title: Viagogo

text: In early 2011, Viagogo sold personalised tickets for Take That's 2011 "Progress" tour to German customers. Some people were not able to enter the concerts in Hamburg and Munich. A German court banned Viagogo from claiming that the validity of the Take That tickets is “100% guaranteed”.


title: Viagogo

text: They were involved in a legal battle with the UK Rugby Football Union (RFU) after they sold tickets which the RFU had forbidden from being resold for profit. Viagogo lost the initial trial and an appeal in the lower courts in December 2011, resulting in the issuing of a Norwich Pharmacal order.


title: Viagogo

text: In August 2017, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission launched legal action against Viagogo with "allegations it made false or misleading representations, and engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct by failing to disclose substantial fees included in the price of tickets."


title: Viagogo

text: In August 2018, New Zealand's Commerce Commission sued Viagogo after it sold non-existent tickets for a Bruno Mars concert for NZ$700.


title: Viagogo

text: On 27 November 2018, the UK Competition & Markets Authority stated that Viagogo had, effective 17 January 2019, agreed to perform a "comprehensive overhaul" of its services in order to improve their transparency, and strengthen the guarantees it provides to consumers. Among other changes Viagogo agreed to list the identity of the seller and whether they are a professional trader (defined as performing more than 100 sales in a year), as well as seat numbers and the original face value of the ticket, and any risk that the ticketholder may be turned away due to resale restrictions. In addition, the company was required to cease using misleading indications of how many seats remain for an event, and not to advertise ticket sales for events whose ticketing policies restrict resale.


title: Viagogo

text: The company is the only ticket resale site to have refused to work with Ed Sheeran to prevent ticket touts reselling tickets for his tours.


title: Viagogo

text: In May 2018, the UK's Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Margot James, told BBC Radio 5 Live listeners planning to buy from secondary ticket sites, "don't choose Viagogo - they are the worst". She gave this advice after the Advertising Standards Authority asked National Trading Standards to investigate Viagogo's alleged breaches of UK advertising rules about making any additional fees clear. Viagogo is no longer under investigation by trading standards after complying with the ASA ruling.


title: Viagogo

text: In August 2018, the UK Competition & Markets Authority confirmed it would be seeking court action against Viagogo following concerns that it is breaching consumer protection law.


title: Viagogo

text: In July 2019, the UK Competition and Marketing Authority began legal proceedings against Viagogo for contempt of court as a result of the company ignoring repeated warnings to comply with consumer law.


title: Viagogo

text: In October 2020, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission fined Viagogo AU$7 million for misleading consumers, stating that they were an "official" seller of tickets to particular events, that certain tickets were scarce and for failing to disclose a 27.6% booking fee until late into the booking process.


title: Viagogo

text: In 2021, complaints were received by the agency WellingtonNZ concerning Viagogo overpricing tickets to the musical Jersey Boys and the art event Van Gogh Alive. As at February 2021 the New Zealand Commerce Commission is continuing to pursue legal action against Viagogo for false representations about ticket prices, their scarcity and the validity of tickets sold.


title: County of Anjou

text: The County of Anjou (, ; ; ) was a small French county that was the predecessor to the better-known Duchy of Anjou. Its capital was Angers, and its area was roughly co-extensive with the diocese of Angers. Anjou was bordered by Brittany to the west, Maine to the north, Touraine to the east and Poitou to the south. The adjectival form is Angevin, and inhabitants of Anjou are known as Angevins. In 1360, the county was raised into the Duchy of Anjou within the Kingdom of France. This duchy was later absorbed into the French royal domain in 1482 and remained a province of the kingdom until 1790.


title: County of Anjou

text: Anjou's political origin is traced to the ancient Gallic state of the "Andes". After the conquest by Julius Caesar, the area was organized around the Roman "civitas" of the "Andecavi".


title: County of Anjou

text: The Roman civitas was afterward preserved as an administrative district under the Franks with the name first of "pagus"—then of "comitatus" or countship—of Anjou.


title: County of Anjou

text: At the beginning of the reign of Charles the Bald, the integrity of Anjou was seriously menaced by a twofold danger: from Brittany to the west and from Normandy to the north. Lambert, a former count of Nantes, devastated Anjou in concert with Nominoé, duke of Brittany. By the end of the year 851, he had succeeded in occupying all the western part as far as the Mayenne. The principality which he thus carved out for himself was occupied on his death by Erispoé, duke of Brittany. By him, it was handed down to his successors, in whose hands it remained until the beginning of the 10th century. The Normans raided the country continuously as well.


title: County of Anjou

text: A brave man was needed to defend it. The chroniclers of Anjou named a "Tertullus" as the first count, elevated from obscurity by Charles the Bald. A figure by that name seems to have been the father of the later count Ingelger but his dynasty seems to have been preceded by Robert the Strong, who was given Anjou by Charles the Bald around 861. Robert met his death in 866 in a battle at Brissarthe against the Normans. Hugh the Abbot succeeded him in the countship of Anjou as in most of his other duties; on his death in 886, it passed to Odo, Robert's eldest son.


title: County of Anjou

text: Odo acceded to the throne of France in 888, but he seems to have already delegated the country between the Maine and the Mayenne to Ingelger as a viscount or count around 870, possibly owing to the connections of his wife Adelais of Amboise. Their son Fulk the Red succeeded to his father's holdings in 888, is mentioned as a viscount after 898, and seems to have been granted or usurped the title of count by the second quarter of the 10th century. His descendants continued to bear that rank for three centuries. He was succeeded by his son Fulk II the Good, author of the proverb that an unlettered king is a wise ass, in 938. He was succeeded in turn by his son Geoffrey I "Grisegonelle" ("Greytunic") around 958.


title: County of Anjou

text: Geoffrey inaugurated a policy of expansion, having as its objects the extension of the boundaries of the ancient countship and the reconquest of those parts of it which had been annexed by other states; for, though western Anjou had been recovered from the dukes of Brittany since the beginning of the 10th century, in the east all the district of Saumur had already by that time fallen into the hands of the counts of Blois and Tours. Geoffrey Greytunic succeeded in making the Count of Nantes his vassal and in obtaining from the Duke of Aquitaine the concession in fief of the district of Loudun. Moreover, in the wars of King Lothaire against the Normans and against the emperor Otto II, he distinguished himself by feats of arms which the epic poets were quick to celebrate.


title: County of Anjou

text: Geoffrey's son Fulk III Nerra ("the Black"; 21 July 98721 June 1040) gained fame both as a warrior and for the pilgrimages he undertook to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to atone for his deeds. He found himself confronted on his accession with a coalition of Odo I, count of Blois, and Conan I of Rennes. The latter having seized upon Nantes, of which the counts of Anjou held themselves to be suzerains, Fulk Nerra came and laid siege to it, routing Conan's army at the battle of Conquereuil (27 June 992) and re-establishing Nantes under his own suzerainty. Then turning his attention to the count of Blois, he proceeded to establish a fortress at Langeais, a few miles from Tours, from which, thanks to the intervention of the king Hugh Capet, Odo failed to oust him.


title: County of Anjou

text: On the death of Odo I, Fulk seized Tours (996); but King Robert the Pious turned against him and took the town again (997). In 997 Fulk took the fortress of Montsoreau. In 1016 a fresh struggle arose between Fulk and Odo II, the new count of Blois. Odo II was utterly defeated at Pontlevoy (6 July 1016), and a few years later, while Odo was besieging Montboyau, Fulk surprised and took Saumur (1026).


title: County of Anjou

text: Finally, the victory gained by Geoffrey Martel (21 June 104014 November 1060), the son and successor of Fulk, over Theobald III, count of Blois, at Nouy (21 August 1044), assured to the Angevins the possession of the countship of Touraine. At the same time, continuing in this quarter also the work of his father (who in 1025 took prisoner Herbert Wakedog and only set him free on condition of his doing him homage), Geoffrey succeeded in reducing the countship of Maine to complete dependence on himself. During his father's life-time he had been beaten by Gervais de Château-du-Loir, bishop of Le Mans (1038), but later (1047 or 1048) succeeded in taking the latter prisoner, for which he was excommunicated by Pope Leo IX at the council of Reims (October 1049). He was a vigorous opponent of William the Bastard, when the latter was still merely the duke of Normandy. Despite concerted attacks from William and from King Henry, he was able to force Maine to recognize his authority in 1051. He failed, however, in his attempts to revenge himself on William.


