title: Magnús Ver Magnússon

text: He competed in a one-off event at the Giants Live Strongman Championship 2019 held in Wembley against fellow strongman legend Bill Kazmaier in the Hercules Hold, with the weight being reduced by 20 kg on each side from what the professional athletes were working with. Despite having not competed in a strongman event since 2005, Magnusson stunned the capacity crowd with a time of 101.2 seconds (1m 41.2s), whilst Kazmaier could only manage just over 18 seconds.


title: Magnús Ver Magnússon

text: In 2008, Magnús made an appearance on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show". He also appeared in a Coors Light commercial as the "World's Strongest Man" which aired in the U.S.


title: Magnús Ver Magnússon

text: Magnús frequently judges international powerlifting and strongman competitions. He owns a powerlifting and strongman gym in Kópavogur called Jakaból (Nest of Giants).


title: Magnús Ver Magnússon

text: Magnús is the founder of the Magnús Ver Magnússon Classic, the MVM Classic. A strongman competition held in Iceland that qualifies the winner for the Worlds Strongest Man. Magnus ver has 2 daughters and a grandson


title: Maserati MC12

text: The Maserati MC12 ("Tipo M144S") is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004, with 25 cars produced. A further 25 were produced in 2005 after the FIA changed the rules and reduced the maximum length allowed. The second batch of 25 are 150mm shorter than the originals, making a total of 50 cars available for customers. With the addition of 12 cars produced for racing, a total of just 62 were ever produced.


title: Maserati MC12

text: Maserati designed and built the car on the chassis of the Ferrari Enzo, but the final car is much larger and has a lower drag coefficient, along with being longer, wider and taller and has a sharper nose and smoother curves than the Enzo. The Enzo had quicker acceleration, shorter braking distance, and a higher top speed at , more than the MC12.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The MC12 was developed to signal Maserati's return to racing after 37 years. The road version was produced to homologate the race version. One requirement for participation in the FIA GT is the production of at least 25 road cars. Three GT1 race cars were entered into the FIA GT with great success. Maserati began racing the MC12 in the FIA GT toward the end of the 2004 season, winning the race held at the Zhuhai International Circuit. The racing MC12s were entered into the American Le Mans Series races in 2005 but exceeded the size restrictions and consequently paid weight penalties due to excess range.


title: Maserati MC12

text: Under the direction of Giorgio Ascanelli, Maserati began development of an FIA GT-eligible race car. This car, which would eventually be named the MC12, was initially called the "MCC" ("Maserati Corse Competizione") and was to be developed simultaneously with a road-going version, called the "MCS" ("Maserati Corse Stradale"). Frank Stephenson, Director of Ferrari-Maserati Concept Design and Development at the time, did the majority of the body styling, but the initial shape was developed during wind tunnel testing from an idea presented by Giorgetto Giugiaro. The MCC has a very similar body shape to the MC12, but there are several key differences, most notably the rear spoiler. Andrea Bertolini served as the chief test driver throughout development, although some testing was done by Michael Schumacher, who frequently tested the MCC at the Fiorano Circuit. During the development process, the MCC name was set aside after Maserati established the car's official name, MC12.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The car is based heavily on the Enzo Ferrari, using a slightly modified version of the Ferrari F140 V12 engine, the same gearbox (but given the unique name of "Maserati Cambiocorsa") and the same chassis and track (length of axle between the wheels). The windshield is the only externally visible component shared with the Enzo; the MC12 has a unique body which is wider, longer and slightly taller. The increased size creates greater downforce across the MC12's body in addition to the downforce created by the two-metre spoiler.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The MC12 is a two-door coupe with a targa top roof, although the detached roof cannot be stored in the car. The mid-rear layout (engine between the axles but behind the cabin) keeps the centre of gravity in the middle of the car, which increases stability and improves the car's cornering ability. The standing weight distribution is 41% front and 59% rear. At speed, however, the downforce provided by the rear spoiler affects this to the extent that at the downforce is 34% front and 66% rear.


title: Maserati MC12

text: Even though the car is designed as a homologation vehicle and is a modification of a racing car, the interior is intended to be luxurious. The interior is a mix of gel-coated carbon fibre, blue leather and silver "Brightex", a synthetic material which was found to be "too expensive for the fashion industry". The centre console features the characteristic Maserati oval analogue clock and a blue ignition button, but it has been criticised for lacking a radio, car stereo or a place to install an aftermarket sound system.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The body of the car, made entirely of carbon fibre, underwent extensive wind tunnel testing to achieve maximum downforce across all surfaces. As a result, the rear spoiler is wide but only thick, the underside of the car is smooth, and the rear bumper has diffusers to take advantage of ground effect. Air is sucked into the engine compartment through the air scoop; its positioning on top of the cabin makes the car taller than the Enzo. The exterior is available only in the white-and-blue colour scheme, a tribute to the America Camoradi racing team that drove the Maserati Tipo Birdcages in the early 1960s. Bespoke colour schemes are available by paying an extra amount. The car is noted for the awkwardness that results from its size; very long and wider than a Hummer H2. This, combined with the lack of a rear window, can make parking the MC12 challenging.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The MC12 sports a , Enzo Ferrari-derived longitudinally-mounted 65° V12 engine. Each cylinder has 4 valves, lubricated via a dry sump system, with a compression ratio of 11.2:1. These combine to provide a maximum torque of at 5,500 rpm and a maximum power of at 7,500 rpm. The redline rpm is indicated at 7,500—despite being safe up to 7,700—whereas the Enzo has its redline at 8,000 rpm.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The Maserati MC12 can accelerate from 0 to in 3.8 seconds (though "Motor Trend Magazine" managed 3.7 seconds) and on to in 9.9 seconds. It can complete a standing (from stationary) in 11.3 seconds with a terminal speed of or a standing kilometre in 20.1 seconds. The maximum speed of the Maserati MC12 is .


title: Maserati MC12

text: Power is fed to the wheels through a rear-mounted, six-speed automated manual. The gearbox is the same as the Enzo's transmission (tuned to different gear ratios) but renamed "Maserati Cambiocorsa". It provides a shift time of just 150 milliseconds and is mechanical with a twin-plate dry clutch.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The MC12's chassis is a monocoque made of carbon and nomex, with an aluminium sub-chassis at the front and rear. It has a roll bar to provide additional strength, comfort and safety. Double wishbone suspension with push-rod-operated coil springs provide stability and dampers smooth the ride for the passengers. The front of the car can be raised for speed bumps and hills by pressing a button that extends the front suspension. There are two modes for the chassis' tuning which can also be changed with a button in the cabin: "sport", the standard setting, and "race", which features less of the "Bosch ASR" (anti-slip regulation) traction control, faster shifts and stiffer suspension.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The MC12 has wheels with a width of at the front and at the rear. The tyres are "Pirelli P Zero Corsa" with codes of 245/35 ZR 19 for the front tyres and 345/35 ZR 19 for the rear. The brakes are Brembo disc brakes with a Bosch anti-lock braking system (ABS). The front brakes have a diameter of with six-piston calipers and the rear brakes have a diameter of with four-piston calipers. The centre-lock wheel nuts that hold the wheels to the chassis are colour-coded; red on the left of the car, blue on the right.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The car has generally received mixed reviews, with critics saying it is hard to drive, overpriced and too large. Other criticisms include the lack of a trunk, rear window, spare tire and radio, and the way the car's engine was limited or "drugged". Former driver for Vitaphone Racing Team, Andrea Bertolini, the chief test driver throughout the development, said the car, "reacts well and is very reliable in its reactions."


title: Maserati MC12

text: The "Top Gear" television series acquired an MC12, and test driver The Stig achieved a lap time of 1:18.9 around the "Top Gear" track—0.1 seconds faster than his lap in the Enzo Ferrari. Host Jeremy Clarkson also drove it, comparing it to the Maserati Biturbo, a car he disliked. Clarkson criticised the car greatly, pointing out that, unlike the Enzo, it lacks a rear window. Despite his criticisms, he complimented the smooth ride.


title: Maserati MC12

text: "Motor Trend Magazine" reviewer Frank Markus had a more positive opinion. Despite initial skepticism he said, "It turns out that the Enzo makes a more comfortable and attractive road car when made over as a butch Maserati racer in street couture". Markus complimented the stability of braking and the handling ability of the MC12, especially the drifting allowed by the traction control when cornering, commenting that "There's none of the knife-edged limit handling we criticised in the more extreme Enzo. It's even more forgiving at the limit than an Acura NSX."


title: Maserati MC12

text: When "Automobile Magazine" tested an MC12, reviewer Preston Lerner called it "user-friendly", praising the responsiveness and simplicity of driving. Lerner approved of Frank Stephenson's work with the styling of both the car's exterior and interior, calling the trim "Speed-Racer-ish" but "without looking as though it belongs in a Nitrous-ized Civic". He also complimented the ASR's level of intervention, commenting that it "lets the fun factor get reasonably high before kicking in".


title: Maserati MC12

text: In 2004 Maserati completed three MC12 GT1 race cars intended for the FIA GT GT1 class. The AF Corse factory-backed squad debuted the race at Imola, yet the FIA did not allow the MC12 to score points due to its debated homologation. Even with this setback, the team managed to take second and third places. At the next round at Oschersleben, the MC12 of Andrea Bertolini and Mika Salo won for the first time. At the final round of the year at Zhuhai, the FIA finally agreed to homologate the MC12s and allow them to score points towards the championship. With this, the MC12 again took victory, allowing it to score enough points to finish 7th in the teams championship.


