title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: In May 2012, the MMRDA shortlisted five consortia for the project: Cintra-SOMA-Srei, Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd.-OHL, Concessions-G.S. Engineering, GMR Infrastructure-L&T Ltd.-Samsung C&T Corpn., IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd.-Hyundai, and Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd.-Autostrade Indian Infrastructure Development Pvt. Ltd.-Vinci Concessions Development V Pte Ltd. None of the five shortlisted firms bid for the project by the deadline, which was extended 5 August. IRB-Hyundai had announced their withdrawal from the bidding process, on 31 July 2013, citing "the government's apathy and unfriendly attitude towards investors wanting to develop capital-intensive infra projects". Following the failure of the tender, the MMRDA decided to abandon the PPP model and instead implement the project on cash contract basis.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: In January 2013, the Central Government had sanctioned , which was 20% of the project cost at the time, in viability gap for the MTHL. Under the public private partnership (PPP) basis that the project was proposed to be implemented in, the State Government would also contribute the same amount as the centre, while the remaining 60% would have been borne by the developer who won the bid. The concession period would have been 35 years, which included the time-frame of 5 years for the construction. However, the consortia shortlisted for the project were concerned that 15-20% of the projected traffic for the MTHL, was due to the proposed Navi Mumbai airport, which was heavily delayed. The MMRDA added provision for a shortfall loan to be made available from the central government if traffic is 20% under the estimate.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MMRDA decided to scrap the PPP model for the project in August 2013, and instead execute it on a engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) basis. Subsequently, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) expressed interest in providing funds for the project. In January 2014, Ashwini Bhide, MMRDA additional metropolitan commissioner, told "The Indian Express" that the state government had sent a formal proposal to the DEA for its approval to get funds from JICA. In June 2014, "Business Line" reported that Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust authorities had agreed to pick up a stake in the project.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The project ran into a major hurdle in April 2015, when the forest advisory committee (FAC) of the MoEF withheld its clearance for the project stating that it affects "existing mangroves as well as the flamingo population". The project requires clearance from the Ministry as it will affect 38 hectares of protected mangrove forests and 8.8 hectares of forest land on the Navi Mumbai end. The sea link's starting point poses a threat to an estimated 20,000-30,000 lesser and greater flamingos and the mangrove habitat. The Sewri mudflats are home to 150 species of birds species, and is listed as an "Important Bird Area". The FAC instructed the state government to submit a study report on the project's impact on the flamingo population, and recommended that the government seek the help of either the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) or the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun to conduct the study. The cost of the study will be borne by the MMRDA, which will also have to come with safeguards to cause the least disturbance to the flamingos at Sewri.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: On 17 April 2015, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari stated that he favoured the construction of a submarine tunnel instead of a sea link. Gadkari stated that the tunnel would cost less than a bridge (citing the example of the tunnel between Rotterdam and Belgium), and would also be aesthetically preferable as a sea link would obstruct the city's coastline. However, Gadkari clarified that the Union Government would accept the final decision made by the State Government on this matter. Following a visit to China, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on 20 May 2015, that the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) had expressed interest in the MTHL project. According to Fadnavis, the CCCC will complete the project within 3–4 years of being appointed and will also provide 2% concessional funding for the project.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: In November 2015, the project was cleared by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA). In January 2016, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) granted forest clearance, and the Experts' Appraisal Committee (EAC) attached to the MoEF granted CRZ clearance to the project. The CRZ came with a rider requiring the MMRDA to spend at least 335 crore towards an "environment management programme". In the same month, Fadnavis announced that the project had received all required clearances.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: In February 2016, JICA agreed to loan 80% of the total cost of the project to the State Government at an annual interest rate of 1-1.4%. The MMRDA will bear 1.2% of the project cost, and the remaining amount will be borne by the State Government. As JICA was unwilling to loan directly to the state Government, the Union Government stood as a guarantor of the loan. As part of the agreement between JICA and the State Government, 2 rescue lanes will be added to the proposed plan for the MTHL, and a 4 km stretch of the bridge will be constructed as a steel-only structure instead of previous plan to build a cement and concrete bridge. The use of steel on this stretch will raise the project cost by 4000 crores. JICA formally approved the funding agreement on 9 May 2016, and the MMRDA began the bidding process the following day. The MTHL received final environment clearance from the State Forest Department in May 2017.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MMRDA invited request for qualifications (RFQ) for civil construction of three packages - a bridge section across the Mumbai Bay and Sewri interchange ( 6,600 crore), a bridge section across Mumbai Bay and Shivaji Nagar, near Gavan inter change ( 4,900 crore) and a viaduct including interchanges at SH 52, SH54 and NH 4B near Chirle, Navi Mumbai. The MMRDA received 11 pre-qualification bids each for the first and second package, and 17 bids for the third package. The agency stated that a single party would not be awarded the first and second packages together, although any other combination of the three packages would be permitted. The MMRDA appointed a consortium formed by AECOM Asia Co Ltd, Padeco India Pvt. Ltd, Dar Al-Handsah and TY Lin International as the general consultant for the project on 26 November 2016. According to UPS Madan, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, "The General Consultants appointed for the MTHL project will engage in various activities such as to help MMRDA organise pre-bid meetings, examine bid documents, secure various permissions from government, semi-government, examine concept designs, monitor construction of the project and ensure quality of the work among other things."