title: County of Anjou

text: On the death of Geoffrey Martel (14 November 1060), there was a dispute as to the succession. Geoffrey Martel, having no children, had bequeathed the countship to his eldest nephew, Geoffrey III the Bearded, son of Geoffrey, count of Gâtinais and of Ermengarde, daughter of Fulk Nerra. But Fulk le Réchin (the Cross-looking), brother of Geoffrey the Bearded, who had at first been contented with an appanage consisting of Saintonge and the "châtellenie" of Vihiers, having allowed Saintonge to be taken in 1062 by the duke of Aquitaine, took advantage of the general discontent aroused in the countship by the unskilful policy of Geoffrey to make himself master of Saumur (25 February 1067) and Angers (4 April), and cast Geoffrey into prison at Sablé. Compelled by the papal authority to release him after a short interval and to restore the countship to him, he soon renewed the struggle, beat Geoffrey near Brissac and shut him up in the castle of Chinon (1068). In order, however, to obtain his recognition as count, Fulk IV Réchin (106814 April 1109) had to carry on a long struggle with his barons, to cede Gâtinais to King Philip I, and to do homage to the count of Blois for Touraine. On the other hand, he was successful on the whole in pursuing the policy of Geoffrey Martel in Maine: after destroying La Flèche, by the peace of Blanchelande (1081), he received the homage of Robert Curthose ("Courteheuse"), son of William the Conqueror, for Maine. Later, he upheld Elias, lord of La Flèche, against William Rufus, king of England, and on the recognition of Elias as count of Maine in 1100, obtained for Fulk V the Young, his son by Bertrade de Montfort, the hand of Ermengarde, Elias's daughter and sole heiress.In 1101 Gautier I count of Montsoreau gave the land to Robert of Arbrissel and Hersende of Champagne his mother in law to found the Abbey of Fontevraud.


title: County of Anjou

text: Fulk V the Young (14 April 11091129) succeeded to the countship of Maine on the death of Elias (11 July 1110); but this increase of Angevin territory came into such direct collision with the interests of Henry I of England, who was also duke of Normandy, that a struggle between the two powers became inevitable. In 1112 it broke out, and Fulk, being unable to prevent Henry I from taking Alençon and making Robert, lord of Bellême, prisoner, was forced, at the treaty of Pierre Pecoulée, near Alençon (23 February 1113), to do homage to Henry for Maine. In revenge for this, while Louis VI was overrunning the Vexin in 1118, he routed Henry's army at Alençon (November), and in May 1119 Henry demanded a peace, which was sealed in June by the marriage of his eldest son, William the Aetheling, with Matilda, Fulk's daughter. William the Aetheling having perished in the wreck of the "White Ship" (25 November 1120), Fulk, on his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (1120–1121), married his second daughter Sibyl, at the instigation of Louis VI, to William Clito, son of Robert Curthose, and a claimant to the duchy of Normandy, giving her Maine for a dowry (1122 or 1123). Henry I managed to have the marriage annulled, on the plea of kinship between the parties (1123 or 1124). But in 1127 a new alliance was made, and on 22 May at Rouen, Henry I betrothed his daughter Matilda, widow of the emperor Henry V, to Geoffrey the Handsome, son of Fulk, the marriage being celebrated at Le Mans on 2 June 1129. Shortly after, on the invitation of Baldwin II of Jerusalem, Fulk departed to the Holy Land for good, married Melisinda, Baldwin's daughter and heiress, and succeeded to the throne of Jerusalem (14 September 1131). His eldest son, Geoffrey V the Handsome or "Plantagenet", succeeded him as count of Anjou (11297 September 1151).


title: County of Anjou

text: From the outset, Geoffrey Plantagenet tried to profit by his marriage and, after the death of his father-in-law Henry I (1 December 1135), laid the foundation of the conquest of Normandy by a series of campaigns: about the end of 1135 or the beginning of 1136, he entered that country and rejoined his wife, the Empress Matilda, who had received the submission of Argentan, Domfront and Exmes. Having been abruptly recalled into Anjou by a revolt of his barons, he returned to the charge in September 1136 with a strong army, including in its ranks William, duke of Aquitaine, , and William Talvas, count of Ponthieu. After a few successes he was wounded in the foot at the Siege of Le Sap (1 October) and had to fall back.


title: County of Anjou

text: May 1137 began a fresh campaign in which he devastated the district of Hiémois (near Exmes) and burnt Bazoches. In June 1138, with the aid of Robert of Gloucester, Geoffrey obtained the submission of Bayeux and Caen; in October he devastated the neighbourhood of Falaise; and finally, in March 1141, on hearing of his wife's success in England, he again entered Normandy, when he made a triumphal procession through the country. Town after town surrendered: in 1141, Verneuil, Nonancourt, Lisieux, Falaise; in 1142, Mortain, Saint-Hilaire, Pontorson; in 1143, Avranches, Saint-Lô, Cérences, Coutances, Cherbourg; in the beginning of 1144 he entered Rouen, and on 19 January received the ducal crown in its cathedral. Finally, in 1149, after crushing a last attempt at revolt, he handed over the duchy to his son Henry Curtmantle, who received the investiture at the hands of the king of France.


title: County of Anjou

text: All the while that Fulk the Younger and Geoffrey the Handsome were carrying on the work of extending the countship of Anjou, they did not neglect to strengthen their authority at home, to which the unruliness of the barons was a menace. As regards Fulk the Young, we know only a few isolated facts and dates: about 1109 Doué and L'Île Bouchard were taken; in 1112 Brissac was besieged, and about the same time Eschivard of Preuilly subdued. In 1114 there was a general war against the barons who were in revolt; and in 1118 a fresh rising, which was put down after the siege of Montbazon: in 1123 the lord of Doué revolted, and in 1124 Montreuil-Bellay was taken after a siege of nine weeks. Geoffrey the Handsome, with his indefatigable energy, was eminently fitted to suppress the coalitions of his vassals, the most formidable of which was formed in 1129. Among those who revolted were , Giraud II of Montreuil-Bellay, the viscount of Thouars, the lords of Mirebeau, Amboise, Parthenay and Sablé. Geoffrey succeeded in beating them one after another, razed the keep of Thouars and occupied Mirebeau.


title: County of Anjou

text: Another rising was crushed in 1134 by the destruction of Cand and the taking of L'Île Bouchard. In 1136, while the count was in Normandy, put himself at the head of the movement, to which Geoffrey responded by destroying Briollay and occupying La Suze; and Robert of Sablé himself was forced to beg humbly for pardon through the intercession of the bishop of Angers. In 1139 Geoffrey took Mirebeau, and in 1142 Champtoceaux, but in 1145 a new revolt broke out, this time under the leadership of Elias, the count's own brother, who, again with the assistance of Robert of Sablé, laid claim to the countship of Maine. Geoffrey took Elias prisoner, forced Robert of Sablé to beat a retreat, and reduced the other barons to reason. In 1147 he destroyed Doué and Blaison. Finally in 1150 he was checked by the revolt of Giraud, Lord of Montreuil-Bellay; for a year he besieged the place until it had to surrender, and he then took Giraud prisoner and only released him on the mediation of the king of France.


title: County of Anjou

text: Thus, on the death of Geoffrey the Handsome (7 September 1151), his son Henry found himself heir to a great empire, strong and consolidated, and to which his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine (May 1152) further added Aquitaine.


title: County of Anjou

text: At length on the death of King Stephen, Henry was recognised as King of England (19 December 1154), as agreed in the Treaty of Wallingford. But then his brother Geoffrey, Count of Nantes, who had received as appanage the three fortresses of Chinon, Loudun and Mirebeau, tried to seize upon Anjou, on the pretext that, by the will of their father, Geoffrey the Handsome, all the paternal inheritance ought to descend to him, if Henry succeeded in obtaining possession of the maternal inheritance. On hearing of this, Henry, although he had sworn to observe this will, had himself released from his oath by the pope, and hurriedly marched against his brother, from whom in the beginning of 1156 he succeeded in taking Chinon and Mirebeau; and in July he forced Geoffrey to give up even his three fortresses in return for an annual pension. Henceforward Henry succeeded in keeping the countship of Anjou all his life; for though he granted it in 1168 to his son Henry the Young King when the latter became old enough to govern it, he absolutely refused to allow him to enjoy his power. After Henry II's death in 1189 the countship, together with the rest of his dominions, passed to his son Richard I of England, but on the death of the latter in 1199, Arthur of Brittany (born in 1187) laid claim to the inheritance, which ought, according to him, to have fallen to his father Geoffrey, fourth son of Henry II, in accordance with the custom by which "the son of the eldest brother should succeed to his father's patrimony." He therefore set himself up in rivalry with John Lackland, youngest son of Henry II, and supported by Philip Augustus of France, and aided by William des Roches, seneschal of Anjou, he managed to enter Angers (18 April 1199) and there have himself recognized as count of the three countships of Anjou, Maine and Touraine, for which he did homage to the King of France. King John soon regained the upper hand, for Philip Augustus, had deserted Arthur by the Treaty of Le Goulet (22 May 1200), and John made his way into Anjou; and on 18 June 1200 was recognized as count at Angers. In 1202 he refused to do homage to Philip Augustus, who, in consequence, confiscated all his continental possessions, including Anjou, which was allotted by the king of France to Arthur. The defeat of the latter, who was taken prisoner at Mirebeau on 1 August 1202, seemed to ensure John's success, but he was abandoned by William des Roches, who in 1203 assisted Philip Augustus in subduing the whole of Anjou. A last effort on the part of John to possess it himself in 1214, led to the taking of Angers (17 June), but broke down lamentably at the Battle of La Roche-aux-Moines (2 July), and the countship was attached to the crown of France.