title: Maserati MC12

text: In 2005 Maserati won the FIA GT Manufacturers Cup with 239 points: almost double the score of next competitor (Ferrari with 125 points). The two teams that entered MC12s into the FIA GT, Vitaphone Racing and JMB Racing, finished first and second respectively in the Team Cup, with Vitaphone winning by a considerable margin. Four of the MC12 drivers were in the running to win the FIA GT Drivers' Title at the Bahrain International Circuit at the start of the final race of 2005: Karl Wendlinger and Andrea Bertolini each on 71 points and Timo Scheider and Michael Bartels on 70. Gabriele Gardel of Ferrari was also on 70 points, however, and in the crucial race he placed ahead of all of the Maseratis, driving an older Ferrari 550 Maranello. Gardel took the title, leaving all of the Maserati drivers within four points of first place (Scheider and Wendlinger receiving four points for the race).


title: Maserati MC12

text: In 2006 the only team representing Maserati was Vitaphone Racing. On September 30, 2006, Vitaphone secured the Teams' Championship for the 2006 season despite their drivers placing 5th and 7th in the Budapest 500 km race with weight penalties of 85 kilograms and 105 kilograms respectively. Bertolini and Bartels also shared first place in the Drivers' Championship on 71 points but the manufacturers cup went to Aston Martin.


title: Maserati MC12

text: Vitaphone Racing again won the GT1 Teams' Championship in the 2007 season on 115 points, followed by fellow MC12 team Scuderia Playteam Sarafree on 63 points. JMB Racing also entered two MC12s, but they were used by amateur drivers competing in the Citation Cup, which was won by JMB's driver Ben Aucott. Maserati also won the Manufacturers' Cup by a significant margin while Thomas Biagi won the Drivers' Championship. Fellow Vitaphone drivers Miguel Ramos and Christian Montanari tied for sixth, while Playteam's Andrea Bertolini and Andrea Piccini were just behind.


title: Maserati MC12

text: For 2008, Vitaphone Racing returned with a pair of MC12s for drivers Andrea Bertolini, Michael Bartels, and Miguel Ramos, as well as newcomer Alexandre Negrão. The season ended with another Teams' Championship for Vitaphone Racing (122.5 points) and Drivers' Championship for Bertolini and Bartels. In the ninth round, the team fielded a third car under the name of Team Vitasystem, driven by Pedro Lamy and Matteo Bobbi which scored one point. JMB Racing retained a single MC12 for 2007 Citation Cup winner Ben Aucott and drivers Peter Kutemann and Alain Ferté, competing in the first five events of the championship.


title: Maserati MC12

text: In the 2009 season the Vitaphone Racing won the fifth consecutive Team Championship, while Bertolini and Bartels gained their third Drivers' Championship. The other two drivers were Miguel Ramos and Alex Müller, who ended in sixth position. Starting from the fourth round, the team entered a third car under the name of Vitaphone Racing Team DHL, driven by Matteo Bobbi and Alessandro Pier Guidi, achieving good results: despite being only a one-car team, with a partial season involvement, they ended the Teams' Championship in fourth position (32 points), scoring a victory in the last round.


title: Maserati MC12

text: With the inauguration of the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2010, Maserati continued their commitment to the series with two teams entering. Vitaphone Racing Team, the defending FIA GT Champions, won five races en route to the Drivers' and Teams' World Championships, but Maserati lost to Aston Martin in the Manufacturers' Trophy. The second team representing Maserati was Alfrid Heger's Triple H Team Hegersport.


title: Maserati MC12

text: MC12s have had great success racing in Italy, and have replaced the GT3 "Maserati Trofeo Light" as Maserati's representative in the Italian GT Championship. In 2005 Maserati introduced two MC12s to the GT1 division under Scuderia Playteam and Racing Box, with the teams placing first and third overall respectively. The cars were re-entered in 2006, with Scuderia Playteam again securing overall victory and Racing Box coming second. From 2007, GT1 cars are not permitted in the championship, and Scuderia Playteam moved to the FIA GT Championship.


title: Maserati MC12

text: Racing Box also participated in the non-championship 6 Hours of Vallelunga twice, winning in 2005 with Michele Rugolo, Leonardo Maddelena, and Davide Mastracci, then again in 2006 with Pedro Lamy, Marco Cioci, and Piergiuseppe Perazzini.


title: Maserati MC12

text: In 2006, the Le Mans winning outfit Team Goh was intending to race a Maserati MC12 in the Super GT series in Japan. However, the team was forced to withdraw because of driver problems (Jan Magnussen falling ill suddenly and returning to Denmark) and disappointing lap times at the Suzuka Circuit during testing. While the car was faster than its Super GT prototype rivals down the straights, it was losing more than a second per lap in the corners due to its poorer aerodynamics.


title: Maserati MC12

text: In 2004 the Maserati MC12s were unable to compete in series backed by the ACO, such as the Le Mans Endurance Series (LMES) in Europe and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) because they exceeded both the length and width restrictions for their class. The car's nose was shortened by to attempt to comply with regulations, but was still too wide. In 2005 the governing body of the ALMS, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), allowed the MC12s to compete as a guest with the agreement that they were not allowed to score championship points and were forced to run a weight penalty. Some ALMS teams initially objected to the participation of the MC12 due to the possibility that an accident could eliminate their chances at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the MC12 was finally allowed to race. The ACO stood by their ruling on the car by forbidding it from entering other Le Mans series.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The lone MC12 would be campaigned under the Maserati Corse banner, but run by the American Risi Competizione team. The 2005 American Le Mans Series season was not as successful for the team, with the team scoring no wins. In the final race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the MC12 was clipped by a competitor, causing damage that resulted in a lengthy pit stop. After resuming the race, a loss of traction caused by cold tires made the car hit a curb, which broke the radiator and took the MC12 out of the race.


title: Maserati MC12

text: In August 2007, Fredy Lienhard and Didier Theys announced their preparation of a former FIA GT MC12 for use in the American Le Mans Series. The car made its debut at Road America, finishing 3rd in the GT1 class after qualifying competitively. The only other race entered was Round 11 at Road Atlanta for the Petit Le Mans where the team failed to finish following an accident, but were still classified second in class. Doran's Maserati however had qualified on the class pole. The team selected Michelin tires instead of the Pirellis originally used by Maserati Corse in 2005, and was also allowed to race with a full-width rear wing instead of the smaller wing used by Maserati Corse and teams in FIA GT, although the wing was not as tall. IMSA also allowed Doran to score points in the American Le Mans Series championships.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The MC12 Versione Corse is a variant of the MC12 intended for racetrack use. In contrast to the race version of the MC12, of which street-legal versions were produced for homologation purposes, the MC12 Corse is intended for private use, albeit restricted to the track, as the Corse's modifications make it illegal to drive on the road.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The Versione Corse was developed directly from the MC12 GT1, which won the 2005 FIA GT Manufacturers Cup. The car was released in mid-2006, "in response to the customer demand to own the MC12 racing car and fueled by the growth in track days, where owners can drive their cars at high speeds in the safety of a race track", as stated by Edward Butler, General Manager for Maserati in Australia and New Zealand. In similar fashion to the Ferrari FXX, although the owners are private individuals, Maserati is responsible for the storage, upkeep, and maintenance of the cars, and they are only driven on specially organized track days. Unlike the FXX, Versione Corses are not used for research and development, and are used only for entertainment. Three Maserati MC12 Versione Corses were converted to road legal use by German tuning firm Edo Competition and feature a slight power increase, a butterfly intake exhaust system and adjustable road suspension system.


title: Maserati MC12

text: Only twelve MC12 Versione Corses were sold to selected customers, each of whom paid €1 million (US$1.47 million) for the privilege. Another three vehicles were produced for testing and publicity purposes. The Versione Corse shares its engine with the MC12 GT1; the powerplant produces at 8,000 rpm, more than the road going MC12. The MC12 Versione Corse shares the GT1's shortened nose, which was a requirement for entry into the American Le Mans Series. The car was available in a single standard colour, named "Blue Victory", though the car's paint could be customized upon request. The MC12 Versione Corse possesses steel/carbon racing brakes, but is not fitted with an anti-lock braking system.


title: Maserati MC12

text: The Maserati Birdcage 75th is a concept car developed by automobile manufacturer Maserati and designed by Pininfarina. It was first introduced at the 2005 Geneva Auto Show and was based on the MC12's chassis. It draws inspiration from the Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage of the 1960s and was made as a celebration of Pininfarina's 75th anniversary.


title: Hunger

text: In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In the field of hunger relief, the term hunger is used in a sense that goes beyond the common desire for food that all humans experience, also known as an appetite. The most extreme form of hunger, when malnutrition is widespread, and when people have started dying of starvation through lack of access to sufficient, nutritious food, leads to a declaration of famine.


title: Hunger

text: Throughout history, portions of the world's population have often suffered sustained periods of hunger. In many cases, hunger resulted from food supply disruptions caused by war, plagues, or adverse weather. In the decades following World War II, technological progress and enhanced political cooperation suggested it might be possible to substantially reduce the number of people suffering from hunger. While progress was uneven, by 2014, the threat of extreme hunger had receded for a large portion of the world's population. According to the FAO's 2021 The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, the number of people suffering from chronic hunger began to rise gradually between 2014 and 2019. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a massive increase, resulting in nearly 770 million people suffering from malnutrition.


