

text: The State Peace and Development Council has asserted that all of its soldiers volunteered and that all of those accepted are 18 or over. According to Human Rights Watch as many as 70,000 boys serve in Burma/Myanmar's national army, the Tatmadaw, with children as young as 11 being forcibly recruited off the streets. Desertion, the group reported, leads to punishments of three to five years in prison or even execution. The group has also stated that about 5,000–7,000 children serve with a range of different armed ethnic opposition groups, most notably in the United Wa State Army. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released a report in June 2009 mentioning "grave violations" against children in the country by both the rebels and the government. The administration announced on 4August that they would send a team into Burma/Myanmar to press for more action.


title: Children in the military

text: Militant use of children in Sri Lanka has been an internationally recognized problem since the inception of the Sri Lankan civil war in 1983. The primary recruiters of children are the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.


title: Children in the military

text: An estimated 6,000–9,000 children serve in the Communist Party of Nepal forces. As of 2010, child soldiers of the CPN have since been demobilized.


title: Children in the military

text: Islamist and communist armed groups fighting the government have routinely relied on child recruits. In 2001 Human Rights Watch reported that an estimated 13 percent of the 10,000 soldiers in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were children, and that some paramilitary forces linked to the government were also using children. In 2016 the MILF allowed 1,869 children to leave and committed not to recruit children any more. In the same year, however, the UN reported that other armed groups in the Philippines continue to recruit children, mainly between the ages of 13 and 17.


title: Children in the military

text: According to Child Soldiers International the trend in Europe has been towards recruiting only adults from age 18; most states only allow adult recruitment, and no armed groups were known to be using children. one country, the United Kingdom, was enlisting children from age 16, and five were enlisting from age 17 (Austria, Cyprus, France, Germany, and Netherlands). Of these, the UK recruits children in the greatest numbers; in 2016, approximately a quarter of new recruits to the British army were aged under 18.


title: Children in the military

text: All European states have ratified the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, and so child recruits are not typically used in hostilities until they reach adulthood. Children were used as combatants in the First Chechen War during the 1990s.


title: Children in the military

text: Austria invites male children to begin their adult compulsory military service one year early, at age 17, with the consent of their parents.


title: Children in the military

text: Cyprus invites children to begin their adult compulsory military service two years early, at age 16, with the consent of their parents.


title: Children in the military

text: France enlists military personnel from age 17 and 6 months, and students for military technical school from age 16; 3% of its armed forces' intake is aged under 18.


title: Children in the military

text: Germany enlists military personnel from age 17; in 2015 6% of its armed forces' intake was aged under 18.


title: Children in the military

text: The Netherlands enlists military personnel from age 17; in 2014 5% of its armed forces' intake was aged under 18.


title: Children in the military

text: During the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine in 2014 Justice for Peace at Donbas documented 41 verified individual cases of child recruitment into armed formations. Of those 37 concerned the participation of children in armed formations on territory not controlled by Ukraine and 4 on territory controlled by Ukraine. There were 31 further reports of child recruitment which could not be verified. Of the 37 verified cases on territory not controlled by Ukraine, 33 were boys and 4 were girls; 57% were aged 16–17, 35% were under 15, and age could not be determined in 8% of cases. Both separatists and loyalists have been reported to have used children in military capacities.


title: Children in the military

text: In December 2022, Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, stated 17-years-old have been drafted by the Russian military in occupied territories.


title: Children in the military

text: The British armed forces enlist personnel from age 16 and accept applications from children aged 15 years, 7 months. Parental consent is required prior to enlistment.


title: Children in the military

text: , 23% of enlistees to the British armed forces were aged under 18. Most child recruits were enlisted for the army, where 30% of the intake in the year 2021-2022 was aged under 18; more new soldiers were 16 than any other age.


title: Children in the military

text: Army recruits aged between 16 and 17.5 train initially at the Army Foundation College, a military training centre dedicated to the age group. , the centre is graded 'outstanding' for welfare by the education inspectorate Ofsted, although multiple allegations of abuse at the centre, some proven, are on the army's record. In 2021, nine investigations were opened into sexual offences against 22 girls at the centre; in one investigation, three of the suspected perpetrators were members of staff. The revelations were the subject of a "Vice News" report in July 2022.


title: Children in the military

text: As per the OPAC, the UK does not normally send child recruits to participate in hostilities, although it does not rule out doing so.


title: Children in the military

text: The UK inadvertently deployed 22 personnel aged under 18 to Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2010. The committee on the Rights of the Child has urged the UK to alter its policy so as to ensure that children cannot take part in hostilities under any circumstances.


title: Children in the military

text: In negotiations on the OPAC during the 1990s the UK joined the US in opposing a global minimum enlistment age of 18. Children's rights bodies have criticised the UK's continuing reliance on children to staff its armed forces.


title: Children in the military

text: The Australian Defence Force allows personnel to enlist with parental consent from the age of 16. Personnel under the age of 18 cannot be deployed overseas or used in direct combat except in extreme circumstances where it is not possible to evacuate them.


title: Children in the military

text: The military use of children has been common throughout history; only in recent decades has the practice met with informed criticism and concerted efforts to end it. Progress has been slow, partly because many armed forces have relied on children to fill their ranks, and partly because the behaviour of non-state armed groups is difficult to influence.


title: Children in the military

text: International efforts to limit children's participation in armed conflict began with the Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1977 (Art. 77.2). The new Protocols prohibited the military recruitment of children aged under 15, but continued to allow state armed forces and non-state armed groups to recruit children from age 15 and use them in warfare.


title: Children in the military

text: Efforts were renewed during negotiations on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), when Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) campaigned for the new treaty to outlaw child recruitment entirely. Some states, whose armed forces relied on recruiting below the age of 18, resisted this, so the final treaty text of 1989 only reflected the existing legal standard: the prohibition of the direct participation of children aged under 15 in hostilities.


title: Children in the military

text: In the 1990s NGOs established the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (now Child Soldiers International) to work with sympathetic governments on a campaign for a new treaty to correct the deficiencies they saw in the CRC. After a global campaign lasting six years, the treaty was adopted in 2000 as the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC). The treaty prohibits child conscription, ensures that military recruits are no younger than 16, and forbids the use of child recruits in hostilities. The treaty also forbids non-state armed groups from recruiting anyone under the age of 18 for any purpose. Although most states negotiating OPAC supported a ban on recruiting children, some states, led by the US in alliance with the UK, objected to this. As such, the treaty does not ban the recruitment of children aged 16 or 17, although it allows states to bind themselves to a higher standard in law.


title: Children in the military

text: After the adoption of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, a campaign for global ratification made swift progress. OPAC had been ratified by 167 states. The campaign also successfully encouraged many states not to recruit children at all. In 2001 83 states only allowed adult enlistment. By 2016 this had increased to 126, which is 71 percent of countries with armed forces. Approximately 60 non-state armed groups have also entered agreements to stop or scale back their use of children, often brokered by the UN or the NGO Geneva Call.


title: Children in the military

text: Child Soldiers International reports that the success of the OPAC treaty, combined with the gradual decline in child recruitment by state armed forces, has led to a reduction of children in military organisations worldwide. the recruitment and use of children remains widespread. In particular, militant Islamist organisations such as ISIS and Boko Haram, as well as armed groups fighting them, have used children extensively. In addition, the three most populous states – China, India and the United States – still allow their armed forces to enlist children aged 16 or 17, as do five of the Group of Seven countries: Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, again.


title: Children in the military

text: Red Hand Day (also known as the International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers) on 12February is an annual commemoration day to draw public attention to the practice of using children as soldiers in wars and armed conflicts. The date reflects the entry into force of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.


title: Children in the military

text: Many states which do not allow their armed forces to recruit children have continued to draw criticism for marketing military life to children through the education system, in civic spaces and in popular entertainment such as films and videogames. Some commentators have argued that this marketing to children is manipulative and part of a military recruitment process and should therefore be evaluated ethically as such. This principle has led some groups to campaign for relations between military organisations and young people to be regulated, on the grounds of children's rights and public health. Examples are the Countering the Militarization of Youth programme of War Resisters' International, the Stop Recruiting Kids campaign in the US, and the Military Out of Schools campaign in the UK. Similar concerns have been raised in Germany and Israel.


title: Children in the military

text: Child Soldiers International defines reintegration as: "The process through which children formerly associated with armed forces/groups are supported to return to civilian life and play a valued role in their families and communities" Programs that aim to rehabilitate and reintegrate child soldiers, such as those sponsored by UNICEF, often emphasise three components: family reunification/community network, psychological support, and education/economic opportunity. These efforts take a minimum commitment of 3 to 5 years in order for programs to be successfully implemented. Generally, reintegration efforts seek to return children to a safe environment, to create a sense of forgiveness on the behalf of the child's family and community through religious and cultural ceremonies and rituals, and encourage the reunification of the child with his or her family.