title: County of Anjou

text: Shortly afterwards it was separated from it again, when in August 1246 King Louis IX gave it as an appanage to his brother Charles, Count of Provence, soon to become king of Naples and Sicily. Charles I of Anjou, engrossed with his other dominions, gave little thought to Anjou, nor did his son Charles II, the Lame, who succeeded him on 7 January 1285. On 16 August 1290, the latter married his daughter Margaret, Countess of Anjou to Charles of Valois, son of Philip III the Bold, giving her Anjou and Maine for dowry, in exchange for Charles of Valois's claims to the kingdoms of Aragon and Valentia and the countship of Barcelona. Charles of Valois at once entered into possession of the countship of Anjou, to which Philip IV, the Fair, in September 1297, attached a peerage of France. On 16 December 1325, Charles died, leaving Anjou to his eldest son Philip of Valois, on whose recognition as King of France (Philip VI) on 1 April 1328, the countship of Anjou was again united to the crown.


title: County of Anjou

text: At first Anjou was included in the "gouvernement" (or military command) of Orléanais, but in the 17th century was made into a separate one. Saumur, however, and the Saumurois, for which King Henry IV had in 1589 created an independent military governor-generalship in favour of Duplessis-Mornay, continued till the Revolution to form a separate "gouvernement", which included, besides Anjou, portions of Poitou and Mirebalais. Attached to the "généralité" (administrative circumscription) of Tours, Anjou on the eve of the Revolution comprised five "êlections" (judicial districts):--Angers, Baugé, Saumur, Château-Gontier, Montreuil-Bellay and part of the "êlections" of La Flèche and Richelieu. Financially it formed part of the so-called "pays de grande gabelle", and comprised sixteen special tribunals, or "greniers à sel" (salt warehouses):--Angers, Baugé, Beaufort, Bourgueil, Candé, Château-Gontier, Cholet, Craon, La Flèche, Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, Ingrandes, Le Lude, Pouancé, Saint-Rémy-la-Varenne, Richelieu, Saumur. From the point of view of purely judicial administration, Anjou was subject to the parlement of Paris; Angers was the seat of a presidial court, of which the jurisdiction comprised the "sénéchaussées" of Angers, Saumur, Beaugé, Beaufort and the duchy of Richelieu; there were besides presidial courts at Château-Gontier and La Flèche. When the Constituent Assembly, on 26 February 1790, decreed the division of France into départments, Anjou and the Saumurois, with the exception of certain territories, formed the départment of Maine-et-Loire, as at present constituted.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Ezra Isaac Levant (born February 20, 1972) is a Canadian conservative media personality, political activist, writer, broadcaster, and former lawyer. Levant is the founder and former publisher of the conservative magazine, The" Western Standard". He is also the co-founder, owner, and CEO of the far-right media website "Rebel News". Levant has also worked as a columnist for Sun Media, and he hosted a daily program on the Sun News Network from the channel's inception in 2011 until its demise in 2015.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant rose to prominence in 2006 after publishing the "Jyllands-Posten" Muhammad cartoons in The "Western Standard", which led to a protracted legal battle with the Alberta Human Rights Commission regarding hate speech legislation and freedom of speech. The complaint against Levant was ultimately withdrawn. In February 2015, Levant co-founded "Rebel News" with Brian Lilley; Lilley later left "Rebel News", citing lack of editorial standards. Under Levant, "Rebel News" has been accused of being a platform for the anti-Islamic ideology known as counter-jihad.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant self-identifies as a libertarian conservative; however, he has also been identified as belonging to the Canadian far right. He is a prominent supporter of the Canadian petroleum industry and fracking. Levant has been successfully sued for libel on multiple occasions, while apologies and retractions were issued by him or on his behalf on numerous other occasions.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Calgary, Alberta. He holds a commerce degree from the University of Calgary and a law degree from the University of Alberta. His great-grandfather emigrated to Canada in 1903 from Russia to establish a homestead near Drumheller, Alberta. Levant grew up in a suburb of Calgary. He attended the Calgary Hebrew School in his childhood before transferring to a public junior high school.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant campaigned for the Reform Party of Canada as a teenager and joined it as a university student. From 1990 to 1993, while at the University of Calgary, his two-person team won the "best debating" category in the Inter-Collegiate Business Competition held at Queen's University. The first two of those years, his debate partner was future Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi. He has subsequently accused Nenshi, who is Ismaili, of "anti-Christian bigotry" as mayor.


title: Ezra Levant

text: In 1994, he was featured in a article in "The Globe and Mail" on young conservatives after accusing the University of Alberta of racism for instituting an affirmative action program of hiring women and Indigenous professors. After his actions outraged Indigenous law students, feminists, and a number of professors, Levant was called to a meeting with the assistant dean who advised him of the university's non-academic code of conduct and defamation laws. As head of the university's speakers committee, Levant organized a debate between Doug Christie, a lawyer known for his advocacy in defence of Holocaust deniers and accused Nazi war criminals, and Thomas Kuttner, a Jewish lawyer from the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant was invited to write a guest column for the "Edmonton Journal" and interviewed on television. He spent the summer of 1994 in Washington, DC, in an internship arranged by the libertarian Koch Summer Fellow Program. In 1995 he worked for the Fraser Institute and wrote "Youthquake", which argued for smaller government, including privatization of the Canada Pension Plan. Levant saw "youthquake," the term he used to describe what he identified as a conservative youth movement of the 1990s, as similar to the 1960s civil rights movement. In his eyes, instead of being enslaved by racism, his generation was "enslaved by debt", and in order to liberate itself, society needed to dismantle elements such as trade unions, the minimum wage, universal health care, subsidized tuition, and public pension plans.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant was called to the Bar in 2000 and began practising law, working in a law firm for less than two years, but ceased his practice around 2003 in order to pursue interests in politics and the media. Though a non-practising lawyer, he maintained his membership in the Law Society of Alberta until 2016 when he resigned. Levant had been the subject of 26 complaints to the Law Society since 2004 as a result of his public statements and political activities. 24 of the complaints were dismissed and the final two were pending when he resigned.


title: Ezra Levant

text: In 2004, Levant co-founded the "Western Standard", an Alberta-based magazine with an emphasis on Western Canada and political conservatism. In October 2007, the magazine ceased publication of its print edition after failing to become profitable, becoming an online magazine. Levant later sold the publication's remaining assets to Matthew Johnson, the former legislative aide to Rahim Jaffer.


title: Ezra Levant

text: On February 13, 2006, the "Western Standard" published the "Jyllands-Posten" Muhammad cartoons depicting unflattering images of Muhammad. Syed Soharwardy, a Calgary Imam and president of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, complained about the publication to the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission.


title: Ezra Levant

text: On December 21, 2007, Soharwardy withdrew his complaint against the magazine when Johnston apologized directly and publicly to Soharwardy and Canada's Muslim community for publishing the cartoons.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant refused to apologize and a hearing was scheduled for January 2008. On the day of the hearing, Levant republished the cartoons on his personal website. At the request of Levant and his lawyers, Levant was allowed to videotape his interview with Shirlene McGovern, a human rights investigator with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. Levant later posted the videos on YouTube.


title: Ezra Levant

text: On February 15, 2008, Soharwardy announced he was withdrawing his complaint against Levant. He said in a guest column for The Globe and Mail that publishing the cartoons "was irresponsible and was intended to cause strife," but acknowledged their publication "may not fall outside the limits of free speech." In August 2008, the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission dismissed a similar complaint against Levant made by the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant described his experience with the Alberta Human Rights Commission in his 2009 book, "Shakedown". In 2011, "Shakedown" was selected as Writers' Trust and Samara's "Best Canadian Political Book of the Last 25 Years" based on popular vote. Levant's battle with the Alberta Human Rights Commission has been cited as having contributed to the 2012 repeal of Section 13 of the "Canadian Human Rights Act".


title: Ezra Levant

text: In a January 2015 interview with Maclean's that was done shortly after the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris, Levant defended publishing the cartoons. He also criticized other media outlets for refusing to publish the cartoons or the material at Charlie Hebdo.


title: Ezra Levant

text: From 2009 until 2010, Levant worked as a lobbyist for Rothman's Incorporated, a manufacturer and distributor of tobacco products, and for Achieve Energy Services Limited Partnership, part of the Alberta oil and gas industry.


title: Ezra Levant

text: In March 2010, Levant accompanied fellow conservative personality Ann Coulter on a Canadian speaking tour. Her speech at the University of Ottawa was canceled at the last minute, apparently by its organizers, because of what Levant claimed was "physical danger to Coulter and the audience" from protesters. The Ottawa Police later disputed any claims of unrest or violence.