title: Hunger

text: While most of the world's people continue to live in Asia, much of the increase in hunger since 2015 occurred in Africa and South America. The FAO's 2017 report discussed three principal reasons for the recent increase in hunger: climate, conflict, and economic slowdowns. The 2018 edition focused on extreme weather as a primary driver of the increase in hunger, finding rising rates to be especially severe in countries where agricultural systems were most sensitive to extreme weather variations. The 2019 SOFI report found a strong correlation between increases in hunger and countries that had suffered an economic slowdown. The 2020 edition instead looked at the prospects of achieving the hunger related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). It warned that if nothing was done to counter the adverse trends of the past six years, the number of people suffering from chronic hunger could rise by over 150 million by 2030. The 2021 report reported a sharp jump in hunger caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Hunger

text: Many thousands of organizations are engaged in the field of hunger relief, operating at local, national, regional, or international levels. Some of these organizations are dedicated to hunger relief, while others may work in several different fields. The organizations range from multilateral institutions to national governments, to small local initiatives such as independent soup kitchens. Many participate in umbrella networks that connect thousands of different hunger relief organizations. At the global level, much of the world's hunger relief efforts are coordinated by the UN and geared towards achieving SDG 2 of "Zero Hunger" by 2030.


title: Hunger

text: There is one globally recognized approach for defining and measuring hunger generally used by those studying or working to relieve hunger as a social problem. This is the United Nation's FAO measurement, which is typically referred to as "chronic undernourishment" (or in older publications, as 'food deprivation,' 'chronic hunger,' or just plain 'hunger.') For the FAO:


title: Hunger

text: Not all of the organizations in the hunger relief field use the FAO definition of hunger. Some use a broader definition that overlaps more fully with malnutrition. The alternative definitions do however tend to go beyond the commonly understood meaning of hunger as a painful or uncomfortable motivational condition; the desire for food is something that all humans frequently experience, even the most affluent, and is not in itself a social problem.


title: Hunger

text: Very low food supply can be described as "food insecure with hunger." A change in description was made in 2006 at the recommendation of the Committee on National Statistics (National Research Council, 2006) in order to distinguish the physiological state of hunger from indicators of food availability. Food insecure is when food intake of one or more household members was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food. Food security statistics is measured by using survey data, based on household responses to items about whether the household was able to obtain enough food to meet their needs.


title: Hunger

text: The United Nations publishes an annual report on the state of food security and nutrition across the world. Led by the FAO, the 2020 report was joint authored by four other UN agencies: the WFP, IFAD, WHO and UNICEF. Compared to older reports, the 2020 version revised down the numbers of people suffering from severe hunger, though this applied to figures for each year going back to 2000, so the trend for hunger to have increased since 2014 was still evident. The FAO's yearly report provides a statistical overview on the prevalence of hunger around the world, and is widely considered the main global reference for tracking hunger. No simple set of statistics can ever fully capture the multi dimensional nature of hunger however. Reasons include that the FAO's key metric for hunger, "undernourishment", is defined solely in terms of dietary energy availability – disregarding micro-nutrients such as vitamins or minerals. Second, the FAO uses the energy requirements for minimum activity levels as a benchmark; many people would not count as hungry by the FAO's measure yet still be eating too little to undertake hard manual labour, which might be the only sort of work available to them. Thirdly, the FAO statistics do not always reflect short-term undernourishment.


title: Hunger

text: An alternative measure of hunger across the world is the Global Hunger Index (GHI). Unlike the FAO's measure, the GHI defines hunger in a way that goes beyond raw calorie intake, to include for example ingestion of micronutrients. GDI is a multidimensional statistical tool used to describe the state of countries’ hunger situation. The GHI measures progress and failures in the global fight against hunger. The GHI is updated once a year. The data from the 2015 report showed that Hunger levels have dropped 27% since 2000. Fifty two countries remained at serious or alarming levels. The 2019 GHI report expresses concern about the increase in hunger since 2015. In addition to the latest statistics on Hunger and Food Security, the GHI also features different special topics each year. The 2019 report includes an essay on hunger and climate change, with evidence suggesting that areas most vulnerable to climate change have suffered much of the recent increases in hunger.


title: Hunger

text: Throughout history, the need to aid those suffering from hunger has been commonly, though not universally, recognized. The philosopher Simone Weil wrote that feeding the hungry when you have resources to do so is the most obvious of all human obligations. She says that as far back as Ancient Egypt, many believed that people had to show they had helped the hungry in order to justify themselves in the afterlife. Weil writes that Social progress is commonly held to be first of all, "...a transition to a state of human society in which people will not suffer from hunger."


title: Hunger

text: Social historian Karl Polanyi wrote that before markets became the world's dominant form of economic organization in the 19th century, most human societies would either starve all together or not at all, because communities would invariably share their food.


title: Hunger

text: While some of the principles for avoiding famines had been laid out in the first book of the Bible, they were not always understood. Historical hunger relief efforts were often largely left to religious organizations and individual kindness. Even up to early modern times, political leaders often reacted to famine with bewilderment and confusion. From the first age of globalization, which began in the 19th century, it became more common for the elite to consider problems like hunger in global terms. However, as early globalization largely coincided with the high peak of influence for classical liberalism, there was relatively little call for politicians to address world hunger.


title: Hunger

text: In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the view that politicians ought not to intervene against hunger was increasingly challenged by campaigning journalists. There were also more frequent calls for large scale intervention against world hunger from academics and politicians, such as U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. Funded both by the government and private donations, the U.S. was able to dispatch millions of tons of food aid to European countries during and in the years immediately after WWI, organized by agencies such as the American Relief Administration. Hunger as an academic and social topic came to further prominence in the U.S. thanks to mass media coverage of the issue as a domestic problem during the Great Depression.


title: Hunger

text: While there had been increasing attention to hunger relief from the late 19th century, Dr David Grigg has summarised that prior to the end of World War II, world hunger still received relatively little academic or political attention; whereas after 1945 there was an explosion of interest in the topic.


title: Hunger

text: After World War II, a new international politico-economic order came into being, which was later described as Embedded liberalism. For at least the first decade after the war, the United States, then by far the period's most dominant national actor, was strongly supportive of efforts to tackle world hunger and to promote international development. It heavily funded the United Nation's development programmes, and later the efforts of other multilateral organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).


title: Hunger

text: The newly established United Nations became a leading player in co-ordinating the global fight against hunger. The UN has three agencies that work to promote food security and agricultural development: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). FAO is the world's agricultural knowledge agency, providing policy and technical assistance to developing countries to promote food security, nutrition and sustainable agricultural production, particularly in rural areas. WFP's key mission is to deliver food into the hands of the hungry poor. The agency steps in during emergencies and uses food to aid recovery after emergencies. Its longer term approaches to hunger helps the transition from recovery to development. IFAD, with its knowledge of rural poverty and exclusive focus on poor rural people, designs and implements programmes to help those people access the assets, services and opportunities they need to overcome poverty.


title: Hunger

text: Following successful post WWII reconstruction of Germany and Japan, the IMF and WB began to turn their attention to the developing world. A great many civil society actors were also active in trying to combat hunger, especially after the late 1970s when global media began to bring the plight of starving people in places like Ethiopia to wider attention. Most significant of all, especially in the late 1960s and 70s, the Green revolution helped improved agricultural technology propagate throughout the world.


title: Hunger

text: The United States began to change its approach to the problem of world hunger from about the mid 1950s. Influential members of the administration became less enthusiastic about methods they saw as promoting an over reliance on the state, as they feared that might assist the spread of communism. By the 1980s, the previous consensus in favour of moderate government intervention had been displaced across the western world. The IMF and World Bank in particular began to promote market-based solutions. In cases where countries became dependent on the IMF, they sometimes forced national governments to prioritize debt repayments and sharply cut public services. This sometimes had a negative effect on efforts to combat hunger.


title: Hunger

text: Organizations such as Food First raised the issue of food sovereignty and claimed that every country on earth (with the possible minor exceptions of some city-states) has sufficient agricultural capacity to feed its own people, but that the "free trade" economic order, which from the late 1970s to about 2008 had been associated with such institutions as the IMF and World Bank, had prevented this from happening. The World Bank itself claimed it was part of the solution to hunger, asserting that the best way for countries to break the cycle of poverty and hunger was to build export-led economies that provide the financial means to buy foodstuffs on the world market. However, in the early 21st century the World Bank and IMF became less dogmatic about promoting free market reforms. They increasingly returned to the view that government intervention does have a role to play, and that it can be advisable for governments to support food security with policies favourable to domestic agriculture, even for countries that do not have a Comparative advantage in that area. As of 2012, the World Bank remains active in helping governments to intervene against hunger.


title: Hunger

text: Until at least the 1980s—and, to an extent, the 1990s—the dominant academic view concerning world hunger was that it was a problem of demand exceeding supply. Proposed solutions often focused on boosting food production, and sometimes on birth control. There were exceptions to this, even as early as the 1940s, Lord Boyd-Orr, the first head of the UN's FAO, had perceived hunger as largely a problem of distribution, and drew up comprehensive plans to correct this. Few agreed with him at the time, however, and he resigned after failing to secure support for his plans from the US and Great Britain. In 1998, Amartya Sen won a Nobel Prize in part for demonstrating that hunger in modern times is not typically the product of a lack of food. Rather, hunger usually arises from food distribution problems, or from governmental policies in the developed and developing world. It has since been broadly accepted that world hunger results from issues with the distribution as well as the production of food. Sen's 1981 essay "Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation" played a prominent part in forging the new consensus.


title: Hunger

text: In 2007 and 2008, rapidly increasing food prices caused a global food crisis. Food riots erupted in several dozen countries; in at least two cases, Haiti and Madagascar, this led to the toppling of governments. A second "global food crisis" unfolded due to the spike in food prices of late 2010 and early 2011. Fewer food riots occurred, due in part to greater availability of food stock piles for relief. However, several analysts argue the food crisis was one of the causes of the Arab Spring.


