title: Ian Khama

text: In the 2014 Botswana general election, Khama won his second term. His party received 46.45% of the vote, and a majority of seats in the National Assembly. In the lead up to the election, opposition politician Gomolemo Motswaledi died in a traffic collision on 30 July 2014. While there was some speculation on the incident being politically motivated, the police force concluded that the death was an accident.


title: Ian Khama

text: In 2015, Khama was awarded an honorary doctorate in political science from Konkuk University in South Korea. After he received the degree, Khama's official title was "His Excellency the President Lieutenant General Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama".


title: Ian Khama

text: Khama took a strong stance against the Zimbabwean government, particularly Robert Mugabe. He did so by refusing to recognize the government unless and until it included members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) headed by Morgan Tsvangarai. Khama also condemned the action of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir in the region of Darfur and became a vocal critic of despotic governments in Africa along with President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia.


title: Ian Khama

text: Khama has been criticized by some figures for making poor decisions, including by former president Quett Masire, who claimed that the BDP had been taken over by opportunists looking to benefit from senior government positions.


title: Ian Khama

text: Under Khama, the government has also established the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) with police powers, which is seen as the Botswana equivalent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States. Although this type of organization is not new and is found in many countries, it has critics in Botswana who charge that there are very few domestic or transnational threats that the police and the military could not handle. Some, including Executive director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, Siphosami Malunga, have argued that the institution, initially headed by President Khama's close friend Issac Kgosi, could easily be manipulated and used against political enemies or others who criticize the President or his administration.


title: Ian Khama

text: On the economic front, Khama has been a vocal proponent of moving Botswana away from its over-reliance on diamonds and diversifying its economy, especially to the agriculture and tourism sector.


title: Ian Khama

text: Khama put in place a ban on elephant hunting during his time as President, and supported conservation efforts in Botswana. In 2018, he criticized President Donald Trump for encouraging elephant poaching.


title: Ian Khama

text: Khama has been strongly prohibitionist in his attitude towards alcohol, viewing it as a significant problem.


title: Ian Khama

text: Diplomatically, he took a strong stance on North Korea's human rights issues. After cutting ties with North Korea in 2014 over its egregious human rights violations, he described the human rights atrocities in the hermit kingdom 'worse than the African refugee issues', particularly during the mass famine in the 1990s. He gave an interview with the Yonhap News Agency during his visit to Seoul, South Korea in 2015, criticizing the North's leaders 'living in the Stone Age' and their aggressive actions are unacceptable.


title: Ian Khama

text: On 1 April 2018, Mokgweetsi Masisi was sworn in as the 5th President of Botswana, succeeding Ian Khama and his full ten years of presidency. After several disagreements with Masisi, in particular criticizing Masisi for authoritarian tendencies, Khama decided to leave the BDP and join the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), a newly formed breakaway from the BDP. He campaigned for the BPF, which won three seats in the 2019 general elections in the Serowe area.


title: Ian Khama

text: In 2018, after resigning from the presidency, Khama became a member of the Board of Directors of the US-based organization Conservation International, which is also active in Botswana.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: The Air New Zealand fleet consists of Boeing jet aircraft for long-haul flights, and Airbus jet aircraft for domestic and short-haul international flights. The airline also operates ATR 72 and Bombardier Q300 turboprop aircraft on domestic services.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: The Boeing customer code for Air New Zealand was 19, which was inherited from the National Airways Corporation on its merger with Air New Zealand in 1978 (Air New Zealand itself did not own any Boeing aircraft before 1978). This means a Boeing 777-300ER built for Air New Zealand was designated a 777-319ER. Since the introduction of the Boeing 787, Boeing no longer uses customer codes.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: Air New Zealand introduced the Airbus A320-200 in 2003, the first non-Boeing aircraft in its jet fleet since the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 was withdrawn in 1982. The A320-200 was introduced to replace the Boeing 767-200ER and Boeing 737-300 on short-haul international routes to eastern Australia and the Pacific Islands.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: On 3 November 2009, Air New Zealand announced it would purchase fourteen more Airbus A320-200 aircraft to replace the Boeing 737-300 fleet on domestic routes. This allowed the airline to have a single aircraft family operating on all short-haul flights.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: The international A320s were originally fitted with 8 business class seats and 144 economy class seats; in 2010 they were refitted with a 168-seat all-economy cabin to coincide with a new fare structure on flights to Australia and the Pacific Islands. The domestic A320s were fitted in a 171-seat all-economy configuration at entry into service.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: At the start of June 2014, Air New Zealand announced it would be placing a NZ$1.6 billion order with Airbus for thirteen Airbus A320neo and Airbus A321neo aircraft. The aircraft will replace the airline's older Airbus A320s. The airline selected the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofan engine to power its A320neo fleet. In June 2017, delivery of the A320neo aircraft was delayed until 2018 due to delivery and mechanical issues with the Pratt & Whitney engines. In August 2018, Air New Zealand announced it was ordering seven more A321neo aircraft, taking the total order to six A320neos and fourteen A321neos.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: The airline's first A321neo was unveiled on 26 September 2018 and arrived in Auckland on 5 November. The aircraft entered revenue service on 23 November 2018, operating between Auckland and Brisbane.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: On 10 December 2019, subsidiary Mount Cook Airline was dissolved and merged into the main Air New Zealand airline. As a result, Air New Zealand acquired Mount Cook's fleet of twenty-seven ATR 72-600 aircraft.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: Air New Zealand introduced the Boeing 777-300ER in 2010 to replace the Boeing 747-400 on long-haul routes. The model was introduced to the flagship London Heathrow – Los Angeles – Auckland route (NZ1/NZ2) in April 2011.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: The 777-300ER was the first aircraft to feature the Economy Skycouch and the Premium Economy Spaceseat. As introduced, the aircraft had 338 seats – 44 business, 50 premium economy, 60 Economy Skycouch seats and 192 regular economy seats. Shortly after the introduction, one premium economy row was removed, reducing the premium economy seats to 44 and the total seats onboard to 332.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: Air New Zealand refurbished the 777-300ER fleet in 2017. The Premium Economy Spaceseat product was phased out and replaced with the Premium Economy product as found on the 777-200ER and the 787-9, with recliner seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. The refit increased the number of premium economy seats from 44 to 54 and the total seats from 332 to 342.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: In July 2018, Air New Zealand dry-leased an EVA Air 777-300ER as temporary cover due to ongoing issues with Air New Zealand's Boeing 787-9 fleet.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Air New Zealand put its 777-300ER fleet into storage. Air New Zealand has confirmed it will only return six 777-300ER aircraft to its fleet, with one stored 777-300ER to be returned to the lessor in 2022. One aircraft, ZK-OKQ, returned to service in February 2022. In May 2022, ZK-OKN, returned to service.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: In 2004 the airline ordered eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners as the launch customer for the 787-9 model, with options on ten more. These were originally intended to be delivered beginning in late 2010, but significant developmental delays in the base 787-8 model pushed delivery of the 787-9 out to mid-2014. In February 2013, Air New Zealand exercised two options to bring the order to ten, and on 8 December 2014 exercised two more to bring the order to twelve. In February 2017, Air New Zealand announced with Air Lease Corporation a long-term lease for one new 787-9. It was scheduled to be delivered during the third quarter of 2018. The last 787-9 was expected to be delivered in late 2018.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: The first aircraft was handed over to Air New Zealand on 8 July 2014 at the Everett plant and arrived in Auckland three days later. The first 787-9 service operated on 9 August 2014, from Auckland to Sydney and return. The first nine 787-9 aircraft delivered are fitted with 18 Business, 21 Premium Economy, 42 Economy Skycouch and 221 standard economy seats, totalling 302 seats. The last five have a higher premium seating configuration, with 27 Business, 33 Premium Economy, 39 Economy Skycouch and 176 standard economy seats, totalling 275 seats.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: Air New Zealand's 787-9 fleet uses the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. Owing to blade cracking in the engines, Air New Zealand in 2018 altered schedules and dry-leased two Boeing 777-200ER from Singapore Airlines and a Boeing 777-300ER from EVA Air. As of June 2019, the airline was still waiting for the issue to be rectified and return the aircraft to service. These events continue to have a financial impact on the airline.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: In June 2017, Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon announced the airline was investigating new aircraft to eventually replace the 777-200ER fleet. Long-list replacement options included the Boeing 777X, the Boeing 787-10, and the Airbus A350 XWB. An RFP for replacement aircraft was issued in August 2018.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: On 27 May 2019, Air New Zealand announced that they would be purchasing eight Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft, with the first aircraft expected to enter service in 2022. The order included twelve options for additional Boeing 787-9 or Boeing 787-10 aircraft. The 787-10 will be fitted with General Electric GEnx engines, in contrast to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to the airline's 787-9 fleet. On 24 September 2019, Air New Zealand officially signed the order for the 787-10.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: On 28 August 2020, Air New Zealand announced that they will likely be replacing their seven Boeing 777-300ERs with six Boeing 787-10s, deliveries starting from 2022, resulting in a large down-gauge in overall international capacity due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. On 18 June 2021, Air New Zealand announced that the airline had renegotiated the date for the delivery of the first of eight new Boeing 787 Dreamliners to 2024.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: On 19 November 2019, subsidiary Air Nelson was dissolved and merged into the main Air New Zealand airline. As a result, Air New Zealand acquired Air Nelson's fleet of 23 Bombardier Q300 turboprop aircraft.