title: Ezra Levant

text: In 2010, Levant published the book "Ethical Oil", which won the 2011 National Business Book Award. Levant's 2014 book, "Groundswell: The Case for Fracking", was a finalist for the 2015 National Business Book Award.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant wrote an irregular column for the "Calgary Sun" for ten years, until he was dropped in October 2007 because of "internal decisions." He continued to write occasional columns for the "National Post" on a freelance basis until 2010.


title: Ezra Levant

text: In 2010, Levant joined Sun Media as a columnist and was given an on-air position on its Sun News Network as host of "The Source", an evening talk show, when that channel launched in April 2011. In 2012, during his tenure at Sun News, Levant received Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. On February 13, 2015, Sun News Network was shut down, hence terminating "The Source." His column for QMI/Sun Media ended at the same time.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Following the closure of Sun News Network, on February 16, 2015 Levant launched "The Rebel" website as a corporate endeavour with a YouTube channel for videos produced by himself, Brian Lilley and other former Sun News Network personalities. Levant argued his online production would be unencumbered by the regulatory and distribution challenges faced by the Sun News Network. He also said lower production costs would make it more viable. A crowdfunding campaign raised $100,000 for the project.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Lilley quit the Rebel on 12 August 2017, following coverage of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia by Faith Goldy, who was later fired by Levant. Lilley said he had become uncomfortable with what he felt was an "increasingly harsh tone" when The Rebel discussed topics such as immigration or Islam. He also accused The Rebel of exhibiting a "lack of editorial and behavioural judgment that left unchecked will destroy it and those around it."


title: Ezra Levant

text: In 2017, The Rebel was repeatedly the object of controversy, including advertising boycott campaigns in Canada and the UK, the loss of several well-known contributors, and the cancellation under pressure of a planned Caribbean cruise featuring The Rebel personalities. As of February 20, 2022, The Rebel Media had more than 1.56 million subscribers on its YouTube channel.


title: Ezra Levant

text: In 1998, Levant wrote a Reform Party fundraising letter in which he criticized Alberta Progressive Conservative Senator Ron Ghitter. Ghitter sued for defamation and in 2000, Canadian Alliance MP Rob Anders and Levant admitted liability and issued a formal apology and undisclosed damages to settle the suit. The apology stated, "Our attack on Senator Ghitter was unfounded and we now admit having defamed Senator Ghitter. We further acknowledge that some of our statements were based on facts that were false."


title: Ezra Levant

text: In September 2010, Levant wrote a column for Sun Media accusing George Soros of funding avaaz.org, a group lobbying to stop Sun Media being granted a licence for Sun TV News Channel, and strongly attacking Soros's character and history by alleging that as a child he collaborated with the Nazis.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Soros threatened to sue Sun Media for libel and on September 18, Sun Media issued a retraction and apology to Soros.


title: Ezra Levant

text: On 18 November 2010 and 26 January 2011, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that Levant was to pay Giacomo Vigna, a Canadian Human Rights Commission lawyer, $25,000 and $32,500, respectively. "Levant accused Vigna of lying to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, tampering with evidence, and suggested he'd been fired," the "National Post" reports. Justice Robert Smith ruled that Levant 'spoke in reckless disregard of the truth and for an ulterior purpose of denormalizing the Human Rights Commission across Canada which makes his statements malicious in that sense.'" At the 2010 hearing, Levant was ordered to pay $25,000 to Vigna and to remove the libellous materials from his blog. At the subsequent hearing, Vigna argued for more compensation to cover his lawyers' fees which were $26,000, and Levant was ordered to pay an additional $32,500. In total, Levant has been ordered to pay Vigna a total of $57,000 for libel.


title: Ezra Levant

text: According to his statement of claim and records of court proceedings, Awan claimed that Levant's blog writings had repeatedly described him as being: "Khurrum Awan the liar", "stupid, a "fool", "serial, malicious, money-grubbing liar", "unequivocally implied that he was an anti-Semite and perjurer". Awan states that Levant also stated that Awan believes it is permissible to lie to further the cause of Islam. Awan claimed that as a result, he has "suffered mental distress, humiliation and loss of professional reputation." In his statement of defence, Levant replied that "any damage to Mr. Awan's reputation was self-inflicted." Levant declined comment but in an email described Awan as a "master of lawfare" who was engaged in "an exceedingly political lawsuit."


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant launched a website "Stand With Ezra" to support and fundraise for his defence, claiming that this and other lawsuits against him are affronts to Charter rights to free expression, describing them as "nuisance" suits and politically motivated attempt to silence him which "add to the price of freedom in Canada."


title: Ezra Levant

text: However, Levant himself sued a Calgary alternative newspaper and conservative activist Merle Terlesky for $100,000 jointly for publishing a letter by Terlesky which questioned Levant's spending as publisher of the "Western Standard" and alleged that "Ezra looks for any opportunity to poke a Muslim in the eye." Levant's statement of claim said that he "has been lowered in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally, and has been seriously injured in his credit, character and reputation and has been brought into public scandal, odium and contempt, and has suffered damages," including damage to his "reputation as an entrepreneur." The suit was settled by an apology and paying Levant $5,000. Levant distinguished the two suits by saying that Terlesky made "a false, factual claim" and Levant's motivation in suing was not political. "It wasn't an attempt to stop him from doing what he does as a living or a sideline. It was to correct a potentially devastating, bizarrely specific allegation of fraud on my part."


title: Ezra Levant

text: In her judgment against Levant, Judge Wendy Matheson of Ontario Superior Court ruled there is "ample evidence before me demonstrating express malice on the part of [Mr. Levant]", especially the fact he "did little or no fact-checking regarding the posts complained of, either before or after their publication". She found "that [Mr. Levant's] dominant motive in these blog posts was ill will, and that his repeated failure to take even basic steps to check his facts showed a reckless disregard for the truth". Levant "ought to have been aware of the serious ramifications of his words on the reputation of this law student. Yet, at trial, he repeatedly tried to minimize his mistakes and his lack of diligence." The judge ordered Levant to remove the posts from his website within 15 days and pay Awan $50,000 in general damages plus $30,000 in aggravated damages.


title: Ezra Levant

text: The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Levant's appeal of the judgment on December 22, 2016, and ordered him to pay a further $15,000 in costs with all three judges on the panel ruling unanimously against Levant. On June 8, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada denied Levant's application for leave to appeal,


title: Ezra Levant

text: Lawyer Richard Warman filed suit against Levant in 2008 as well as Kathy Shaidle, Kate McMillan of Small Dead Animals and several other conservative bloggers for libel over statements made about Warman on Free Dominion.


title: Ezra Levant

text: On June 10, 2015, Levant, Shaidle, and McMillan settled with Warman and published retractions and apologies. Levant's apology was posted on his website and read:


title: Ezra Levant

text: A statement of claim for defamation was filed against Levant by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) on December 22, 2016. The group alleges that Levant defamed them by comparing them to Nazis and calling them "Jew-baiters" over their campaign in support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel due to that country's treatment of Palestinians. CJPME is seeking $100,000 in damages and $20,000 for punitive or exemplary damages. In its statement of claim, CJPME asserts that BDS "is not a criticism or attack on Jewish people or upon any person because of their religion or ethnicity", and that the group "decries hatred, violence, racism and religious targeting of Jewish people in Canada and throughout the world". The lawsuit was settled in 2020.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant filed lawsuits, in June 2016, against Twitter users Adam Stirling and Robert Day for tweeting comments that alleged that not all money raised by Rebel Media's crowdfunding campaign for victims of the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire were going to the Canadian Red Cross, as Levant had promised, and for claiming Levant had lied by promising that donors would be issued with tax receipts. Levant is suing Day and Stirling individually for $95,000 in damages each.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Day filed a motion to have the case dismissed under Ontario's anti-SLAPP legislation, arguing that Levant's suit was an attempt at lawfare intended to silence critics.


title: Ezra Levant

text: During a February 2014 broadcast of "The Source", Levant stated that political science professor and former Liberal Party candidate Farhan Chak had "shot up" an Edmonton nightclub when he was 19 years old.


title: Ezra Levant

text: The accusation stemmed from a 1993 shooting incident at Barry T's nightclub, resulting in Chak being charged with firing a shotgun at nightclub employees. Chak was later found not guilty. Levant also publicized the incident in a 2007 Western Standard blog post questioning whether Chak was "a nut with a gun.”


title: Ezra Levant

text: Chak filed suit against Levant and in 2021, was awarded $60,000 in damages by the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. In her decision, Justice Shaina Leonard ruled that Levant's comments were not malicious, but "careless" and "salacious." Leonard further questioned why the accusations about Chak "were included in the Broadcast at all," since the show itself was about human rights commissions, a topic unrelated to Chak or the charges.