title: Hunger

text: In the early 21st century, the attention paid to the problem of hunger by the leaders of advanced nations such as those that form the G8 had somewhat subsided. Prior to 2009, large scale efforts to fight hunger were mainly undertaken by governments of the worst affected countries, by civil society actors, and by multilateral and regional organizations. In 2009, Pope Benedict published his third encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, which emphasised the importance of fighting against hunger. The encyclical was intentionally published immediately before the July 2009 G8 Summit to maximise its influence on that event. At the Summit, which took place at L'Aquila in central Italy, the "L'Aquila Food Security Initiative" was launched, with a total of US$22 billion committed to combat hunger.


title: Hunger

text: Food prices fell sharply in 2009 and early 2010, though analysts credit this much more to farmers increasing production in response to the 2008 spike in prices, than to the fruits of enhanced government action. However, since the 2009 G8 summit, the fight against hunger became a high-profile issue among the leaders of the worlds major nations and was a prominent part of the agenda for the 2012 G-20 summit.


title: Hunger

text: In April 2012, the Food Assistance Convention was signed, the world's first legally binding international agreement on food aid. The May 2012 Copenhagen Consensus recommended that efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition should be the first priority for politicians and private sector philanthropists looking to maximize the effectiveness of aid spending. They put this ahead of other priorities, like the fight against malaria and AIDS. Also in May 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama launched a "new alliance for food security and nutrition"—a broad partnership between private sector, governmental and civil society actors—that aimed to "...achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth and raise 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years." The UK's prime minister David Cameron held a hunger summit on 12 August, the last day of the 2012 Summer Olympics.


title: Hunger

text: The fight against hunger has also been joined by an increased number of regular people. While folk throughout the world had long contributed to efforts to alleviate hunger in the developing world, there has recently been a rapid increase in the numbers involved in tackling domestic hunger even within the economically advanced nations of the Global North. This had happened much earlier in North America than it did in Europe. In the US, the Reagan administration scaled back welfare the early 1980s, leading to a vast increase of charity sector efforts to help Americans unable to buy enough to eat. According to a 1992 survey of 1000 randomly selected US voters, 77% of Americans had contributed to efforts to feed the hungry, either by volunteering for various hunger relief agencies such as food banks and soup kitchens, or by donating cash or food.


title: Hunger

text: Europe, with its more generous welfare system, had little awareness of domestic hunger until the food price inflation that began in late 2006, and especially as austerity-imposed welfare cuts began to take effect in 2010. Various surveys reported that upwards of 10% of Europe's population had begun to suffer from food insecurity. Especially since 2011, there has been a substantial increase in grass roots efforts to help the hungry by means of food banks, within both the UK and continental Europe.


title: Hunger

text: By July 2012, the 2012 US drought had already caused a rapid increase in the price of grain and soy, with a knock on effect on the price of meat. As well as affecting hungry people in the US, this caused prices to rise on the global markets; the US is the world's biggest exporter of food. This led to much talk of a possible third 21st century global food crisis. The "Financial Times" reported that the BRICS may not be as badly affected as they were in the earlier crises of 2008 and 2011. However, smaller developing countries that must import a substantial portion of their food could be hard hit. The UN and G20 has begun contingency planning so as to be ready to intervene if a third global crisis breaks out.


title: Hunger

text: By August 2013 however, concerns had been allayed, with above average grain harvests expected from major exporters, including Japan, Brazil, Ukraine and the U.S. 2014 also saw a good worldwide harvest, leading to speculation that grain prices could soon begin to fall.


title: Hunger

text: In an April 2013 summit held in Dublin concerning Hunger, Nutrition, Climate Justice, and the post 2015 MDG framework for global justice, Ireland's President Higgins said that only 10% of deaths from hunger are due to armed conflict and natural disasters, with ongoing hunger being both the "greatest ethical failure of the current global system" and the "greatest ethical challenge facing the global community."


title: Hunger

text: $4.15 billion of new commitments were made to tackle hunger at a June 2013 Hunger Summit held in London, hosted by the governments of Britain and Brazil, together with The Children's Investment Fund Foundation.


title: Hunger

text: Despite the hardship caused by the 2007–2009 financial crisis and global increases in food prices that occurred around the same time, the UN's global statistics show it was followed by close to year on year reductions in the numbers suffering from hunger around the world. By 2019 however, evidence had mounted that this progress seemed to have gone into reverse over the last four years. The numbers suffering from hunger had risen both in absolute terms and very slightly even as a percentage of the world's population.


title: Hunger

text: In 2019, FAO its annual edition of "The State of Food and Agriculture" which asserted that food loss and waste has potential effects on food security and nutrition through changes in the four dimensions of food security: food availability, access, utilization and stability. However, the links between food loss and waste reduction and food security are complex, and positive outcomes are not always certain. Reaching acceptable levels of food security and nutrition inevitably implies certain levels of food loss and waste. Maintaining buffers to ensure food stability requires a certain amount of food to be lost or wasted. At the same time, ensuring food safety involves discarding unsafe food, which then is counted as lost or wasted, while higher-quality diets tend to include more highly perishable foods. How the impacts on the different dimensions of food security play out and affect the food security of different population groups depends on where in the food supply chain the reduction in losses or waste takes place as well as on where nutritionally vulnerable and food-insecure people are located geographically.


title: Hunger

text: In April and May 2020, concerns were expressed that the COVID-19 pandemic could result in a doubling in global hunger unless world leaders acted to prevent this. Agencies such as the WFP have warned that this could include the number of people facing acute hunger rising from 135 million to about 265 million by the end of 2020. Indications of extreme hunger have been seen in various cities, such as fatal stampedes when word spread that emergency food aid was being handed out. Letters calling for co-ordinated action to offset the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been written to the G20 and G7, by various actors including NGOs, UN staff, corporations, academics and former national leaders.


title: Hunger

text: Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, concerns have been raised over hunger resulting from rising food prices. This is forecast to risk civil unrest even in many middle income countries, where government capability to protect their populations was largely exhausted by the Covid pandemic, and has not yet recovered.


title: Hunger

text: Many thousands of hunger relief organisations exist across the world. Some but not all are entirely dedicated to fighting hunger. They range from independent soup kitchens that serve only one locality, to global organisations. Organisations working at the global and regional level will often focus much of their efforts on helping hungry communities to better feed themselves, for example by sharing agricultural technology. With some exceptions, organisations that work just on the local level tend to focus more on providing food directly to hungry people. Many of the entities are connected by a web of national, regional and global alliances that help them share resources, knowledge, and coordinate efforts.


title: Hunger

text: The United Nations is central to global efforts to relieve hunger, most especially through the FAO, and also via other agencies: such as WFP, IFAD, WHO and UNICEF. After the Millennium Development Goals expired in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) became key objectives to shape the world's response to development challenges such as hunger. In particular Goal 2: "Zero Hunger" sets globally agreed targets to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.


title: Hunger

text: Aside from the UN agencies themselves, hundreds of other actors address the problem of hunger on the global level, often involving participation in large umbrella organisations. These include national governments, religious groups, international charities and in some cases international corporations. Though except perhaps in the cases of dedicated charities, the priority these organisations assign to hunger relief may vary from year to year. In many cases the organisations partner with the UN agencies, though often they pursue independent goals. For example, as consensus began to form for the SDG "zero hunger" goal to aim to end hunger by 2030, a number of organizations formed initiatives with the more ambitious target to achieve this outcome early, by 2025:


title: Hunger

text: The objective of SDG 2 is to "end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture" by 2030. SDG2 recognizes that dealing with hunger is not only based on increasing food production but also on proper markets, access to land and technology and increased and efficient incomes for farmers.


title: Hunger

text: A report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) of 2013 argued that the emphasis of the SDGs should be on eliminating hunger and under-nutrition, rather than on poverty, and that attempts should be made to do so by 2025 rather than 2030. The argument is based on an analysis of experiences in Russia, China, Vietnam, Brazil, and Thailand and the fact that people suffering from severe hunger face extra impediments to improving their lives, whether it be by education or work. Three pathways to achieve this were identified: 1) agriculture-led; 2) social protection- and nutrition- intervention-led; or 3) a combination of both of these approaches.


title: Hunger

text: Much of the world's regional alliances are located in Africa. For example, the "Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa" or the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.


title: Hunger

text: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has created a partnership that will act through the African Union's CAADP framework aiming to end hunger in Africa by 2025. It includes different interventions including support for improved food production, a strengthening of social protection and integration of the right to food into national legislation.


title: Hunger

text: Examples of hunger relief organisations that operate on the national level include The Trussell Trust in the United Kingdom, the Nalabothu Foundation in India, and Feeding America in the United States.


title: Hunger

text: A food bank (or foodbank) is a non-profit, charitable organization that aids in the distribution of food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger. Food banks tend to run on different operating models depending on where they are located. In the U.S., Australia, and to some extent in Canada, foodbanks tend to perform a warehouse type function, storing and delivering food to front line food orgs, but not giving it directly to hungry peoples themselves. In much of Europe and elsewhere, food banks operate on the "front line" model, where they hand out parcels of uncooked food direct to the hungry, typically giving them enough for several meals which they can eat in their homes. In the U.S and Australia, establishments that hand out uncooked food to individual people are instead called "food pantries", "food shelves" or "food closets'.


title: Hunger

text: In Less Developed Countries, there are charity-run food banks that operate on a semi-commercial system that differs from both the more common "warehouse" and "frontline" models. In some rural LDCs such as Malawi, food is often relatively cheap and plentiful for the first few months after the harvest, but then becomes more and more expensive. Food banks in those areas can buy large amounts of food shortly after the harvest, and then as food prices start to rise, they sell it back to local people throughout the year at well below market prices. Such food banks will sometimes also act as centers to provide small holders and subsistence farmers with various forms of support.