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: In the past, Air New Zealand has flown the following aircraft (not including aircraft solely operated by TEAL and National Airways Corporation, or aircraft operated solely by Air New Zealand Link subsidiaries):


title: Air New Zealand fleet

text: The following was the Air New Zealand fleet on 1 April 1978, the day the merged Air New Zealand and National Airways Corporation began operating.


title: Cai Xukun

text: Cai Xukun (born August 2, 1998), better known by the mononym Kun (stylized as KUN), is a Chinese singer-songwriter, dancer, rapper, and actor. He debuted as a member of SWIN and its sub-unit SWIN-S on October 18, 2016, after participating in the first and second seasons of the Chinese reality show "Super Idol". After leaving the group and its company Yihai Entertainment, he participated in iQiyi's reality survival show Idol Producer, finishing first and debuting as the leader/center of temporary Chinese boy group Nine Percent, on April 6, 2018. He is a cast member of variety show Keep Running.


title: Cai Xukun

text: Most of Kun's solo works are original, including "Wait Wait Wait" and his first EP "1". The EP was a commercial success with every song topping Chinese music charts. "Pull Up", the first track, broke 10 records and peaked at number 1 on four of QQ Music's charts as well as ranking first on Billboard China's V Chart for 8 consecutive weeks. At the time of its release in 2018, "Wait Wait Wait" debuted at number 1 on QQ Music's New Song list and Popular Music list for 10 weeks and won the title of Asia's hottest song for 4 consecutive weeks.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On January 10, 2019, Kun was officially named China's and Jamaica's Goodwill Ambassador and Outstanding Young Leader by the Jamaican Embassy in Shanghai, China. In February, Kun announced his first solo tour, "Kun ONE North America/U.K. Tour 2019", coming in early April 2019. After wrapping up the tour on July 26th, Kun released his second EP titled "Young", which consists of two songs, "Young" and "Blindfolded". Upon release, the EP also did well in domestic music charts selling 110,000 copies in a week, for which he was dubbed "King of Digital Singles" of 2019.


title: Cai Xukun

text: Kun was born on August 2, 1998 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang but partially spent his childhood in Huaihua, Hunan with his grandparents, and later grew up in Shenzhen, Guangdong. During his time in elementary school, he was chosen to be the principal's assistant and student union's president, and partook in various essay writing competitions. Kun was also elected as a candidate for TFBoys, but decided to focus on his academics as his parents thought that he was too young to enter the world of entertainment. After graduating he moved to Shenzhen to complete junior high school at Nashan Experimental High School. Around the age of 16, he studied at Grace Brethren High School in Simi Valley, California, United States.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In April 2012, Kun participated in Hunan TV's variety show "Up Young!" and ended up in the national top 200, which allowed him to enter the stage. In August of that year, Kun began his acting career, playing the role of Du Yu Feng's teenage version (portrayed by Lee Joon-hyuk) in "Half a Fairytale". After that he also played the role of Xixi in Hunan TV's television series "女刑警李春春 (Police Woman Li ChunChun)". In 2014, he played the teenage version of Huo Ke (portrayed by He Jiong) in Lock Me Up, Tie Him Down.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In 2015, Kun returned from the U.S. to participate in South-Korean based reality show "Super Idol". The show was produced by Anhui TV, in partnership with South-Korean broadcast network MBC. During the two seasons of the show, Kun experienced constant pressure and fierce competition from other participants, receiving intensive idol training. After a period of about two years on the show, Kun's performance skills saw an unprecedented improvement, earning him a spot in the Top 3. Upon the end of Season 2, Kun returned to China, where he debuted as a member of Chinese boy group SWIN under Yihai Entertainment Company. As the group had already accumulated a sizable fan base at the time, the debut was highly anticipated by both the members and their fans. However, due to Yihai's mismanagement, the group rarely had performance opportunities and public appearances, which resulted in a dwindling fan base and popularity.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In the beginning of 2017, Kun filed a lawsuit against Yihai Entertainment Company to terminate his contract.


title: Cai Xukun

text: After a period of dormancy from the entertainment industry, Kun decided to join Season 1 of reality survival show "Idol Producer" as an independent trainee at the end of 2017.


title: Cai Xukun

text: Kun performed his self-written and self-composed song "I Wanna Get Love" in the first episode. Despite some controversy, Kun attracted a large fanbase. He quickly rose to fame and became a hot topic for discussion on the survival show. In addition to receiving considerably high votes after each evaluation performance in the show, Kun also earned rank no. 1 multiple times and maintained a high ranking throughout the entire program. He received a total of 47,640,887 votes in the final evaluation, earning him the center position in the final line-up. On April 6, 2018 Kun officially debuted as the leader and center of temporary Chinese boy group Nine Percent.


title: Cai Xukun

text: Soon after the end of "Idol Producer", "I Won't Get Bullied by Girls", a web-drama starring Kun, was released, filmed in 2017. Kun took on his first lead role as Ye Lin, the love interest of Ren Xiaoqin (portrayed by Lu Yangyang). The show is a teen comedy series that features a distinctive wardrobe and draws heavy influence from Japanese manga as a means to achieve comic relief. Owing up to Kun's popularity at the time of the release, the series' viewership reached and set new records almost daily. By May 3, it had reached over 5.75 million views.


title: Cai Xukun

text: From April to May 2018, Kun's first single "I Wanna Get Love" had topped the 'Mainland China C-pop Single Chart' as China's number 1 single for almost three weeks. At the end of May, Kun was voted as one of the most influential celebrities in China. For the three months between May and July, Kun had a full schedule with fan meeting tours across China with Nine Percent. On June 2, Kun and other members of Nine Percent had their first group appearance on the variety show Happy Camp.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In July, Kun set up his own personal studio. On August 2, 2018, his 20th birthday, Kun released the highly anticipated EP "1" for free. His first EP contains three songs, "Pull Up", "You Can Be My Girlfriend", and "It's You". The first track, "Pull Up", became an instant hit and broke 10 records on QQ Music, the largest music streaming platform in China. "Pull Up" was co-written with UK songwriting team Mike Macdermid, David Brant (who is also the producer on the song), Rajiv Bukhory, Fidel Rosales and Ryan Curtis. He also edited the sensational music video for "Pull Up". Kun later released another single, "Wait Wait Wait" on August 23, which quickly rose to the top of multiple music charts. His first stage performance of "Wait Wait Wait" was broadcast on the first episode of "Idol Hits" on September 7.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On October 12, Kun performed "You Can Be My Girlfriend" live for the first time at the "BAZAAR Stars' Charity Night" and donated 600,000 RMB for Bazaar's charitable project. Over the next two days, Kun, partnered with MiGu Music and successfully held his first set of small-scale fan meetings at Chengdu and Shanghai. On the last day of October, Kun delivered his first stage performance of "Pull Up" at the "Ellemen Movie Hero Gala" in Beijing. On November 7, Nine Percent released their first original song, "Rule Breaker", one of the tracks in their album "To the Nines". Kun co-wrote the lyrics of "Rule Breaker" and "Good Things". Rule Breaker was written by some of the same writers as "Pull Up" namely Mike Macdermid, Rajiv Bukhory, David Brant and in addition, USA based producer Kevin Chozen took the helm on production.


title: Cai Xukun

text: At the Twelfth Annual Migu Music Awards, held on December 8, Kun's "Wait Wait Wait" was ranked one of the Top Ten Pop Songs of the Year. This marked the first major award received by Kun for his musical work. On December 28, TC Candler & The Independent Critics released their highly awaited List of The 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2018, taking into account the large pool of public opinion and suggestions, where Kun has been ranked as having the 27th Most Handsome Face in 2018. On December 30, Kun performed "You Can Be My Girlfriend" and "Wait Wait Wait" at the "Zhejiang TV New Year's Eve Concert". On the very next day, he unveiled his first stage performance of "It's You" at the "Dragon TV New Year's Eve Gala" in Shanghai.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On January 10, 2019, Kun was awarded the title of "China and Jamaica's Goodwill Ambassador" by the Jamaican Embassy in Shanghai, China. With this honorable title, Kun called on mutual cultural exchanges between China and Jamaica. He said that he hopes to become a positive role-model for the younger generation. Less than a week later, the official theme song of the movie "", "The Lunar Song" (), was released. This song marks a noteworthy collaboration between Kun and renowned cinematic actor and entertainer, Jackie Chan.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On January 18, the first episode of "Cai Xukun's Unfinished", a documentary series initiated by Weibo, was released. This short video series spans across various themes close to his heart and is expected to run for 12 episodes. The next day, Kun released an artistic music video for "Wait Wait Wait", directed by Dave Meyers. The award-winning director and his international team created a highly cinematic and storytelling music video using a series of symbolic elements, to allude to the message behind the song.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On February 5, the first day of Chinese New Year in 2019, Kun prepared an exclusive stage performance for Beijing TV's Spring Festival Gala by delivering a song he co-wrote with other musicians. "That Spring" () marked the first time he performed a song that was written entirely in Chinese.He later revealed his intention to dedicate the song as an exclusive performance for Beijing TV, and hence he will not be releasing a studio version of it. On the 18th of that month, Kun released his first Chinese single "No Exception" (). The song was a collaboration between two musicians, with composition by Yoga Lin and lyrics written by Kun. A week later on February 26, an animated music video for "No Exception" was released The music video created by a group of artists from South Korean-based publishing and film-making studio, VCRWORKS, employs abstract elements and snippets from Kun's life to recount his story. Attempting to relate his own story with a personal narrative while being aligned to the overall theme of the song, Kun chose a controlled and melodic singing style when delivering this melancholic ballad. "No Exception" once again rose to the number one position on multiple music charts in China, setting an impressive record on music streaming platforms for 2019.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On March 1, Kun officially announced the dates for his first solo tour "KUN ONE North America/U.K. Tour 2019" to bring his music to fans in Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London from April 4 to April 12, 2019. It is worth noting that the tickets for the Los Angeles and New York shows were sold out online within the first few minutes they went on sale. On March 15, Kun released the first of his first DJ mix, "Bigger" on Spotify and was one of the tracks performed at his solo tour in April. The release date for "Bigger" was slated for March 22 in China.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On April 19, Kun released a song titled "Hard to Get". Prior to the song's release, Kun updated his social media accounts with three photos in succession, captioned 'H', 'T' and 'G'. The song was first performed during his first solo tour. The music video of this song was released a bit later than expected, but it was released on May 3 through Kun's new YouTube Channel. The music video for "Hard to Get" has been viewed for over 10 million times on YouTube and 100 million times on his Weibo.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On May 16, Kun attended the opening ceremony of the Asian Film and TV Week. On May 24 and 25, Kun finished the last two shows of his KUN ONE tour in Toronto and Vancouver.