title: Ezra Levant

text: The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) determined that while hosting "The Source" in 2011, Levant violated the CBSC's Code of Ethics by using a Spanish vulgarity on air (Sun News CBSC Rulings). The violation of the Code occurred on December 22, 2011, when Levant, in a commentary on "The Source", blasted Chiquita Brands International and its ethical record after the company stated it would discontinue using oil produced from the Alberta oil sands. Speaking in Spanish, Levant told Chiquita executive Manuel Rodríguez, a Hispanic, ""chinga tu madre"" ("go fuck your mother"). The CBSC received 22 complaints about Levant's use of the slur, a few noting that it is one of the nastiest insults in the Spanish language. Though Sun News and Levant went on to argue that the phrase can have several meanings, Levant later admitted he intended to use the term in its literal, most vulgar sense. With that, the CBSC determined in June 2012 that, though Levant had his right to criticize Chiquita and its management, his use of the Spanish vulgarity violated Clause 6 of the Code of Ethics, which requires "full, fair and proper presentation of news, opinion, comment and editorial" content; as a result, Sun News was required to issue an on-air announcement of the CBSC decision.


title: Ezra Levant

text: On September 5, 2012, Levant broadcast a commentary that he titled "The Jew vs. the Gypsies" on "The Source", in which he accused the Romani people as a group of being criminals. Levant said, "These are gypsies, a culture synonymous with swindlers. The phrase gypsy and cheater have been so interchangeable historically that the word has entered the English language as a verb: he gypped me. Gypsies are not a race. They're a shiftless group of hobos. They rob people blind. Their chief economy is theft and begging. For centuries these roving highway gangs have mocked the law and robbed their way across Europe."


title: Ezra Levant

text: Following complaints, the "Sun News Network" removed the video from their webpage and issued an apology: "Two weeks ago on the Sun News program 'The Source' we looked at the issue of Canadian refugee claims by the Roma people. Following the broadcast we received a number of complaints from viewers who felt the broadcast reinforced negative stereotypes about the Roma people. We have completed a review of the material and we agree that this content was inappropriate and should not have gone to air. It was not the intent of Sun News, or anyone employed by Sun News, to promote negative stereotypes about the Roma people. We regret our error in these broadcasts, and we apologize unreservedly to the Roma people and to you, our viewers."


title: Ezra Levant

text: Bernie Farber, former CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Holocaust survivor Nate Leipciger and Avrum Rosensweig of Ve'ahavta: The Canadian Jewish Humanitarian and Relief Committee published an op-ed in the "National Post" which condemned Levant's commentary as a "contemptible screed" and argued that "[t]he time has come for all of us to reject hate and bigotry — against any group".


title: Ezra Levant

text: Gina Csanyi-Robah, executive director of the Roma Community Centre in Toronto, described the broadcast as "nearly nine minutes of on-air racist hate-speech targeting our community", "one of the longest and most sustained on-air broadcasts of hate-speech against any community in Canada that we've witnessed since our organization was established in 1997" and as "overtly racist, prejudicial, and demeaning." The centre filed complaints against Sun News with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and against Levant with the Alberta Law Society as well as with the Toronto Police Service.


title: Ezra Levant

text: In March 2013, Levant apologized for his remarks, stating that "I attacked a particular group, and painted them all with the same brush. And to those I hurt, I'm sorry" and expressed hope that this "will serve as an example of what not to do when commenting on social issues."


title: Ezra Levant

text: Writing in the "Toronto Star", Haroon Siddiqui reported that Csanyi-Robah claimed that the police and crown attorney had recommended hate charges be laid against Levant under the hate speech provisions in Section 319 of the Criminal Code. However, in a subsequent meeting, Csanyi-Robah and another individual claimed that the Attorney-General of Ontario's office declined to lay charges because of fears that the trial would become a "bit of a [media] circus".


title: Ezra Levant

text: The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council subsequently ruled, in September 2013, that Levant's broadcast was "in violation of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code," and that his comments about the Roma were "abusive and unduly discriminatory against an ethnic group, and violated other provisions of the [code] regarding negative portrayal, stereotyping, stigmatization and degradation." The council noted that Levant had already issued two on-air apologies, and as such, he would not be ordered to issue another.


title: Ezra Levant

text: On January 23, 2013, Levant showed video of a protest that had occurred in front of the "Sun News" office in Toronto in which protesters objected to the Sun's coverage of the Idle No More movement. Levant replayed the clip on a subsequent show and proceeded to identify one couple by name claiming that they were "professional protesters". The couple subsequently contacted Sun to complain that it was not them in the clip, that they had not attended the protest nor even been in Toronto at the time and then complained to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council when the Sun did not correct their story. "The CBSC's National Specialty Services Panel concluded that Sun News Network breached Clause 6 of the CAB Code of Ethics for including inaccurate information in the talk show. Levant had acknowledged his error on the February 8 episode of "The Source"."


title: Ezra Levant

text: In 1996, Levant worked with David Frum to organize the "Winds of Change" conference in Calgary, an early attempt to encourage the Reform Party of Canada and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to merge so that a united rightwing party could defeat the Liberal Party of Canada in the subsequent election. While unsuccessful, the conference anticipated future attempts at a Unite the Right movement which ultimately led to the formation of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. Levant supported Preston Manning's United Alternative initiative in 1999, a more advanced attempt to unite the country's conservative movement and was one of the leaders of the movement to create the Canadian Alliance as an attempt to broaden the party's base.


title: Ezra Levant

text: While he was a law student, Levant was an active political organizer in the Reform Party, and guided the successful attempts by Rahim Jaffer (as the campaign manager for his nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona and later as his communications-director during the 1997 Federal Election) and Rob Anders to win party nominations. In 1997, he went to Ottawa to work for the Reform Party, becoming a parliamentary aide to party leader Preston Manning and being put in charge of question period strategy. Along with newly elected MP's Rob Anders, Jason Kenney and Rahim Jaffer, Levant was part of an up-and-coming group of young Reformers which pundits dubbed the "Snack Pack" due to their relative youth and obesity.


title: Ezra Levant

text: In 1999, after being dismissed as Preston Manning's legislative-assistant, Levant left Ottawa to join the editorial board of the fledgling "National Post" newspaper in Toronto. A close friend of Stockwell Day's son Logan, Levant proclaimed himself a "Stockaholic" and supported the elder Day in his successful attempt to defeat Reform Party leader Preston Manning for the leadership of the new Canadian Alliance.


title: Ezra Levant

text: In February 2001, he returned to Ottawa as communications director to Day. In May of that year he resigned after leaking to the "National Post" a letter that he sent to dissident MP Chuck Strahl in which he threatened to sue over Strahl's criticisms of his office.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Later in 2001, Levant returned to Calgary to practise law. By February 2002 he had won the Canadian Alliance party nomination for the riding of Calgary Southwest, but stepped aside after public pressure so that new party leader Stephen Harper could run there in a 2002 by-election. When the by-election was called, Levant, who said he spent over $150,000 to gain the nomination, announced on March 28 that he would not step aside. Later that night, however, he relented after widespread pressure from the party and accusations that he was putting himself ahead of the party.


title: Ezra Levant

text: On December 4, 2016, Levant organized a political rally at the Legislature in Edmonton, Alberta, during which the crowd chanted 'lock her up', referring to Rachel Notley. Commentators were critical since Notley has never been accused of any crime. Commentators stated the rally imported the worst aspects of US politics into Canada.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant has called himself a libertarian, saying he is "basically someone who believes in freedom," although he says he is more "mainstream conservative" when it comes to social issues and foreign affairs. He has said, "It's tough to be a pure libertarian, because reality has a way of messing with that beautiful theory."


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant favoured Quebec sovereignty and a yes vote during the 1995 Quebec referendum in a "Calgary Sun" column titled "10 Reasons to Hope for a Yes Victory" Among his 10 reasons were Levant's views that the departure of Quebec from Canadian confederation would lead to the elimination of bilingualism and multiculturalism, that it would give the Canadian government the "fortitude" to say no to "other special interest groups" such as First Nations and environmentalists; it would end corruption in Parliament, which Levant blamed on Quebec politicians, and clear the way for Preston Manning to become Prime Minister of Canada.


title: Ezra Levant

text: In 1996, Levant wrote a column saying that if the federal Liberals were re-elected, Alberta could separate from Canada, making it "free from Quebec's demands."