title: Hunger

text: A soup kitchen, meal center, or food kitchen is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a below market price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church or community groups. Soup kitchens sometimes obtain food from a food bank for free or at a low price, because they are considered a charity, which makes it easier for them to feed the many people who require their services.


title: Hunger

text: Local establishments calling themselves "food banks" or "soup kitchens" are often run either by Christian churches or less frequently by secular civil society groups. Other religions carry out similar hunger relief efforts, though sometimes with slightly different methods. For example, in the Sikh tradition of Langar, food is served to the hungry direct from Sikh temples. There are exceptions to this, for example in the UK Sikhs run some of the food banks, as well as giving out food direct from their Gurdwara's.


title: Hunger

text: In both developing and advanced countries, parents sometimes go without food so they can feed their children. Women, however, seem more likely to make this sacrifice than men. World Bank studies consistently find that about 60% of those who are hungry are female. The apparent explanation for this imbalance is that, compared to men, women often forgo meals in order to feed their children. Older sources sometimes claim this phenomenon is unique to developing countries, due to greater sexual inequality. More recent findings suggested that mothers often miss meals in advanced economies too. For example, a 2012 study undertaken by Netmums in the UK found that one in five mothers sometimes misses out on food to save their children from hunger.


title: Hunger

text: In several periods and regions, gender has also been an important factor determining whether or not victims of hunger would make suitable examples for generating enthusiasm for hunger relief efforts. James Vernon, in his "Hunger: A Modern History", wrote that in Britain before the 20th century, it was generally only women and children suffering from hunger who could arouse compassion. Men who failed to provide for themselves and their families were often regarded with contempt.


title: Hunger

text: This changed after World War I, where thousands of men who had proved their manliness in combat found themselves unable to secure employment. Similarly, female gender could be advantageous for those wishing to advocate for hunger relief, with Vernon writing that being a woman helped Emily Hobhouse draw the plight of hungry people to wider attention during the Second Boer War.


title: Hunger

text: The elderly are among some of the most vulnerable populations; increasing their risk of going hungry as well as significantly increasing the negative effects of hunger. The number of seniors experiencing hunger rose 88% between the years of 2001 and 2011. Researchers predict that if this upwards trend continues, the amount of food insecure seniors will increase by 50% by 2025.


title: Hunger

text: This age group suffers the most from chronic conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory diseases. Eighty percent of this group has a minimum of one chronic condition, and almost 70% have two or more. These illnesses are exacerbated and are more likely to develop under the addition of hunger. A report from 2017 shows that seniors facing this issue are 60% more likely to experience depression than seniors who are not hungry, and 40% are more likely to develop congestive heart failure. The added stress of inconsistent and inadequate feedings make these conditions much more dangerous.


title: Hunger

text: Fixed incomes often limit the elderly’s ability to freely purchase food necessities. Medical costs and housing may take priority over quality foods. Limited mobility makes it difficult for these individuals to physically leave their homes, especially in areas lacking public transportation or transportation catering to a disabled body. The COVID-19 pandemic has made things even more difficult, as this group is extremely vulnerable to contracting variants. They are high-risk, and are faced with the threat of this disease, more so than other age groups, when they leave their homes. This continues to limit their food access.


title: Hunger

text: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides aid to low-income seniors in relation to food security. This is an opportunity for seniors who receive benefits to allocate money in their budgets for other needs, such as medical or housing bills. However, participation is extremely low. Less than half of eligible seniors are enrolled and receive benefits; 3 out of five seniors are qualified but not enrolled.


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: I Hate Luv Storys is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Punit Malhotra and produced under Karan Johar's Dharma Productions and Ronnie Screwvala's UTV Motion Pictures. It stars Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor. Shot in Mumbai, India and Queenstown, New Zealand the film's soundtrack was composed by the musical duo Vishal–Shekhar with lyrics penned by Anvita Dutt Guptan, Kumaar and Vishal himself.


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: "I Hate Luv Storys" released on 2 July 2010 and went on to become a box office hit, grossing ₹66 crore worldwide. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with praise for its novel concept, music, cinematography, humor, costumes and the leads' performances, but criticism for its screenplay and pacing.


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: At the 56th Filmfare Awards, "I Hate Luv Storys" received 4 nominations – Best Music Director (Vishal–Shekhar), Best Lyricist (Vishal for "Bin Tere"), Best Male Playback Singer (Shafqat Amanat Ali for "Bin Tere") and Best Female Playback Singer (Shreya Ghoshal for "Bahara").


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: Simran (Sonam Kapoor) loves Bollywood romances so much so that her life has begun to resemble one. With her awesome job as an art director in films and a "Mr. Perfect" fiancé, Raj (Sameer Dattani), she lives a dreamy life. But then comes Jay (Imran Khan), who brings a fresh joy into her life. Jay is an assistant to a director who is famous for his love story films, but Jay himself is repulsed to romances and is a firm disbeliever of love. He initially chides Simran for her obsession with romance, and Simran also has a bad impression of him, but soon after, the two become friends while working on Veer's next.


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: Simran's close bond with Jay brings problems in her love life. She feels that Raj is not right for her, and falls in love with Jay, dreaming of spending her entire life with him. She decides to confess her feelings to him, but after doing so, Jay explains that he never thought of her that way—they were only best friends. Heartbroken, Simran leaves and does not speak to Jay.


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: Jay finds that her absence in his life upsets him and realizes that he has fallen in love with her. He plans a romantic dinner, asking Simran to meet him. He admits that he loves her but this time, she rejects him, as she does not want to hurt Raj's feelings after giving him another chance. A heartbroken Jay tries to accept the fact that he has lost Simran to Raj. However, Jay's friends and his mother persuade him to not give up on Simran. Jay tries to make Simran jealous but soon realizes that manipulating her feelings will hurt her even more.


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: Meanwhile, Raj proposes to Simran, and she accepts. But Simran realizes she doesn't love Raj, and tells him so. She goes to the movie premiere, where she hopes to meet Jay. On the other hand, Jay is leaving, as he has given up all hopes of being with Simran. At the airport, he talks to his mother and she again asks him not to give up. Encouraged, Jay runs back to the premiere. He finds Simran outside the theatre and the two express their love for each other and hug, finally getting their happy ending.


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: The title "I Hate Luv Storys" is an intentional misspelling of the sentence "I Hate Love Stories", and was chosen for numerological reasons.


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: Among Indian critics, Sukanya Verma of "Rediff" praised the lead performances and rated the movie 3.5/5 saying, "It's Sonam and Imran's collective persona and their free-flowing chemistry that makes all the difference. Although the pair deserve better than an amateurishly written romance to scoop out their terrific potential as a combination". Gaurav Malani of "IndiaTimes" rated the movie 3/5 and said, "If you hate love stories this one's certainly not for you. Which means this ends up being another love story and that too a dull one!" Nikhat Kazmi of "Times of India" also praised the lead performances, but found the plot predictable and rated the movie 3/5 saying, "Thematically, "I Hate Luv Storys" is extremely simplistic, uni-layered and terribly predictable."


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: Rahul Nanda of "Filmfare" rated it 3/5 and said, "The film never equals the sum of all its part, but it's impossible to deny the energy with which it keeps the plot ticking on." Taran Adarsh of "Bollywood Hungama" gave it 3.5/5 saying, "On the whole, "I Hate Luv Storys" is a young and vibrant love story with tremendous appeal for the yuppies. The fresh pairing and the on-screen electrifying chemistry, the lilting musical score and the magical moments in the film should attract its target audience." Parimal M. Rohit of "Buzzine Bollywood" added, ""I Hate Luv Storys" features no shortage of cheesy dialogue, simplistically thematic humor, and unrealistic depictions of lifestyles" but still has "some redeeming values (such as) the chemistry between Sonam Kapoor and Imran Khan ... strong individual performances, genuine corniness, and memorable avatars..." Subhash K. Jha was not impressed, calling it "a disappointment." "The Hindu" in its review said " After trying to be versatile, Imran has returned to familiar romantic terrain. His Jay is only a couple of streets away from the Jai he played in "Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Naa" (2008). He has mastered four-five expressions which establish his uber-cool credentials quite well...Sonam's face lights up the proceedings every time the mind says, “Enough!” If there is something called intelligent innocence, she has it, but it is waiting to be explored."


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: "I Hate Luv Storys" had a strong opening in multiplexes and a good opening in single screens. It collected Rs. 66.0 crore and was declared a hit at the box office.


title: I Hate Luv Storys

text: The soundtrack of "I Hate Luv Storys" is composed by Vishal–Shekhar. The film has 5 original songs followed by 3 remixes. The soundtrack was released on 25 May 2010. It received a favorable review from Parimal M. Rohit of "Buzzine Bollywood", with the author saying, "the soundtrack is phenomenally and breathtakingly romantic. The smooth beats and hypnotic vocals are second to none, and very few soundtracks are as complete as this one." Ehsaan Noorani of Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio has provided one of the best guitar arrangements for the soundtrack. A part of the song "Bahara" was used in Bulgarian pop-folk singer Tedi Aleksandrova's song "Dai Mi Svoboda".