title: Children in the military

text: Reintegration efforts can become challenging when the child in question has committed war crimes because in these cases stigma and resentment within the community can be exacerbated. In situations such as these, it is important that the child's needs are balanced with a sense of community justice. These situations should be addressed immediately because if not, many children face the threat of re-enlistment. There are also two areas of reintegration that warrant special consideration: female child soldiers and drug use among child soldiers. Child soldiers under the influence of drugs or who have contracted sexually transmitted diseases require additional programmes specific to their needs.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament was scheduled to be hosted by Libya, until CAF rescinded its hosting rights in August 2014 due to the Second Libyan civil war. The tournament was instead hosted by Gabon. This event was also part of the Africa Cup of Nations 60th Anniversary.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: Cameroon won their fifth title after defeating seven-time champions Egypt 2–1 in the final. Burkina Faso finished third after beating Ghana 1–0 in the third place play-off.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: As champions, Cameroon qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. Tournament hosts Gabon and defending champions Ivory Coast were both eliminated in the group stage.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: CAF received 3 bids before 30 September 2010, the deadline, to host either the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations or 2017 from DR Congo, Morocco and South Africa. All three bids were originally put on a shortlist. CAF then began an inspection procedure, on November and December 2010, intending to visit each bidding country to view stadiums, infrastructure, and football interest. They inspected the DR Congo first. Shortly after the inspection, DR Congo informed CAF that they would be withdrawing their bids for both the 2015 and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. Morocco was the next country to be inspected, with CAF visiting the country in early November 2010. South Africa was inspected in December 2010.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: On 29 January, during the 2011 CAF Super Cup, the CAF executive committee decided that Morocco would host 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, while the 2017 edition would be held in South Africa. However, due to the Libyan Civil War, Libya and South Africa traded years with South Africa hosting in 2013 and Libya hosting in 2017.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: After Libya was withdrawn as the venue on 22 August 2014, the CAF announced that they would be receiving applications for the new hosts until 30 September 2014.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: Algeria, Egypt, Gabon, and Ghana, were determined by the CAF to be compliant with the host criteria. Later, Egypt withdrew.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: Other countries which expressed an interest but did not bid included Ethiopia, Mali, and Tanzania. Kenya discussed a joint bid with neighbors Rwanda and Uganda, but eventually bid alone.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: On 8 April 2015, CAF President Issa Hayatou announced Gabon as the replacement hosts following votes by the CAF Executive Committee.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: The draw for the qualification stage took place on 8 April 2015, immediately after the announcement of the host nation. The host nation team were also drawn into a group and would play games against those in that group; however, those matches would only be considered as friendlies and not counted for the standings.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: 51 nations entered the qualifying stage with Eritrea and Somalia declining to enter and Chad withdrawing.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: Due to the cancellation of Morocco being hosts of the 2015 edition, the national team of Morocco were originally banned by CAF from entering the 2017 and 2019 Africa Cups of Nations. However, the ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing Morocco to enter the tournament.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: Only the hosts received an automatic qualification spot; the other 15 teams qualified through a qualification tournament. At the finals, the 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams each. The teams in each group played a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The quarter-final winners advanced to the semi-finals. The semi-final losers played in a third place match, while the semi-final winners played in the final.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: The seedings approved by the Organising Committee of the Africa Cup of Nations at its meeting on Monday, 26 September 2016 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, was determined taking into account the performance of the qualified teams during the following competitions:


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 74):


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: In the knockout stages, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner, except for the play-off for third place, where no extra time was played (Regulations Article 75).


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by a penalty shoot-out are counted as draws.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: In July 2016, Total secured an eight-year sponsorship package from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to support ten of its principal competitions, including the Africa Cup of Nations (renamed the Total Africa Cup of Nations).


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: Mitre took over as the official match ball supplier following the expiration of the contract between Adidas and CAF. CAF Mitre Delta Hyperseam was the name of the official match ball.


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: On 21 January, Russian hacking group "New World Hackers" claimed to have taken the official CAF website down in response to CAF's decision to choose Gabon as host nation. "We did this in protest against Gabon", the person claiming to be one of the hackers wrote in an email. "They are running the Africa Cup in a country where the dictator Ali Bongo is killing innocent people!"


title: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations

text: - Available in the following countries: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia


title: Dracula (2013 TV series)

text: Dracula is a horror drama television series. The series, a reimagining of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula", was produced by London-based Carnival Films; it aired in the United States on NBC and in the United Kingdom on Sky Living from October 25, 2013, to January 24, 2014. It was created by Cole Haddon and Daniel Knauff, while Daniel Knauf served as showrunner and head writer.


title: Dracula (2013 TV series)

text: The series was given a straight-to-series commitment of ten episodes. It was cancelled after one season.


title: Dracula (2013 TV series)

text: After being revived by a mysterious figure through the blood of a graveyard thief, Dracula arrives in London posing as Alexander Grayson, an American entrepreneur who claims to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he seeks revenge on the Order of the Dragon, a power-hungry organization that ruined his life centuries earlier. Abraham Van Helsing, who was later revealed to have brought Dracula back to life, is also out for revenge, and the two form an uneasy alliance. Their plans are complicated when Dracula becomes fascinated with Mina Murray, a woman who seems to be a reincarnation of his dead wife, Ilona.


title: Dracula (2013 TV series)

text: The series was shot in Budapest. Prior to the series premiere, NBC released an animated web companion entitled "Dracula Rising", which serves as a prequel that depicts the origin story of the titular character.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is a full-sized luxury car produced by British automaker Rolls-Royce in various forms from 1965 to 1980. It was the first of the marque to use unitary body and chassis construction.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: The Silver Shadow was produced from 1965 to 1976, and the Silver Shadow II from 1977 to 1980. To date, the combined model run has the largest production volume of any Rolls-Royce.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: The Silver Shadow was originally intended to be called "Rolls-Royce Silver Mist", but was replaced with "Silver Shadow" at the last minute due to "Mist" meaning "manure" or "crap" in German. It was designed with several modernisations in response to concerns that the company was falling behind in automotive innovation, most notably in its unitary construction.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: Style-wise, the John Polwhele Blatchley design was a major departure from its predecessor, the Silver Cloud. More than 50% of Silver Clouds had been sold on the domestic market where, by the standards of much of Europe and most of North America, roads were narrow and crowded. The new Shadow was narrower and shorter than the Silver Cloud, but nevertheless managed to offer increased passenger and luggage space thanks to more efficient packaging made possible by unitary construction.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: Other new features included disc brakes replacing drums, and independent rear suspension instead of the outdated live axle design of previous Rolls-Royce models.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: The standard wheelbase Silver Shadow measured , and had a book price of £6,557 in the first year of production.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: The Shadow featured a 6.2 L V8 from 1965 to 1969, and a 6.75 L V8 from 1970 to 1980. Both powerplants were coupled to a General Motors-sourced Turbo Hydramatic 400 automatic gearbox, except on pre-1970 right-hand-drive models, which used the same 4-speed automatic gearbox as the Silver Cloud (also sourced from General Motors, the Hydramatic).


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: A distinctive feature was a high-pressure hydropneumatic suspension system licensed from Citroën, with dual-circuit braking and hydraulic self-levelling suspension. At first, both the front and rear of the car were controlled by the levelling system; the front levelling was deleted in 1969 as it had been determined that the rear levelling did almost all the work. Rolls-Royce achieved a high degree of ride quality with this arrangement.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: A two-door saloon was introduced early in 1966, followed by a convertible in 1967. There are two different versions of the two-door saloon – one by Mulliner Park Ward featuring style fenders, and the very rare James Young model that was only built in fifty examples (comprising 35 Rolls-Royces and 15 Bentleys). The James Young version was discontinued in 1967, leaving only the curvier Mulliner Park Ward model.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: In 1977, the model was renamed the Silver Shadow II in recognition of several major changes, most notably rack and pinion steering; modifications to the front suspension improved handling markedly.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: Externally, the bumpers were changed from chrome to alloy and rubber starting with the late 1976 Silver Shadows. These new energy-absorbing bumpers had been used in the United States since 1974, as a response to tightening safety standards there. Nonetheless, the bumpers on cars sold outside of North America were still solidly mounted and protruded less. Also now made standard across the board was the deletion of the small grilles mounted beneath the headlamps. Outside of North America, where tall curbs and the like demanded more ground clearance, a front skirt was also fitted to the Silver Shadow II and its sister cars.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: In 1979, 75 Silver Shadow II cars were specially fitted to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the company with the original red "RR" badges front and rear, pewter/silver paint, grey leather with red piping, scarlet red carpets, and a silver commemorative placard on the inside of the glove box door. 33 75th anniversary cars were designated for and shipped to the North American market.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: Rolls-Royce considered offering a more exclusive, long-wheelbase Phantom VII model based on the Silver Shadow, but production was not pursued and no prototypes were built. Instead, a long-wheelbase variant, some 4 inches longer to provide additional rear seat legroom, was offered in the United States from May 1969, and available to domestic customers from early 1970. A pilot series of ten long wheelbase cars had been built in 1967 and sold, one of them to Princess Margaret. Some long-wheelbase models were fitted with a privacy glass divider. Outside of North America, the cars with a divider were fitted with a separate air conditioning unit mounted in the boot - North American safety laws made this impossible, as the petrol tank would have had to be relocated. The cars with a divider lost the entire gain in wheelbase. The glass divider was electrically retractable.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: Initially, the long-wheelbase model did not have a separate name, but in 1976, with the introduction of the Silver Shadow II, the longer car was dubbed the Silver Wraith II.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: The Wraith II is identified by all alterations found on the Silver Shadow II and additionally an Everflex-covered roof (also available as an option on the Silver Shadow II), a smaller, more formal rear window (some customers deleted the smaller back window: for example Joe Bamford of JCB) and different wheel covers. Some Silver Wraith IIs were also fitted with electric divisions which took up the extra four inches of leg room in the rear.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: The Rolls-Royce factory built a special stretch limousine in 1979. It was ordered by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The religious leader had a collection of 93 Rolls-Royce cars.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: In 1971 the Silver Shadow two door models were given the separate identity of Corniche (with either Rolls-Royce or Bentley badging), and eventually went on to outlive the Silver Shadow by some years with production lasting until 1982 for the coupé and 1996 for the convertible.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: Another coupé variant on the Shadow platform was the Camargue, with bodywork designed by the Italian firm Pininfarina, and production running from 1975 to 1986. The Camargue had the distinction of being the most expensive production Rolls-Royce.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: A Bentley version of the Shadow, known as the Bentley T (and Bentley T2 from 1977), was also made. It was mechanically identical and differed only in the badging and design of the radiator shell. The more rounded radiator also required a slightly reshaped bonnet profile. Other modifications were only slight cosmetic ones, a different front bumper and hubcaps. Engine valve covers with a "Bentley" logo were only used when the factory had them available.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: The long-wheelbase version of the Bentley T did not have a separate identity and was simply called T long-wheelbase or T2 long-wheelbase. Only a very few of these were built (9 and 10 examples respectively, less than 0.4% of the total long-wheelbase production).