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: After evaluating the bids, in January 2017, the MMRDA shortlisted a total of 29 contractors for the three packages and floated tenders for the request for proposal (RFP) stage, the final stage of the bidding process. The agency fixed 5 April 2017 as the final date for submissions of the RFP bids. The submission date was later postponed to 5 June. However, the agency received over 3,000 queries from the short-listed bidders and was forced to postpone the date to 17 July in order to respond to all queries.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MMRDA applied for security clearance from the Union Home Ministry to carry out construction near the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the Mumbai Port Trust and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. These facilities have restricted areas that are covered by the "Official Secrets Act". The MMRDA also submitted the names of all companies that bid for the project to the Home Ministry. The Ministry will grant clearance after consultations with other ministries such as the Foreign Ministry and the intelligence agencies. The Home Ministry denied security clearance to a bid from China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group in a joint venture with Gayatri Projects Limited, and also to a consortium of IL&FS Engineering Limited and Ranjit Buildcon Limited. Both consortia were subsequently disqualified from the bidding process by the MMRDA. The MMRDA stated that Home Ministry had not provided the agency with any official reason for denying security clearance. IL&FS Engineering filed an appeal against the decision in the Bombay High Court on 18 July. The Court permitted IL&FS to submit its bid, subject to a final decision by the Court.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MMRDA received bids from 17 of the 29 short-listed contractors by the final bid submission date on 19 July 2017. The agency stated that it would take one month to conduct technical evaluations of the bids and to award contracts. On 9 November 2017, the MMRDA awarded contracts to a consortium of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Japan's IHI Corporation, a consortium of Daewoo and Tata Projects Limited (TPL), and L&T to construct the Sewri side of sea bridge, the Navi Mumbai side of sea bridge, and the bridge portion on land towards Chirle respectively. The contracts between the MMRDA and the L&T-IHI Corporation consortium were officially signed on 27 December 2017. L&T was awarded for the 10.38 km package 1 and for the 3.61 km package 3. The contract for the 7.807 km package 2 was signed with Daewoo and Tata Projects at cost of at a later date.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MMRDA invited bids for package 4 in September 2021. The tender includes the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of an intelligent transport system, toll management, highway and bridge street lighting, electrical works, construction of toll plazas and administrative buildings.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The project requires 130 hectares of land. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) contributed 88 hectares. The remaining land is privately owned. According to MMRDA officials, land owners will be given the same compensation package as that given in the Navi Mumbai International Airport project. Three hundred and twenty structures in Sewri were affected by the project, of which 250 properties were residential. The MMRDA provided resettlement for the affected people by offering accommodation in either Kanjurmarg or Kurla. The majority chose to relocate to Kanjurmarg. The MMRDA also paid each as compensation to 1,500 fishermen who were affected by the construction of the project. In October 2016, the MMRDA agreed to pay MbPT a total of 1000 crores in instalments over the course of 30 years as rent for using the MbPT's land for construction of ramps for the MTHL on the Mumbai side. The MMRDA will receive 27.2 hectares of land on the Sewri side of the MbPT, of which 15.17 hectares will temporarily be used for the casting yard.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MMRDA utilized a drone to carry out survey work for the MTHL. The drones were fitted with 360 degrees camera that provide up to 3 millimeter accuracy. The aerial survey takes less time than a regular survey, achieves greater accuracy and helps protect against false claims for compensation. Over 1,000 boreholes were drilled to study the strata. The MMRDA began conducting a geological survey for the project on 15 January 2018. The project work will affect 1,635 trees of which 753 will be cut and the remaining 882 will be replanted at other locations. Most of the trees are located at Sewri and Vakola.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MTHL is 21.8 km long, including 16.5 km sea bridge and 5.5 km of viaducts on land on either end of the bridge. It is being be constructed in three sections. Construction of the bridge required the use of 165,000 tonnes of reinforcement steel, 96,250 tonnes of structural steel, and 830,000 cubic metres of concrete. The bridge will feature the first use of orthotropic decks in India. The special steel decks will enable the bridge to have longer spans than possible with regular girders. A total 70 orthotropic decks will be used on the bridge requiring about 96,250 tonnes of steel. The steel spans will make up 6.41 km of the bridge length, while the rest will use concrete. The MMRDA chose to use steel spans in these sections to eliminate the need to construct pillars to support the bridge which could hinder the movement of ships in the area. This 4 km section includes a 180 meter long steel span, which is the longest steel span in India. The shortest steel span on the MTHL is 110 meters long.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The foundations for the MTHL will be 47 metres at its deepest points in order to support the weight of the bridge. An automated girder launching system was utilized to lay the bridge's foundation, marking the first time the system was used in India. The MMRDA stated that the construction work would generate 115,419 man-months of employment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the project on 24 December 2016.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: Construction of the MTHL began in April 2018 with engineers collecting soil samples for soil testing at each location where piers will be built in Nhava Sheva. MMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner R.A. Rajeev stated on 28 October 2018 that about 9% of the project work had been completed. The first pier of the MTHL was built at Sewri on 18 May 2019. The MMRDA stated that it had begun pre-segment casting work, a precursor to the superstructure for bridge deck construction, on 7 August. Each segment of the viaduct weighs 75 tonnes with dimensions 14.8m x 3.32m x 3.85m. Over 10,000 such segments will be cast. The segments are built at two precast segment yards, one on the Mumbai side and another on the Navi Mumbai side. The first segment will be erected on the Sewri side about 6 km into the sea. MMRDA officials announced the completion of the pre-casting work on 9 August. Officials also stated that they had completed the construction of 270 permanent piles, of which 177 were in the sea. The agency had also completed the construction of a 2 km long temporary access bridge.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: Casting for the first segment of Package 3 of the project began on 12 September 2019. On the same date, MMRDA officials also stated that 20% of the total project work had been completed. The first girder, weighing 1,000 tonnes, for the MTHL was launched on 15 January 2020 marking the erection of its first span. The project faced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 5,000 workers had been deployed on the project prior to the pandemic, but this was reduced to around 2,000 workers by June 2020. An estimated 27% of the total project work had been completed by June 2020, and 35.29% by November 2020. The BMC Tree Authority granted permission to the MMRDA to cut 454 trees and transplant another 550 trees for the MTHL project on 2 December 2020. The MMRDA stated that it would also plant 2,000 trees in Vasai to compensate for the loss. The agency stated that 40% of the total project work had been completed by the end of June 2021. Minister of Urban Development and Public Works (Public Undertakings) Eknath Shinde's Public Relation Office stated in August 2021 that 52% of the project work had been completed. It also noted that 8,189 staff and labourers were currently deployed on the construction site, and that about 8 months of work days were lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MMRDA stated that it had completed 76% of the total project work on 11 April 2022. On 15 September 2022, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stated that 84% of the total project work had been completed. The longest orthotropic deck, measuring 180 metres long and weighing 2,400 MT, was launched on 2 November 2022.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MMRDA will install noise and vision barriers on a 6 km section of the MTHL. The vision barriers are intended to block the view of the BARC from the MTHL, while the noise barriers are intended to protect the movement of flamingos and migratory birds at the Sewri mudflats. The MMRDA also stated that it would declare nearly 2 km of the MTHL on the Sewri side as a "silent zone", as well as near schools and other sensitive areas on the Navi Mumbai side of the MTHL. Construction equipment used during the project were fitted with silencers to reduce the potential impact of noise on migratory birds such as flamingos. The project utilized reverse circulation drilling methodology which helps reduce noise levels and helps speed up construction in marine areas.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: A 5.6 km long temporary access bridge had been built to transport equipment and workers for the construction of the MTHL. In November 2021, the MMRDA announced that it had decided against demolishing the bridge and would convert it into a bird-watching platform to view flamingos and other birds. The agency noted that the decision would also save the cost of having to demolish the bridge.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: Initially, the MTHL was proposed to have dual metros line below the road lanes on the bridge. The metro line was to be extended to the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport, and connected to the proposed Ranjanpada-Seawoods-Kharkopar corridor of the Navi Mumbai Metro and the proposed Sewri-Prabhadevi corridor of the Mumbai Metro. However, the MMRDA scrapped plans for the metro line in 2012, and decided to build only a road bridge. An MMRDA official stated, "A detailed study has revealed that laying the foundation for the bridge with provisions for two metro lanes would hike costs instead of save money. Hence, it will be feasible to have a separate bridge for the metro in the future." Another reason given was that the Navi Mumbai International Airport and Sewri-Prabhadevi corridor of the Mumbai Metro were still a long way from completion.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: In June 2021, the MMRDA stated that it was re-examining the possibility of building metro lines on the MTHL. An MMRDA official stated, "There will be no need for extra construction on MTHL for the Metro line, as we will just have to add tracks. Already, Worli-Sewri underground Metro corridor is being constructed. The Sewri Metro station will connect MTHL, thereby linking it to Navi Mumbai." In September 2021, the MMRDA stated that regardless of the decision on metro lines, the agency would dedicate two lanes on the MTHL for a bus rapid transit system. The agency appointed a consultant to determine whether metro lines could be constructed on the MTHL in January 2022. The draft report of the study submitted in April 2022 found that the MTHL's existing pillars would not be able to support the load of a metro system. MMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner SVR Srinivas stated that the agency was exploring solutions such as increasing the load bearing capacity of the pillars before making a final decision.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The cost of the MTHL has increased several times. In 2005, the cost of the project was estimated at . The cost was revised to 6000 crore in 2008. It was then increased to 8800 crore in November 2011 and to 9360 crore in August 2012. The MMRDA re-evaluated the cost project as about at 2014 prices. In April 2017, the project cost was estimated at , which includes 70 crore compensation to fishermen, 45 crore for installing noise barriers after opening the sea link, a 25 crore deposit as seed money to mangrove fund, another 25 crore for a compensatory mangrove restoration plan, and a mandatory expenditure of at least 335 crore for an "environment management programme". In July 2017, the MMRDA announced that it would provide a one-time payment of to each fisherman affected by the project. The agency received over 3,000 claims for compensation, and it will award payments to genuine claimants after screening the claims.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: JICA will fund 85% of the total cost through a loan at a concessional rate of yen-London Interbank Offered Rate plus 0.1% for the project activities, and 0.01% for consulting services, with a 30-year repayment period, including a 10-year grace period. JICA and the MMRDA signed the agreement to disburse the first tranche of the loan on 31 March 2017. The first tranche of is about 45% of the total project cost. The second tranche of was extended on 27 March 2020. The MMRDA will bear 1.2% of the project cost, and the remaining amount will be borne by the State Government. The MMRDA allocated towards the project in its budget for the 2017-18 fiscal. The MMRDA stated that it had spent to reduce the environmental impact of the MTHL construction as of August 2021.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: Prior to the submission of bids for the project, the MMRDA estimated the project cost at . The actual contract for the project was awarded to three bidders at a combined cost of in November 2017. MMRDA officials stated that they expected the cost to reduce by 6% as a result of the Union Government's decision to lower the goods and services tax (GST) for construction work from 18% to 12%. The revised cost of the contract would now be . The COVID-19 pandemic caused delays to construction which escalated the project cost by around 5-15%. The total cost of the MTHL was estimated as in September 2021. Cost escalation also occurred because of design changes caused by the location of underground utilities which were different from what planners had assumed.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MMRDA will construct a 1.5 km long cloverleaf interchange on a 27-acre plot, leased from the Mumbai Port Trust, located east of the Sewri railway station. The loop consists of two lanes branching out from the MTHL and connecting with the Eastern Freeway, the at-grade Messant Road, and the proposed Sewri–Worli elevated road. The Sewri–Worli elevated road will provide onward connectivity to the Coastal Road (at Worli Seaface), Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, and Acharya Donde Marg.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The Eastern Freeway is a controlled-access freeway that connects P D'Mello Road in South Mumbai to the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) at Ghatkopar. It was opened on 16 June 2014.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The Sewri–Worli connector, also called Sewri–Worli elevated corridor (SWEC), will connect the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link. It will be a four lane, 17 metre wide and 4.512 km long, cable-stayed bridge, with a height of 27 metres. The Sewri–Worli connector will begin at Sewri (East), and cross the Eastern Freeway, the Harbour Line, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, Acharya Donde Marg, the existing flyover at Ambedkar Road, Elphinstone Bridge in Parel, and the flyover at Senapati Bapat Marg before passing through Kamgar Nagar and Dr Annie Besant Road, and terminating at Narayan Hardikar Marg at Worli. Ramps will connect the Sewri–Worli elevated corridor with Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, west of Sewri railway station, and with Acharya Donde Marg at Mumbai Port Trust.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The Sewri-Worli connector was first proposed by the MMRDA in 2012–2013. The project was estimated to cost , and be completed in four years. The MMRDA received bids from 5 companies to construct the Sewri–Worli connector. They were Simplex Infrastructures Ltd, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Construction Company, Gammon India and the National Construction Company (NCC). Simplex Infrastructures Ltd quoted the lowest bid (nearly 16-17% below the estimated cost of the project), followed by Larsen & Toubro (14% below the reserve price). In April 2016, "DNA" reported that the project had been cancelled, after previously being put "on hold" in 2015. No budgetary allocation was made for the project in the 2015-16 fiscal, and the MMRDA has no future plans to construct the connector. The agency floated tenders again in 2017 at an estimated cost of . Apart from delays, the cost increase was also the result of some major design changes. The proposed connector will be built with a steel super structure instead of cement as per the original plan. The MMRDA also proposed additional ramps to link the Sewri–Worli connector with Dr. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, west of Sewri railway station, and with Acharya Donde Marg at Mumbai Port Trust. Further, the agency will demolish the existing single-tier road over bridge at Prabhadevi railway station and replace it with a new two-tier road over bridge. The agency later paused plans for the connector due to delays with the MTHL project.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: The MMRDA floated new tenders for the project in July 2020. The project received clearance from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) on 7 July 2020, and from the Maharashtra state Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) on 8 September 2020. J Kumar Infraprojects Ltd was awarded the contract to build the Sewri–Worli connector in November 2020. The project is estimated to cost . Construction began on 13 January 2021. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray laid the foundation stone for the project on 21 February 2021. It is expected to open in January 2024.


title: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

text: In 2012, the MMRDA proposed tolls for the MTHL as 175 for cars, 265 for light commercial vehicles, 525 for buses and trucks and 790 for multi-axle vehicles. JICA, the primary source of funding the project, proposed higher tolls in 2016. The toll rates levied after the project opened was expected to be much higher due to cost escalations.