title: Cai Xukun

text: Kun was invited to be a guest judge for the 11th episode of the "World's Got Talent," filmed in Hunan, China. He also delivered a special performance with a mix of "It's You" and "Hard to Get". The episode was broadcast on June 28 and immediately became a Hot Topic on Weibo. For the first time in its history, the program was the Most Discussed Variety Show of the day.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On July 26, Kun released EP "Young", which became a huge hit on charts. The music video was filmed in multiple locations around the world including Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei, Beijing and LA. Kun actively took part in the creation process including production, creating ideas for the music video, editing the music video, helping out with the choreography and designing the cover of the EP. Upon release, the song immediately rose up high on charts and currently sold over 63 million copies, which holds the record of the highest digital albums copies sold in 2019. In just 1 minute and 21 seconds the EP achieved 9 of QQ Music's awards and caused the creation of two more certifications. Altogether the EP earned more than 20 million yuan.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On October 31, Kun performed his newest single "Rebirth" (重生) for 2019's Fresh Asia Music Awards and released it on November 15. It was officially re-released in January 2020 as a collaboration with the renowned American producer and DJ Kshmr, this was a breakthrough for Kun as this is the first time he's ever collaborated with a foreign artist on a single. The song expresses Kun's desire to break through his shell and show a fearless side to him. The arrangement creates a sense of emptiness and the mysterious EDM elements are combined with the his bursting attitude. The lyrics were written by Kun himself which makes the song personal to him and describes another step in his journey.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In the beginning of January 2020, it was announced that Kun would be the Youth Representative of iQiyi's Youth with You Season 2. It is the third season of Chinese survival show Idol Producer, which created Kun's former group Nine Percent from the first season and UNINE from its second season. He was on the show as a mentor alongside Lisa of Blackpink, Ella Chen and Jony J.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In March 2020, Kun and actress Tong Liya released a song titled "The Mountains and Rivers Are on My Chest" (山河无恙在我胸) to help boost the morale of those fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. In April he joined the cast of "Keep Running" alongside Lucas of WayV/NCT and Yuqi of (G)I-dle.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In April, Kun released the single "Home", a song written to help support those who are under lock-down during the COVID-19 Pandemic. After its release, #蔡徐坤新歌# quickly appeared on Weibo, Douyin, QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music, Xiami Music and many other popular search lists. The discussion topics have soared and reached the peak popularity list in 20 minutes.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On May 24, Kun released his newest single "Lover", a day after its release "Lover" ranked first on QQ Music's charts. "Lover" was first released to the public on the Chinese survival show Youth with You Season 2 as a collaboration between Kun and the trainees on the show, this version ranked second on QQ Music's charts. Kun co-wrote the song with Ding Yanxue and was composed with the help of Max Ulver, Andreas Ringblom, and Daniel Schulz. In addition, he also co-produced the song with Korean YG producer Choice37. "Lover" was the most downloaded collaboration stage song of the competition with more than 100,000 downloads after its release. Due to its success, the hashtag #情人舞挑战# has been used over 400 million times on Chinese social platforms including Weibo and Douyin, the studio version of the single (without the trainees) has been listened to over 30 million times with 1 million daily listeners.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On April 6, 2021, Kun announced on both Weibo and Instagram that his new album would be available soon and released the names of the first 3 tracks of the album as well as the intro: #0000FF on April 9, 2021. The album has exceeded 1 million reservations after 2 hours of release on QQ Music, become the fastest artist to do so in 2021.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On December 16, 2021, Madam Tussauds in Hong Kong revealed Kun's first ever wax figure. The figure wears the outfit Kun wore at World's Got Talent 2019 and joins the attraction's 'Fashion Zone'.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In 2018, Kun was chosen to be the brand ambassador for the skin care line by Yoseido, the parent company of Nongfu Spring. He was also named the promotional representative for L'Oréal Paris and a model for the smartphone technological giant Vivo. On October 19, 2018, Aussie of P&G named Kun as their global spokesperson.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On January 1, 2019, Levi's announced that Kun became their brand ambassador. On May 31, Prada named Kun as its China ambassador, making him the first Chinese spokesperson for the brand and a face of its Fall/Winter 2019 advertising campaign. Kun also attended Prada's Menswear Spring 2020 Fashion Show, which was held in Shanghai for the first time. In June, Vivo announced Kun as the brand face for its new S1 mobile series.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In 2020 Kun became the brand ambassador for multiple brands including Kosé, Givenchy Beauty as well as domestic brands such as Proya. Kun has also become the new spokesperson for FILA, an Italian sportswear company, and attended the brand's press conference in Shanghai on July 10, 2020.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In 2021, British fragrance brand Jo Malone appointed Kun as their brand ambassador, along with hair brand Schwarzkopf and other domestic brands.


title: Cai Xukun

text: Kun cites his influences to include Stevie Wonder and Lana Del Rey. "I really like the soul and jazz vibe that takes people on an emotional journey in music," he said. This is clearly expressed in his first English track: the pop, electronic, soul mix "Wait Wait Wait," released in August.


title: Cai Xukun

text: Kun has composed and produced most of his solo works by himself, including "I Wanna Get Love""," his EP "1" and "Wait Wait Wait""." He also co-wrote lyrics of "Rule Breaker" and "Good Things", two tracks from Nine Percent's album "To the Nines". He's said to have very diverse music styles, ranging from Future R&B, Urban R&B, Hip-hop, Pop, Dance to Electronic Soul.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In August 2018, Kun donated 32,000 RMB to a private non-profit autism rehabilitation facility for children older than 6 years old. On October 13, 2018, Kun performed at the BAZAAR Stars' Charity Night and donated 600,000 RMB without making it known to the public. Unfortunately, his donation invited massive criticism from haters before a list of donors was published. The raised funds were intended to be for costs of building facilities to allow students in rural areas to pursue different extracurricular activities, such as learning music.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In addition, Kun often uses his Weibo account with over 33 million followers as a platform to encourage his fans to participate in and do their part for good causes, such as making donations to support the fight against leukemia.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On November 29, 2018, Kun paired up with a traditional musician from the Yi ethnic group in Sichuan and filmed a short program for the "Tracing the Influence of Music" project organized by MiGu Music. The idea of the project was to raise awareness, preserve distinctive music cultures and instruments from ancient China.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In December 2018, Kun joined the Star Lights "Battle Against Poverty" project, a charity movement initiated by Jackie Chan, which has garnered the support of many A-list Chinese celebrities. Along with a crew of cameramen from Chinese television channel CCTV-6, Kun visited a poverty-stricken area on Hainan Island to film his efforts as part of the Star Lights "Battle Against Poverty" project. Through a live broadcast, Kun introduced local specialities and agricultural products to viewers across the country, hoping to boost tourism and increase the sales of local products, one of which was the salted duck egg. With Kun's popularity and positive influence, fans rushed to purchase these mentioned duck eggs, which led to all 80,000 eggs being sold out within a minute. "Cai Xukun's fans, please give the ducks some time" immediately became a trending topic on Weibo.


title: Cai Xukun

text: With Kun's advocacy for philanthropy, his fans have made significant contribution to different charity causes, including donations for purchasing school supplies and building a new road in rural villages. By the end of 2018, the total of charitable donations made by individual fans and fan clubs was approximately 5,000,000 RMB.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On May 12, 2019, Kun was named the Goodwill Ambassador of China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation. He pledged to promote the social awareness for disaster prevention programs. On June 16, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art announced that Kun would be its Arts and Philanthropy Ambassador, promoting educational programs for underserved children. On June 17, an earthquake measuring 5.8 MW struck the province of Sichuan in China, killing 13 people and injuring over 200 others.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On June 20, Kun donated 100,000 RMB to support post-earthquake relief efforts and added another 30,000 RMB worth of books and school supplies for Gaoshankao Primary School.


title: Cai Xukun

text: Kun launched a charity fund to support impoverished children in Chinese remote areas on October 17, 2019. He donated over 600,000 RMB and stated that he will continue to donate 3 million RMB in the next three years, which will mainly be used to sponsor primary school choirs in these areas and will also provide support to other activities of other charities as part of the foundation's Spring Bud Plan implementation.


title: Cai Xukun

text: It was revealed that Kun donated 600,000 RMB on January 26, 2020 as support for medical purposes for those who were infected by the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. With Kun's constant dedication towards charity, his fan clubs also raised a fund, which reached more than 500,000 RMB and was donated to the same cause.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On February 10, 2017, Kun filed a lawsuit against his then-company, Shanghai Yihai Entertainment, for poor treatment and the right to terminate his contract. Yihai was allegedly in arrears and members of SWIN were said to have to pay for all expenses of their activities, including but not limited to, their albums and fan meetings without being reimbursed. Furthermore, Yihai demanded that each member sign a Debt Acknowledgment Letter for 1.1 million RMB (approximately US$165,000) to share the production costs for Season 2 of "Super Idol". In addition, the boys had to sign an Amendment to their original contract within an hour of notice. This new document not only severely shrank the share of the artists' pay, but also extended the term of their contracts.


title: Cai Xukun

text: Soon after the broadcast of "Idol Producer", Yihai filed another case in March 2018, to countersue Kun for the breach of contract, asking that he pay the company 1.1 million RMB for liquidated damages and compensation for their losses. Meanwhile, Yihai demanded for Kun to continue to abide by the terms in the contract, allowing the former to be entitled to 70% of the income Kun earns from dramas, endorsements and variety shows.