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: All two-door cars were also available as Bentleys. However, only one example of a Bentley Camargue was ever produced.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: In 2013, the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow featured on a "British Auto Legends" postage stamp issued by the Royal Mail.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, and its derivatives, has appeared in film and television. The Silver Shadow appears in the James Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun" (1974). It also features in the Bond film "The World Is Not Enough" (1999).


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: Silver Wraith II (1979 model) makes multiple appearances in the first season of Netflix's "The Umbrella Academy". It is first very briefly revealed at the end of the series' first episode, "We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals". The same vehicle later makes a clearer appearance at the end of "Number Five". It also appears in the beginning and end of "The Day That Was" and of "I Heard a Rumor". It is seen for the last time at the beginning of "Changes".


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: Japanese director Juzo Itami was known as an Rolls Royce aficionado, featuring several Rolls Royce and Bentley vehicles in his movies including a Silver Shadow in his 1984 film "The Funeral", a Bentley T-series in the popular 1985 classic "Tampopo", and a Silver Shadow in the 1987 film "A Taxing Woman". His last personal vehicle, a Bentley Continental, is maintained at his museum in Matsuyama.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: One of Princess Margaret's favorite cars was a 1980 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II which she owned for 22 years until her passing, with notable passengers including Paul Getty, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Lady Diana Spencer, HM The Queen and Queen Mary, The Queen Mother.


title: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

text: Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, who never drove a car because he had no licence, was often chauffeured around London in his Silver Shadow from 1979 until his death in 1991. The car was passed to his sister Kashmira who made it available for display at public events, including the West End premiere of the musical "We Will Rock You" in 2002, before it was auctioned off at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in 2013 for £74,600. In 1997, a white 1972 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow featured on the cover of the Oasis album "Be Here Now". During the photo shoot for the album, the car was lowered into the swimming pool of Stocks House, Hertfordshire.


title: Ruth Bradley

text: Sharon Ruth Bradley is an Irish actress. She is best known for playing Emily Merchant in "Primeval" (2011) and Karen Voss in "Humans" (2015–18). She has also had recurring roles in "Legend" (6 episodes, 2006), "The Innocence Project" (8 episodes, 2006–07), "Plus One" (6 episodes, 2009) and "Love/Hate" (seasons 1 and 2). She won the IFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for "Stardust". Afterward, Bradley won a Best Actress award at the Milan International Film Festival 2010 for her starring performance in the film "In Her Skin".


title: Ruth Bradley

text: Bradley's first screen appearances were in 2002 in "Ultimate Force" (as Georgia Gracey) and "Sinners" (as Angela).


title: Ruth Bradley

text: Since then, she has had recurring roles in "The Clinic" (3 episodes, 2003), "Love Is the Drug" (4 episodes, 2004), "Legend" (6 episodes, 2006), "The Innocence Project" (8 episodes, 2006–07), "Plus One" (6 episodes, 2009) and "Love/Hate" (seasons 1 and 2).


title: Ruth Bradley

text: She presented at the 4th Irish Film and Television Awards in 2007. She won the IFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for "Stardust". In 2009, Bradley starred in the film "In Her Skin", the true story of an Australian teen who goes missing and is later found to have been murdered by her childhood friend (played by Bradley). Bradley won a Best Actress award at the Milan International Film Festival 2010 for her performance.


title: Ruth Bradley

text: In late 2010, she filmed the female lead in the Irish monster movie "Grabbers", which opened in August 2012 and later screened worldwide.


title: Ruth Bradley

text: She had a recurring role as Emily Merchant in the fourth and fifth series of the ITV science fiction show "Primeval".


title: Ruth Bradley

text: Bradley was born in Dublin, Ireland to IFTA winning actress Charlotte Bradley. Bradley lived in Newfoundland, Canada from shortly after birth until she was five. She enrolled in Trinity College Dublin to study drama and languages, but dropped out after three weeks and moved to London, United Kingdom to pursue acting full-time.


title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (TV series)

text: Percy Jackson and the Olympians is an upcoming American fantasy television series created by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz for the streaming service Disney+, based on the novel series of the same name by Rick Riordan. The series is produced by Disney Branded Television, 20th Television, and the Gotham Group.


text: Walker Scobell stars as Percy Jackson, alongside Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri. Development on the series began by May 2020, following a pitch by Riordan to the Walt Disney Company. Steinberg and Shotz were announced as showrunners in July 2021, with James Bobin hired to direct the first episode in October. Scobell was cast in the lead role in January 2022, with Jeffries and Simhadri joining the cast in May. By September, Anders Engström and Jet Wilkinson were also set to direct multiple episodes of the series. Filming began in June 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia.


text: "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" is scheduled to premiere in 2024, with the first season consisting of eight episodes.


text: The pilot episode was written by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg, with James Bobin set to direct. Anders Engström will direct the third and fourth episodes while Jet Wilkinson will direct the fifth and sixth.


text: In November 2018, Rick Riordan stated that he believed he would have no creative control over a Disney reboot of the "Percy Jackson" novel series if it were to happen, much like his experience with the film series with 20th Century Fox. In December 2019, Riordan pitched an adaptation of the novels to the Walt Disney Company, which had acquired Fox in March of that year. By May 2020, a Disney+ series based on "Percy Jackson" was in the works, with the first season set to adapt the first book in the series, "The Lightning Thief". Riordan revealed in March 2021 that searches for the series' directors and cast was underway, with James Bobin was announced as the pilot episode's director in October. Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz were also announced as showrunners in July.


text: The series was greenlit in January 2022, with Disney Branded Television, 20th Television, and the Gotham Group producing the project. Steinberg, Shotz, Bobin, and Riordan were announced as executive producers alongside Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe, Anders Engström, Jet Wilkinson, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, and D. J. Goldberg. At the D23 Expo in September, Anders Engström and Jet Wilkinson were revealed to be executive producing the series as well. The same month, Riordan revealed that Engström would direct the third and fourth episodes while Wilkinson would direct the fifth and sixth.


text: Drafts of the pilot episode were being reviewed by March 2021. In April 2021, it was announced that Steinberg would serve as co-writer and executive producer of the pilot alongside Riordan. The same day, Monica Owusu-Breen, Daphne Olive, Stewart Strandberg, Zoë Neary, Joe Tracz, and Xavier Stiles joined as writers. Each season of the series will adapt one installment of the book series, with the first season being an adaptation of "The Lightning Thief". In addition to writing the pilot, Riordan and co-showrunner Steinberg created a series bible for the show, as well as planning the plot for the first season and creating ideas for potential future seasons.


text: Preliminary casting began in April 2021. In January 2022, Walker Scobell was cast in the lead role as Percy Jackson, with this being announced in April. The next month, it was announced that Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri would respectively portray Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, two close friends of Percy. Jeffries' casting received online backlash due to Annabeth not being depicted as Black in the novels, which Riordan condemned as a byproduct of racism. In June, Virginia Kull, Glynn Turman, Jason Mantzoukas, Megan Mullally, and Timm Sharp were announced to be appearing in recurring capacities as Sally Jackson, Chiron, Dionysus, Alecto, and Gabe Ugliano, respectively. The same month, Dior Goodjohn and Charlie Bushnell joined the cast in recurring roles as Clarisse La Rue and Luke Castellan, respectively, while Olivea Morton was announced to portray Nancy Bobofit in a guest role. Adam Copeland was cast in the recurring role of Ares in October, while Suzanne Cryer and Jessica Parker Kennedy were cast in the guest roles of Echidna and Medusa, respectively. In November 2022, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jay Duplass, and Timothy Omundson were announced to guest-star as Hermes, Hades, and Hephaestus, respectively.


text: Principal photography began on June 2, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia, under the working title "Mink Golden", and is set to conclude in January 2023. The series utilized an LED stage powered by Industrial Light & Magic's StageCraft visual effects technology.


text: A teaser for the series was revealed during the D23 Expo in September 2022. Rotem Rusak of "Nerdist" highlighted how the teaser featured the opening lines of "The Lightning Thief", while Kendall Myers of "Collider" noted the teaser's dark tone.


text: The series will be released on Disney+ in 2024. with the first season consisting of eight episodes. In July 2022, Riordan stated that the series would likely be released around early 2024, a timeframe which was confirmed in September.


title: The Stuff

text: The Stuff (also known as Larry Cohen's The Stuff) is a 1985 American satirical science fiction horror film written and directed by Larry Cohen and starring Michael Moriarty, Garrett Morris, Andrea Marcovicci, and Paul Sorvino. It was also the last film of Alexander Scourby. In the film, a sweet and addictive alien substance becomes a popular dessert in the United States, but soon begins attacking people and turning them into zombies. This film is a satire on the American lifestyle and consumer society.


title: The Stuff

text: Several quarry workers in Georgia discover a white cream-like alien substance bubbling out of the ground. These workers find it to be sweet and addictive. Later, the substance, marketed as "The Stuff," is sold to the general public in containers like ice cream. It is marketed as having no calories and as being sweet, creamy, and filling. The Stuff quickly becomes a nationwide craze and drastically hurts the sales of ice cream.


title: The Stuff

text: Former FBI agent turned industrial saboteur David "Mo" Rutherford is hired by the leaders of the suffering ice cream industry, as well as junk food mogul Charles W. "Chocolate Chip Charlie" Hobbs, to find out exactly what The Stuff is and destroy it.