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: The Antwerp diamond heist, dubbed the "heist of the century", was the largest diamond heist of all time. Since then, the heist was classified to be one of the largest robberies in history. Thieves stole loose diamonds, gold, silver and other types of jewelry valued at more than $100 million. It took place in Antwerp, Belgium, during the weekend of 15–16 February 2003. Though arrests were made and time was served, most of the diamonds stolen remain unrecovered.


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: The vault that housed the diamonds is situated two floors below the main floor. It was protected by multiple security mechanisms, including a lock with 100 million possible combinations, infrared heat detectors, a seismic sensor, Doppler radar, and a magnetic field. The building itself had a private security force and was located in the heavily guarded and monitored Antwerp diamond district.


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: Leonardo Notarbartolo had rented a sparsely furnished office for approximately 25,000 Belgian francs ($700) per month in the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. This was a technique pioneered by New York City-based criminal authority "Mr. Stan", Vojislav Stanimirović. It was first accomplished in New York's diamond center many years prior to this robbery. It included creating access to the safe deposit box located in the vault beneath the building. The method provided a tenant ID card offering 24-hour access to the building. There, he posed as an Italian diamond merchant to gain credibility. The robbery required eighteen months of preparation. The group used a variety of methods to overcome the security systems and left investigators confused as to how they had managed to successfully gain entry without triggering the security systems:


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: The group was caught after Notarbartolo and Speedy went to dispose of the evidence of their plans, planning to burn it in France. Speedy was overcome with panic at the prospect of transporting such incriminating evidence and insisted they dispose of it in a nearby forest. However, Speedy suffered a panic-attack and disposed of the evidence poorly, hurling it into the bushes and mud rather than burning it. Notarbartolo was busy burning his own evidence and when he discovered what Speedy had done, he decided it would take too long to gather everything up and they needed to leave, confident that nobody would find their rubbish. A local hunter owned the land and called the police when he found the rubbish the next day (believing it to be caused by local teenagers he had previously had disputes with). When he mentioned that some of the rubbish consisted of envelopes from the Antwerp Diamond Centre, the police immediately investigated. The evidence from the rubbish was enough to allow the police to gain a lead and they were eventually able to identify Notarbartolo from security footage from a nearby grocery store where he had purchased a sandwich (a receipt for the sandwich was amongst the rubbish).


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: After the robbery, Notarbartolo and his team stole the security footage to conceal their identities. More than 123 out of 160 safe deposit boxes were forced open, each of which was made of steel and copper and had both a key lock and combination lock.


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: The theft was carried out by a five-man team led by Leonardo Notarbartolo, a professional thief who was skilled in social manipulation. Notarbartolo had rented space in the diamond district, and was arrested after being connected to the crime by DNA evidence from a partially eaten salami sandwich found near the crime scene.


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: In addition to Notarbartolo, the team consisted of at least four other members, whom Notarbartolo gave aliases during interviews, though he refused to specify whom each alias referred to:


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: Notarbartolo was found guilty of orchestrating the heist. He is considered to be the leader of a ring of Italian thieves called "La Scuola di Torino" (The School of Turin), who carried out the crime. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the court of appeal of Antwerp in 2005, but had since been released on parole in 2009. In 2011 a European Arrest Warrant was issued against him after he was found to have violated his parole conditions. One of these conditions was that he needed to compensate the victims of the heist, which he never made any attempt to do. As a consequence, he was arrested again in 2013 at the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris during a layover from the United States to Turin, and was made to serve the remainder of his prison sentence until 2017.


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: Notarbartolo claimed in an interview with "Wired" magazine that a diamond merchant hired them for the heist. He claims that they actually stole approximately €18 million ($20 million) worth of loot, and that the robbery was part of an insurance fraud.


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: Due to the fact that the vault itself was uninsured, as the insurance company realised the security flaws and would have never given it an insurance policy, there was actually very little insurance money involved, which casts doubt on his story.


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: The heist is the subject of the book "Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History" by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell. Audible Original Audio Series HEIST with Michael Caine's first episode gives an overview of the heist, largely taken from the book.


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: The story of this diamond heist was featured on The Travel Channel's “Mysteries At The Museum” Season 13/Episode 4 titled “Project Vortex, Diamond Heist and Tinseltown, NJ”, narrated by series host Don Wildman.


title: Antwerp diamond heist

text: Paramount Pictures optioned the rights to create a film about the heist, which have since expired. It was to be produced by J. J. Abrams.


title: Caramel color

text: Caramel color or caramel coloring is a water-soluble food coloring. It is made by heat treatment of carbohydrates (sugars), in general in the presence of acids, alkalis, or salts, in a process called caramelization. It is more fully oxidized than caramel candy, and has an odor of burnt sugar and a somewhat bitter taste. Its color ranges from pale yellow to amber to dark brown.


title: Caramel color

text: Caramel color is one of the oldest and most widely used food colorings for enhancing naturally occurring colors, correcting natural variations in color, and replacing color that is lost to light degradation during food processing and storage. The use of caramel color as a food additive in the brewing industry in the 19th century is the first recorded instance of it being manufactured and used on a wide scale. Today, caramel color is found in many commercially produced foods and beverages, including batters, beer, brown bread, buns, chocolate, cookies, cough drops, spirits and liquor such as brandy, rum, and whisky, chocolate-flavored confectionery and coatings, custards, decorations, fillings and toppings, potato chips, dessert mixes, doughnuts, fish and shellfish spreads, frozen desserts, fruit preserves, glucose tablets, gravy, ice cream, pickles, sauces and dressings, soft drinks (especially colas), sweets, vinegar, and more. Caramel color is widely approved for use in food globally but application and use level restrictions vary by country.


title: Caramel color

text: Caramel color is manufactured by heating carbohydrates, either alone or in the presence of acids, alkalis, and/or salts. Caramel color is produced from commercially available nutritive sweeteners consisting of fructose, dextrose (glucose), invert sugar, sucrose, malt syrup, molasses, starch hydrolysates, and fractions thereof. The acids that may be used are sulfuric, sulfurous, phosphoric, acetic, and citric acids; the alkalis are ammonium, sodium, potassium, and calcium hydroxides; and the salts are ammonium, sodium, and potassium carbonate, bicarbonate, phosphate (including mono- and dibasic), sulfate, and bisulfite. Antifoaming agents, such as polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, may be used as processing aids during manufacture. Its color ranges from pale yellow to amber to dark brown.


title: Caramel color

text: Caramel color molecules carry either a positive or a negative charge depending upon the reactants used in their manufacture. Problems such as precipitation, flocculation, or migration can be eliminated with the use of a properly charged caramel color for the intended application.


title: Caramel color

text: Internationally, the United Nations Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) recognizes four classes of caramel color, differing by the reactants used in their manufacture, each with its own INS and E number, listed in the table below. Each class consists of a variety of caramels with their own unique properties that make it suitable for use in specific foods and/or beverages.


title: Caramel color

text: Color intensity (or, tinctorial power) is defined as the absorbance of a 1 mg/mL (0.1% weight/volume) solution in water, measured using a 1 cm light path at a wavelength of 610 nanometers (or 560 nm for tinctorial power). In this case, "A" stands for absorbance and "TS" stands for total solids.


title: Caramel color

text: The color tone of the caramel color is also important. This is defined by the Linner Hue Index, which is the measure of the color hue or red characteristics of the caramel color. It is a function of the absorbance of light of wavelengths 510 and 610 nm. In general, the higher the Tinctorial Power, K, the lower the Hue Index and the lower the red tones.


title: Caramel color

text: Caramel color is a colloid. Though the primary function of caramel color is for coloration, it also serves additional functions. In soft drinks, it can function as an emulsifier to help inhibit the formation of certain types of "floc" and its light protective quality can aid in preventing oxidation of the flavoring components in bottled beverages.


title: Caramel color

text: Internationally, JECFA has set the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of Class I caramel color as "not specified"; that of Class II as 0–160 mg/kg body weight; and that of Class III & IV as 0–200 mg/kg body weight.


title: Caramel color

text: The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies and regulates caramel color in Title 21 CFR § 73.85 as an approved color additive exempt from certification. Unless a food has a standard of identity, caramel color may be safely used in foods generally at levels consistent with "good manufacturing practice" (GMP).


title: Caramel color

text: Caramel color has excellent microbiological stability. Since it is manufactured under very high temperature, high acidity, high pressure, and high specific gravity, it is essentially sterile, as it will not support microbial growth unless in a dilute solution.


title: Caramel color

text: When reacted with sulfites, caramel color may retain traces of sulfite after processing. However, in finished food products, labeling is usually required only for sulfite levels above 10 ppm.