title: Cai Xukun

text: In October 2018, the Court of First Instance rendered a decision favoring Kun, prompting Yihai Entertainment to submit an appeal. In January 2019, a second trial was held. The court did not announce the verdict until February, with the final ruling issued on February 19, 2019. iQiyi released an exclusive report stating that the two-year dispute between Kun and Yihai has finally been settled, with Kun winning the case, hence being free from his contract.


title: Cai Xukun

text: On January 18, 2019, the NBA announced that Kun would be its first Chinese New Year greeting ambassador and released a holiday commercial featuring Kun as a basketball fan alongside three NBA star players. This led to subsequent rumors including a false claim that Kun was appointed an Ambassador of NBA, which some considered to be an insult to the sport. Parody videos based on an earlier dance and basketball clip from Kun's time in "Idol Producer" were circulated in response to said rumors; some included gore and violence. As many such videos were hosted on the Chinese video website Bilibili, Kun's Studio subsequently issued a legal notice to Bilibili to facilitate the possibility of legal recourse against the creators of videos, arguing that they amounted to harassment, defamation and/or an infringement of Kun's rights.The legal threat, however, resulted in an escalation of the controversy; "to issue a legal notice" quickly became a popular Internet meme, even amongst those who were otherwise unfamiliar with Kun. Kun's fans experienced harassment both on and offline, to the point where Kun and his fans are sometimes used as an example of victims of cyberbullying.


title: Betty Ford Center

text: The Betty Ford Center (BFC) is a non-profit, residential treatment center for persons with substance dependence in Rancho Mirage, California. It offers inpatient, outpatient, and residential day treatment for alcohol and other drug addictions, as well as prevention and education programs for family and children. The Betty Ford Center, which is adjacent to Eisenhower Medical Center but is under a separate license to practice, has 100 inpatient beds available on their campus and additional lodging for 84 clients in the Residential Day Treatment program. The Betty Ford Center opened on October 4, 1982.


title: Betty Ford Center

text: The center was co-founded by former U.S. First Lady Betty Ford, Leonard Firestone and Dr. James West in 1982. West also served as the Betty Ford Center's first medical director from 1982 until 1989. He left that position to become the Betty Ford Center's director of outpatient services.


title: Betty Ford Center

text: Betty Ford's decision to undertake such a project followed on the heels of her own battle with alcohol dependence and diazepam addiction after the Fords left the White House, and her release from the Long Beach Naval Hospital.


title: Betty Ford Center

text: The Betty Ford Center merged with Hazelden Foundation on February 10, 2014, to create the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: The 2007 Formula One espionage controversy, also known as Spygate and Stepneygate, was a set of accusations among Formula One racing teams that confidential technical information had been passed between them. It involved the McLaren, Ferrari and Renault F1 teams.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: The original case involved allegations made by the Ferrari Formula One team against a former employee (Nigel Stepney), a senior McLaren engineer, Mike Coughlan, and his wife Trudy Coughlan concerning the theft of technical information. These allegations were the subject of legal action in Italy and an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) investigation. A High Court case in England was dropped after Ferrari reached an agreement with the Coughlans.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: An FIA hearing into the matter took place on 26 July 2007 but did not result in any penalty for McLaren. However, a second hearing took place on 13 September 2007, and by then, compelling evidence resulted in several penalties for the team. The most important of these were the team's exclusion from the Constructors' Championship and a record-breaking fine of $100 million. As of 2022, this remains the largest fine in sporting history. Following information from McLaren, allegations were subsequently made during November 2007 by the FIA against the Renault F1 team regarding information they were found to have in their possession concerning the 2006 and 2007 McLaren F1 cars. These allegations were also the subject of an FIA investigation, with a hearing taking place on 6 December 2007.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: Along with Michael Schumacher, Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, and Rory Byrne, Nigel Stepney was part of the "dream team" credited with the change of fortunes of Ferrari in the late 1990s.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: In February 2007, Stepney made public comments regarding his "unhappiness" following the team's reorganization which had resulted from Ross Brawn's departure:


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: Later that month, Ferrari announced another change in the team structure which saw Stepney appointed as head of Team Performance Development: "After many years spent working on the Formula One circuits, the last 13 of those as part of the Ferrari Race Team, Nigel Stepney, with the approval of the company, has chosen to take on a different role that will see him no longer have to attend the races."


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: In the week beginning 17 June 2007, at the 2007 United States Grand Prix Ferrari filed a formal complaint against Stepney, leading to the commencement of a criminal investigation by the Modena district attorney in Italy.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 3 July 2007, "Gazzetta dello Sport" reported that Ferrari had completed its internal investigation and had dismissed Stepney as a result. At the same time, Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni told ITV Sport that Ferrari’s action against Stepney related to "irregularities discovered at the Ferrari factory prior to the Monaco Grand Prix".


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On the day Ferrari announced Stepney’s dismissal, the team also announced it had taken action against "an engineer from the Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes team", later named as Mike Coughlan. Coughlan was suspended by McLaren as a result.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: The search warrant is understood to have been related to Coughlan's home and the "positive outcome" is reported to be documents claimed to have originated at Ferrari's Maranello factory. Stepney's dismissal from Ferrari had been announced earlier the same day.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 10 July 2007 a High Court hearing was opened and adjourned until the following day, to allow Mike Coughlan to submit an affidavit. However, details released include the fact that Mike Coughlan is alleged by Ferrari to be in possession of 780 pages of Ferrari documentation, and that his wife is alleged to have taken them to a photocopying shop near Woking. Ferrari were unaware that their technical information had been stolen until they received a tip from an employee in the photocopying shop. The staff member saw that the documents were confidential and belonged to Ferrari and, after copying them, decided to contact the team’s headquarters in Italy.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: Coughlan did not submit the affidavit because of the possibility of it being used against him in an Italian court case. However, late on 10 July 2007, Ferrari reached an agreement with Mr. and Mrs. Coughlan under which Ferrari dropped its High Court case in return for their full disclosure of all they know about the case and a promise of future cooperation.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 16 July 2007, McLaren announced that its own internal investigation had revealed that "no Ferrari materials or data are or have ever been in the possession of any McLaren employee other than the individual sued by Ferrari. The fact that he held at his home unsolicited materials from Ferrari was not known to any other member of the team prior to July 3."


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 8 November 2007, the FIA announced that the Renault F1 team would be summoned before the FIA World Motorsport Council to answer a charge of possession of confidential information relating to the 2006 and 2007 McLaren Formula One cars. The statement issued by the FIA states that Renault F1 was found to have information "including, but not limited to the layout and critical dimensions of the McLaren F1 car, together with details of the McLaren fuelling system, gear assembly, oil cooling system, hydraulic control system and a novel suspension component used by the 2006 and 2007 McLaren F1 cars". The date for the hearing was set for 6 December 2007. The espionage claims are thought to revolve around an employee, Philip Mackereth, who transferred from McLaren to Renault taking the information with him when he switched teams, according to FIA President Max Mosley.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 4 July 2007, McLaren announced it had conducted an investigation and concluded that "no Ferrari intellectual property has been passed to any other members of the team or incorporated into [our] cars." The team also invited the FIA to inspect its cars to confirm these facts; "In order to address some of the speculation McLaren has invited the FIA to conduct a full review of its cars to satisfy itself that the team has not benefited from any intellectual property of another competitor." Since the revelation of Coughlan's involvement in the affair, McLaren provided a full set of drawings and development documents to the FIA, detailing all updates made to the team's chassis since the incident occurred at the end of April.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 12 July 2007, the FIA announced that it had summoned McLaren to an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council to answer charges that they had breached Article 151C of the International Sporting Code. At the hearing on 26 July 2007, FIA found that Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes was in possession of confidential Ferrari information and is therefore in breach of the Code, but with no evidence that they had used the information no punishment was levied. However, the FIA reserved the right to reconvene on the matter if any such evidence subsequently came to light.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: Ferrari labelled the decision "incomprehensible"; "Autosport" judged the team to be "furious". McLaren said "[a] unanimous decision has been taken by the FIA which in McLaren's opinion is very balanced and fair." The matter was referred to the FIA International Court of Appeal, with the hearing scheduled for 13 September 2007.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 1 August 2007, Ron Dennis, in an open letter to the president of the Italian motorsport authority Luigi Macaluso, accused Ferrari of giving a false and dishonest version of events and further that the car used to win the 2007 Australian Grand Prix was illegal. McLaren learned of the "illegal" floor device from Nigel Stepney, with the team describing this contact as whistle-blowing. However the team insists that following this incident, Jonathan Neale instructed Coughlan to cease contact with Stepney. McLaren accuse Ferrari of trying to blur this "whistle-blowing" of which McLaren was aware, with Coughlan's possession of the 780 page Ferrari dossier of which it insists it was not aware.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: The 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix was a controversial weekend for McLaren; Lewis Hamilton had disobeyed a team instruction, disadvantaging Fernando Alonso, and so Alonso held Hamilton up in the pit lane during qualifying, denying Hamilton a chance to record a final lap time. In the following discord within the team, TV pictures showed Ron Dennis angrily throwing his headphones down as Alonso pulled out of the pits, and after the session was over he was then shown having a serious conversation with Alonso's trainer. On the morning of the race (August 5), Alonso met Ron Dennis in his motorhome and allegedly threatened to send his email exchanges with McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa and Coughlan to the FIA. According to Max Mosley, Ron Dennis informed him of the conversation and told Mosley that the threat was an empty one, "There's no information, there's nothing to come out; I can assure you that if there was something, Max, I would have told you." Mosley subsequently retracted the implication that Dennis had lied.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 5 September 2007, the FIA announced that it had received new evidence regarding the case, and would re-open the investigation on September 13. This replaced the planned appeal hearing. It later transpired that the new evidence was the driver's emails that were sent to Bernie Ecclestone, F1's commercial rights holder who then informed the FIA.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: The FIA requested the three McLaren drivers (Alonso, Hamilton, and de la Rosa) to provide relevant evidence and help the FIA in further investigation. In return, the FIA offered assurance that any information made available would not result in any proceeding against the driver personally under the International Sporting Code or the Formula One Regulations. However, the drivers were notified that if it later came to light that they had withheld any potentially relevant information, serious consequences could follow.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 11 September, McLaren approached the FIA with questions about the Renault F1 team, and possibly other (then unknown) teams as well. At the time, it was unknown if the meeting related directly to the espionage scandal, but a key McLaren argument made was that if McLaren was guilty, other teams were as well.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 13 September, the FIA hearing imposed a penalty for illicitly collecting and holding information from Ferrari to confer a dishonest and fraudulent sporting advantage upon McLaren. The penalty consisted of exclusion from and withdrawal of all points awarded to McLaren in all rounds of the 2007 Constructors' Championship, a record fine of $100 million (less the TV and travel income lost as a result of the points deduction), and the obligation for the team to submit its chassis for scrutiny. However, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton's points were not affected, and the two were free to contest the Drivers' Championship, because McLaren's drivers were offered immunity in exchange for cooperation. The team was not banned and all drivers points earned only counted towards the driver's championship points. Whenever a McLaren driver won any of the remaining races (the only example being Hamilton at the Japanese Grand Prix), no McLaren representative other than a driver was allowed onto the podium.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 14 September, Ron Dennis announced that he was the one who alerted the FIA that further evidence existed.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 15 September, Max Mosley contested Ron Dennis' claim that he alerted the FIA to the existence of further evidence, claiming that Dennis actually alerted him that Alonso had decided to send the emails in himself, and that Mosley had been erroneously assured by Dennis that the emails contained nothing incriminating.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 6 December, Renault were found guilty of breaching article 151(c) of the International Sporting Code by another FIA WMSC hearing, but escaped penalty.