title: The Stuff

text: Under their commissions, Rutherford investigates The Stuff. His efforts reveal, to his initial horror, that the craze for the dessert is far deadlier than anyone had believed: The Stuff is actually a living, parasitic, and possibly sentient organism that gradually takes over the brain; it then mutates those who eat it into bizarre zombie-like creatures, before consuming them from the inside and leaving them empty shells of their former selves.


title: The Stuff

text: A young boy named Jason also discovers The Stuff is alive and sees how it affects his family and how they are adamantly against his beliefs about The Stuff. He gets arrested for vandalizing a supermarket display of The Stuff, attracting the attention of Rutherford, who comes to his aid. Rutherford also manages to charm Nicole, an advertising executive who becomes his partner and lover when she sees the effect of The Stuff. The trio infiltrates the distribution operation, an organized corporate effort to spread The Stuff to eliminate world hunger, and destroy the lake of The Stuff with explosives. Meanwhile, United States Army Col. Malcolm Grommett Spears, a retired soldier, teams up with the trio and leads a militia in battling the zombies and transmitting a civil defense message for Americans to break their addiction to The Stuff by destroying it with fire. However, in their efforts to warn the public, Charlie is zombified at the Colonel's radio station; The Stuff bursts out of his throat, and Nicole and Jason are cornered in a recording booth by the dangerous ooze. Rutherford lights The Stuff on fire, and then they make their broadcast. The Stuff addiction is ended, and Rutherford, Nicole, Jason, and Col. Spears are hailed as national heroes.


title: The Stuff

text: Mo then visits the head of The Stuff Company, Mr. Fletcher. He tells Mo that the destruction of the mine has not hurt his business since The Stuff seeps out from many places in the ground, but Mo vows to find those places and get rid of them all. Another man, Mr. Vickers, brings in Mr. Evans, the ice cream mogul with whom he is now working—and who had initially hired Mo to find out about what The Stuff was. They tell him they have come up with a new product called "The Taste," which is a mix of 88% ice cream and 12% The Stuff, supposedly enough to make people crave more without it taking over their minds or killing them. However, Mo then brings in Jason, who is carrying a box, and then holds the two moguls at gunpoint. The box is full of pint containers of The Stuff, and Mo forces both to eat them all as punishment for all the lives lost to it and for their greed. As they do, Rutherford asks, "Are you eating it, or is it eating you?" When they finish, Mo and Jason leave them to the approaching police.


title: The Stuff

text: The film ends with smugglers selling The Stuff on the black market, having one of the smugglers tasting The Stuff, and revealing that samples of The Stuff still exist. In a post-credits scene, a woman in a bathroom says, "Enough is never enough" while holding The Stuff.


title: The Stuff

text: Shooting for the film was brief starting in August 1984 and wrapping shortly in September. Filming locations included New Paltz, New York, New York City and Los Angeles. Post production began in January 1985 at Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles and continued into the summer. The Mohonk Hotel was notably used as Colonel Malcolm Grommett Spears’ headquarters in the film.


title: The Stuff

text: Multiple puppets were used to simulate the deaths of characters who had become hosts of The Stuff. Four models of Garrett Morris' head were made for Charlie's transformation sequence, one of which Cohen still claimed to own. When The Stuff was eaten on screen, ice cream, yogurt and whipped cream were used.


title: The Stuff

text: The script was an original story by Cohen. He said, "My main inspiration was the consumerism and corporate greed found in our country and the damaging products that were being sold. I was constantly reading in the newspapers about various goods and materials being recalled because they were harming people. For example, you had foods being pulled off the market because they were hazardous to people’s health."


title: The Stuff

text: Cohen cited as his influence, "the sheer volume of junk food we consume every day. We continue to eat these foods despite the fact some of them are killing us. That’s when I started thinking that The Stuff could be an imaginary product— in this case an ice cream dessert— that is being consumed by millions and is doing irreparable damage to humanity. Everybody is gobbling down this yummy food, so how can it possibly be wrong for us?"


title: The Stuff

text: Cohen wanted to cast Arsenio Hall as "Chocolate Chip Charlie" W. Hobbs, since he thought he was not only a good actor but a rising star. The executives at New World Pictures, however, wanted someone more recognizable and thus cast Garrett Morris instead. Morris did not enjoy working with Cohen; in a "Random Roles" section at AV Club where Morris was asked about "The Stuff", he simply said that if he did not respect someone he would not talk about them, and therefore he had nothing to say about Larry Cohen (https://www.avclub.com/garrett-morris-on-snl-2-broke-girls-and-singing-arias-1798268909).


title: The Stuff

text: We did lose a few funny scenes that I wanted to keep. When I showed New World my original cut, they felt strongly that the film should move a lot faster. I realized that I'd made a picture that was a little too dense and sophisticated, so we increased the pacing. I know that along with some of the commercials, we did lose a romantic scene between Moriarty and Andrea that took place in a hotel room. It was perhaps a wise decision to cut some of those scenes out, because I don't think they played well in the totality of the film. The story needed to drive forward at certain points and not be slowed down with extraneous material, although it can be painful cutting scenes out that you like.


title: The Stuff

text: New World wanted a straight-up horror film, and, in retrospect, "The Stuff" had more comedic aspects to it than the executives were perhaps expecting. They thought they were going to get a flat-out horror movie with a lot of gore and scares, and we made a film that was more satirical and had a lot of humour and commentary in it. We played the characters for laughs in many cases and that greatly diluted the horror element. It made "The Stuff" more of what I would consider "A Larry Cohen Movie" but less of a conventional, commercial horror film. I think New World were disappointed that "The Stuff" wasn’t more horrific and nasty – more of a balls-out monster movie. I knew before the film even hit theaters "The Stuff" would appeal to a different audience than the one we were trying to get.


title: The Stuff

text: "The Stuff" was given a limited theatrical release in the United States by New World Pictures in June 1985.


title: The Stuff

text: The film was not a hit, and Cohen feels that it was hurt by the fact it was sold as a horror film, when it was basically a satirical comedy. Cohen stated, "the day "The Stuff" opened in New York a hurricane hit and the newspapers were not delivered. Of course, we had received all these great reviews, but it didn’t matter because nobody ever got to read a single word of them."


title: The Stuff

text: The film was released on VHS by New World Home Video. It was eventually released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2000.


title: The Stuff

text: On September 20, 2011, Image Entertainment released "The Stuff" under its "Midnight Madness Series" banner on DVD. It is a direct port of the Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD release.


title: The Stuff

text: The company Effects Associated were hired by Cohen to supply some of the special effects shots. When the shots were delivered, Cohen was not satisfied with shots of exploding factory buildings and paid only half (c. $8,000) of the agreed price for those shots. Effects Associated brought an action against Cohen in court to claim full compensation, but also because the parties had no written copyright agreement regarding the use of the shots. The trial court decided in favor of Cohen, ruling that there was an "implied agreement" for the non-exclusive use of the shots in the film. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit confirmed the ruling, and confirmed that Effects Associated still retained the copyright for use outside of "The Stuff".


title: The Stuff

text: Colin Greenland reviewed "The Stuff" for "White Dwarf" #77, and stated that "A brilliant performance by Cohen stalwart Michael Moriarty as an industrial spy after the truth holds the straggling plot together."


title: The Stuff

text: It received positive reviews from critics: on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 71% rating, based on 14 reviews.


title: Omar al-Mukhtar

text: Omar al-Mukhṭār Muḥammad bin Farḥāṭ al-Manifī (; 20 August 1858 – 16 September 1931), called The Lion of the Desert, known among the colonial Italians as Matari of the Mnifa, was the leader of native resistance in Cyrenaica (currently Eastern Libya) under the Senussids, against the Italian colonization of Libya. A teacher-turned-general, Omar was also a prominent figure of the Senussi movement, and he is considered the national hero of Libya and a symbol of resistance in the Arab and Islamic worlds. Beginning in 1911, he organised and, for nearly twenty years, led the Libyan resistance movement against the Italian colonial empire during the First and Second Italo-Senussi Wars. After many attempts, the Italian Armed Forces managed to capture Al-Mukhtar near Slonta and hanged him in 1931 after he refused to surrender.


title: Omar al-Mukhtar

text: Omar Al-Mukhtar was born in 1858 to a family in the town of Zanzur near Tobruk, in the region of Ottoman Cyrenaica to an Arab tribe, belonging to the Senussi (who were seen as Libyan Ashrafs clan just like Emir or King Idris es Senussi, eventually becoming chief or leader of the clan. As a child, Omar lost his father early on and spent his youth in poverty. He was adopted by a sheikh, and was friends with the nephew of Hussein Ghariani, Sharif al Geriani. His uncle was a political-religious leader in Cyrenaica, and received his early education at the local mosque, before continuing his studying for eight years at the Senussi university in Jaghbub, the holy city of the Senussi Tariqa. He became a popular expert on the Quran and an imam, joining the confraternity of the Senussi. He also came to be well informed of the social structure of his society, as he was chosen to settle intertribal disputes.


title: Omar al-Mukhtar

text: Mukhtar developed a strong relationship with the Senussid Movement during his years in Jaghbub and in 1895, Al-Mahdi Senoussi traveled with him south to Kufra, and on another occasion further south to Karo in Chad, where he was appointed as sheikh of Zawiyat Ayn Kalk. When the French Empire encroached on Chad in 1899, he was sent among other Senussites to help defend Chad from the French, as the Senussi considered their expansion dangerous due to their missionary activities in Central and West Africa. In 1902, Omar was recalled north after the death of Al-Mahdi, the new Senussi leader Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi appointed him as Sheikh of the troubled Zawiyat Laqsur in Northern Cyrenaica.