title: Ezra Levant

text: In a column on the eve of the 2012 presidential election, Levant wrote: "America is resilient. But four more years of Obama will change that country deeply — and not for the better." He urged readers to oppose President Obama's reelection. In the article, Levant stated of Obama that "alone amongst modern presidents he has not visited Israel during his presidency." National Post columnist Chris Selley accused Levant of "making up one of his patented 'facts'" and referred to a "Washington Post" article that noted most American presidents since Israel's founding in 1948 have not visited during their presidency; only Clinton and Carter visiting during their first terms. Levant predicted a Romney victory, with at least 295 electoral votes to 243 for Obama. He said that "every poll that shows Obama ahead in battleground states is equally skewed" and were biased in favour of Obama.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant is a fierce critic of the Alberta Human Rights Commission, particularly concerning Rev. Stephen Boissoin, who in the "Lund v. Boissoin" matter was fined $7,000 and banned from publicly "disparaging ... gays and lesbians" in May 2008. This case concerned a letter published by the "Red Deer Advocate" in 2002 in which Boissoin attacked the "homosexual agenda" as "wicked". In June 2008, Levant republished Boissoin's letter on his blog. When the AHRC dismissed the resulting complaint in November 2008, Levant accused the HRCs of religious discrimination, asserting that "100% of the CHRC's targets have been white, Christian or conservative" and that "It's legal for a Jew like me to publish [Boissoin's letter]. It's illegal for a Christian like Rev. Boissoin to publish it." The HRC's ruling was overturned by the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in 2009, on the grounds that Boissoin's remarks were not hateful. In 2012, the Court of Appeal of Alberta upheld the Queen's Bench decision.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Levant's case has attracted the attention of organizations such as PEN Canada, the Canadian Association of Journalists, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association — all of which have called for reform of the commissions. He was also featured on Glenn Beck's former show on CNN.


title: Ezra Levant

text: Sun Media, owned by Quebecor, systematically opposed funding for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in an on-air campaign led by Levant and Brian Lilley.


title: Ezra Levant

text: On January 20, 2013, Idle No More protesters confronted Ezra Levant at the Toronto Sun office as part of a larger protest against Sun Media. They claimed Sun Media and Levant had a racist agenda and protested commentary made both in the Sun newspaper and on the Sun News Network about "the plight of Native Canadians, the funding of reserves, the Idle No More movement, and the ongoing hunger strike of Attawapiskat chief Theresa Spence." Levant responded to protesters saying he supports reforming the Indian Act, which he called racist. Levant later said the protesters were a 'rent a mob' who were paid to attend any protest.


title: Tapirus

text: Tapirus is a genus of tapir which contains the three living American tapir species. The Malayan tapir is usually included in "Tapirus" as well, although some authorities have moved it into its own genus, "Acrocodia".


title: Tapirus

text: The Kabomani tapir was at one point recognized as another living member of the genus, but is now considered to be nested within "T. terrestris".


title: Tapirus

text: "Tapirus" first appeared in the Late Miocene in North America, with "Tapirus webbi" perhaps the oldest known fossil species.


title: Tapirus

text: "Tapirus" spread into South America and Eurasia during the Pliocene. It has been suggested that the tapirs that inhabited North America during the Late Pleistocene may be derived from a South American species that remigrated north, perhaps "Tapirus cristatellus".


title: Tapirus

text: Tapirs suffered large-scale extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene, and went completely extinct north of southern Mexico.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Mirza Wajid Ali Shah () (30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Alam Ara who was better known as Khas Mahal () because of her exquisite beauty. She was one of two Nikahi wives. His second wife, Muhammadi Khanum, better known as the Begum Hazrat Mahal, rose against the British East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 as the regent of Awadh.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: His kingdom, long protected by the East India Company (EIC) under treaty, was annexed by the EIC on 11 February 1856, two days before the ninth anniversary of his coronation. The Nawab was exiled to Garden Reach in Metiabruz, then a suburb of Kolkata, where he lived out the rest of his life on a generous pension. He was a poet, playwright, dancer and great patron of the arts. He is widely credited with the revival of Kathak as a major form of classical Indian dance.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Wajid Ali Shah succeeded to the throne of Awadh when the kingdom was well past its heyday. The British had annexed much of the kingdom under the treaty of 1801, and had impoverished Awadh by imposing a hugely expensive, British-run army and repeated demands for loans. The independence of Awadh in name was tolerated by the British only because they still needed a buffer state between their presence in the east and south, and the remnants of the Mughal Empire to the north.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Wajid Ali Shah succeeded to the throne of Awadh when the kingdom was in decline. The British East India Company (EIC) had annexed much of the kingdom under its rule in a treaty signed with the kingdom in 1801, and stymied the Awadh economy by imposing the costs of maintaining the Bengal Army on the kingdom's coffer, in addition to repeatedly demanding loans. However, the EIC refrained from annexing the remainder of the kingdom because they needed a buffer state between their territories to the east and south, and the Mughal Empire to the north.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Wajid Ali Shah ascended the throne of Oudh at a time when the East India Company was determined to annex the throne of prosperous Awadh, which was "the garden, granary, and queen-province of India"- the royal predecessors and successors of Awadh were one of the major threats to the dominance of the Mughal Empire before the arrival of the East India Company to the Indian subcontinent.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: In different circumstances perhaps, he might have succeeded as a ruler because he had many qualities that make a good administrator. He was generous, kind and compassionate towards his subjects, besides being one of the most magnanimous and passionate patrons of fine arts in the Indian tradition. When he ascended the throne, he took keen interest in the administration of justice, introduced reforms, and reorganised the military. Wajid Ali Shah was widely regarded as a debauched and detached ruler, but some of his notoriety seems to have been misplaced. The main cause for condemnation comes from the British Resident of Lucknow, General William Sleeman, who submitted a report highlighting "maladministration" and "lawlessness" he described as prevailing there, although Sleeman himself was strictly opposed to outright annexation for a variety of reasons, including political, financial and ethical ones.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: This provided the British with the facade of benevolence they were looking for, and formed the official basis for their annexation. Recent studies have, however, suggested that Oudh was neither as bankrupt nor as lawless as the British had claimed. In fact, Oudh was for all practical purposes under British rule well before the annexation, with the Nawab playing little more than a titular role. The Bengal presidency army was recruited largely from Oudh; while, under direction by the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie in 1855, any tax revenue from Oudh not required for state government costs was appropriated by the East India Company.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: In his book "Awadh Under Wajid Ali Shah", Dr. G.D. Bhatnagar gives the following assessment of this ill-starred prince:


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: A large number of composers who thrived under the lavish patronage of the Nawab rulers of Lucknow enriched the light classical form of thumri; most prominent among these was Wajid Ali Shah. He was not only a munificent patron of music, dance, drama, and poetry but was himself a gifted composer. He had received vocal training under great Ustads like Basit Khan, Pyar Khan and Jafar Khan. Pyar Khan, Jafar Khan and Basit Khan were the direct descendants of Mian Tansen and were the sons of famous "Tanseni" Chajju Khan. Bahadur Hussain Khan was the descendant of Tansen's son-in-law Naubat Khan, and was one of Wajid Ali Shah's favorite musicians, so much that the Nawab bestowed upon the singer the title "Zia-ud-Daulah." Although Wajid Ali Shah's poetic takhallus was "Qaisar", he used the pseudonym "Akhtarpiya" for his musical compositions. Under this name, he wrote over forty works – poems, prose and "thumris". The collections "Diwan-i-Akhtar" and "Husn-i-Akhtar" contain his ghazals. He is said to have composed many new "ragas" and named them "Jogi", "Juhi", "Shah-Pasand", etc.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: The source for much information on music in Nawabi Lucknow comes from the text "Ma’danul Moosiqui" ('The Mine of Music') of Hakim Mohammed Karam Imam, courtier of Wajid Ali Shah. During his time, complicated ragas like "hori" and "dhrupad" were ignored and easier raginis like "tilak", "pilu", "sendura", "khammach", "bhairvi" and "jhanjhauti" were encouraged. As these were liked by the king and easily understood by all sections of society, they came to be well-loved by commoners. Wajid Ali Shah has been accused of cheapening the classical tradition and promoting lighter forms of music such as "ghazals" and "thumris." But then, as argued by scholars like Ravi Bhatt, this is how popular music has always been criticised. Popular belief has it that the light classical form, thumri was created by Wajid Ali Shah.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: However, James Kippen argued that evidence suggests that thumri had almost certainly already become an independent vocal form somewhat influenced by khayal by 1800, becoming extremely popular and pervasive in the time of Wajid Ali Shah. Wajid Ali wrote and performed ghazals, and the modern-day style of ghazals was certainly evolved by his innovative ideas and experimentations in ghazals, some of which were noted for their inclusion of obscenities and sexually explicit references to his own private life.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Together with music, dance in Lucknow developed strongly and became a pre-eminent art under the patronage of Wajid Ali Shah. In the ancient times Kathak being the part of the temple ritual was performed at temples. With the change of time the Kathak performers in search of better prospects and rich patronage left the temple and entered into royal courts. The transformation was inevitable. The dance started adapting itself to the demands of the court, but it was under the artistic guidance and patronage of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, that Kathak achieved greater dimensions.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: He gave a definite form, made it more artistic, and gave to it an aesthetic touch, he enriched it with "rasa" and "bhava", and he added literature to it, lent it sensuality, and furnished it with grandeur and splendor to its presentation, argued Abdul Halim Sharar. During this period, Kathak was also extensively performed by tawaifs, who themselves developed the art in parallel to its refinement in court. They frequently performed on lighter classical music of such as "dadra", "kajri" and "tappa" as well as "thumri". Given the tawaifs' environment, their performance style of Kathak also differed from the court style, involving more of what in Kathak is termed "nakhra" (mischievous playfulness).