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 13 December, McLaren issued a press release detailing a letter sent by Martin Whitmarsh, COO of the team, to the FIA. In the letter, Whitmarsh stated that the team accepted that "a number of McLaren employees" had access to Ferrari technical information, and apologised that it took the intervention of the FIA for this to come to light. The team also offered to "enter into discussion... as to a moratorium of an appropriate length in respect of the use" of the systems. On the same day, the FIA issued a press release stating that the FIA president would ask the members of the World Council "for their consent to cancel the hearing scheduled for 14 February 2008 and, in the interests of the sport, to consider this matter closed."


title: 2007 Formula One espionage controversy

text: On 23 February 2009, legal proceedings against McLaren employees in Italy were dropped. In return, Mike Coughlan had to pay €180,000 while three employees of McLaren (Paddy Lowe, Jonathan Neale and Rob Taylor) had to pay €150,000.


title: Masoom (1983 film)

text: Masoom () is the directorial debut of Shekhar Kapur. It is an adaptation of the 1980 novel "Man, Woman and Child" by Erich Segal which was also adapted into a Malayalam movie "Olangal" and an American movie "Man, Woman and Child". The film stars Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi in lead roles along with Tanuja, Supriya Pathak and Saeed Jaffrey. It features Jugal Hansraj, Aradhana and Urmila Matondkar as child actors. The screenplay, dialogues and lyrics are by Gulzar with music by R.D. Burman. The film has been remade into a Telugu movie named "Illalu Priyuralu" and in Turkish as "Bir Akşam Üstü".


title: Masoom (1983 film)

text: Indu and DK have a happy marriage and two daughters — Pinky and Minni — and live in Delhi. The tranquility of their life is interrupted when DK receives word that he has a son, Rahul, the result of an affair with Bhavana during his 1973 visit to Nainital when his wife Indu was about to give birth to their first child Pinky. Bhavana did not tell DK about their son as she did not want to disturb DK's matrimonial life. Now that she has died, her guardian Masterji sends word to DK informing him that his son, Rahul, who is nine years old, needs a home. Despite the objections of Indu, who is devastated to learn of her husband's infidelity, DK brings the boy to stay with them in Delhi. Rahul is never told that DK is his father as he bonds with DK and his daughters. But Indu can't bear to look at him, a tangible reminder of DK's betrayal.


title: Masoom (1983 film)

text: DK, worried by the effect Rahul is having on his family, decides to put him in a boarding school in St. Joseph's College, Nainital; Rahul accepts with reluctance. After gaining admission at the school and returning to Delhi before his permanent move to Nainital, Rahul figures out that DK is his father and runs away from home. After he is escorted home by a police officer, Rahul confesses his awareness of the identity of his father to Indu. Indu is unable to bear his heartbreak and intercepts Rahul before he is put on the train to Nainital, thereby accepting him into the family and wholeheartedly forgiving DK, after which they drive home happily.


title: Masoom (1983 film)

text: The music of the movie was composed by R. D. Burman and the lyrics were penned by the noted lyricist Gulzar who also wrote the screenplay for the film. Burman won the Filmfare Award for Best Music for this film.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: A Soldier's Story is a 1984 American mystery drama film directed and produced by Norman Jewison, adapted by Charles Fuller from his Pulitzer Prize-winning "A Soldier's Play", an adaptation of Herman Melville's novella "Billy Budd". It is a story about racism in a segregated regiment of the U.S Army commanded by White officers and training in the Jim Crow South, in a time and place where a Black officer is unprecedented and bitterly resented by nearly everyone, and follows a Black JAG officer sent to investigate the murder of a Black sergeant in Louisiana near the end of World War II.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: The cast, composed primarily of Black actors, is led by Howard E. Rollins Jr. and Adolph Caesar (whose performance was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar). Other actors include Art Evans, David Alan Grier, Larry Riley, David Harris, Robert Townsend, and Patti LaBelle. Denzel Washington, still at the beginning of his career, appears in a supporting role. Several actors reprise their roles from the stage version.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: The film was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. It won the New York Drama Critics Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Theater Club Award, and three "Village Voice" Obie Awards. It won the Golden Prize at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival. It was also nominated for three Academy Awards: for Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Adolph Caesar), and Screenplay Adaptation (Fuller).


title: A Soldier's Story

text: In 1944 during World War II, Vernon Waters, a master sergeant in a company of Black soldiers, is shot to death with a .45 caliber pistol outside Fort Neal, a segregated Army base in Louisiana. Captain Richard Davenport, a Black officer from the Judge Advocate General's Corps, is sent to investigate, against the wishes of commanding officer Colonel Nivens. Most assume Waters was killed by the local Ku Klux Klan, but others are doubtful.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: Nivens gives Davenport three days to conduct his investigation. Even Captain Taylor, the only White officer in favor of a full investigation, is uncooperative and patronizing, fearing a Black officer will have little success. While some Black soldiers are proud to see one of their own wearing captain's bars, others are distrustful and evasive.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: Davenport learns that Waters' company was officially part of the 221st Chemical Smoke Generator Battalion. Though eager to serve their country, they are assigned menial jobs in deference to their white counterparts. Most are former players from the Negro baseball league, grouped as a unit to play ball with Waters as manager. Their success against white soldiers gives them a good deal of popularity, with talk of an exhibition game against the New York Yankees.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: James Wilkie, a fellow sergeant Waters demoted for being drunk on duty, initially describes Waters as a strict disciplinarian, but also a fair, good-natured NCO who got on well with the men, especially the jovial and well-liked C.J. Memphis. Davenport uncovers Waters' true tyrannical nature and his disgust with fellow Black soldiers, particularly those from the rural South.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: Private Peterson reveals he stood up to Waters when he berated the men after a winning game. Waters challenged Peterson to a fight and beat him badly. Interviewing other soldiers, Davenport learns that Waters charged C.J. with the murder of a white MP, after a search conducted by Wilkie turned up a recently discharged pistol under C.J.'s bunk. Waters provoked C.J. into striking him, whereupon the weapons charge was dismissed and C.J. was charged with striking a superior officer.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: When C.J.'s best friend Corporal Cobb visits him in jail, C.J. is suffering from intense claustrophobia and tells Cobb of a visit from Waters, who admitted it was a set-up Waters had done to others. Davenport learns from Cobb that C.J., awaiting trial, hanged himself. In protest, the platoon deliberately lost the season's last game, and Waters was shaken by the suicide. Taylor disbanded the team, and the players were assigned to the 221st.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: Davenport learns that white officers Captain Wilcox and Lieutenant Byrd had an altercation with Waters shortly before his death. Both officers admit to assaulting Waters when he confronted them in a drunken tirade, but deny killing him as they had not been issued .45 ammunition. Though Taylor is convinced Wilcox and Byrd are lying, Davenport releases them.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: Privates Peterson and Smalls go AWOL, and Davenport forces Wilkie to admit he planted the gun under C.J.'s bunk on Waters' orders. Waters had divulged his internalized racism to Wilkie, revealing that during World War I, he helped lynch a Black soldier who acted as an Uncle Tom to French civilians. Davenport asks why Waters did not target Peterson because of their fight, and Wilkie explains that Waters liked and respected Peterson, because Peterson stood up for himself. Davenport has Wilkie arrested just as an impromptu celebration begins, as the platoon is to be shipped out to join the fight overseas.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: Realizing Peterson and Smalls were on guard duty the night of Waters' murder, and thus had been issued .45 ammunition for their pistols, Davenport interrogates Smalls, found by the MPs. Smalls confesses Peterson killed Sergeant Waters, as revenge for C.J.'s death. Captured and brought to the interrogation room, Peterson confesses to the murder, saying "I didn't kill much. Some things need getting rid of”, to which Davenport retorts “Who gave the right to judge who is fit to be a Negro?”