title: Omar al-Mukhtar

text: In October 1911, during the Italo-Turkish War, the "Regia Marina" (Italian Royal Navy) under the command of Admiral Luigi Faravelli reached the shores of Libya, then a territory subject to Ottoman control. The admiral demanded that the Ottoman administration and garrison surrender their territory to the Italians or incur the immediate destruction of the city of Tripoli and Benghazi. The Ottomans and their Libyan allies withdrew to the countryside instead of surrendering, and the Italians bombarded the cities for three days, and then proclaimed the Tripolitanians to be 'committed and strongly bound to Italy'. This marked the beginning of a series of battles between the Italian colonial forces and the Libyan armed opposition in Cyrenaica.


title: Omar al-Mukhtar

text: A teacher of the Qur'an by profession, Mukhtar was also skilled in the strategies and tactics of desert warfare. He knew local geography well and used that knowledge to advantage in battles against the Italians, who were unaccustomed to desert warfare. Mukhtar repeatedly led his small, highly alert groups in successful attacks against the Italians, after which they would fade back into the desert terrain. Mukhtar’s men skilfully attacked outposts, ambushed troops, and cut lines of supply and communication. The "Regio Esercito" (Italian Royal Army) was left astonished and embarrassed by his guerrilla tactics.


title: Omar al-Mukhtar

text: In the mountainous region of Jebel Akhdar ("Green Mountain") in 1924, Italian governor Ernesto Bombelli created a counter-guerrilla force that inflicted a severe setback to guerilla forces in April 1925. Mukhtar then quickly modified his own tactics and was able to count on continued help from Egypt. In March 1927, despite the occupation of Giarabub from February 1926 and increasingly stringent rule under Governor Attilio Teruzzi, Mukhtar surprised Italian troops at Raheiba. Between 1927 and 1928, Mukhtar reorganised the Senusite forces, who were being hunted constantly by the Italians. Even General Teruzzi recognized Omar's qualities of "exceptional perseverance and strong willpower."


title: Omar al-Mukhtar

text: Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Governor of Libya from January 1929, after extensive negotiations, concluded a compromise with Mukhtar (described by the Italians as his complete submission) similar to previous Italo-Senusite accords. At the end of October 1929, Mukhtar denounced the compromise and re-established a unity of action among Libyan forces, preparing himself for the ultimate confrontation with General Rodolfo Graziani, the Italian military commander from March 1930. A massive offensive in June against Mukhtar's forces having failed, Graziani, in full accord with Badoglio, Emilio De Bono (Minister of the Colonies), and Benito Mussolini, initiated a plan to break the Libyan Mujāhideen:100,000 population of Jebel Akhdar would be relocated to concentration camps on the coast, and the Libyan-Egyptian border from the coast at Giarabub would be fence-closed, preventing any foreign help to the fighters and depriving them of support from the native population. These measures, which Graziani initiated early in 1931, took their toll on the Senusite resistance. The rebels were deprived of help and reinforcements, spied upon, hit by Italian aircraft, and pursued on the ground by the Italian forces aided by local informers and collaborators. Mukhtar continued to struggle despite increased hardships and risks, but on 11 September 1931, he was ambushed near Slonta.


title: Omar al-Mukhtar

text: Mukhtar's final adversary, Italian General Rodolfo Graziani, has given a description of the Senusite leader that is not lacking in respect: "Of medium height, stout, with white hair, beard, and mustache. Omar was endowed with a quick and lively intelligence; was knowledgeable in religious matters, and revealed an energetic and impetuous character, unselfish and uncompromising; ultimately, he remained very religious and poor, even though he had been one of the most important Senusist figures."


title: Omar al-Mukhtar

text: Mukhtar's struggle of nearly twenty years came to an end on 11 September 1931, when he was wounded in battle near Slonta, and then captured by the Italian Army. On 16 September 1931, on the orders of the Italian court and with Italian hopes that Libyan resistance would die with him, Mukhtar was hanged before his followers in the Suluq prisoner of war camp at the age of 73 years old.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: Bad Words is a 2013 American black comedy film directed by Jason Bateman and written by Andrew Dodge. Marking Bateman's feature film directorial debut, the film stars Bateman as a middle-aged eighth grade dropout who enters the National Golden Quill Spelling Bee through a loophole. It also stars Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Ben Falcone, Philip Baker Hall, and Allison Janney.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: Dodge's screenplay for "Bad Words" was featured on the 2011 Black List and was shortly thereafter picked up by Bateman. In the original script, the story was set at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but the name was changed to a fictional bee since the filmmakers did not expect Scripps to allow the use of their name in the film. After two other actors declined to play the main character, Bateman decided to take on the role himself, and cast the other roles by a combination of contacting friends and open casting calls. Filming took place in Los Angeles at the end of 2012.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2013, and had a limited release in the United States on March 14, 2014, expanding to a wide release on March 28. Produced for $10 million, it earned $7.8 million at the theatrical box office. It received mixed reviews from critics: some enjoyed the humor and direction, while others found the main character unlikeable and the humor offensive.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: Forty-year-old Guy Trilby discovers a loophole in the Golden Quill Spelling Bee which stipulates that participants must have not graduated from the eighth grade, allowing him to enter since he dropped out of middle school. He attends and wins a regional spelling bee, and progresses to the national competition after confrontations with both the parents of children and the spelling bee hosts. He is accompanied by Jenny Widgeon, a relatively unknown journalist hoping to make a story out of his participation in the bee. On the flight to the national spelling bee, Guy meets Chaitanya Chopra, a 10-year-old entrant in the bee who persistently attempts to befriend Guy. Upon his arrival in Los Angeles, Guy meets the director of the spelling bee, Dr. Bernice Deagan, who expresses anger at his participation in the bee and places him and his reporter in a cheap hotel. Guy learns that Chaitanya is staying in the same hotel, and takes him out one night to expose Chaitanya to the wilder side of life: stealing food, drinking, and hiring a prostitute to briefly "flash" Chaitanya.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: In the bee, Guy actively tries to distract and disconcert his fellow competitors, at one point insinuating that he was sleeping with another contestant's mother. Despite Dr. Deagan's tampering with the word list to give Guy the most difficult words, he spells long, complicated words with relative ease, impressing and angering both parents and staff at the spelling bee, including the event's founder, Dr. William Bowman. However, the parents petition for his disqualification and the resignation of Deagan. While researching Guy's background, Jenny discovers that Bowman is Guy's father. She reveals this to him and he admits that his prime motivation for entering the bee was to embarrass his father in revenge for abandoning him and his mother when he was a child. Soon before the final stage of the bee, Guy overhears Chaitanya and his father discussing his strategy to win, which is to befriend Guy so that he will allow Chaitanya to win out of guilt. Guy storms into the room and ends his friendship with Chaitanya, despite Chaitanya's pleas that he genuinely wanted to be friends. They later sabotage each other: Guy burns Chaitanya's study book, "Todd," and Chaitanya files a false police report, accusing Guy of kidnapping a young girl.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: Meanwhile, only ten competitors remain in the bee, and the pool is gradually reduced to just Guy and Chaitanya. When a contestant's mother attacks Guy verbally and is subdued by the police on live television, Bowman is forced to intervene, to his embarrassment. Having accomplished his goal, Guy deliberately misspells a word in an effort to let Chaitanya win. To prove his friendship, Chaitanya also misspells his word, and they soon begin to argue. This escalates into a physical fight, with Chaitanya first kicking Guy's genitals, much to the shock of the audience and when Bowman attempts to intervene, Chaitanya accidentally hits him with a chair. Although the bee is briefly halted, Bowman allows it to continue after deciding that both Guy and Chaitanya acted in an equally embarrassing manner. Their standoff of deliberately misspelling words continues until Guy intentionally misspells Chaitanya's word so that Chaitanya corrects him, thus causing Chaitanya to win the bee inadvertently. As Guy leaves, content, Chaitanya offers to give him half the winnings and names him co-winner of the bee. Guy writes a note to Bowman explaining his actions, which Bowman refuses to read until Guy reveals himself to be his son, and returns home. He resolves his conflict with Chaitanya by buying an old police car from an auction with his share of the winnings, and helping Chaitanya to chase down his school bullies.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: Andrew Dodge's screenplay for "Bad Words" first received attention after its inclusion on the 2011 Black List, an annual survey of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. The script was sent to actor Jason Bateman, who had asked his agent to pursue directorial work, explaining that being able to direct films was "really the only reason I've been acting for the last 20 years of this career".


title: Bad Words (film)

text: After Bateman signed on to direct the film, he and Dodge spent a long time revising the script, particularly adjusting parts where the dark humor "went a little bit too far". In the original script, the story was intended to take place at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The setting was changed to the fictional Golden Quill Spelling Bee in Los Angeles since Bateman did not expect to receive permission from Scripps to use their name in the film.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: Bateman did not initially intend to star in the film, but after approaching two other actors who turned down the role of Guy, he decided to play the main character himself. He felt that it would be easier to play the role himself than to direct another actor to strike the "tricky tone" required, and to ensure that the character remained likeable despite his bad qualities. Allison Janney and Kathryn Hahn were already friends of Bateman's before making "Bad Words", so Bateman simply asked them to star in the film rather than going through a regular casting process. Bateman also reached out to Philip Baker Hall, whom he admired and thought "would lend a great deal of pedigree to the film", to offer him a role. Child actor Rohan Chand sent in a taped audition in response to a casting call for 10-year-old Indian boys, and was cast as Chaitanya after talking to Bateman through Skype. Bateman drew from his own experiences as a child actor in directing Chand and tried to minimize Chand's exposure to the film's "off-color material" and nudity.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: The production of "Bad Words" began in 2012 with a budget of 10 million, financed by MXN Entertainment and Darko Entertainment. Principal photography took place over 29 days at the end of 2012 in Los Angeles, with the Sportsman's Lodge in the San Fernando Valley serving as the location of the national spelling bee final. It was filmed on an Arri Alexa camera by cinematographer Ken Seng, who drew inspiration from the 2002 romantic comedy "Punch-Drunk Love" in shooting a film that was "lit darker than a comedy normally would be".