title: Caramel color

text: In 2010, the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) concluded that commercially produced caramel color has the same toxicological properties as caramel produced by cooking or heating sucrose, except for those prepared using ammonium (Class III and IV). The IPCS has concluded that caramel color does not exhibit carcinogenicity or mutagenicity, based on its studies. Additional long-term studies support a conclusion that caramel colors are not carcinogenic. While the US FDA, Canadian Health Products and Food Branch and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have found caramel color safe for use in food and beverages, California has listed 4-Methylimidazole (4-MeI), a compound formed in the manufacture of Class III and IV caramel colors, in the state's Proposition 65, thus legally including it in the category of chemicals "known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity". According to the Food Chemicals Codex, 4-MeI in caramel color is allowed up to 250 ppm on a color-adjusted basis, which means 250 ppm maximum for every 0.100 color absorbance of a 0.10% solution at 610 nm. The exposure to 4-MeI at levels present in Class III and IV caramel colors are not expected to be of concern for two reasons. Firstly, 4-MeI does not appear to be genotoxic or metabolized to a reactive metabolite. Secondly, carcinogenic doses of 4-MeI exceed estimates of exposure from the consumption of caramel coloring by several thousand-fold.


title: Caramel color

text: Caramel coloring may be derived from a variety of source products that are themselves common allergens, namely starch hydrolysates (from wheat), malt syrup (in general derived from barley), or lactose (from milk). As such, persons with known sensitivities or allergies to food products are advised to avoid foods including generic caramel coloring or first determine the source for the caramel coloring before consuming the food. Caramel color produced from corn or cane-based materials would be unlikely to contain gluten due to the lack of gliadin in the carbohydrates. North American and European manufacturers mostly use glucose derived from corn or wheat to produce caramel color, which is highly processed and is generally considered gluten-free.


title: Wood duck

text: The wood duck or Carolina duck (Aix sponsa) is a species of perching duck found in North America. The drake wood duck is one of the most colorful North American waterfowl.


title: Wood duck

text: The wood duck is a medium-sized perching duck. A typical adult is from ( or 1.5 feet max.) In length with a wingspan of between . The wood duck's weight ranges from 454-862 g (16.0-30.4 oz). This is about three-quarters of the length of an adult mallard. It shares its genus with the Asian Mandarin duck ("Aix galericulata").


title: Wood duck

text: The adult male has stunning multicolored iridescent plumage and red eyes, with a distinctive white flare down the neck. The female, less colorful, has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat. Both adults have crested heads.


title: Wood duck

text: The male's call is a rising whistle, "jeeeeee"; the females utter a drawn-out, rising squeal, "do weep do weep", when flushed, and a sharp "cr-r-ek, cr-e-ek" for an alarm call.


title: Wood duck

text: Their breeding habitat is wooded swamps, shallow lakes, marshes, ponds and creeks in the eastern United States, the west coast of the United States, some adjacent parts of southern Canada, and the west coast of Mexico. They usually nest in cavities in trees close to water, although they will take advantage of nesting boxes in wetland locations. Other species may compete with them for nesting cavities, such as birds of prey, as well as mammals such as grey squirrels, and these animals may also occupy nest boxes meant for wood ducks. Wood ducks may end up nesting up to a mile away from their water source as a result. Females line their nests with feathers and other soft materials, and the elevation provides some protection from predators. Unlike most other ducks, the wood duck has sharp claws for perching in trees and can, in southern regions, produce two broods in a single season—the only North American duck that can do so.


title: Wood duck

text: Females typically lay between 7 and 15 white-tan eggs that incubate for an average of 30 days. However, if nesting boxes are placed too close together, females may lay eggs in the nests of their neighbours, which may lead to nests which may contain as many as 30 eggs and unsuccessful incubation, a behaviour known as "nest dumping".


title: Wood duck

text: After hatching, the precocial ducklings climb to the opening of the nest cavity, jump down from the nest tree and make their way to water. The mother calls them to her, but does not help them in any way. They prefer nesting over water so the young have a soft landing, but will nest up to away from the shoreline. The day after they hatch, the young climb to the nest entrance and jump to the ground. The ducklings can swim and find their own food by this time.


title: Wood duck

text: Wood ducks feed by dabbling (feeding from the surface rather than diving underwater) or grazing on land. They mainly eat berries, acorns, and seeds, but also insects, making them omnivores.


title: Wood duck

text: The birds are year-round residents in parts of its southern range, but the northern populations migrate south for the winter. They overwinter in the southern United States near the Atlantic Coast. 75% of the wood ducks in the Pacific Flyway are non-migratory. Due to their attractive plumage, they are also popular in waterfowl collections and as such are frequently recorded in Great Britain as escapees—populations have become temporarily established in Surrey in the past, but are not considered to be self-sustaining in the fashion of the closely related mandarin duck. Along with the mandarin duck, the wood duck is considered an invasive species in England and Wales, and it is illegal to release them into the wild. Given its native distribution, the species is also a potential natural vagrant to Western Europe and there have been records in areas such as Cornwall, Scotland and the Isles of Scilly, which some observers consider may relate to wild birds; however, given the wood duck's popularity in captivity, it would be extremely difficult to prove their provenance. There is a small feral population in Dublin.


title: Wood duck

text: The population of the wood duck was in serious decline in the late 19th century as a result of severe habitat loss and market hunting both for meat and plumage for the ladies' hat market in Europe. By the beginning of the 20th century, wood ducks had virtually disappeared from much of their former range. In response to the Migratory Bird Treaty established in 1916 and enactment of the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, wood duck populations began to recover slowly. By ending unregulated hunting and taking measures to protect remaining habitat, wood duck populations began to rebound in the 1920s. The development of the artificial nesting box in the 1930s gave an additional boost to wood duck production. More information on the efficacy of nest boxes can be found in the Conservation Evidence webpage. Wood duck boxes have been found to be less effective than natural, hollow, dead trees but remain overall beneficial for the population.


title: Wood duck

text: Landowners as well as park and refuge managers can encourage wood ducks by building wood duck nest boxes near lakes, ponds, and streams. Fulda, Minnesota has adopted the wood duck as an unofficial mascot, and a large number of nest boxes can be found in the area.


title: Wood duck

text: Expanding North American beaver populations throughout the wood duck's range have also helped the population rebound as beavers create an ideal forested wetland habitat for wood ducks.


title: Wood duck

text: The population of the wood duck has increased a great deal in the last several years. The increase has been due to the work of many people constructing wood duck boxes and conserving vital habitat for the wood ducks to breed. During the open waterfowl season, U.S. hunters have only been allowed to take two wood ducks per day in the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways. However, for the 2008–2009 season, the limit was raised to three. The wood duck limit remains at two in the Central Flyway and at seven in the Pacific Flyway. It is the second most commonly hunted duck in North America, after the mallard.


title: Wood duck

text: In 2013, the Royal Canadian Mint created two coins to commemorate the wood duck. The two coins are each part of a three coin set to help promote Ducks Unlimited Canada as well as celebrate its 75th anniversary.


The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is a three-step examination program for medical licensure in the United States sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). Physicians with a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree are required to pass the USMLE for medical licensure. However, those with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree (DO) are required to take the COMLEX-USA (COMLEX) exams.


title: United States Medical Licensing Examination

text: The USMLE assesses a physician's ability to apply knowledge, concepts, and principles, and to determine fundamental patient-centered skills that are important in health and disease and that constitute the basis of safe and effective patient care. Examination committees composed of medical educators and clinicians from across the United States and its territories create the examination materials each year. At least two committees critically appraise each test item or case, revising or discarding any materials that are in doubt. The program intends to provide state medical boards in the United States with a common examination for all licensure applicants. Physicians with an M.D. degree are required to take the USMLE, but those with a D.O. degree take the COMLEX to qualify for state licensure.


text: The USMLE was first designed in the late 1980s and introduced during the period 1992 to 1994. The program replaced the multiple examinations, including the NBME Part Examination program and the FSMB's Federation Licensing Examination (FLEX) program, that offered paths to medical licensing in the medical profession. The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) must be passed before a physician with a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree can obtain a license to practice medicine in the United States.


text: In 2004, a clinical-skills examination was added to Step 2 of the USMLE, and beginning with the medical school graduating class of 2005, students have been required to pass it in order to be licensed.


text: In 2009, the FSMB's Board of Trustees adopted a board report on a comprehensive review of the USMLE program. Major recommendations from this strategic review included more explicitly orienting the USMLE examination to support the licensing decisions made by medical boards, transitioning the exam to a competencies schema and emphasizing the importance of scientific foundations of medicine throughout the examination sequence.


text: On May 26, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the USMLE "suspended Step 2 CS test administrations for the next 12-18 months." On January 26, 2021, the USMLE announced that the work to relaunch a modified form USMLE Step 2 CS had been discontinued citing rapidly evolving medical education and changes in other standardized exams, like computer-based simulations in Step 3, that would supplement medical students' education in place of Step 2 CS.


text: USMLE Step 1 assesses whether medical school students or graduates understand and can apply important concepts of the basic sciences to the practice of medicine. Step 1 ensures mastery of not only the sciences that provide a foundation for the safe and competent practice of medicine in the present, but also the scientific principles required for maintenance of competence through lifelong learning. Step 1 is constructed according to an integrated content outline that organizes basic science material along two dimensions: system and process. It includes the following subjects: Anatomy, Behavioral Sciences, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Physiology, and


text: USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge is a standardized test that assesses a candidate's ability to apply medical knowledge, skills, and understanding of clinical science essential for the provision of patient care under supervision covering topics in various medical disciplines: internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery.


text: The USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills exam was a standardized test that assessed candidates on their ability to gather information from patients, perform physical examinations, and communicate their findings to patients and colleagues. It was discontinued in 2021.