title: A Soldier's Story

text: Taylor congratulates Davenport, admitting that he will have to get used to Negroes being in charge. Davenport assures Taylor that he will get used to it – "You can bet your ass on that," he adds, as the platoon marches in preparation for their deployment to the European theatre.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: Jewison and many of the cast members worked for scale or less under a tight budget with Columbia Pictures. "No one really wanted to make this movie... a black story, it was based on World War II, and those themes were not popular at the box office", according to Jewison. Warner Bros. turned it down, as did Universal and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Columbia's Frank Price read the screenplay and was deeply interested, but the studio was hesitant about its commercial value, so Jewison offered to do the film for a $5 million budget and no salary. When the Directors Guild of America insisted he must have a fee, he agreed to take the lowest possible amount. The film ended up grossing $22.1 million.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: Howard E. Rollins, Jr. had just received an Oscar nomination for his role in "Ragtime" and was cast as the lead. Most of the cast came from Broadway careers, but only Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington, Larry Riley and William Allen Young appeared in both the movie and the original off-Broadway play with the Negro Ensemble Company in the New York City version.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: "A Soldier's Story" was shot entirely in Arkansas. The "Tynin" exterior scenes were shot in three days in Clarendon. The baseball sequence was filmed in Little Rock at the historic Lamar Porter Field.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: Bill Clinton (then Governor of Arkansas) dropped by during the shooting. He became very enthused about the project and later helped by providing the Arkansas Army National Guard in full regalia for a grand scene, since Jewison could not afford to pay an army of extras. Production was completed with their help at Fort Chaffee United States Army Ready Reserve base at Fort Smith.


title: A Soldier's Story

text: The film holds a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from a sample of 20 critics. The site's consensus reads, "A meticulously crafted murder mystery with incisive observations about race in America, "A Soldier's Story" benefits from a roundly excellent ensemble and Charles Fuller's politically urgent screenplay".


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: The Battle of Cambrai (Battle of Cambrai, 1917, First Battle of Cambrai and Schlacht von Cambrai) was a British attack in the First World War, followed by the biggest German counter-attack against the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) since 1914. The town of Cambrai, in the département of Nord, in France, was an important supply centre for the German (known to the British as the Hindenburg Line) and capture of the town and the nearby Bourlon Ridge would threaten the rear of the German line to the north. Major General Henry Tudor, Commander, Royal Artillery (CRA), of the 9th (Scottish) Division, advocated the use of new artillery-infantry tactics on his sector of the front. During preparations, J. F. C. Fuller, a staff officer with the Tank Corps, looked for places to use tanks for raids. General Julian Byng, commander of the Third Army, decided to combine both plans. The French and British armies had used tanks en masse earlier in 1917, although to considerably less effect.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: After a big British success on the first day, mechanical unreliability, German artillery and infantry defences exposed the frailties of the Mark IV tank. On the second day, only about half of the tanks were operational and British progress was limited. In the "History of the Great War", the British official historian Wilfrid Miles and modern scholars do not place exclusive credit for the first day on tanks but discuss the concurrent evolution of artillery, infantry and tank methods. Numerous developments since 1915 matured at Cambrai, such as predicted artillery fire, sound ranging, infantry infiltration tactics, infantry-tank co-ordination and close air support. The techniques of industrial warfare continued to develop and played a vital part during the Hundred Days Offensive in 1918, along with replacement of the Mark IV tank with improved types. The rapid reinforcement and defence of Bourlon Ridge by the Germans, as well as their counter-attack, were also notable achievements, which gave the Germans hope that an offensive strategy could end the war before American mobilisation became overwhelming.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: Proposals for an operation in the Cambrai area using a large number of tanks originated from Brigadier Hugh Elles of the Tank Corps, and the reliance on the secret transfer of artillery reinforcements to be "silently registered" to gain surprise came from Henry Hugh Tudor, commander of the 9th (Scottish) infantry division artillery. In August 1917, Tudor conceived the idea of a surprise attack in the IV Corps sector, he suggested a primarily artillery-infantry attack, which would be supported by a small number of tanks, to secure a breakthrough of the German Hindenburg Line. The German defences were formidable; Cambrai having been a quiet stretch of front thus far enabled the Germans to fortify their lines in depth and the British were aware of this. Tudor's plan sought to test new methods in combined arms, with emphasis on combined artillery and infantry techniques and see how effective they were against strong German fortifications. Tudor advocated using the new sound ranging and silent registration of guns to achieve instant suppression fire and surprise. He also wanted to use tanks to clear paths through the deep barbed wire obstacles in front of German positions, while supporting the tank force with the No. 106 Fuze, designed to explode high explosive (HE) ammunition without cratering the ground to supplement the armour.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: Two weeks before the start of the battle, the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) began to train its pilots in ground-attack tactics. Before the ground offensive, the RFC was assigned sets of targets to attack, including trenches, supply points and enemy airfields.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: The battle began at dawn, approximately 06:30 on 20 November, with a predicted bombardment by on German defences, followed by smoke and a creeping barrage at ahead to cover the first advances. Despite efforts to preserve secrecy, the Germans had received sufficient intelligence to be on moderate alert: an attack on Havrincourt was anticipated, as was the use of tanks. The attacking force was six infantry divisions of the III Corps (Lieutenant-General Pulteney) on the right and IV Corps (Lieutenant-General Charles Woollcombe) on the left, supported by nine battalions of the Tank Corps with about In reserve was one infantry division in IV Corps and the three divisions of the Cavalry Corps (Lieutenant-General Charles Kavanagh). Initially, there was considerable success in most areas and it seemed as if a great victory was within reach; the Hindenburg Line had been penetrated with advances of up to . On the right, the 12th (Eastern) Division advanced as far as Lateau Wood before being ordered to dig in. The 20th (Light) Division forced a way through La Vacquerie and then advanced to capture a bridge across the Canal de Saint-Quentin at Masnières. The bridge collapsed under the weight of a tank halting the hopes for an advance across the canal. In the centre the 6th Division captured Ribécourt and Marcoing but when the cavalry passed through late, they were repulsed from Noyelles.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: On the IV Corps front, the 51st (Highland) Division (Major-General George Harper) was held at Flesquières, its first objective, which left the attacking divisions on each flank exposed to enfilade fire. Harper had used a local variation of the tank drill instead of the standard one laid down by the Tank Corps. Flesquières was one of the most fortified points in the German line and was flanked by other strong points. Its defenders under Major Krebs acquitted themselves well against the tanks, almost forty being knocked out by the artillery in the vicinity. The common explanation of the "mythical" German officer ignored the fact that the British tanks were opposed by a specialist anti-tank unit benefiting from the experience against French tanks in the Nivelle Offensive. The Germans abandoned Flesquières during the night.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: To the west of Flesquières, the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division swept all the way through Havrincourt and Graincourt to within reach of the woods on Bourlon Ridge and on the British left, the 36th Division reached the Bapaume–Cambrai road. Of the tanks, 180 were out of action after the first day, although only been destroyed. Of the other casualties, 71 had suffered mechanical failure and 43 had ditched. The British lost and took a casualty rate half that of the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) and a greater advance in six hours than in three months at Flanders but the British had failed to reach Bourlon Ridge. The German command was quick to send reinforcements and was relieved that the British did not manage fully to exploit their early gains. When the battle was renewed on 21 November, the pace of the British advance was greatly slowed. Flesquières, that had been abandoned and Cantaing were captured in the very early morning but in general the British took to consolidating their gains rather than expanding. The attacks by III Corps were terminated and attention was turned to IV Corps.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: The effort was aimed at Bourlon Ridge. Fighting was fierce around Bourlon and at Anneux (just before the woods) was costly. German counter-attacks squeezed the British out of Moeuvres on 21 November and Fontaine on 22 November; when Anneux was taken, the 62nd Division found themselves unable to enter Bourlon Wood. The British were left exposed in a salient. Haig still wanted Bourlon Ridge and the exhausted 62nd Division was replaced by the 40th Division (Major-General John Ponsonby) on 23 November. Supported by almost and , the 40th Division attacked into the woods of Bourlon Ridge on the morning of 23 November and made little progress. The Germans had put two divisions of on the ridge with another two in reserve and was reinforced.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: The 40th Division attack reached the crest of the ridge but were held there and suffered more than in three days. More British troops were pushed in to move beyond the woods but the British reserves were rapidly depleted and more German reinforcements were arriving. The final British effort was on 27 November by the 62nd Division aided by Early success was soon reversed by a German counter-attack. The British now held a salient roughly with its front along the crest of the ridge. On 28 November, the offensive was stopped and the British troops were ordered to lay wire and dig in. The Germans were quick to concentrate their artillery on the new British positions. On 28 November, more than were fired into the wood.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: As the British took the ridge, German reinforcements began to arrive. By 23 November, the German command felt that a British breakthrough had been prevented and began to consider a counter-stroke and twenty divisions were assembled in the Cambrai area. The Germans planned to retake the Bourlon salient and also to attack around Havrincourt, with diversionary attacks to hold IV Corps; it was hoped to at least reach the old positions on the Hindenburg Line. The Germans intended to employ the new tactics of a short, intense period of shelling followed by a rapid assault using "Hutier" infiltration tactics, leading elements attacking in groups rather than waves and bypassing strong opposition. Three divisions of ( Otto von Moser) were to conduct the initial assault at Bourlon. On the eastern flank of the British salient, was to attack from Bantouzelle to Rumilly to capture Marcoing. advanced from Banteux. The two had seven infantry divisions.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: British VII Corps (Lieutenant-General Thomas Snow), to the south of the threatened area, warned III Corps of German preparations. The German attack began at on 30 November; almost immediately, the majority of III Corps divisions were heavily engaged. The German infantry advance in the south was unexpectedly swift. The commanders of the 12th (Eastern) Division and 29th Division were almost captured, with Brigadier-General Berkeley Vincent having to fight his way out of his headquarters and grab men from retreating units to try to halt the Germans. In the south, the German advance spread across and came within a few miles of the village of Metz and its link to Bourlon.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: At Bourlon, the Germans suffered many casualties. British units displayed reckless determination; one group of eight British machine-guns fired over against the German advance. The concentration of British effort to hold the ridge was effective but allowed the German advance elsewhere greater opportunity. Only counter-attacks by the Guards Division, the arrival of British tanks and the fall of night allowed the line to be held. By the following day, the impetus of the German advance was lost but pressure on 3 December led to the German capture of La Vacquerie and a British withdrawal on the east bank of the St Quentin canal. The Germans had reached a line curving from Quentin Ridge to near Marcoing. The German capture of Bonavis ridge made the British hold on Bourlon precarious. On 3 December, Haig ordered a partial retreat from the north salient and by 7 December, the British gains were abandoned except for a portion of the Hindenburg line around Havrincourt, Ribécourt and Flesquières. The Germans had exchanged this territorial loss for a slightly smaller sector to the south of Welsh Ridge.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: The first day of success was greeted in Britain by the ringing of church bells. The massed use of tanks, despite being a further increase on previous deployments, was not entirely new but the success of the attack and the resulting Allied press enthusiasm, including in the United States, were unprecedented. The particular effectiveness of the tanks at Cambrai was the initial passage through barbed wire defences, which had been previously "supposed by the Germans to be impregnable".