title: Bad Words (film)

text: "Bad Words" had its world premiere as part of the Special Presentation section of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2013. Shortly after the film's premiere screening, it was announced that Focus Features had acquired the worldwide distribution rights for around $7 million. The film was originally scheduled to have a limited release in the United States on March 21, with a wide release following on March 28, 2014; however, the limited release date was later shifted by a week to March 14, 2014 with an expansion on March 21 and the planned wide release on March 28.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: On its opening weekend in limited release, "Bad Words" earned $113,301 from 6 theaters; on its first weekend of wide release it grossed $2,560,186 from 842 theaters. After playing in theaters for 11 weeks, the film closed with a total box office gross in the United States of $7,779,614. In the United Arab Emirates the film earned $24,723, for a total worldwide gross of $7,804,337.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: "Bad Words" was released on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and in video on demand format on July 8, 2014. The DVD and Blu-ray releases include an audio commentary recorded by Jason Bateman, a featurette titled "The Minds and Mouths Behind "Bad Words"" and deleted scenes. It has earned $1,628,459 in DVD sales and $1,166,001 in Blu-ray sales, making a total of $2,794,460 in revenue.


title: Bad Words (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 65% rating based on 136 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Scabrously funny and gleefully amoral, "Bad Words" boasts one of Jason Bateman's best performances—and proves he's a talented director in the bargain." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 57 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Bad Words (film)

text: Positive reviews for the film praised its script, direction and acting. Writing for "Entertainment Weekly", Owen Gleiberman gave "Bad Words" a grade of A−, praising Dodge's script and Bateman's direction, and describing the film as a "balancing act between sulfurously funny hatred and humanity". Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" awarded the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, calling it "near-perfect", "brilliant, uncompromising and wickedly funny". "Variety" Justin Chang commended Bateman's directorial debut and the film's "often uproarious model of sharp scripting and spirited acting", as well as the performances given by Chand, Hahn and Hall. "Rolling Stone" critic Peter Travers gave "Bad Words" 3.5 out of 4 stars, writing that the film was "a tour de force of comic wickedness" in which "Bateman shows the same skill as a filmmaker that he does as an actor". John DeFore opined in a review for "The Hollywood Reporter" that the film was "scouringly funny" and that Bateman showed "the same knack for timing and fine shadings of attitude" as both the director and the lead actor. The "Los Angeles Times" Betsy Sharkey enjoyed "Bad Words", summarizing it as "high-minded, foul-mouthed good nonsense" and "sarcastic, sanctimonious, salacious, sly, slight and surprisingly sweet".


title: Bad Words (film)

text: Negative reviews, on the other hand, mainly criticized the film's dark humor and the unlikeability of the main character. "USA Today" Claudia Puig found the film "neither believable nor funny" and wrote that "it's tough to summon sufficiently negative language to describe the unfunny, desperate mess that is "Bad Words"". "The Boston Globe" critic Peter Keough gave the film 1 star out of 4, finding it unfunny, clichéd and offensive with an unlikeable "sociopath" as the main character. Richard Corliss of "Time" thought that the film failed to redeem Guy's character or justify his "deification", ultimately making it boring and unsatisfying. Similarly, Joe Morgenstern described Guy in a review for "The Wall Street Journal" as "downright vile, a self-created pariah, and funny enough for a reasonable stretch of time" before the plot becomes "both implausible and banal". "The Globe and Mail" Robert Everett-Green gave "Bad Words" 1 out of 4 stars, deeming it "a shallow remix" of offensive and clichéd characters with poor acting and "mean-spirited" humor.


title: History of Kerala

text: The term "Kerala" was first epigraphically recorded as "Keralaputra" (Cheras) in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka of Magadha. It was mentioned as one of four independent kingdoms in southern India during Ashoka's time, the others being the Cholas, Pandyas and Satyaputras. The Cheras transformed Kerala into an international trade centre by establishing trade relations across the Arabian Sea with all major Mediterranean and Red Sea ports as well those of Eastern Africa and the Far East. The dominion of Cheras was located in one of the key routes of the ancient Indian Ocean trade. The early Cheras collapsed after repeated attacks from the neighboring Cholas and Rashtrakutas.


title: History of Kerala

text: In the 8th century, Adi Shankara was born in Kalady in central Kerala. He travelled extensively across the Indian subcontinent founding institutions of the widely influential philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. The Cheras regained control over Kerala in the 9th century until the kingdom was dissolved in the 12th century, after which small autonomous chiefdoms, most notably the Kingdom of Kozhikode, arose. The ports of Kozhikode and Kochi acted as major gateways to the western coast of medieval South India for several foreign entities. These entities included the Chinese, the Arabs, the Persians, various groups from Eastern Africa, various kingdoms from Southeast Asia including the Malacca Sultanate, and later on, the Europeans.


title: History of Kerala

text: In the 14th century, the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics was founded by Madhava of Sangamagrama in Tirur. Some of the contributions of the school included the discovery of the infinite series and the foundations of calculus.


title: History of Kerala

text: In 1498, with the help of Gujarati merchants, Portuguese traveler Vasco Da Gama established a sea route to Kozhikode by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, located in the southernmost region of Africa. His navy raised Portuguese forts and even minor settlements, which marked the beginning of European influences in India. European trading interests of the Dutch, French and the British took center stage in Kerala.


title: History of Kerala

text: In 1741, the Dutch were defeated by Travancore king Marthanda Varma. After this humiliating defeat, Dutch military commanders were taken hostage by Marthanda Varma, and they were forced to train the Travancore military with modern European weaponry. This resulted in Travancore being able to defend itself from further European aggression. By the late 18th century, most of the influence in Kerala came from the British. The British crown gained control over Northern Kerala through the creation of the Malabar District. The British also allied with the princely states of Travancore and Cochin in the southern part of the state.


title: History of Kerala

text: When India declared independence in 1947, Travancore originally sought to establish itself as a fully sovereign nation. However, an agreement was made by the then King of Travancore Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma to have Travancore join India, albeit after many rounds of negotiation. The Malabar District and the Kingdom of Cochin were peacefully annexed into India without much hassle. The state of Kerala was created in 1956 from the former state of Travancore-Cochin, the Malabar district and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara District of Madras state.


title: History of Kerala

text: The term "Malabar" has historically been used in foreign trade circles as a general name for Kerala. In earlier times, the term "Malabar" had also been used to denote Tulu Nadu and Kanyakumari which lie contiguous to Kerala on the southwestern coast of India, in addition to the modern state of Kerala. The people of Malabar were known as "Malabars". From the time of Cosmas Indicopleustes (6th century CE) itself, the Arab sailors used to call Kerala as "Male". The first element of the name, however, is attested already in the "Topography" written by Cosmas Indicopleustes. This mentions a pepper emporium called "Male", which clearly gave its name to Malabar ('the country of Male'). The name "Male" is thought to come from the Malayalam word "Mala" ('hill'). Al-Biruni (AD 973–1048) must have been the first writer to call this state "Malabar". Authors such as Ibn Khordadbeh and Al-Baladhuri mention Malabar ports in their works. The Arab writers had called this place "Malibar", "Manibar", "Mulibar", and "Munibar". "Malabar" is reminiscent of the word "Malanad" which means "the land of hills". According to William Logan, the word "Malabar" comes from a combination of the Malayalam word "Mala" (hill) and the Persian/Arabic word "Barr" (country/continent).


title: History of Kerala

text: Perhaps the most famous festival of Kerala, Onam, is deeply rooted in Kerala traditions. Onam is associated with the legendary king Mahabali (Maveli), who according to tradition and Puranas, ruled the Earth and several other planetary systems from Kerala. His entire kingdom was then a land of immense prosperity and happiness. However, Mahabali was tricked into giving up his rule, and was thus overthrown by Vamana (Thrikkakkarayappan), the fifth "Avatar" (earthly incarnation) of Lord "Vishnu". He was banished from the Earth to rule over one of the netherworld (Patala) planets called Sutala by Vamana. Mahabali comes back to visit Kerala every year on the occasion of Onam.


title: History of Kerala

text: The oldest of all the Puranas, the Matsya Purana, sets the story of the Matsya Avatar (fish incarnation) of Lord Vishnu, in the Western Ghats. The earliest Sanskrit text to mention Kerala by name as "Cherapadah" is the Aitareya Aranyaka, a late Vedic work on philosophy. It is also mentioned in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.


title: History of Kerala

text: There are legends dealing with the origins of Kerala geographically and culturally. One such legend is the retrieval of Kerala from the sea, by Parasurama, a warrior sage. It proclaims that Parasurama, an Avatar of Mahavishnu, threw His battle axe into the sea. As a result, the land of Kerala arose, and thus was reclaimed from the waters.