text: USMLE Step 3 is the final exam in the USMLE sequence and assesses whether medical school students or graduates can apply medical knowledge and understanding of biomedical and clinical science essential for the unsupervised practice of medicine, with emphasis on patient management in ambulatory settings. Graduates of US medical schools typically take this exam at the end of the first year of residency. Examinees are tested on the following subjects:


text: central nervous system, eye/ear/nose/mouth/throat, respiratory system, circulatory system, digestive system, behavioral/emotional disorders, musculoskeletal system, skin/subcutaneous tissue, endocrine/nutrition/metabolic disorders, kidneys/urinary tract, reproductive system, pregnancy/childbirth, neonate/childhood illnesses, blood and blood-forming organs, infectious/parasitic diseases, injuries/wounds/toxic effects/burns, and health maintenance issues.


text: The USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK exams can be taken at Prometric test centers worldwide. The Step 3 can only be taken in the United States.


text: The USMLE Step 1 is typically taken during a student's second year of medical school. The one-day exam tests them on basic science principles, including behavioral science, microbiology, physiology, and anatomy. The exam announced a move to a pass/fail model on February 12, 2020, along with other changes due to an attempt by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) to balance focus between exams and actual coursework.


text: USMLE mean and median scores have increased significantly in the past decades—so much so that the testing board had to increase the score it takes to pass. A large part of the increase was attributed in empirically-based research articles to performance improvement factors such as using a question bank to prepare for the test.


text: A study from 2016 showed little to no correlation between MCAT scores and USMLE Step 1 scores, as well as little to no correlation between MCAT scores and the NBME scores. However, since the 82 students on whom this study was conducted all attended the same medical school, the usefulness of these results in the broader medical school population may be of limited value.


text: Furthermore, research conducted on students between 1998 and 2004, although outdated, and conducted on an undisclosed number of students, was carried out on a longer timeline, and shows that the Biological Science (BS) section of the MCAT did indeed predict better performance on the USMLE Step 1, but not any other section, and found that grade point average in undergraduate science courses is a strong predictor of performance on the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 exams, and that the Biological Science section of the MCAT, but not any other section, predicted USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 exam performance, though this information is outdated, and unclear as to whether this was also only conducted at a single institution or more than one, making this study's results of limited value. The same study claims that the selectivity of undergraduate institution is also a predictor of step 1 and step 2 performance, even when controlling for undergraduate GPA and MCAT score.


text: The USMLE was met with criticism for their lack of adaptability during the COVID-19 pandemic. The criticism was two-fold: First, for the mishandling and poor communication of exam cancellations by both USMLE program administrators and the third-party exam administrator, Prometric. Second, the pandemic crisis exacerbated existing resentment towards the high-stakes nature of the exam: namely, several students and physicians were upset that the USMLE refused to move up the 2022 deadline of making Step 1 into a pass or fail exam.


text: A study conducted in 2020 showed differences in USMLE Step 1 scores attributable to race and ethnicity, with lower mean scores for self-identified Black, Asian, and Hispanic examinees when compared with self-identified White examinees. The mean effect was larger when comparing Caucasian applicants (223) with Black and Hispanic applicants (216). Depending on the threshold score, an African American was 3-6x less likely to be offered an interview."


text: "61% of minority applicants were accepted into an orthopaedic residency versus 73% of White applicants. White and Asian applicants and residents had higher USMLE Step 1. White applicants and matriculated candidates had higher odds of Alpha Omega Alpha membership compared with Black, Hispanic, and other groups.


text: In year 2020, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Association of American Medical Colleges expressed their support for changing Step 1 to pass or fail, in part to reduce racial bias.


text: The US Medical Licensing Examinations have received criticism due to their high cost. As of 2020, the USMLE charges:


text: As part of a broader public plea for systemic changes to the improper use of USMLE STEP exams, STAT wrote that this "multimillion-dollar industry has exploited the opportunity to extract thousands of dollars from already overly indebted students. Registering for STEP exams test cost $645-$1300, while Step preparation materials and courses run much higher."


title: The Idiots

text: The Idiots () is a 1998 Danish dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme 95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2. It is the second film in von Trier's "Golden Heart Trilogy", preceded by "Breaking the Waves" (1996) and succeeded by "Dancer in the Dark" (2000). It is among the first films to be shot entirely with digital cameras.


title: The Idiots

text: It was screened at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d’Or, despite being met with widespread criticism upon release.


title: The Idiots

text: A seemingly anti-bourgeois group of adults spend their time seeking their "inner idiot" to release their inhibitions. They do so by behaving in public as if they were developmentally disabled.


title: The Idiots

text: At a restaurant, the patrons are disturbed by the group's mischief, barely contained by their supposed "handler", Susanne; however, single diner Karen develops an appreciation of their antics. The members of the group refer to this behaviour as "spassing", a neologism derived from "spasser", the Danish equivalent of "spaz". Karen leaves in a taxi with the people from the restaurant, and she finds herself at a big house. The apparent leader of the group, Stoffer, is supposed to be selling the house (which belongs to his uncle), but instead it becomes the focal point for group activities.


title: The Idiots

text: The "spassing" is a self-defeating attempt by the group to challenge the establishment through provocation. The self-styled idiots feel that the society-at-large treats their intelligence uncreatively and unchallengingly; thus, they seek the uninhibited self-expression that they imagine a romantic ideal of disability will allow.


title: The Idiots

text: Stoffer, at his birthday party, wishes for a "gangbang", and both clothes and inhibitions are soon discarded. Then, when Stoffer calls for the group members to let idiocy invade their personal daily lives, Karen takes up the challenge. She takes Susanne back to her house, where they are greeted with surprise by Karen's mother. Karen has been missing for two weeks, following the death of her young baby; she offers no explanation of where she has been. Karen attempts to spaz in front of her family by dribbling her food, but this results in a violent slap from her husband, Anders. Karen and Susanne leave the house together.


title: The Idiots

text: "The Idiots" is a co-production of companies from Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. It was filmed during May 1997 and June 1997. The script was written over just four days, between 16 May 1997 to 19 May 1997.


title: The Idiots

text: The confession of a Dogme 95 film is an idea adapted by Thomas Vinterberg in the first Dogme 95 film: Make a confession if there were things happening on the shoot which are not in accordance with the strict interpretation of the Dogme 95 rules. It is written from the director's point of view. Accordingly, von Trier made the following confession:


title: The Idiots

text: All in all, and apart from the above, I feel to have lived up to the intentions and rules of the manifesto: Dogme95.


title: The Idiots

text: In order to not violate Dogme 95 rule 2, forbidding the use of non-diegetic music, a harmonica player was recorded during the shooting of some scenes, including the end credits, even if he is not seen onscreen.


title: The Idiots

text: "The Idiots" provoked a storm of publicity and debates, one of which was about the fictional representation of disability. Film critic Mark Kermode's reaction was to shout "Il est merde! Il est merde! (sic)" from the back of the auditorium during the official screening of the film at Cannes, a spontaneous review for which he was ejected from the venue.


title: The Idiots

text: Channel 4 aired the film unedited in 2005 as part of the channel's "Banned" season exploring censorship and cinematic works. Viewer complaints prompted an Ofcom investigation, which came out in favour of Channel 4. In its ruling, Ofcom found the film "not in breach" of the relevant Code under the specific circumstances of the broadcast, that is "the serious contextualisation of the film within a season examining the censorship of film and television, its artistic purpose, the channel which transmitted it, the strong warnings before the film and prior to the scene in question and the scheduling after midnight." Ofcom added the caveat that, "While we do not consider the film was in breach of the Code on this occasion, we must consider carefully the acceptability of any similar content on an individual basis."


title: The Idiots

text: The film is classified as adult-only in Argentina, Australia (though it has been shown uncut on TV with an MA rating), Chile, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. In Switzerland and Germany, the film ran uncut with a 16-years rating in theaters, followed by a DVD release with the same rating and several uncut television airings.


title: The Idiots

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 71% score based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's consensus reads, ""The Idiots" feels more like an experiment than a coherent narrative, but director Lars von Trier's provocative style and rumination on civilization will leave most audience members feeling like satisfied test subjects." Metacritic reports a 47 out of 100 rating based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Reactions to the film ranged from strong criticism to strong praise. A.O. Scott wrote a critical review in "The New York Times", calling the film "a two-hour, semi-pornographic Mentos commercial" and singled out the final scene in particular for strong criticism, stating that the film "descends to truly contemptible emotional brutality". Conversely, Owen Glieberman in "Entertainment Weekly "described the film as "a raw, funny, maddening ramble" where von Trier "seeks catharsis by pushing everything to extremes" and described the final scene as "a gripping moment of high torment".


title: The Idiots

text: "The Idiots" was ranked #76 in "Empire" magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010. The magazine had previously given it a full five star rating on its release in UK cinemas. It is listed as #941 in the film reference book '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'.


title: The Idiots

text: More controversy arose over the sexual content, which was unusually explicit for a narrative film. "The Idiots" contains a shower scene in which a member of the group (in character as an "idiot") has an erection and, later, a group sex scene that includes one couple (faces not seen, stand-ins from the porn industry) having unsimulated penetrative (vaginal) sexual intercourse. Both instances of explicit content are in view only for a few seconds. The film was cleared for theatrical release by the British Board of Film Classification, receiving an 18 certificate. When it was shown on Film4 (then "FilmFour") in 2000, the erection and the intercourse were obscured by pixelization, following an order from the Independent Television Commission.


title: Corey Reynolds

text: Corey Reynolds (born July 3, 1974) is an American actor known for originating the role of Seaweed in the Broadway adaptation of "Hairspray", and for the TNT crime show "The Closer".