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: The initial British success showed that even the strongest trench defences could be overcome by a surprise attack, using a combination of new methods and equipment, reflecting a general increase in the British capacity to combine infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft in attacks. The German revival after the shock of the British attack improved German morale but the potential for similar attacks meant that the Germans had to divert resources to anti-tank defences and weapons, an extra demand that the Germans could ill afford to meet,


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: The German counter-attack showed the effectiveness of artillery, trench mortars and evolving stormtrooper tactics, adopted from a pattern introduced by General Hutier against the Russians. From the German perspective, questions arose regarding battlefield supply beyond railheads and the suitability of the MG 08 machine gun for rapid movement. By the end of the battle, the British retained some of the ground captured in the north and the Germans a smaller amount taken in the south. The British conducted several investigations, including a Court of Enquiry.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: According to the Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire during the Great War, British forces in the period of the Battle of Cambrai suffered 75,681 casualties, 10,042 killed or died of wounds, 48,702 wounded and 16,987 missing or prisoners of war. Nearly 180 tanks were destroyed. According to the German Army Medical report in the World War 1914–1918 German forces suffered 54,720 casualties at Cambrai, 8,817 killed and died of wounds, 22,931 wounded and 22,972 missing and prisoners of war. The British recorded casualties on the basis of a daily head count and the Germans counted the number of patients in hospital every ten days, which omitted lightly wounded, expected to return to service in a few days, not evacuated from the corps area.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: The Battle of Cambrai is commemorated annually by the Royal Tank Regiment on Cambrai day, a major event in the regiment's calendar. The contributions of the Newfoundland Regiment at the 1917 Battle of Cambrai are remembered in the village of Masnières at the Masnières Newfoundland Memorial. Cambrai Day is also celebrated by 2nd Lancers (GH) of the Indian Army on 1 December every year as Lance Dafadar Gobind Singh of that unit was awarded the Victoria Cross during this battle. The name Cambrai was chosen in 1917 as the new name for the South Australian town of Rhine Villa, one of many Australian place names changed from German names during the First World War. During the Remilitarization of the Rhineland in the late 1930s, Germany named a newly built Kaserne in Darmstadt after the battle, which was later merged with the nearby Freiherr von Fritsch Kaserne to become Cambrai-Fritsch Kaserne. The United States Army occupied Cambrai-Fritsch Kaserne from the end of World War II until 2008, when the land was returned to the German government.


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has four Memorials with the names or remains of 9,100 Commonwealth servicemen dead during the Battle of Cambrai:


title: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

text: The German War Cemetery on the Route de Solesmes was established before the offensive in May 1917, currently it accommodates the remains of 10,685 German and 501 British soldiers.


title: Madeleine Martin

text: Madeleine Elizabeth Martin (born April 15, 1993) is an American actress, known for her role as the character Rebecca "Becca" Moody on Showtime comedy-drama "Californication".


title: Madeleine Martin

text: Martin grew up in New York City, United States. As her mother is from Canada, Martin has dual citizenship of both countries. She is a student at the School of American Ballet.. Martin was homeschooled.


title: Madeleine Martin

text: At age seven, Martin appeared in the Broadway National Tour of "The Sound of Music" with Richard Chamberlain. Two years later she portrayed young Cosette in the Broadway National Tour of "Les Miserables". She appeared on Broadway in the title role in "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" at the age of 10; her acclaimed performance gave her the opportunity to be the youngest presenter in history at the 2003 Tony Awards. The New York Times Arts and Leisure section profiled her when she was 12 years old. She also acted in "The Pillowman" alongside Jeff Goldblum and Billy Crudup. She acted in "A Christmas Carol" at Madison Square Garden.


title: Madeleine Martin

text: Her first appearance on television came in 2003 on "Law & Order", where she played the role of Annie for one episode. Also in 2003, she did the voice acting for the main character JoJo, in the cartoon TV series "JoJo's Circus". She was a series regular on Disney's "Out of the Box". She was called back in 2004 for another episode ("Sick"), on "", as April. In 2005 she appeared for one episode on another TV series, "Hope & Faith", as Ivana Charles.


title: Madeleine Martin

text: She eventually returned to TV in 2007 to act alongside David Duchovny in the Showtime dramedy "Californication". She plays Becca Moody, Duchovny's teenage daughter. Martin also performed several songs in Californication including "Only Women Bleed", "Don't Let Us Get Sick", and "Surrender".


title: Madeleine Martin

text: In 2010 she was a co-star alongside John Cena in the WWE Studios film, "Legendary". Her performance was heavily criticized.


title: Madeleine Martin

text: She voiced Finn's female-counterpart, Fionna in the "Adventure Time" episodes "Fionna and Cake", "Bad Little Boy", "The Prince Who Wanted Everything", "Five Short Tables" and "Fionna and Cake and Fionna". She also appeared in the "Criminal Minds" season 7 episode "Heathridge Manor".


title: Madeleine Martin

text: Martin performed in the Atlantic Theater Company's production of "Harper Regan" in 2012 and on Broadway in "Picnic" in 2013.


title: Madeleine Martin

text: From 2014 to 2016 she played Shelley Godfrey in the second and third season of "Hemlock Grove" and had a guest role on "The Good Wife". She performed in the Lincoln Center production of The Harvest in the Winter of 2016.


title: Madeleine Martin

text: In 2019, she portrayed Madeline in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", a recurring character in the third season. The character is a colleague of Abe's (the titular character's father) in his fight in rebellious causes.


title: Desert Fathers

text: The Desert Fathers or Desert Monks were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD. The is a collection of the wisdom of some of the early desert monks and nuns, in print as "Sayings of the Desert Fathers". The first Desert Father was Paul of Thebes, and the most well known was Anthony the Great, who moved to the desert in AD 270–271 and became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony had died in AD 356, thousands of monks and nuns had been drawn to living in the desert following Anthony's example, leading his biographer, Athanasius of Alexandria, to write that "the desert had become a city." The Desert Fathers had a major influence on the development of Christianity.


title: Desert Fathers

text: The desert monastic communities that grew out of the informal gathering of hermit monks became the model for Christian monasticism. The eastern monastic tradition at Mount Athos and the western Rule of St Benedict both were strongly influenced by the traditions that began in the desert. All of the monastic revivals of the Middle Ages looked to the desert for inspiration and guidance. Much of Eastern Christian spirituality, including the Hesychast movement, had its roots in the practices of the Desert Fathers. Even religious renewals such as the German evangelicals and Pietists in Pennsylvania, the movement, and the Methodist Revival in England are seen by modern scholars as being influenced by the Desert Fathers.


title: Desert Fathers

text: Paul of Thebes is often credited with being the first hermit monk to go to the desert, but it was Anthony the Great who launched the movement that became the Desert Fathers. Sometime around AD 270, Anthony heard a Sunday sermon stating that perfection could be achieved by selling all of one's possessions, giving the proceeds to the poor, and following Jesus. He followed the advice and made the further step of moving deep into the desert to seek complete solitude.


title: Desert Fathers

text: Anthony lived in a time of transition for Christianity—the Diocletianic Persecution in AD 303 was the last great formal persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Only ten years later, Christianity was made legal in Egypt by Diocletian's successor Constantine I. Those who left for the desert formed an alternate Christian society, at a time when it was no longer a risk to be a Christian. The solitude, austerity, and sacrifice of the desert was seen by Anthony as an alternative to martyrdom, which was formerly seen by many Christians as the highest form of sacrifice. Anthony quickly gained followers eager to live their lives in accordance with this solidarity and separation from material goods. From these prohibitions, it is recorded by Athanasius that Anthony received special privileges from God, such as the ability to heal the sick, inspire others to have faith in healing through God, and even converse with God on occasion. Around this time, desert monasticism appeared nearly simultaneously in several areas, including Egypt and Syria.


title: Desert Fathers

text: Over time, the model of Anthony and other hermits attracted many followers, who lived alone in the desert or in small groups. They chose a life of extreme asceticism, renouncing all the pleasures of the senses, rich food, baths, rest, and anything that made them comfortable. They instead focused their energies on praying, singing psalms, fasting, giving alms to the needy, and preserving love and harmony with one another while keeping their thoughts and desires for God alone. Thousands joined them in the desert, mostly men but also a handful of women. Religious seekers also began going to the desert seeking advice and counsel from the early Desert Fathers. By the time of Anthony's death, there were so many men and women living in the desert that it was described as "a city" by Anthony's biographer.