title: History of Kerala

text: Ophir, a port or region mentioned in the Bible, famous for its wealth, is often identified with some coastal areas of Kerala. According to legend, the King Solomon received a cargo from Ophir every three years (1 Kings 10:22) which consisted of gold, silver, sandalwood, pearls, ivory, apes, and peacocks. "A Dictionary of the Bible" by Sir William Smith, published in 1863, notes the Hebrew word for parrot "Thukki", derived from the Classical Tamil for peacock "Thogkai" and Cingalese "Tokei", joins other Classical Tamil words for ivory, cotton-cloth and apes preserved in the Hebrew Bible. This theory of Ophir's location in Tamilakam is further supported by other historians. The most likely location on the coast of Kerala conjectured to be Ophir is Poovar in Thiruvananthapuram District (though some Indian scholars also suggest Beypore as possible location). The Books of Kings and Chronicles tell of a joint expedition to Ophir by King Solomon and the Tyrian king Hiram I from Ezion-Geber, a port on the Red Sea, that brought back large amounts of gold, precious stones and 'algum wood' and of a later failed expedition by king Jehoshaphat of Judah. The famous 'gold of Ophir' is referenced in several other books of the Hebrew Bible.


title: History of Kerala

text: The legend of Cheraman Perumals is the medieval tradition associated with the "Cheraman Perumal" (literally the Chera kings) of Kerala. The Cheraman Perumals mentioned in the legend can be identified with the Chera Perumal rulers of medieval Kerala (c. 8th–12th century CE). The validity of the legend as a source of history once generated much debate among South Indian historians. The legend was used by Kerala chiefdoms for the legitimation of their rule (most of the major chiefly houses in medieval Kerala traced its origin back to the legendary allocation by the Perumal). According to the legend, "Rayar", the overlord of the Cheraman Perumal in a country east of the Ghats, invaded Kerala during the rule of the last Perumal. To drive back the invading forces the Perumal summoned the militia of his chieftains (like "Udaya Varman Kolathiri", "Manichchan", and "Vikkiran" of Eranad). The "Cheraman Perumal" was assured by the "Eradis" (chief of Eranad) that they would take a fort established by the "Rayar". The battle lasted for three days and the Rayar eventually evacuated his fort (and it was seized by the Perumal's troops). Then the last "Cheraman Perumal" divided Kerala or Chera kingdom among his chieftains and disappeared mysteriously. The Kerala people never more heard any tidings of him. The "Eradis" of Nediyiruppu, who later came to be known as the Zamorins of Kozhikode, who were left out in cold during allocation of the land, was granted the Cheraman Perumal's sword (with the permission to "die, and kill, and seize").


title: History of Kerala

text: According to the Cheraman Juma Mosque and some other narratives, "Once a Cheraman Perumal probably named Ravi Varma was walking with his queen in the palace, when he witnessed the Splitting of the moon. Shocked by this, he asked his astronomers to note down the exact time of the splitting. Then, when some Arab merchants visited his palace, he asked them about this incident. Their answers led the King to Mecca, where he met Islamic prophet Muhammad and converted to Islam. Muhammad named him Tajuddin or Thajuddin or Thiya-aj-Addan meaning "crown of faith". The king then wrote letters to his kingdom to accept Islam and follow the teachings of Malik bin Deenar". It is assumed that the first recorded version of this legend is an Arabic manuscript of anonymous authorship known as "Qissat Shakarwati Farmad". The 16th century Arabic work "Tuhfat Ul Mujahideen" authored by Zainuddin Makhdoom II of Ponnani, as well as the medieval Malayalam work "Keralolpathi", also mention about the departure of last "Cheraman Perumal" of Kerala into Mecca.


title: History of Kerala

text: A substantial portion of Kerala including the western coastal lowland and the plains of midland may have been under the sea in ancient times. Marine fossils have been found in an area near Changanassery, thus supporting the hypothesis. Archaeological studies have identified many Mesolithic, Neolithic and Megalithic sites in the eastern highlands of Kerala mainly centred around the eastern mountain ranges of Western Ghats. Rock engravings in the Edakkal Caves, in Wayanad date back to the Neolithic era around 6000 BCE. These findings have been classified into Laterite rock-cut caves ("Chenkallara"), Hood stones ("Kudakkallu"), Hat stones ("Toppikallu"), Dolmenoid cists ("Kalvrtham"), Urn burials ("Nannangadi") and Menhirs ("Pulachikallu"). The studies point to the indigenous development of the ancient Kerala society and its culture beginning from the Paleolithic age, and its continuity through Mesolithic, Neolithic and Megalithic ages. However, foreign cultural contacts have assisted this cultural formation. The studies suggest possible relationship with Indus Valley civilization during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age.


title: History of Kerala

text: Archaeological findings include dolmens of the Neolithic era in the Marayur area. They are locally known as "muniyara", derived from "muni" (hermit or sage) and "ara" (dolmen). Rock engravings in the Edakkal Caves in Wayanad are thought to date from the early to late Neolithic eras around 5000 BCE. Historian M. R. Raghava Varier of the Kerala state archaeology department identified a sign of "a man with jar cup" in the engravings, which is the most distinct motif of the Indus valley civilisation.


title: History of Kerala

text: Kerala's dominant rulers of the early historic period were the Cheras, a Tamil dynasty with its headquarters located in Vanchi. The location of Vanchi is generally considered near the ancient port city of Muziris in Kerala. However, Karur in modern Tamil Nadu is also pointed out as the location of the capital city of Cheras. Another view suggests the reign of Cheras from multiple capitals. The Chera kingdom consisted of a major part of modern Kerala and Kongunadu which comprises western districts of modern Tamil Nadu like Coimbatore and Salem. The region around Coimbatore was ruled by the Cheras during Sangam period between c. 1st and the 4th centuries CE and it served as the eastern entrance to the Palakkad Gap, the principal trade route between the Malabar Coast and Tamil Nadu. Old Tamil works such as "Patiṟṟuppattu, Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku" and "Silappatikaram" are important sources that describe the Cheras from the early centuries CE. Together with the Cholas and Pandyas the Cheras formed the Tamil triumvirate of the "mūvēntar" (Three Crowned Kings). The Cheras ruled the western Malabar Coast, the Cholas ruled in the eastern Coromandel Coast and the Pandyas in the south-central peninsula. The Cheras were mentioned as "Ketalaputo" (Keralaputra) on an inscribed edict of emperor Ashoka of the Magadha Empire in the 3rd century BCE, as "Cerobothra" by the Greek "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea" and as "Celebothras" in the Roman encyclopedia "Natural History" by Pliny the Elder. The Mushika kingdom existed in northern Kerala, while the Ays ruled south of the Chera kingdom.


title: History of Kerala

text: The region of Kerala was possibly engaged in trading activities from the 3rd millennium BCE with Arabs, Sumerians and Babylonians. Phoenicians, Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, and Chinese were attracted by a variety of commodities, especially spices and cotton fabrics. Arabs and Phoenicians were the first to enter Malabar Coast to trade Spices. The Arabs on the coasts of Yemen, Oman, and the Persian Gulf, must have made the first long voyage to Kerala and other eastern countries. They must have brought the Cinnamon of Kerala to the Middle East. The Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BCE) records that in his time the cinnamon spice industry was monopolized by the Egyptians and the Phoenicians.


title: History of Kerala

text: Muziris, Tyndis, Naura, Berkarai, and Nelcynda were among the principal trading port centres of the Chera kingdom. Megasthanes, the Greek ambassador to the court of Magadhan king Chandragupta Maurya (4th century BCE) mentions Muziris and a Pandyan trade centre. Pliny mentions Muziris as India's first port of importance. According to him, Muziris could be reached in 40 days from the Red Sea ports of Egypt purely depending on the South west monsoon winds. Later, the unknown author of the "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea" notes that "both Muziris and Nelcynda are now busy places". There were harbours of Naura near Kannur, Tyndis near Kozhikode, and Barace near Alappuzha, which were also trading with Rome and Palakkad pass (churam) facilitated migration and trade. Tyndis was a major center of trade, next only to Muziris, between the Cheras and the Roman Empire. Roman establishments in the port cities of the region, such as a temple of "Augustus" and barracks for garrisoned Roman soldiers, are marked in the Tabula Peutingeriana; the only surviving map of the Roman "cursus publicus". Pliny the Elder (1st century CE) states that the port of "Tyndis" was located at the northwestern border of "Keprobotos" (Chera dynasty). The North Malabar region, which lies north of the port at "Tyndis", was ruled by the kingdom of Ezhimala during Sangam period. The port of Tyndis which was on the northern side of Muziris, as mentioned in Greco-Roman writings, was somewhere near Kozhikode. Its exact location is a matter of dispute. The suggested locations are Ponnani, Tanur, Beypore-Chaliyam-Kadalundi-Vallikkunnu, and Koyilandy.


title: History of Kerala

text: According to the "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea", a region known as "Limyrike" began at "Naura" and "Tyndis". However the Ptolemy mentions only "Tyndis" as the "Limyrike"s starting point. The region probably ended at Kanyakumari; it thus roughly corresponds to the present-day Malabar Coast. The value of Rome's annual trade with the region was estimated at around 50,000,000 sesterces. He also mentions that the region was prone to pirates. Cosmas Indicopleustes mentioned that it was also a source of Malabar peppers. Contemporary Tamil literature, "Puṟanāṉūṟu" and "Akanaṉūṟu," speak of the Roman vessels and the Roman gold that used to come to the Kerala ports in search of Malabar pepper and other spices, which had enormous demand in the West. The contact with Middle East and Romans might have given rise to small colonies of Jews, Mappila Muslims, and Syrian Christians in the chief harbour towns of Kerala.