title: Corey Reynolds

text: Reynolds was born in Richmond, Virginia, where he attended Monacan High School before moving to California to pursue his acting career. He got his start at Paramount Kings Dominion performing in various shows. While living in California, he was cast in a touring production of the revue "Smokey Joe's Cafe", as well as the tour of "Saturday Night Fever". After this run, he went to New York City and auditioned for various shows. He was originally cast in "Hairspray"'s ensemble, but was offered the role of Seaweed after three readings. For this role, he was nominated for a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award, both for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.


title: Corey Reynolds

text: Reynolds guest starred on "Without a Trace" and appeared in "The Guardian" prior to his role in "The Closer". To research this role, Reynolds drew on his past career in security and law enforcement.


title: Corey Reynolds

text: Reynolds has appeared in films such as "The Terminal", "Red Tails", and "Straight Outta Compton". He plays Sheriff Mike Thompson in the SyFy comedy-drama "Resident Alien".


title: Super Furry Animals

text: Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian Ciaran (keyboards, synthesisers, various electronics, occasional guitar, vocals), Dafydd Ieuan (drums, vocals). An earlier incarnation of the band featured actor Rhys Ifans on lead vocals.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: Super Furry Animals has recorded nine UK Albums Chart Top 25 studio albums (one BPI certified Gold and four certified Silver), plus numerous singles, EPs, compilations and collaborations. The band were known as central to the Cool Cymru era during which they were dominant, and are the act with the most top 75 hits without reaching the UK Singles Chart Top 10. Over the course of nine albums, Super Furry Animals has been described as "one of the most imaginative bands of our time" by "Billboard", while according to a 2005 article in "NME", "There's a case to be argued that [Super Furry Animals] were the most important band of the past 15 years".


title: Super Furry Animals

text: Super Furry Animals formed in Cardiff after being in various other Welsh bands and techno outfits in the area. Rhys, Ieuan and Pryce had been together since the early 1990s and had toured France as a techno group. After Bunford and Ciaran (Ieuan's younger brother) joined, they wrote some songs, and in 1995 signed to Ankst, a Welsh indie label. The band are considered to be part of the renaissance of Welsh music (and art, and literature) in the 1990s: other Welsh bands of the time include the Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Catatonia and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: The name of the band came from T-shirts being printed by Rhys' sister. She was making Super Furry Animals T-shirts for the fashion and music collective Acid Casuals (variants of whose name have appeared throughout Super Furry Animals' career – for example, in their song "The Placid Casual", their record label Placid Casual). The band has also made reference to Blur, Elvis Costello, and Wynton Marsalis as major influences in their work.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: The earliest Super Furry Animals track commercially available is "Dim Brys: Dim Chwys", recorded in 1994 for Radio Cymru: an ambient piece, the track shows the band's techno roots. However, by the time it was released (on the "Triskedekaphilia" compilation album in August 1995), the band had already put out their debut EP on the Ankst label. The "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllantysiliogogogochynygofod (In Space)" EP appeared in June 1995 and has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest-ever title for an EP.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: The "Moog Droog" EP followed in October 1995, named after the synthesiser manufacturer Robert Moog and the Nadsat term for "friend" in "A Clockwork Orange". The EP's title is also a pun on the Welsh "mwg drwg", meaning "wacky baccy" (slang for cannabis, more literally "bad (or naughty) smoke"). The lyrics on all the tracks on both EPs were in Welsh, except for "God! Show Me Magic" from "Moog Droog".


title: Super Furry Animals

text: After gigging in London in late 1995, they were noticed by Creation Records boss Alan McGee at the Camden Monarch club, who signed them to his label. Creation was also home to Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine and Teenage Fanclub, and had recently found massive commercial success with Oasis. The band have said that having watched their gig, McGee asked them if they could sing in English rather than Welsh in future shows. In fact, by this stage they were singing in English, but McGee didn't realise because their Welsh accents were so strong. The Super Furry Animals received some criticism in the Welsh media for singing in English, something which the band felt "completely pissed" about. According to drummer Dafydd Ieuan: "It all started when we played this festival in West Wales, and for some reason the Welsh media started foaming at the mouth because we were singing songs in Welsh and English. But they get The Dubliners playing and they don't sing in Irish. It's ridiculous." The band have claimed that the decision to sing in English was taken in order to broaden their fanbase.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In February 1996, the band's debut on Creation, "Hometown Unicorn", became New Musical Express's Single of the Week, chosen by guest reviewers Pulp, and the first Super Furry Animals single to chart in the UK Top 50, peaking at No. 47. The follow-up, a re-recording of "God! Show Me Magic", charted at No. 33 upon release in April 1996 and also became "NME" single of the week. Rawer than the "Moog Droog" version, it clocks in at 1 min 50 secs. In May, their debut album "Fuzzy Logic" was released, to wide critical acclaim. Sales were slow, with the album peaking at No. 23 in the charts, but it garnered a little more interest when next single "Something 4 the Weekend" (a reworked, more mellow version of the album track) was given considerable radio airplay and charted at No. 18 in July 1996.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: The final single from the album, "If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You", was to have been backed by a track called "The Man Don't Give a Fuck". However, there were problems in clearing a sample from "Showbiz Kids" by Steely Dan which formed the basis of the chorus, and it was switched for a different track. The single charted at No. 18. However, Super Furry Animals regarded "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" as one of their best songs and continued their efforts to clear the sample. When they managed this, there was no upcoming release to attach it to – so it came out as a limited edition single in its own right, in December 1996. This ultimately cemented its legendary status and did much to establish Super Furry Animals as cult heroes, as the song contained the word "fuck" over 50 times and therefore received practically no airplay. However, it hit No. 22 in the charts and became Super Furry Animals' standard closing number when they played live.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In early 1997, Super Furry Animals embarked on the "NME" Brats Tour and completed work on a speedy follow-up to "Fuzzy Logic". Two singles preceded the new album, "Hermann ♥'s Pauline" in May and "The International Language of Screaming" in July, hitting No. 26 and No. 24 respectively: these releases were the first to feature cover art from Pete Fowler, who went on to design the sleeves of all their releases up until 2007's "Hey Venus". The album, "Radiator", hit shelves in August. The reviews were, if anything, better than those for "Fuzzy Logic", and it sold more quickly than its predecessor, reaching a peak of No. 8: however, Creation did not serve the album particularly well by releasing it just four days after the long-awaited new effort from Oasis, "Be Here Now". Two further singles, "Play It Cool" (released September 1997) and "Demons" (November 1997) both hit No. 27 in the charts, suggesting that Super Furry Animals had hit a commercial ceiling though which they were struggling to break. However, they had established themselves as favourites in the music press, a cut above the majority of their Britpop peers.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: After a chance to think about their music and their direction, Super Furry Animals decided to record a new EP in early 1998 at Gorwel Owen's house and released it in May. This was the "Ice Hockey Hair" EP, widely held as one of their finest moments ("ice hockey hair" is a slang term for a mullet.) Featuring four tracks, the EP sampled from Black Uhuru. The title track, a melodic and very moving epic, gained airplay while "Smokin'". In a "Melody Maker" interview, Super Furry Animals said the "Smokin'" referred to smoking haddock, or to truck drivers' tyres when they're 'burnin' the roads'. It became their most successful single up to this point, hitting No. 12 in the charts and leading to a memorable appearance on "Top of the Pops".