title: Desert Fathers

text: The Desert Fathers advocated three main approaches to monasticism. One was the austere life of the hermit, as practiced by Anthony and his followers in lower Egypt. Another was the cenobitic life, communities of monks and nuns in upper Egypt formed by Pachomius. The third was a semi-hermitic lifestyle seen mostly in Nitria, Kellia and Scetis, west of the Nile, begun by Saint Amun. The latter were small groups (two to six) of monks and nuns with a common spiritual elder—these separate groups would join in larger gatherings to worship on Saturdays and Sundays. This third form of monasticism was responsible for most of the sayings that were compiled as the ("Sayings of the Desert Fathers").


title: Desert Fathers

text: The small communities founded by the Desert Fathers were the beginning of Christian monasticism. Initially Anthony and others lived as hermits, sometimes forming groups of two or three. Small informal communities began developing, until the monk Pachomius, seeing the need for a more formal structure, established a monastery with rules and organization. His regulations included discipline, obedience, manual labour, silence, fasting, and long periods of prayer—some historians view the rules as being inspired by Pachomius' experiences as a Roman soldier.


title: Desert Fathers

text: The first fully organized monastery with Pachomius included men and women living in separate quarters, up to three in a room. They supported themselves by weaving cloth and baskets, along with other tasks. Each new monk or nun had a three-year probationary period, concluding with admittance in full standing to the monastery. All property was held communally, meals were eaten together and in silence, twice a week they fasted, and they wore simple peasant clothing with a hood. Several times a day they came together for prayer and readings, and each person was expected to spend time alone meditating on the scriptures. Programs were created for educating those who came to the monastery unable to read.


title: Desert Fathers

text: Pachomius also formalized the establishment of an "abba" (father) or "amma" (mother) in charge of the spiritual welfare of their monks and nuns, with the implication that those joining the monastery were also joining a new family. Members also formed smaller groups, with different tasks in the community and the responsibility of looking after each other's welfare. The new approach grew to the point that there were tens of thousands of monks and nuns in these organized communities within decades of Pachomius' death. One of the early pilgrims to the desert was Basil of Caesarea, who took the Rule of Pachomius into the eastern church. Basil expanded the idea of community by integrating the monks and nuns into the wider public community, with the monks and nuns under the authority of a bishop and serving the poor and needy.


title: Desert Fathers

text: As more pilgrims began visiting the monks in the desert, influence from the monastic communities began spreading. Latin versions of the original Greek stories and sayings of the Desert Fathers, along with the earliest monastic rules coming out of the desert, guided the early monastic development in the Byzantine world and eventually in the western Christian world. John Cassian played an important role in mediating the influence of the Desert Fathers to the West. This can be seen, for example, in the Rule of Saint Benedict, where Benedict of Nursia urged his monks to read the writings of John Cassian on the Desert Fathers. The "Sayings of the Desert Fathers" was also widely read in the early Benedictine monasteries.


title: Desert Fathers

text: Many of the monks and nuns developed a reputation for holiness and wisdom, with the small communities following a particularly holy or wise elder, who was their spiritual father ("abba") or mother ("amma"). The individual Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers are mostly known through "The Sayings of the Desert Fathers", which included 1,202 sayings attributed to twenty-seven "abbas" and three "ammas". The greatest number of sayings are attributed to Abba "Poemen", Greek for "shepherd". Because of the wide disparity of dates for the sayings attributed to Abba Poemen, some scholars believe that "Poemen" was a generic name for a combination of different unnamed Abbas. Others conclude that the sayings attributed to Abba Poemen are accurate, based on a notable and historical Abba Poemen. Among the notable Desert Fathers and Mothers with sayings in the book, in addition to Anthony the Great, were Arsenius the Great, Poemen, Macarius of Egypt, Moses the Black, and Syncletica of Alexandria.


title: Desert Fathers

text: Other notable Desert Fathers include Pachomius, Abba Or, and Shenouda the Archimandrite, and many individuals who spent part of their lives in the Egyptian desert, including Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, Evagrius Ponticus, and Hilarion. John Cassian's works brought the wisdom of the Desert Fathers into a wider arena.


title: Desert Fathers

text: The legalization of Christianity by the Roman Empire in 313 gave Anthony a greater resolve to go out into the desert. Nostalgic for the tradition of martyrdom, he saw withdrawal and asceticism as an alternative. He insisted on selling all his material possessions—he left his younger sister a small amount of money to live her life in a convent, and donated the rest to the poor. When members of the church began finding ways to work with the Roman state, the Desert Fathers saw that as a compromise between "the things of God and the things of Caesar." The monastic communities were essentially an alternate Christian society. The hermits doubted that religion and politics could ever produce a truly Christian society. For them, the only Christian society was spiritual and not mundane.


title: Desert Fathers

text: (from the Greek for "stillness, rest, quiet, silence") is a mystical tradition and movement that originated with the Desert Fathers and was central to their practice of prayer. for the Desert Fathers was primarily the practice of "interior silence and continual prayer." It did not become a formal movement of specific practices until the fourteenth century Byzantine meditative prayer techniques, when it was more closely identified with the Prayer of the Heart, or "Jesus Prayer". The prayer's origin is also traced back to the Desert Fathers—the Prayer of the Heart was found inscribed in the ruins of a cell from that period in the Egyptian desert. The earliest written reference to the practice of the Prayer of the Heart may be in a discourse collected in the on Abba Philimon, a Desert Father. prayer was a meditative practice that was traditionally done in silence and with eyes closed—"empty of mental pictures" and visual concepts, but with the intense consciousness of God's presence.


title: Desert Fathers

text: The words and were frequently used in 4th and 5th century writings of Desert Fathers such as Macarius of Egypt, Evagrius Ponticus, and Gregory of Nyssa. The title was used in early times synonymously with "hermit", as compared to a cenobite who lived in community. can refer to inner or outer stillness, though in "The Sayings of the Desert Fathers" it referred to inner tranquility.


title: Desert Fathers

text: The Desert Fathers gave a great deal of emphasis to living and practicing the teachings of Jesus, much more than theoretical knowledge. Their efforts to live the commandments were not seen as being easy—many of the stories from that time recount the struggle to overcome negative emotions such as anger and judgment of others. Helping a brother monk who was ill or struggling was seen as taking priority over any other consideration. Hermits were frequently seen to break a long fast when hosting visitors, as hospitality and kindness were more important than keeping the ascetic practices that were so dominant in the Desert Fathers' lives.


title: Desert Fathers

text: The lives of the Desert Fathers that were organized into communities included frequent recitation of the scriptures—during the week they chanted psalms while performing manual labour and during the weekends they held liturgies and group services. The monk's experience in the cell occurred in a variety of ways, including meditation on scripture. Group practices were more prominent in the organized communities formed by Pachomius. The purpose of these practices were explained by John Cassian, a Desert Father, who described the goal of psalmody (the outward recitation of scripture) and asceticism as the ascent to deep mystical prayer and mystical contemplation.


title: Desert Fathers

text: There are many different collections of sayings of the Desert Fathers. The earliest writings were simply ordered by the initial letter of the Abba's name in the order of the Greek alphabet, resulting in the editors starting with Anthony the Great, Arsenius and Agathon, and concluding with Cheremon, Psenthaisius and Or. These editors were the first to use the word (meaning: saying, maxim or aphorism), resulting in this collection being known as (The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection). This collection contains about a thousand items.


title: Desert Fathers

text: The same editors also recognised a number of anonymous sayings and tales of the Desert Fathers and Mothers that circulated popularly. This material was gathered into a collection now known as (Anonymous Sayings of the Desert Fathers). These sayings were placed in order of more or less similar subjects (for instance: humility, charity etc.).


title: Desert Fathers

text: The collection now known as the Systematic Collection began to emerge a century later (AD 500), and features sayings from the Alphabetic Collection and the Anonymous Sayings, combined and systematically ordered under twenty-one chapters. This collection contains about 1200 items and therefore does not completely combine the two older collections.


title: National Artist of the Philippines

text: The Order of National Artists of the Philippines (Filipino: "Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas") is an order bestowed by the Philippines on Filipinos who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine art. Members of the Order are known as National Artists. Originally instituted as an Award, it was elevated to the status of an order in 2003.


title: National Artist of the Philippines

text: The Order is administered by the Cultural Center of the Philippines by virtue of President Ferdinand Marcos's Proclamation № 1001 of April 2, 1972 and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. The first Award was posthumously conferred on Filipino painter Fernando Amorsolo.


title: National Artist of the Philippines

text: The order of the highest state honor is conferred on individuals deemed as having done much for their artistic field. Deserving individuals must have been recommended by both the Cultural Center and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts prior to receiving the Award. Such people are then titled, by virtue of a Presidential Proclamation, as "National Artist" (Filipino: "Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining"), and are inducted into the Order.


title: National Artist of the Philippines

text: However, National Artists have since been honored under new categories. The NCCA created the category of National Artist for Fashion Design when it nominated Ramon Valera, but subsumed that category under "Architecture, Design and Allied Arts". President Fidel V. Ramos issued an executive order creating the category of National Artist for Historical Literature before conferring the honor to Carlos Quirino.


title: National Artist of the Philippines

text: The National Artist of the Philippines are based on a broad criteria, as set forth by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts:


title: National Artist of the Philippines

text: Nominations are then submitted to the National Artist Secretariat that is created by the National Artist Award Committee; experts from the different art fields then sit on a First Deliberation to prepare the short list of nominees. A Second Deliberation, which is a joint meeting of the Commissioners of the NCCA and the Board of Trustees of the CCP, decides on the final nominees. The list is then forwarded to the President of the Philippines, who, by Presidential Proclamation, proclaims the final nominees as members of the Order of National Artists.