title: History of Kerala

text: Buddhism and Jainism reached Kerala in this early period. As in other parts of ancient India, Buddhism and Jainism co-existed with early Hindu beliefs during the first five centuries. Merchants from West Asia and Southern Europe established coastal posts and settlements in Kerala. Jews arrived in Kerala as early as 573 BCE. The Cochin Jews believe that their ancestors came to the west coast of India as refugees following the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century CE. Saint Thomas Christians claim to be the descendants of the converts of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Jesus Christ. Arabs also had trade links with Kerala, starting before the 4th century BCE, as Herodotus (484–413 BCE) noted that goods brought by Arabs from Kerala were sold to the Jews at Eden. They intermarried with local people, resulting in formation of the Muslim Mappila community. In the 4th century, the Knanaya Christians migrated from Persia and settled in southern Kodungallur. "Mappila" was an honorific title that had been assigned to respected visitors from abroad; and Jewish, Syrian Christian, and Muslim immigration might account for later names of the respective communities: Juda Mappilas, Muslim Mappilas, and Nasrani Mappilas. According to the legends of these communities, the earliest Christian churches, mosque, and synagogue (CE 1568) in India were built in Kerala. The combined number of Jews, Muslims, and Christians was relatively small at this early stage. They co-existed harmoniously with each other and with local Hindu society, aided by the commercial benefit from such association.


title: History of Kerala

text: Much of history of the region from the 6th to the 8th century is obscure. From the Kodungallur line of the Cheras rose the Kulasekhara dynasty, which was established by Kulasekhara Varman. At its zenith these Later Cheras ruled over a territory comprising the whole of modern Kerala and a smaller part of modern Tamil Nadu. During the early part of Kulasekhara period, the southern region from Nagercoil to Thiruvananthapuram was ruled by Ay kings, who lost their power in the 10th century and thus the region became a part of the Cheras. Kerala witnessed a flourishing period of art, literature, trade and the Bhakti movement of Hinduism. A Keralite identity, distinct from the Tamils, became linguistically separate during this period. The origin of Malayalam calendar dates back to year 825 CE. For the local administration, the empire was divided into provinces under the rule of Nair Chieftains known as Naduvazhis, with each province comprising a number of "Desams" under the control of chieftains, called as "Desavazhis". The era witnessed also a shift in political power, as Namboothiri Brahmins established the caste hierarchy in Kerala by assigning different groups separate positions. As a result, many temples were constructed across Kerala, which according to M. T. Narayanan "became cornerstones of the socio-economic society". Mamankam festival, which was the largest native festival, was held at Tirunavaya near Kuttippuram, on the bank of river Bharathappuzha. Athavanad, the headquarters of "Azhvanchery Thamprakkal", who were also considered as the supreme religious chief of the Nambudiri Brahmins of Kerala, is also located near Tirunavaya.


title: History of Kerala

text: Sulaiman al-Tajir, a Persian merchant who visited Kerala during the reign of Sthanu Ravi Varma (9th century CE), records that there was extensive trade between Kerala and China at that time, based at the port of Kollam. A number of foreign accounts have mentioned about the presence of considerable Muslim population in the coastal towns. Arab writers such as Al-Masudi of Baghdad (896–956 CE), Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100–1165 CE), Abulfeda (1273–1331 CE), and Al-Dimashqi (1256–1327 CE) mention the Muslim communities in Kerala. Some historians assume that the Mappilas can be considered as the first native, settled Muslim community in South Asia.


title: History of Kerala

text: The inhibitions, caused by a series of Chera-Chola wars in the 11th century, resulted in the decline of foreign trade in Kerala ports. In addition, Portuguese invasions in the 15th century caused two major religions, Buddhism and Jainism, to disappear from the land. It is known that the Menons in the Malabar region of Kerala were originally strong believers of Jainism. The social system became fractured with divisions on caste lines. The Kulasekhara dynasty was finally subjugated in 1102 by the combined attack of the Pandyas and Cholas. However, in the 14th century, Ravi Varma Kulashekhara (1299–1314) of the southern Venad kingdom was able to establish a short-lived supremacy over southern India. After his death, in the absence of strong central power, the state was fractured into about thirty small warring principalities under Nair Chieftains; the most powerful of them were the kingdom of Samuthiri in the north, Venad in the south and Kochi in the middle. The port at Kozhikode held the superior economic and political position in Kerala, while Kollam (Quilon), Kochi, and Kannur (Cannanore) were commercially confined to secondary roles.


title: History of Kerala

text: Adi Shankara (CE 789), one of the greatest Indian philosophers, is believed to be born in Kaladi in Kerala, and consolidated the doctrine of "advaita vedānta". Shankara travelled across the Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with other thinkers. He is reputed to have founded four "mathas" ("monasteries"), which helped in the historical development, revival and spread of Advaita Vedanta. Adi Shankara is believed to be the organiser of the Dashanami monastic order and the founder of the Shanmata tradition of worship.


title: History of Kerala

text: His works in Sanskrit concern themselves with establishing the doctrine of "advaita" (nondualism). He also established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the Mimamsa school established strict ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. Shankara represented his works as elaborating on ideas found in the "Upanishads", and he wrote copious commentaries on the Vedic canon ("Brahma Sutra", principal "upanishads" and "Bhagavad Gita") in support of his thesis. The main opponent in his work is the Mimamsa school of thought, though he also offers arguments against the views of some other schools like Samkhya and certain schools of Buddhism. His activities in Kerala was little and no evidence of his influence is noticed in the literature or other things in his lifetime in Kerala. Even though Sankara was against all caste systems, in later years his name was used extensively by the Brahmins of Kerala for establishing caste system in Kerala.


title: History of Kerala

text: Historical records regarding the origin of the Samoothiri of Kozhikode is obscure. However, its generally agreed that the Samoothiri were originally the Nair chieftains of Eralnadu region of the Later Chera Kingdom and were known as the Eradis. Eralnadu (Eranad) province was situated in the northern parts of present-day Malappuram district and was landlocked by the Valluvanad and Polanadu in the west. Legends such as "Keralolpathi" tell the establishment of a local ruling family at Nediyiruppu, near present-day Kondotty by two young brothers belonging to the Eradi clan. The brothers, Manikkan and Vikraman were the most trusted generals in the army of the Cheras. M.G.S. Narayanan, an Indian historian, in his book, "Calicut: The City of Truth" states that the Eradi was a favourite of the last Later Chera king and granted him, as a mark of favor, a small tract of land on the sea-coast in addition to his hereditary possessions (Eralnadu province). Eradis subsequently moved their capital to the coastal marshy lands and established the kingdom of Kozhikode They later assumed the title of "Samudrāthiri" ("one who has the sea for his border") and continued to rule from Kozhikode.


title: History of Kerala

text: Samoothiri allied with Muslim Arab and Chinese merchants and used most of the wealth from Kozhikode to develop his military power. They became the most powerful king in the Malayalam speaking regions during the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Kozhikode conquered large parts of central Kerala following the seize of Tirunavaya from Valluvanad, which was under the control of the king of "Perumbadappu Swaroopam". He was forced to shift his capital (c. CE 1405) further south from Kodungallur to Kochi. In the 15th century, Cochin was reduced in to a vassal state of Kozhikode. The ruler of Kolathunadu (Kannur) had also came under the influence of Zamorin by the end of the 15th century.


title: History of Kerala

text: At the peak of their reign, the Zamorins of Kozhikode ruled over a region from Kollam (Quilon) in the south to Panthalayini Kollam (Koyilandy) in the north. Ibn Battuta (1342–1347), who visited the city of Kozhikode six times, gives the earliest glimpses of life in the city. He describes Kozhikode as "one of the great ports of the district of Malabar" where "merchants of all parts of the world are found". The king of this place, he says, "shaves his chin just as the Haidari Fakeers of Rome do... The greater part of the Muslim merchants of this place are so wealthy that one of them can purchase the whole freightage of such vessels put here and fit-out others like them". Ma Huan (1403 AD), the Chinese sailor part of the Imperial Chinese fleet under Cheng Ho (Zheng He) states the city as a great emporium of trade frequented by merchants from around the world. He makes note of the 20 or 30 mosques built to cater to the religious needs of the Muslims, the unique system of calculation by the merchants using their fingers and toes (followed to this day), and the matrilineal system of succession. Abdur Razzak (1442–43), Niccolò de' Conti (1445), Afanasy Nikitin (1468–74), Ludovico di Varthema (1503–1508), and Duarte Barbosa witnessed the city as one of the major trading centres in the Indian subcontinent where traders from different parts of the world could be seen.


title: History of Kerala

text: The king Deva Raya II (1424–1446) of the Vijayanagara Empire conquered about the whole of present-day state of Kerala in the 15th century. He defeated the Zamorin of Kozhikode, as well as the ruler of Kollam around 1443. Fernão Nunes says that the Zamorin had to pay tribute to the king of Vijayanagara Empire. Later Kozhikode and Venad seem to have rebelled against their Vijayanagara overlords, but Deva Raya II quelled the rebellion. As the Vijayanagara power diminished over the next fifty years, the Zamorin of Kozhikode again rose to prominence in Kerala. He built a fort at Ponnani in 1498.


title: History of Kerala

text: Venad was a kingdom in the south west tip of Kerala, which acted as a buffer between Cheras and Pandyas. Until the end of the 11th century, it was a small principality in the Ay Kingdom. The "Ays" were the earliest ruling dynasty in southern Kerala, who, at their zenith, ruled over a region from Nagercoil in the south to Thiruvananthapuram in the north. Their capital was at Kollam. A series of attacks by the Pandyas between the 7th and 8th centuries caused the decline of Ays although the dynasty remained powerful until the beginning of the 10th century. When Ay power diminished, Venad became the southernmost principality of the Second Chera Kingdom Invasion of Cholas into Venad caused the destruction of Kollam in 1096. However, the Chera capital, Mahodayapuram, fell in the subsequent attack, which compelled the Chera king, Rama varma Kulasekara, to shift his capital to Kollam. Thus, Rama Varma Kulasekara, the last king of Chera dynasty, is probably the founder of the Venad royal house, and the title of Chera kings, "Kulasekara", was thenceforth adopted by the rulers of Venad. The end of Second Chera dynasty in the 12th century marks the independence of the Venad. The Venadu King then also was known as Venadu Mooppil Nayar.