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: The Kuntsevo Dacha () was Joseph Stalin's personal residence near the former town of Kuntsevo (then Moscow Oblast, now part of Moscow's Fili district), where he lived for the last two decades of his life and died on 5 March 1953, although he also spent much time inside the Kremlin, where he possessed living quarters next to his offices. The dacha is located inside a forest not far from the modern-day Victory Park.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: Also called the "nearer dacha" (), it was built in 1933–34 to Miron Merzhanov's designs. One storey was added to the original building in 1943. Stalin lived in Kuntsevo during World War II. It was there that he played host to such high-profile guests as Winston Churchill and Mao Zedong.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: The dacha is located at the heart of a densely wooded birch forest; its defenses included a double-perimeter fence, camouflaged 30-millimeter antiaircraft guns, and a security force of three hundred NKVD (after 1946, MGB) special troops. The grounds included lemon and apple trees, a rose garden, a small pond, and a watermelon patch which Stalin liked to cultivate. There was also a sports ground for playing gorodki.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: Upon entering the dacha, there was a lobby with two cloakrooms; to the left a door opened to Stalin's personal study, where he spent most of the day. Directly in front, a door opened to the large dining room, while to the right there was a long narrow corridor.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: The rectangular dining room was dominated by a long polished table and covered with rose carpets. It was decorated with images of Vladimir Lenin and of the writer Maxim Gorky. It was in this room that Stalin welcomed the Soviet Politburo for meetings and late-night dinners, and where important decisions were often taken. An "almost invisible" door placed on the wall in one side of the dining room led to Stalin's bedroom, and to a kitchen.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: On the left-hand side of the dacha, there was Stalin's personal study (where he spent most of the day when at Kuntsevo) with his large war-time desk, a radio that was a gift from Winston Churchill (when he first visited Moscow, in August 1942) and a couch; Stalin preferred to sleep on this couch, instead of his bedroom. The bathroom was located next to Stalin's study.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: On the right-hand side, the long narrow corridor led initially to two bedrooms (mostly used for accommodating occasional guests) and eventually to a large open veranda. Stalin spent much time in this veranda; he would sit in a chair there during winter, despite the heavy cold, wearing a warm sheepskin coat and a fur hat. He also liked to read books and reports and feed the birds while at the veranda.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: The Soviet leader seldom left his study, let alone visited the second storey (although a lift was installed on his orders). This storey was originally intended to accommodate his daughter Svetlana, but she used to stay there for only a few days each year. As a result, the rooms there remained dark and empty for most of the time.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: After Stalin's death the Marx–Engels–Lenin–Stalin Institute set up a commission to make arrangements for a Stalin museum at Kuntsevo.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva recorded that a copy of the famous painting "Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks" was hung somewhere on the ground floor but was not clear on exactly where.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: The building remains shrouded in secrecy: the grounds are fenced and closed to ordinary visitors. However, the dacha is still preserved in good condition, along with all of Stalin's personal belongings, including his study with the war-time desk and the sofa where he slept.


title: Kuntsevo Dacha

text: Upon becoming President of the Russian Federation in 2000, Vladimir Putin summoned the most powerful business oligarchs of Russia to Kuntsevo in what Sergei Pugachev (a participant in that meeting) described as a "very symbolic" move; another participant, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, said that by summoning them to Kuntsevo and by sitting in Stalin's office, Putin "wanted us to understand that we, as big businessmen, may have some power, but it is nothing compared to his power as the head of state." (Khodorkovsky "did not take that message to heart" and wound up serving 10 years in prison on charges of tax evasion.)


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The Suzuki reaction is an organic reaction, classified as a cross-coupling reaction, where the coupling partners are a boronic acid and an organohalide and the catalyst is a palladium(0) complex. It was first published in 1979 by Akira Suzuki, and he shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Richard F. Heck and Ei-ichi Negishi for their contribution to the discovery and development of palladium-catalyzed cross-couplings in organic synthesis. This reaction is also known as the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction or simply as the Suzuki coupling. It is widely used to synthesize polyolefins, styrenes, and substituted biphenyls. Several reviews have been published describing advancements and the development of the Suzuki reaction. The general scheme for the Suzuki reaction is shown below, where a carbon-carbon single bond is formed by coupling a halide (R-X) with an organoboron species (R-BY) using a palladium catalyst and a base.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The mechanism of the Suzuki reaction is best viewed from the perspective of the palladium catalyst. The catalytic cycle is initiated by the formation of an active Pd catyltic species, A. This participates in the oxidative addition of palladium to the halide reagent 1 to form the organopalladium intermediate B. Reaction (metathesis) with base gives intermediate C, which via transmetalation with the boron-ate complex D (produced by reaction of the boronic acid reagent 2 with base) forms the transient organopalladium species E. Reductive elimination step leads to the formation of the desired product 3 and restores the original palladium catalyst A which completes the catalytic cycle.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The Suzuki coupling takes place in the presence of a base and for a long time the role of the base was not fully understood. The base was first believed to form a trialkyl borate (RB-OR), in the case of a reaction of an trialkylborane (BR) and alkoxide (OR); this species could be considered as being more nucleophilic and then more reactive towards the palladium complex present in the transmetalation step. Duc and coworkers investigated the role of the base in the reaction mechanism for the Suzuki coupling and they found that the base has three roles: Formation of the palladium complex [ArPd(OR)L], formation of the trialkyl borate and the acceleration of the reductive elimination step by reaction of the alkoxide with the palladium complex.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: In most cases the oxidative addition is the rate determining step of the catalytic cycle. During this step, the palladium catalyst is oxidized from palladium(0) to palladium(II). The catalytically active palladium species A is coupled with the aryl halide substrate 1 to yield an organopalladium complex B. As seen in the diagram below, the oxidative addition step breaks the carbon-halogen bond where the palladium is now bound to both the halogen (X) as well as the R group.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: Oxidative addition proceeds with retention of stereochemistry with vinyl halides, while giving inversion of stereochemistry with allylic and benzylic halides. The oxidative addition initially forms the cis–palladium complex, which rapidly isomerizes to the trans-complex.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The Suzuki Coupling occurs with retention of configuration on the double bonds for both the organoboron reagent or the halide. However, the configuration of that double bond, "cis" or "trans" is determined by the "cis"-to-"trans" isomerization of the palladium complex in the oxidative addition step where the trans palladium complex is the predominant form. When the organoboron is attached to a double bond and it is coupled to an alkenyl halide the product is a diene as shown below.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: Transmetalation is an organometallic reaction where ligands are transferred from one species to another. In the case of the Suzuki coupling the ligands are transferred from the organoboron species D to the palladium(II) complex C where the base that was added in the prior step is exchanged with the R substituent on the organoboron species to give the new palladium(II) complex E. The exact mechanism of transmetalation for the Suzuki coupling remains to be discovered. The organoboron compounds do not undergo transmetalation in the absence of base and it is therefore widely believed that the role of the base is to activate the organoboron compound as well as facilitate the formation of R-Pd-O""Bu intermediate (C) from oxidative addition product R-Pd-X (B).


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The final step is the reductive elimination step where the palladium(II) complex (E) eliminates the product (3) and regenerates the palladium(0) catalyst(A). Using deuterium labelling, Ridgway "et al." have shown the reductive elimination proceeds with retention of stereochemistry.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The ligand plays an important role in the Suzuki reaction. Typically, the phosphine ligand is used in the Suzuki reaction. Phosphine ligand increases the electron density at the metal center of the complex and therefore helps in the oxidative addition step. In addition, the bulkiness of substitution of the phosphine ligand helps in the reductive elimination step. However, N-heterocyclic carbenes ligand has recently been used in this cross coupling, due to the instability of the phosphine ligand under Suzuki reaction conditions. N-Heterocyclic carbenes are more electron rich and more bulkier than the phosphine ligand. Therefore, both the steric and electronic factors of the N-heterocyclic carbene ligand help to stabilize active Pd(0) catalyst.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The advantages of Suzuki coupling over other similar reactions include availability of common boronic acids, mild reaction conditions, and its less toxic nature. Boronic acids are less toxic and safer for the environment than organotin and organozinc compounds. It is easy to remove the inorganic by-products from the reaction mixture. Further, this reaction is preferable because it uses relatively cheap and easily prepared reagents. Being able to use water as a solvent makes this reaction more economical, eco-friendly, and practical to use with a variety of water-soluble reagents. A wide variety of reagents can be used for the Suzuki coupling, e.g., aryl- or vinyl-boronic acids and aryl- or vinyl-halides. Work has also extended the scope of the reaction to incorporate alkyl bromides. In addition to many different type of halides being possible for the Suzuki coupling reaction, the reaction also works with pseudohalides such as triflates (OTf), as replacements for halides. The relative reactivity for the coupling partner with the halide or pseudohalide is: R–I > R–OTf > R–Br » R–Cl. Boronic esters and organotrifluoroborate salts may be used instead of boronic acids. The catalyst can also be a palladium nanomaterial-based catalyst. With a novel organophosphine ligand (SPhos), a catalyst loading of down to 0.001 mol% has been reported:. These advances and the overall flexibility of the process have made the Suzuki coupling widely accepted for chemical synthesis.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The Suzuki coupling reaction is scalable and cost-effective for use in the synthesis of intermediates for pharmaceuticals or fine chemicals. The Suzuki reaction was once limited by high levels of catalyst and the limited availability of boronic acids. Replacements for halides were also found, increasing the number of coupling partners for the halide or pseudohalide as well. Scaled up reactions have been carried out in the synthesis of a number of important biological compounds such as CI-1034 which used a triflate and boronic acid coupling partners which was run on an 80 kilogram scale with a 95% yield.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: Another example is the coupling of 3-pyridylborane and 1-bromo-3-(methylsulfonyl)benzene that formed an intermediate that was used in the synthesis of a potential central nervous system agent. The coupling reaction to form the intermediate produced (278 kilograms) in a 92.5% yield.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: Significant efforts have been put into the development of heterogeneous catalysts for the Suzuki CC reaction, motivated by the performance gains in the industrial process (eliminating the catalyst separation from the substrate), and recently a Pd single atom hetereogeneous catalyst has been shown to outperform the industry default homogeneous Pd(PPh) catalyst.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The Suzuki coupling has been frequently used in syntheses of complex compounds. The Suzuki coupling has been used on a citronellal derivative for the synthesis of caparratriene, a natural product that is highly active against leukemia:


title: Suzuki reaction

text: Various catalytic uses of metals other than palladium (especially nickel) have been developed. The first nickel catalyzed cross-coupling reaction was reported by Percec and co-workers in 1995 using aryl mesylates and boronic acids. Even though a higher amount of nickel catalyst was needed for the reaction, around 5 mol %, nickel is not as expensive or as precious a metal as palladium. The nickel catalyzed Suzuki coupling reaction also allowed a number of compounds that did not work or worked worse for the palladium catalyzed system than the nickel-catalyzed system. The use of nickel catalysts has allowed for electrophiles that proved challenging for the original Suzuki coupling using palladium, including substrates such as phenols, aryl ethers, esters, phosphates, and fluorides.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: Investigation into the nickel catalyzed cross-coupling continued and increased the scope of the reaction after these first examples were shown and the research interest grew. Miyaura and Inada reported in 2000 that a cheaper nickel catalyst could be utilized for the cross-coupling, using triphenylphosphine (PPh) instead of the more expensive ligands previously used. However, the nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling still required high catalyst loadings (3-10%), required excess ligand (1-5 equivalents) and remained sensitive to air and moisture. Advancements by Han and co-workers have tried to address that problem by developing a method using low amounts of nickel catalyst (<1 mol%) and no additional equivalents of ligand.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: It was also reported by Wu and co-workers in 2011 that a highly active nickel catalyst for the cross-coupling of aryl chlorides could be used that only required 0.01-0.1 mol% of nickel catalyst. They also showed that the catalyst could be recycled up to six times with virtually no loss in catalytic activity. The catalyst was recyclable because it was a phosphine nickel nanoparticle catalyst (GDenP-Ni) that was made from dendrimers.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: Advantages and disadvantages apply to both the palladium and nickel-catalyzed Suzuki coupling reactions. Apart from Pd and Ni catalyst system, cheap and non-toxic metal sources like iron and copper have been used in Suzuki coupling reaction. The Bedford research group and the Nakamura research group have extensively worked on developing the methodology of iron catalyzed Suzuki coupling reaction. Ruthenium is another metal source that has been used in Suzuki coupling reaction.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: Nickel catalysis can construct C-C bonds from amides. Despite the inherently inert nature of amides as synthons, the following methodology can be used to prepare C-C bonds. The coupling procedure is mild and tolerant of myriad functional groups, including: amines, ketones, heterocycles, groups with acidic protons. This technique can also be used to prepare bioactive molecules and to unite heterocycles in controlled ways through shrewd sequential cross-couplings. A general review of the reaction scheme is given below.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The synthesis of the tubulin binding compound (antiproliferative agent) was carried out using trimethoxyamide and a heterocyclic pinacolatoboron coupling partner on a gram scale.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: Aryl boronic acids are comparatively cheaper than other organoboranes and a wide variety of aryl boronic acids are commercially available. Hence, it has been widely used in Suzuki reaction as an organoborane partner. Aryltrifluoroborate salts are another class of organoboranes that are frequently used because they are less prone to protodeboronation compared to aryl boronic acids. They are easy to synthesize and can be easily purified. Aryltrifluoroborate salts can be formed from boronic acids by the treatment with potassium hydrogen fluoride which can then be used in the Suzuki coupling reaction.


title: Suzuki reaction

text: The Suzuki coupling reaction is different from other coupling reactions in that it can be run in biphasic organic-water, water-only, or no solvent. This increased the scope of coupling reactions, as a variety of water-soluble bases, catalyst systems, and reagents could be used without concern over their solubility in organic solvent. Use of water as a solvent system is also attractive because of the economic and safety advantages. Frequently used in solvent systems for Suzuki coupling are toluene, THF, dioxane, and DMF. The most frequently used bases are KCO, KO"t"Bu, CsCO, KPO, NaOH, and NEt.


title: Henry Joost

text: Henry Joost (born October 30, 1982) is a German-born American filmmaker, whose work includes directing, with Ariel Schulman, the films "Catfish", "Paranormal Activity 3", "Paranormal Activity 4", "Nerve" and "Project Power". Henry is married to actress Sofia Black-D'Elia.


title: Henry Joost

text: In 2018, Joost co-directed the Netflix sci-fi superhero thriller film "Project Power" alongside Ariel Schulman from a screenplay by Mattson Tomlin. The film stars Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Dominique Fishback. It was released on August 14, 2020.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 in Ukraine on the Eastern Front of World War II. One of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a front.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Over four months, the eastern bank of the Dnieper was recovered from German forces by five of the Red Army's fronts, which conducted several assault river crossings to establish several lodgements on the western bank. Kiev was later liberated in the Battle of Kiev.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The 2,438 Red Army soldiers awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union were the highest number ever awarded the honour.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Following the Battle of Kursk, the Wehrmachts "Heer" and supporting "Luftwaffe" forces in the southern Soviet Union were on the defensive in the southern Ukraine. By mid-August, Adolf Hitler understood that the forthcoming Soviet offensive could not be contained on the open steppe and ordered construction of a series of fortifications along the line of the Dnieper river.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: On the Soviet side, Joseph Stalin was determined to launch a major offensive in Ukraine. The main thrust of the offensive was in a southwesterly direction; the northern flank being largely stabilized, the southern flank rested on the Sea of Azov.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The operation began on 26 August 1943. Divisions started to move on a 1,400-kilometer front that stretched between Smolensk and the Sea of Azov. Overall, the operation would be executed by 36 Combined Arms, four Tank and five Air Armies. 2,650,000 personnel were brought into the ranks for this massive operation. The operation would use 51,000 guns and mortars, 2,400 tanks and 2,850 planes.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The Dnieper is the third largest river in Europe, behind only the Volga and the Danube. In its lower part, its width can easily reach three kilometres, and being dammed in several places made it even larger. Moreover, its western shore—the one still to be retaken—was much higher and steeper than the eastern, complicating the offensive even further. In addition, the opposite shore was transformed into a vast complex of defenses and fortifications held by the "Wehrmacht".