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In November 1998, the album "Out Spaced" was released. This was a collection of songs from the 1995 Ankst releases (including "Dim Brys: Dim Chwys"), the band's favourite B-sides, plus "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" and "Smokin'". A limited edition appeared in a comedy rubber sleeve, shaped like a nipple.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In 1999, "NME" readers named them 'best new band' in January (this despite the fact it was now three years since they released their debut album). In May, the single "Northern Lites" was released and made No. 11 in the charts. A dense production, with steel drums clattering out a calypso rhythm whilst Rhys sang an irreverent lyric about the El Niño-Southern Oscillation weather phenomenon, it was an apt taster for the new album, "Guerrilla". Recorded at the Real World Studios, the album retained SFA's pop melodies but took a less guitar-centric approach to their execution and was their most experimental work to date. Layers of samples over brass, percussion and Gruff's melodic singing produced an album which took the freewheeling approach of 1960s groups such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Velvet Underground and updated it to the late 1990s. The album swung from glam and garage rock numbers ("Night Vision", "The Teacher") to novelty techno ("Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)"), ambient indietronica ("Some Things Come From Nothing") and upbeat drum and bass ("The Door To This House Remains Open"). For the cover art, Pete Fowler created the band's first three-dimensional models, rather than the paintings he had supplied for the "Radiator" album and singles.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: After playing several of the summer festivals, SFA released "Fire in My Heart", the most soulful track from "Guerrilla", in August and saw it chart at No. 25. They then embarked on a US and UK tour. SFA finished their UK tour at the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, where they showcased the first ever concert in surround sound and broadcast it on the World Wide Web.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: January 2000 involved a series of changes for SFA. The last single from "Guerrilla", "Do or Die", was released and made No. 20. It was also the last single SFA released on Creation Records, as founder Alan McGee set off to pursue other interests. It had always been SFA's plan to release their next album on their own label, Placid Casual, as it would be a deliberate sidestep from their recent work: a largely acoustic album of Welsh language songs entitled "Mwng". Meaning "mane", its lilting melodies established that SFA's songwriting did not have to fall back on head-spinning production tricks. A limited edition (of 3000) 7 inch record, "Ysbeidiau Heulog" (meaning "Sunny Intervals") preceded "Mwng" in May 2000. It came backed with "Charge", a hard-rock jam recorded as a Peel Session for the BBC. The album, released the same month, sold remarkably well for a non-English LP – it made No. 11 in the charts – and received a rare distinction for a pop record, being commended in Parliament for its efforts in keeping the Welsh language alive.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: 2000 also saw the Furries contribute two tracks, Free Now and Peter Blake 2000, for the Liverpool Sound Collage project, which was nominated for a Grammy. They undertook this remixing of unreleased Beatles recordings at the invitation of Paul McCartney, whom they had met at the NME Awards, where they had won Best Live Act.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: With the demise of Creation, SFA needed to find a new label for their next album. Sony had long held a substantial stake in Creation and offered deals to many ex-Creation artists, including SFA, who signed with one of Sony's subsidiaries, Epic. The band pushed for a deal which allowed them to take a new album elsewhere if the label wasn't interested in releasing it – thereby allowing them to find a home for any esoteric project they might want to undertake in the future.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: The greater resources afforded them by Epic were apparent in their first album for the label, "Rings Around the World", an album that recaptured the cohesive, experimental feel of "Guerrilla" but more song-driven and sonically expansive. It is cited by many critics and fans alike as their most polished and accessible work. Again the first single was a good indication of what was to come: "Juxtapozed with U", released in July 2001, was a lush soul record which made No. 14 in the charts. The album followed in the same month and major label marketing muscle made it their biggest-seller to date, reaching No. 3 in the album charts. One of the tracks from the album, "Receptacle For the Respectable" featured Paul McCartney on "carrot and celery rhythm track" (a homage to his performance on the Beach Boys' "Vegetables"). SFA unleashed their experimental side on tracks such as "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" (which switches between light techno-pop and hardcore punk), "[A] Touch Sensitive" (gloomy trip-hop) and "No Sympathy" (which descends into chaotic drum'n'bass), but also apparent was an angrier edge to the lyrics: "Run! Christian, Run!" seemed to be an attack on the complacency of organised religion.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: "Rings Around the World" is also remarkable for being the world's first simultaneous release of an audio and DVD album. It was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2001. The ceremony took place on the day after the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and SFA's performance of the album track "It's Not the End of the World?" took on a somewhat bitter edge. It was released as a single in January 2002 (chart No. 30), following "(Drawing) Rings Around the World" (chart No. 28): neither had that much impact but still received some airplay, notably on BBC Radio 2.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: The next album, "Phantom Power", relied less on sound experimentation and proved to be a more stripped-down, back-to-basics recording in contrast to the orchestral "Rings Around the World". It was also released as both a CD and DVD album in July 2003, preceded by a single, "Golden Retriever", in June (chart No. 13). Although the reviews for the album were generally good and it sold well initially, charting at No. 4, the album broke little new ground by SFA's standards and the band had fallen out of fashion, receiving little coverage in the music press. Another single, "Hello Sunshine", hit No. 31 in October 2003 and was eventually featured on the soundtrack of "The O.C.".


title: Super Furry Animals

text: Perhaps recognising that their approach to "Phantom Power" had been a little too straightforward, the group followed it up in 2004 with a remix version, "Phantom Phorce", with tracks reworked by the likes of Killa Kela, Four Tet and Brave Captain. They accompanied this with a download single, "Slow Life", which also included the track "Motherfokker", a collaboration with Goldie Lookin Chain, both tracks are now available as a free download via the Placid Casual website. In October 2004 the band released a best of album, "", accompanied by a single – a live version of "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" (chart No. 16).


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In early 2005, Gruff Rhys released a solo album "Yr Atal Genhedlaeth", ("The Stuttering Generation", and also a play on words as "Atal Genhedlu" means contraception), sung all in Welsh. Gruff played most of the instruments himself, mainly using guitars, drums and his own multi-tracked voice. The band also selected tracks for a volume in the "Under the Influence" series of compilations, in which artists present the songs that they feel have most contributed to their sound.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In 2005 Super Furry Animals were asked to put together the sixth release from the 'Under The Influence' series - "Under the Influence: Super Furry Animals". Each member chose 3 track each - Pryce's selections were Dawn Penn "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)", Dennis Wilson and Rumbo "Lady" and MC5 "Kick Out the Jams".


title: Super Furry Animals

text: Also in 2005 it was reported that the band turned down a US$1.8m advertising deal with Coca-Cola after visiting a Coca-Cola plantation in Colombia with charity War on Want, where they heard of management-directed killings of trade-union members. The company were asking for use of "Hello Sunshine" as part of their campaign. In a statement to British magazine "Q", Coca-Cola denied the allegations, stating they had been "an exemplary member of the business community" in Colombia.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In August 2005, Super Furry Animals released their seventh studio effort, "Love Kraft", recorded in Spain. This represented a departure from their previous working methods: although all five members had always contributed to the development of the songs, Rhys had been the main songwriter. On "Love Kraft" this was no longer the case, as Rhys, Bunford, Ieuan and Ciaran all contributed songs and lead vocals. There was only one single from the album, "Lazer Beam", released on 15 August (chart No. 28). The laid-back ambience recalls early-1970s Beach Boys albums such as "Surf's Up" (which SFA have referred to as one of their favourite albums), whilst the heavy use of strings suggested the likes of Scott Walker and Curtis Mayfield. The album's cool commercial reception (it charted at just No. 19) suggested that they had returned to their familiar status of critically acclaimed cult favourites. "Love Kraft" was also the last album released under Epic Records, as their contract expired in early 2006.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: Ciaran's side project Acid Casuals released their debut album "Omni" in January 2006 on the Placid Casual label. Drummer Ieuan formed a band known as The Peth which has been described by Rhys in various magazine articles as "Satanic Abba": the band also reunites Rhys Ifans with the SFA family, as he takes lead vocal duties.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: The band signed to Rough Trade Records during 2006 and are reportedly working on three projects for the label. Gruff Rhys has also signed for Rough Trade Records as a solo artist in his own right and released a single on 7" vinyl and download entitled "Candylion" in late 2006 which preceded an album of the same name that was released during the second week of 2007. Unlike his debut "Yr Atal Genhedlaeth", "Candylion" is primarily sung in English but has two Welsh tracks and one in "bad Spanish": it is primarily an acoustic album, and came about because Rhys has written several acoustic pop songs that didn't fit with the direction of the new SFA record.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: During this time some of the bands' music was used prominently in The Rock-afire Explosion documentary movie, namely "Hello Sunshine" and "Some things Come From Nothing".


title: Super Furry Animals

text: Recording sessions took place in a chateau in the south of France in 2007 for the band's first release for Rough Trade, "Hey Venus!", which was released on 27 August that year. Gruff himself described the record as "speaker blowing". The album's first single, "Show Your Hand", failed to enter the top 40, their first to do so since 1996's "Hometown Unicorn", despite modest airplay. The album itself fared much better, peaking at No. 11 and was a slight improvement from the sales of "Love Kraft". The album became their first to enter the iTunes Music Store top 10 album charts, peaking at No. 9. Over the 2007 Christmas period SFA released a single, "The Gift That Keeps Giving", free from their website.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: On 16 March 2009, Super Furry Animals released their ninth and final studio album, "Dark Days/Light Years", digitally via their website. The album's progress was recorded in a series of short films that were shown on the band's website in the build-up to the release. Later in March, they performed the record in its entirety through an exclusive stream on their website. A physical release on Rough Trade Records followed on 21 April, resulting in a number 23 UK Chart placement. "Dark Days/Light Years" notably featured a guest appearance from Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand on "Inaugural Trams." "Dark Days/Light Years" received strong critical feedback, with The Guardian writing that "it has more spark and invention than most teen bands manage on their debuts."


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In 2010, Super Furry Animals went on what became a five-year hiatus, as bassist Guto Pryce revealed in an interview with Wales Online. Pryce noted that the band expected to reconvene as soon as the members finished with the various projects they were working on.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: Super Furry Animals reconvened for one performance on 29 February 2012 at Cardiff City Stadium before a Wales v Costa Rica Gary Speed Memorial Match, in tribute to the late Welsh footballer and team manager.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In 2014, craft brewer The Celt Experience created a tribute "Fuzzy Beer" in collaboration with the band.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In May 2015, the band played several gigs from early May to September to accompany a major reissue of their 15-year-old album "Mwng", which had been out of print. The same month a biography, "Rise of the Super Furry Animals", was published by HarperCollins. In January 2016, the band announced their first North American tour in six years. In May 2016, the band released "Bing Bong", their first single in seven years. The song was released to celebrate the Wales national football team's qualification for UEFA Euro 2016. They headlined the Caught by the River Festival in August 2016, and announced the re-release of "Fuzzy Logic". A compilation album, "Zoom! The Best of 1995–2016", was released on 4 November 2016. The final tour of their reunion, in which they played both "Fuzzy Logic" and "Radiator" in full across the UK and Ireland, took place in December 2016.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In September 2018, the official Super Furry Animals Twitter feed posted an announcement of a multi-disc set of recordings made at the BBC to be released on 23 November 2018.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: In 2019 Bunford, Ciaran, Pryce, and Ieuan reformed without Rhys under the name Das Koolies, an alter ego SFA used around 2000 for an experimental electronic album that was never officially released. Das Koolies released their debut single "It's All About The Dolphins" on 29 January 2020. According to Ciaran, Das Koolies is now their main focus; they are no longer focusing on anything from Super Furry Animals.


title: Super Furry Animals

text: On March 4, 2022, the band made the first song they ever recorded, "Of No Fixed Identity", recorded in 1993 and featuring Rhys Ifans on lead vocals, available for one week only on Bandcamp, with all the proceeds going towards Save the Severn, an ongoing environmental campaign to protect the Severn Estuary.