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Wajid Ali Shah started two distinct forms one is "Rahas" and the other one is called "Raas". He himself choreographed a dance based on the moves of Kathak called, "Rahas", that he danced himself with the ladies of his court. For him, Rahas was a dramatic form of theatre including acting, dancing, and music and with different scenes the whole setting and locale changes. On the other hand, Raas was purely a religious form. Primarily Dhrupad was sung in Raas and the performance began with its singing. Raas was a circular form of dance where many gopis danced with one Krishna. Radhakamal Mukerjee in his book, "The Lord of the Autumn Moons", says that the Raspancadhyayi or the five chapters pertaining to the circular group dance of Krishna with the Gopis, distill the embody the full maturity of the mystical emotions.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Kathak dance attained new heights of popularity and glory under his expert guidance and lavish patronage. Thakur Prasadji was his Kathak guru, and the unforgettable Kalka-Binda brothers performed in his court. What with the grand pageantry of the Rahas, Jogiya Jashan, Dance-dramas, and Kathak performances, Lucknow became the magnetic cultural centre where the most reputed musicians, dancers and poets of the time flourished. The greatest musicians, dancers and instrumentalists of the time enjoyed his munificent patronage and hospitality. It was at his reign that Lucknow Gharana came into existence. It was in this period that the Lucknow Gharana of Kathak attained maturity, through the efforts of the stalwarts like Thakur Prasadji and others. The Lucknow style of Kathak dance is characterized by graceful movements, elegance and natural poise with dance. "Abhinaya", concern for movement shape and creative improvisations are the hallmarks of this style. He not only made Kathak as the official court dance, but using it in performances of "rahas" made it popular among the people.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: When Wajid Ali Shah was a young boy, some astrologers warned his parents that he would become a Yogi, and advised them that the boy should be dressed up as a Yogi on each birthday of his so as to counteract the effect of the evil stars. He established the famous Parikhaana (abode of fairies) in which hundreds of beautiful and talented girls were taught music and dancing by expert-teachers engaged by the royal patron. These girls were known as "Paris" (fairies) with names such as "Sultan pari", "Mahrukh pari" and so on. On each birthday, the Nawab would dress up as a Yogi with saffron robes, ash of pearls smeared on his face and body, necklaces of pearls around his neck, and a rosary in his hand, and walk pompously into the court with two of his "'paris" dressed up as Jogans. Gradually he made it into a spectacular pageant or Mela known as Jogia Jashan, in which all citizens of Lucknow could participate, dressed as Yogis, irrespective of caste and creed. Later, when his favourite venue, the Qaisarbagh Baradari was built, he began to stage his magnificent Rahas (a Persianised name for Rasleela) full of sensuous poetry, his own lyrical compositions and glamorous Kathak dances.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Ranbir Singh gives details of Wajid Ali Shah's book entitled "Bani" in which the author mentions 36 types of Rahas all set in Kathak style (with colourful names like "Mor-Chchatr", "Ghunghat", "Salami", "Mor Pankhi" and "Mujra"), and gives exhaustive notes about the costumes, jewellery, and stage- craft. Rahas, prepared at a fabulous cost of several lakhs (hundred thousands) of rupees, became very popular, and was performed at the Kaisarbagh-Rahas Manzil, (most probably the first Hindustani Theatre Hall). Many have regarded Wajid Ali Shah as "the first playwright of the Hindustani theatre", because his "Radha Kanhaiyya Ka Qissa" staged in the Rahas Manzil was the first play of its kind. It featured the Goddess Radha, Lord Krishna, several "sakhis", and a Vidushaka-like character named "Ramchera". Songs, dances, mime, and drama were all delightfully synthesised in these Rahas performances. He dramatised many other poems such as "Darya-i-Tashsq", "Afsane-i-Isbaq", and "Bhahar-i-Ulfat". It is said that Amanat's "Inder Sabha" was inspired by these dance-dramas, written, produced and staged by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Like the performing arts Wajid Ali Shah also patronised literature and several poets and writers in his court. Notable among them were 'Barq', 'Ahmad Mirza Sabir', 'Mufti Munshi', and 'Aamir Ahmad Amir', who wrote books at the orders of Wajid Ali Shah, "Irshad-us-Sultan" and "Hidayat-us-Sultan", Amanat the famous author of "Indra Sabha" and "Bekhud" wrote "Jalwa-Akhatar", "Hajjo Sharaf" and "Afsana-i-Lucknow" have presented a picture of the times and life of Wajid Ali Shah. The famous poet Mirza Ghalib also received the gracious patronage of Wajid Ali Shah, who granted him a pension of Rupees five hundred per year in 1854.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Wajid Ali Shah used to write himself and was a poet of a considerable merit. He used to write under the nom-de-plume of ‘"Akhtar"’. He had equal command over Persian and Urdu and wrote several books in both languages. According to his court chronicler Masih-ud-Din he received a liberal western education and was well versed in ancient and modern history and literature. Garcin de Tassy, while travelling in the sub-continent during the mid-nineteenth century wrote in his journal about Wajid Ali Shah and noted, "I do not have to appreciate here this very political resolution, neither do I have to appreciate the qualities or defects of Wajid Ali Shah, as a sovereign, but I am interested in him as a distinguished scholar and as eminent poet in Hindustani".


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Wajid Ali Shah wrote extensively and adopted a simple language that easily conveyed meaning to all. It showed sprinkling of Awadhi, the local dialect. He was a prolific writer. His work Sawat-ul-Qalub runs into 1061 pages and comprises a collection of 44,562 couplets, and was completed in a short span of three years.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: Abdul Lais Siddiqi in "Lucknow Ka Dabistan-i-Shairi" noted that it was common for kings to employ poets to write on their behalf but this was not true of Wajid Ali Shah, and every single word has been written by himself and no one else. One of his most important works is the autobiographical "Huzn-i-Akhtar", which is in verse and contains nearly 1276 couplets. It is faithful records of the hazardous journey that he undertook from Lucknow to Calcutta, after having relinquished his crown. It speaks of the unkind and unceremonious treatment accorded to him by the British authorities. Vivid details of the people and the places he encountered on his journey. It also evokes his desperation at his arrest and subsequent deportment to Calcutta's Matiya Burj. Another important work of his is "Bani" which runs into 400 pages.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: It is a treatise on Music and Dance, which offers details of the "mushairas" held at Matiya Burj, of the buildings raised there at his command. There are also descriptions of the animals at his personal zoo, besides vignettes of life and the time at Matiya Burj. Although it is estimated that he wrote over 60 books but most of his works are not available and hence no critical assessment of his writing has been made till date.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: After losing the kingdom, the King first went to Kanpur and then progressed to Calcutta in a steamer accompanied by his close relatives and large entourage comprising musicians, nautch girls, cooks and animals from his menagerie and came ashore at Bichali Ghat near Metiabruz, Calcutta on 13 May 1856.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: He had made up his mind to go and plead his case to Queen Victoria because of his firm belief in the British sense of justice. However, his physicians did not think his health would permit such a long voyage and it was his mother, brother and heir apparent who left for England. A year later when the Indian Rebellion of 1857 spread to Lucknow and rebelling "sepoys;; installed one of his sons to the throne of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah was imprisoned in Fort William by the British along with his Prime Minister, due to apprehensions that he would become a rallying figure for the sepoys.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: HEA Cotton wrote that on Panic Sunday (14 June 1857), there was widespread apprehension among the European inhabitants of Kolkata because he had "one, two, three thousand" (no one knew) armed men under him. The suppression of the Indian Rebellion by the British Army dashed all his hopes of returning to Lucknow. After his release from Fort William, he was allotted a building called BNR House in Garden Reach near the headquarter of South Eastern Railway, Calcutta. In those days, it is said, it was called Parikhana.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: However, heartbroken after leaving Lucknow, he had carried his dear city in his heart and proceeded to carve out a miniature of Lucknow in Metiabruz. In his exile in Metiabruz, he tried to keep the sweet memories of his Lucknow era alive by recreating the musical environments of his Kaisarbagh Baradari. The banished king had been "given" a number of fine houses with vast grounds stretching along the banks of the river Hooghly three to four miles south of Kolkata. Because of the presence there of an earthen dome (or raised platform), people would refer to it as "Matiya Burj". The king spent lavishly out of his income of 12 lakhs (or, 1.2 million) rupees per annum and before long a "second Lucknow" arose in this area.


title: Wajid Ali Shah

text: His bhairavi thumri "Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaay" has been sung by several prominent singers, but a particularly popular rendition remembered today was performed by Kundan Lal Saigal for the 1930s movie "Street Singer".


title: Academic achievement

text: Academic achievement or academic performance is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has attained their short or long-term educational goals. Completion of educational benchmarks such as secondary school diplomas and bachelor's degrees represent academic achievement.