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Faced with such a situation, the Soviet commanders had two options. The first would be to give themselves time to regroup their forces, find a weak point or two to exploit (not necessarily in the lower part of the Dnieper), stage a breakthrough and encircle the German defenders far in the rear, rendering the defence line unsupplied and next to useless (very much like the German Panzers bypassed the Maginot line in 1940). This option was supported by Marshal Zhukov and Deputy Chief of Staff Aleksei Antonov, who considered the substantial losses after the Battle of Kursk. The second option would be to stage a massive assault without waiting, and force the Dnieper on a broad front. This option left no additional time for the German defenders, but would lead to much larger casualties than would a successful deep operation breakthrough. This second option was backed by Stalin due to the concern that the German "scorched earth" policy might devastate this region if the Red Army did not advance fast enough.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Stavka (the Soviet high command) chose the second option. Instead of deep penetration and encirclement, the Soviet intended to make full use of partisan activities to intervene and disrupt Germany's supply route so that the Germans could not effectively send reinforcements or take away Soviet industrial facilities in the region. Stavka also paid high attention to the possible scorched earth activities of German forces with a view to preventing them by a rapid advance.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The assault was staged on a 300-kilometer front almost simultaneously. All available means of transport were to be used to transport the attackers to the opposite shore, including small fishing boats and improvised rafts of barrels and trees (like the one in the photograph). The preparation of the crossing equipment was further complicated by the German scorched earth strategy with the total destruction of all boats and raft building material in the area. The crucial issue would obviously be heavy equipment. Without it, the bridgeheads would not stand for long.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The order to construct the Dnieper defence complex, known as "Ostwall" or "Eastern Wall", was issued on 11 August 1943 and began to be immediately executed.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Fortifications were erected along the length of the Dnieper. However, there was no hope of completing such an extensive defensive line in the short time available. Therefore, the completion of the "Eastern Wall" was not uniform in its density and depth of fortifications. Instead, they were concentrated in areas where a Soviet assault-crossing were most likely to be attempted, such as near Kremenchuk, Zaporizhia and Nikopol.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Additionally, on 7 September 1943, the SS forces and the Wehrmacht received orders to implement a scorched earth policy, by stripping the areas they had to abandon of anything that could be used by the Soviet war effort.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Despite a great superiority in numbers, the offensive was by no means easy. German opposition was ferocious and the fighting raged for every town and city. The "Wehrmacht" made extensive use of rear guards, leaving some troops in each city and on each hill, slowing the Soviet offensive.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Three weeks after the start of the offensive, and despite heavy losses on the Soviet side, it became clear that the Germans could not hope to contain the Soviet offensive in the flat, open terrain of the steppes, where the Red Army's numerical strength would prevail. Manstein asked for as many as 12 new divisions in the hope of containing the Soviet offensive – but German reserves were perilously thin.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: On 15 September 1943, Hitler ordered Army Group South to retreat to the Dnieper defence line. The battle for Poltava was especially bitter. The city was heavily fortified and its garrison well prepared. After a few inconclusive days that greatly slowed down the Soviet offensive, Marshal Konev decided to bypass the city and rush towards the Dnieper. After two days of violent urban warfare, the Poltava garrison was overcome. Towards the end of September 1943, Soviet forces reached the lower part of the Dnieper.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Stavka detached the Central Front's 3rd Tank Army to the Voronezh Front to race the weakening Germans to the Dnieper, to save the wheat crop from the German scorched earth policy, and to achieve strategic or operational river bridgeheads before a German defence could stabilize there. The 3rd Tank Army, plunging headlong, reached the river on the night of 21–22 September and, on the 23rd, Soviet infantry forces crossed by swimming and by using makeshift rafts to secure small, fragile bridgeheads, opposed only by 120 German Cherkassy flak academy NCO candidates and the hard-pressed 19th Panzer Division Reconnaissance Battalion. Those forces were the only Germans within 60 km of the Dnieper loop. Only a heavy German air attack and a lack of bridging equipment kept Soviet heavy weaponry from crossing and expanding the bridgehead.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The Soviets, sensing a critical juncture, ordered a hasty airborne corps assault to increase the size of the bridgehead before the Germans could counterattack. On the 21st, the Voronezh Front's 1st, 3rd and 5th Guards Airborne Brigades got the urgent call to secure, on the 23rd, a bridgehead perimeter 15 to 20 km wide and 30 km deep on the Dnieper loop between Kaniv and Rzhishchev, while Front elements forced the river.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The arrival of personnel at the airfields was slow, necessitating, on the 23rd, a one-day delay and omission of 1st Brigade from the plan; consequent mission changes caused near chaos in command channels. Mission change orders finally got down to company commanders, on the 24th, just 15 minutes before their units, not yet provisioned with spades, anti-tank mines, or ponchos for the autumn night frosts, assembled on airfields. Owing to the weather, not all assigned aircraft had arrived at airfields on time (if at all). Further, most flight safety officers disallowed maximum loading of their aircraft. Given fewer aircraft (and lower than expected capacities), the master loading plan, ruined, was abandoned. Many radios and supplies got left behind. In the best case, it would take three lifts to deliver the two brigades. Units (still arriving by the over-taxed rail system), were loaded piecemeal onto returned aircraft, which were slow to refuel owing to the less-than-expected capacities of fuel trucks. Meanwhile, already-arrived troops changed planes, seeking earlier flights. Urgency and the fuel shortage prevented aerial assembly aloft. Most aircraft, as soon as they were loaded and fueled, flew in single file, instead of line abreast, to the dropping points. Assault waves became as intermingled as the units they carried.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: As corps elements made their flights, troops (half of whom had never jumped, except from training towers) were briefed on drop zones, assembly areas and objectives only poorly understood by platoon commanders still studying new orders. Meanwhile, Soviet aerial photography, suspended for several days by bad weather, had missed the strong reinforcement of the area, early that afternoon. Non-combat cargo pilots ferrying 3rd Brigade through drizzle expected no resistance beyond river pickets but, instead, were met by anti-aircraft fire and starshells from the 19th Panzer Division (only coincidentally transiting the drop zone, and just one of six divisions and other formations ordered, on the 21st, to fill the gap in front of the 3rd Tank Army). Lead aircraft, disgorging paratroopers over Dubari at 1930h, came under fire from elements of the 73rd Panzer Grenadier Regiment and division staff of 19th Panzer Division. Some paratroops began returning fire and throwing grenades even before landing; trailing aircraft accelerated, climbed and evaded, dropping wide. Through the night, some pilots avoided starshell-lit drop points entirely, and 13 aircraft returned to airfields without having dropped at all. Intending a 10 by 14 km drop over largely undefended terrain, the Soviets instead achieved a 30 by 90 km drop over the fastest mobile elements of two German corps.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: On the ground, the Germans used white parachutes as beacons to hunt down and kill disorganized groups and to gather and destroy airdropped supplies. Supply bonfires, glowing embers, and multi-color starshells illuminated the battlefield. Captured documents gave the Germans enough knowledge of Soviet objectives to arrive at most of them before the disorganized paratroops.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Back at the Soviet airfields, the fuel shortage allowed only 298 of 500 planned sorties, leaving corps anti-tank guns and 2,017 paratroops undelivered. Of 4,575 men dropped (seventy percent of the planned number, and just 1,525 from 5th Brigade), some 2,300 eventually assembled into 43 ad hoc groups, with missions abandoned as hopeless, and spent most of their time seeking supplies not yet destroyed by the Germans. Others joined with the nine partisan groups operating in the area. About 230 made it over (or out of) the Dnieper to Front units (or were originally dropped there). Most of the rest were almost casually captured that first night or killed the next day (although, on that first night, the 3rd Co, 73rd Panzer Grenadier Regiment, suffered heavy losses while annihilating about 150 paratroopers near Grushevo, some 3 km west of Dubari).


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The Germans underestimated that 1,500 to 2,000 had dropped; they recorded 901 paratroops captured and killed in the first 24 hours. Thereafter, they largely ignored the Soviet paratroopers, to counterattack and truncate the Dnieper bridgeheads. The Germans deemed their anti-paratrooper operations completed by the 26th, although a modicum of opportunistic actions against garrisons, rail lines, and columns were conducted by remnants up to early November. For a lack of manpower to clear all areas, forests of the region would remain a minor threat.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The Germans called the operation a fundamentally sound idea ruined by the dilettantism of planners lacking expert knowledge (but praised individual paratroops for their tenacity, bayonet skills and deft use of broken ground in the sparsely wooded northern region). Stavka deemed this second (and, ultimately, last) corps drop a complete failure; lessons they knew they had already learned from their winter offensive corps drop at Viazma had not stuck. They would never trust themselves to try it again.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Soviet 5th Guards Airborne Brigade commander Sidorchuk, withdrawing to the forests south, eventually amassed a brigade-size command, half paratroops, half partisans; he obtained air supply, and assisted the 2nd Ukrainian Front over the Dnieper near Cherkassy to finally link up with Front forces on 15 November. After 13 more days combat, the airborne element was evacuated, ending a harrowing two months. More than sixty percent never returned.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The first bridgehead on the Dnieper's western shore was established on 22 September 1943 at the confluence of the Dnieper and Pripyat rivers, in the northern part of the front. On 24 September, another bridgehead was created near Dniprodzerzhynsk, another on 25 September near Dnipropetrovsk and yet another on 28 September near Kremenchuk. By the end of the month, 23 bridgeheads were created on the western side, some of them 10 kilometers wide and 1–2 kilometres deep.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The crossing of the Dnieper was extremely difficult. Soldiers used every available floating device to cross the river, under heavy German fire and taking heavy losses. Once across, Soviet troops had to dig themselves into the clay ravines composing the Dnieper's western bank.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: German troops soon launched heavy counterattacks on almost every bridgehead, hoping to annihilate them before heavy equipment could be transported across the river.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: For instance, the Borodaevsk lodgement, mentioned by Marshal Konev in his memoirs, came under heavy armored attack and air assault. Bombers attacked both the lodgement and the reinforcements crossing the river. Konev complained at once about a lack of organization of Soviet air support, set up air patrols to prevent bombers from approaching the lodgements and ordered forward more artillery to counter tank attacks from the opposite shore. When Soviet aviation became more organized and hundreds of guns and Katyusha rocket launchers began firing, the situation started to improve and the bridgehead was eventually preserved.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Such battles were commonplace on every lodgement. Although all the lodgements were held, losses were terrible – at the beginning of October, most divisions were at only 25 to 50% of their nominal strength.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: By mid-October, the forces accumulated on the lower Dnieper bridgeheads were strong enough to stage a first massive attack to definitely secure the river's western shore in the southern part of the front. Therefore, a vigorous attack was staged on the Kremenchuk-Dnipropetrovsk line. Simultaneously, a major diversion was conducted in the south to draw German forces away both from the Lower Dnieper and from Kiev.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: At the end of the offensive, Soviet forces controlled a bridgehead 300 kilometers wide and up to 80 kilometers deep in some places. In the south, the Crimea was now cut off from the rest of the German forces. Any hope of stopping the Red Army on the Dnieper's east bank was lost.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The Battle of the Dnieper was another defeat for the "Wehrmacht" that required it to restabilize the front further West. The Red Army, which Hitler hoped to contain at the Dnieper, forced the "Wehrmacht"s defences. Kyiv was recaptured and German troops lacked the forces to annihilate Soviet troops on the Lower Dnieper bridgeheads. The west bank was still in German hands for the most part, but both sides knew that it would not last for long.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Additionally, the Battle of the Dnieper demonstrated the strength of the Soviet partisan movement. The "rail war" operation staged during September and October 1943 struck German logistics very hard, creating heavy supply issues.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: Incidentally, between 28 November and 1 December 1943 the Tehran conference was held between Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Stalin. The Battle of the Dnieper, along with other major offensives staged in 1943, certainly gave Stalin a dominant position for negotiating with his Allies.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: The Soviet success during this battle created the conditions for the follow-up Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive on the right-bank Ukraine, which was launched on 24 December 1943 from a bridgehead west of Kiev that was secured during this battle. The offensive brought the Red Army from the Dnieper all the way to Galicia (Poland), Carpathian Mountains and Romania, with Army Group South being split into two parts- north and south of Carpathians.


title: Battle of the Dnieper

text: From a Soviet operational point of view, the battle was broken down into a number of different phases and offensives.


title: Triple deity

text: A triple deity is a deity with three apparent forms that function as a singular whole. Such deities may sometimes be referred to as threefold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune, triadic, or as a trinity. The number three has a long history of mythical associations and triple deities are common throughout world mythology. Carl Jung considered the arrangement of deities into triplets an archetype in the history of religion.


title: Triple deity

text: In classical religious iconography or mythological art, three separate beings may represent either a triad who typically appear as a group (the Greek Moirai, Charites, and Erinyes; the Norse Norns; or the Irish Morrígan) or a single deity notable for having three aspects (Greek Hecate, Roman Diana).