title: Jane Sibbett

text: Jane Moore Sibbett is an American actress. Her most notable roles include Heddy Newman on the Fox television series "Herman's Head" and Carol Willick on the television series "Friends".


title: Jane Sibbett

text: Sibbett was born in Berkeley, California, the youngest of five children. She was raised on Alameda Island, in the San Francisco Bay. She is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, where she became a member of the California Delta chapter of Pi Beta Phi, an international women's fraternity.


title: Jane Sibbett

text: Sibbett started her acting career as Jane Wilson on the NBC soap opera "Santa Barbara" in 1986–87, for which she was nominated for a Best Newcomer Soap Opera Digest Awards. In 1989, she won the role of Laurie Parr on the CBS comedy "The Famous Teddy Z", co-starring with Jon Cryer and Alex Rocco. The series lasted one season. In 1991, Sibbett was cast as status-conscious bombshell Heddy Newman on the Fox sitcom "Herman's Head", which quickly gained a cult following on the young broadcast network and lasted three seasons. Beginning in 1994, she played the occasional role of Carol Willick on "Friends", a part-time stint that lasted until the end of the show's seventh season in 2001. During her "Friends" association, Sibbett had regular roles on the short-lived CBS sitcom "If Not for You" (1995), playing the jilted fiancée of her former "Herman's Head" co-star Hank Azaria, and in the second season of The WB's "" (1997–98), playing school headmaster Dr. Katherine Emerson.


title: Jane Sibbett

text: Sibbett has appeared in more than 200 episodes of multiple TV series, including "21 Jump Street" and "The Nanny". She starred in the 1998 movie "Noah" alongside Tony Danza and Wallace Shawn as well as in 1998's "The Second Arrival", alongside Patrick Muldoon and Michael Sarrazin. She appeared in Dan O'Bannon's 1992 film "The Resurrected". She co-starred with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in "It Takes Two" (1995), and the telefilm, "Au Pair" (1999).


title: Jane Sibbett

text: In 1996, Sibbett was offered the role of Debra Barone on "Everybody Loves Raymond". CBS executives felt that she was right for the role and Sibbett signed a deal for the show; however, she turned down the role upon learning that star Ray Romano and other key staff members were unaware that she had been cast in the part. The role went to Patricia Heaton, who had been the first choice of Romano and show creator Philip Rosenthal.


title: Jane Sibbett

text: Sibbett produced and starred in NY Film Festival Best Romantic Comedy indie award winner, "A One Time Thing", produced medical infotainment pilot "Doc in a Box" (2009), a reality pilot "Edge of Reality" (2009) with medium David Edge, co-produced four documentaries on Braco, a Croatian faith healer, with her company, Wild Aloha Studios, in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The latest, "Evolution", was released on August 30, 2013.


title: Jane Sibbett

text: With hopes to resurrect a theater that had gone dark due to financial straits as well as help women everywhere suffering from intimate violence, Sibbett began directing theater in Hawaii, and with two sold out years of "One Billion Rising" and Eve Ensler's play "The Vagina Monologues" at The Kahilu Theatre on Hawaii Island the theater was saved and all raised funds for the play were donated to resources for women's health and safety. Sibbett's new play, "SHE'ISLAND", co-written by the women of Hawaii Island staged April 2016, also at the Kahilu Theatre. Sibbett served on the Board of Directors for the 490-seat Kahilu Theatre helping launch a major renovation campaign with her Board colleagues and generous donors to the life-changing arts.


title: Jane Sibbett

text: Since returning to the mainland, Sibbett has co-starred in the movies "Jessica Darling's It List (2016), Winter Wedding (2017), A Date By Christmas Eve" (2019)"," the pilot "Manopause" (2020) and the 27th Annual Critics' Choice 2022 nominee "List of a Lifetime" (2021) directed by indie director Roxy Shih.


title: Jane Sibbett

text: In 2019, she won the Michael D Publishers Award, a non-fiction writing scholarship to the Story Summit Writer's School, to complete the manuscript of her memoirs, "About Jane". As part of the scholarship, she also joined the Story Summit's group of faculty, supporting other burgeoning writers.


title: Jane Sibbett

text: Sibbett has long been an advocate for survivors of domestic violence, working with the nine shelters of 1736 Family Crisis Center in Los Angeles.


title: Jane Sibbett

text: In March 2022, Jane assumed Chairperson of The Storyteller Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit, dedicated to supporting, elevating, and amplifying diverse stories and the writers who tell them all around the world with Story Summit and The Story Summit Writers School.


title: Jane Sibbett

text: In 1992, Sibbett married Karl Fink, a TV writer and producer who worked on the first two seasons of "Herman's Head". Fink and Sibbett divorced in January 2016. They have three children, Ruby, Kai, and Violet.


title: Say Something (A Great Big World song)

text: "Say Something" is a song by American pop duo A Great Big World from their debut album, "Is There Anybody Out There?" (2013). Written by the duo members—Ian Axel and Chad King—alongside Mike Campbell, the song was originally recorded by Axel for his solo album "This Is the New Year" (2011). It was later released as a single by the duo on September 3, 2013, by Epic Records. Following its usage on American reality TV show "So You Think You Can Dance", the track gained attention from singer Christina Aguilera, who wanted to collaborate with A Great Big World on the song. Soon afterwards, a re-recorded version of "Say Something" with Aguilera was released on November 4, 2013.


title: Say Something (A Great Big World song)

text: "Say Something" is a slow-tempo piano ballad that talks about a breakup, where the lover is implored to say something because the singer is giving up on them, with the singers expressing humility, sadness, and regret. In the single version with Aguilera, she plays a ghost of the lover to whom the song is addressed as she traces the steps of the lead vocal. The song was praised by music critics for its powerful lyrics, the emotional composition and Aguilera's vocal delivery. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, the song earned A Great Big World and Aguilera a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.


title: Say Something (A Great Big World song)

text: "Say Something" did not sell significantly well until the version with Aguilera was available. It debuted at number 16 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart after A Great Big World and Aguilera performed the song on "The Voice". It eventually peaked at number four and has since sold over six million copies in the United States. It also topped the singles charts in Australia, the Flanders region of Belgium, and Canada. A music video was released on November 19, 2013, featuring the trio singing as people "act out the heartbreaking lyrics." To further promote "Say Something", A Great Big World and Aguilera performed the track at the American Music Awards of 2013.


title: Say Something (A Great Big World song)

text: "Say Something" was originally released on February 8, 2011, on band member Ian Axel's solo album "This Is the New Year" with the song featuring harmonies by guest vocalist Jenny Owen Youngs, but the track went largely unnoticed until it received attention after being used on the TV series "So You Think You Can Dance" on season 10's semi final episode contemporary dance routine by the eventual champion Amy Yakima. This sparked a chain reaction that eventually made its way to Christina Aguilera. "'Say Something' was danced to on "So You Think You Can Dance" almost two months ago, and so many people responded to it," Axel tells Billboard. "In that whole process, someone on our team played it for someone on Christina's team, and we got a call that Christina wanted to record it, and then, literally a week later, we were in L.A. recording it with her." The pair considers Aguilera as having "one of the top voices in the world," says Chad King, and re-recorded "Say Something" with her in two hours. "We look at Christina as this icon who can say anything and make it sound amazing," says King.


title: Say Something (A Great Big World song)

text: About approaching the duo to re-record the track, Aguilera said, "Somebody sent me the song (...) and it's just the most simplest song that doesn't have to fit a formula to be heard and to be appreciated, so I just heard it and I've never done anything like this before and I was just like, 'You know', I just started to hear a harmony part over it and I was like, 'get in touch with these guys and see if they wanna get in the studio and sit behind the piano and just vibe together and see what happens...' and we did, and they're so humble, so sweet, so down to earth, and I'm all about that and supporting that, and we came together so organically and it was fun." Aguilera also added, "It's so quiet and still and steady and in a way pleading," she describes the song. "I'm only taking on projects that feel good to me and represent, as always, a purpose of the here and now in my life."


title: Say Something (A Great Big World song)

text: "Say Something" was written by Ian Axel, Chad King, and Mike Campbell while production was handled by Dan Romer. Sonically, the piano ballad is underlined by a piano and string arrangement, which was performed by Los Angeles string players Mark Robertson, Andrew Duckles, and Vanessa Freebairn-Smith. The lyrics evoke the emotion felt when choosing to leave a failed relationship even though love still remains, imploring the lover say something because the singer is giving up on them.


title: Say Something (A Great Big World song)

text: For Bill Lamb of "About.com", the chorus "Say something, I'm giving up on you", "is brilliant." Lamb also explained the song, writing that, "instead of being filled with anger and desperation, it is a song expressing a powerful combination of humility, sadness and regret." The song was written at a time when both members were experiencing individual heartbreak. "Writing the song was part of the healing process," says Axel. "Whenever we perform it, it's like revisiting the scar. It's always a part of me, and I can always go there and feel it." Lewis Corner of "Digital Spy" noted that with its "stripped-down melody and emotive lyrics", the song becomes the antithesis of the club-thumping blow-outs radio currently prefers."


title: Say Something (A Great Big World song)

text: "Say Something" received universal acclaim from music critics, with significant acclaim going towards the emotional tone. Rick Florino of "Artist Direct" gave the song 5 out of 5 stars, calling it "Oscar-worthy", with "a cinematic heft to the track that makes it utterly vivid and vibrant." Florino also praised Aguilera's performance, calling it "one of her best ever, fortifying the hook and harmony masterfully." Lewis Corner of "Digital Spy" praised Aguilera for "reminding us why she always sounds infinitely better when heading up a ballad", calling it "a beautifully simplistic ode to heartache that evidently connects."