title: Academic achievement

text: Academic achievement is commonly measured through examinations or continuous assessments but there is no general agreement on how it is best evaluated or which aspects are most important—procedural knowledge such as skills or declarative knowledge such as facts. Furthermore, there are inconclusive results over which individual factors successfully predict academic performance, elements such as test anxiety, environment, motivation, and emotions require consideration when developing models of school achievement. Now, schools are receiving money based on its students academic achievements. A school with more academic achievements would receive more money than a school with less achievements.


title: Academic achievement

text: Individual differences in academic performance have been linked to differences in intelligence and personality. Students with higher mental ability as demonstrated by IQ tests and those who are higher in conscientiousness (linked to effort and achievement motivation) tend to achieve highly in academic settings. A recent meta-analysis suggested that mental curiosity (as measured by typical intellectual engagement) has an important influence on academic achievement in addition to intelligence and conscientiousness.


title: Academic achievement

text: Children's semi-structured home learning environment transitions into a more structured learning environment when children start first grade. Early academic achievement enhances later academic achievement. Parent's academic socialization is a term describing the way parents influence students' academic achievement by shaping students' skills, behaviors and attitudes towards school. Parents influence students through the environment and discourse parents have with their children. Academic socialization can be influenced by parents' socio-economic status. Highly educated parents tend to have more stimulating learning environments. Further, recent research indicates that the relationship quality with parents will influence the development of academic self-efficacy among adolescent-aged children, which will in turn affect their academic performance.


title: Academic achievement

text: Children's first few years of life are crucial to the development of language and social skills. School preparedness in these areas help students adjust to academic expectancies.


title: Academic achievement

text: Studies have shown that physical activity can increase neural activity in the brain, specifically increasing executive brain functions such as attention span and working memory; and improve academic performance in both elementary school children and college freshmen.


title: Academic achievement

text: Non-cognitive factors or skills, are a set of "attitudes, behaviors, and strategies" that promotes academic and professional success, such as academic self-efficacy, self-control, motivation, expectancy and goal setting theories, emotional intelligence, and determination. To create attention on factors other than those measured by cognitive test scores sociologists Bowles & Gintis coined the term in the 1970s. The term serves as a distinction of cognitive factors, which are measured by teachers through tests and quizzes. Non-cognitive skills are increasingly gaining popularity because they provide a better explanation for academic and professional outcomes.


title: Academic achievement

text: Self-efficacy is one of the best predictors of academic success. Self-efficacy is the belief of being able to do something. Stajković et al. looked at the Big Five traits on academic success as well and saw that conscientiousness and emotional stability were predictors of self-efficacy in over half of their analyses. However, self-efficacy was more indicative of academic performance than personality in all of the analyses. This suggests that parents who want their children to have academic achievement can look to increase their child's sense of self-efficacy at school.


title: Academic achievement

text: Motivation is the reasoning behind an individual's actions. Research has found that students with higher academic performance, motivation and persistence use intrinsic goals rather than extrinsic ones. Furthermore, students who are motivated to improve upon their previous or upcoming performance tend to perform better academically than peers with lower motivation. In other words, students with higher need for achievement have greater academic performance.


title: Academic achievement

text: Self-control, in the academic setting, is related self-discipline, self-regulation, delay of gratification and impulse control. Baumeister, Vohs, and Tice defined self-control as "the capacity for altering one's own responses, especially to bring them into line with standards such as ideals, values, morals, and social expectations, and to support the attainment of long-term goals." In other words, self-control is the ability to prioritize long-term goals over the temptation of short-term impulses. Self-control is usually measured through self completed questionnaires. Researchers often use the Self-Control Scale developed by Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone in 2004.


title: Academic achievement

text: Through a longitudinal study of the marshmallow test, researchers found a relationship between the time spent waiting for the second marshmallow and higher academic achievement. However, this finding only applied for participants who had the marshmallow in plain sight and were placed without any distraction tactics.


title: Academic achievement

text: High locus of control, where an individual attributes success to personal decision making and positive behaviors such as discipline, is a ramification of self-control. High locus of control has been found to have a positive predictive relationship with high collegiate GPA.


title: Academic achievement

text: Organized extracurricular activities or cultural activities have yielded a positive relationship with high academic performance including increasing attendance rates, school engagement, GPA, postsecondary education, as well as a decrease in drop out rates and depression. Additionally, positive developmental outcomes have been found in youth that engage in organized extracurricular activities. High school athletics have been linked with strong academic performance, particularly among urban youth. However, involvement in athletics has been linked to increased alcohol consumption and abuse for high school students along with increased truancy.


title: Academic achievement

text: While research suggests that there is a positive link between academic performance and participation in extracurricular activities, the practice behind this relationship is not always clear. Moreover, there are many unrelated factors that influence the relationship between academic achievement and participation in extracurricular activities (Mahoney et al., 2005). These variables include: civic engagement, identity development, positive social relationships and behaviors, and mental health (Mahoney et al., 2005). In other research on youth, it was reported that positive social support and development, which can be acquired through organized after school activities is beneficial for achieving academic success (Eccles & Templeton, 2002). In terms of academic performance there are a whole other group of variables to consider. Some of these variables include: demographic and familial influences, individual characteristics, and program resources and content (Mahoney et al., 2005). For example, socio-economic status has been found to plays a role in the number of students participating in extracurricular activities (Covay & Carbonaro, 2010). Furthermore, it is suggested that the peer relationships and support that develop in extracurricular activities often affect how individuals perform in school (Eccles & Templeton, 2002). With all these variables to consider it is important to create a better understanding how academic achievement can be seen in both a negative and positive light.


title: Academic achievement

text: In conclusion, most research suggests that extracurricular activities are positively correlated to academic achievement (Mahoney et al., 2005). It has been mentioned that more research could be conducted to better understand the direction of this relationship (Eccles & Templeton, 2002). Together this information can give us a better understand the exact aspects to consider when considering the impact that participation in extracurricular activities can have on academic achievement.


title: Academic achievement

text: There are experiences analysed by research projects that show how the incorporation of Successful Educational Actions (SEAs) in schools with high absenteeism are contributing to the improvement of academic achievement.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian-American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her "Binti Series" and her novels "Who Fears Death", "Zahrah the Windseeker", "Akata Witch", "Akata Warrior", "Lagoon" and "Remote Control." She has also written for comics and film.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Her writing is Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism, which is heavily influenced by her dual Nigerian and American heritage. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Eisner Award and World Fantasy Award. She is considered to be among the third generation of Nigerian writers.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Nnedimma Nkemdili Okorafor was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1974 to Igbo Nigerian parents who travelled to America in 1969 to attend school but purportedly could not return to Nigeria due to the Nigerian Civil War.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor is the third child in a family of four children and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and would often travel to Nigeria to spend her holidays with her extended family. Her first name is Igbo for "mother is good".


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: During her years attending Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Flossmoor, Illinois, Okorafor was a nationally known tennis and track star and excelled in math and the sciences. Due to her interest in insects, she desired to be an entomologist.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: She was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 13, a condition that worsened as she grew older. At age 19, she underwent spinal fusion surgery to straighten and fuse her spine; a rare complication led to Okorafor becoming paralyzed from the waist down.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor turned to writing small stories in the margins of a science-fiction book that she had. It was the first time she had ever written anything creatively. That summer, with intense physical therapy, Okorafor regained her ability to walk with a cane, but she was unable to continue her athletic career. At the suggestion of a close friend, she took a creative writing class that spring semester and was writing her first novel by the semester's end.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: She completed her college education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, before obtaining a master's degree in journalism from Michigan State University and a master's degree and PhD in English from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She is a 2001 graduate of the Clarion Writers Workshop in Lansing, Michigan. She currently lives in Arizona with her family.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor received a 2001 Hurston-Wright literary award for her story "Amphibious Green". Okorafor's short stories have been published in anthologies and magazines, including "Dark Matter: Reading The Bones", "Enkare Review", "Strange Horizons", "Moondance" magazine, and "Writers of the Future" Volume XVIII. A collection of her stories, titled "Kabu Kabu", was published by Prime Books in 2013. It includes the titular piece, co-authored by Alan Dean Foster, six other previously unpublished short stories, and 14 stories that had been previously published in other venues since 2001; with a foreword by Whoopi Goldberg.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: After her 2001 Hurston-Wright award, she published two acclaimed books for young adults, "The Shadow Speaker" (Hyperion/Disney Book Group) and "Zahrah the Windseeker" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). "The Shadow Speaker" was a winner of the Carl Brandon Parallax Award, a Booksense Pick for Winter 2007/2008, a Tiptree Honor Book, a finalist for the Essence Magazine Literary Award, the Andre Norton Award and the Golden Duck Award, and an NAACP Image Award nominee. Her children's book, "Long Juju Man", was the 2007–08 winner of the Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor's first adult novel, "Who Fears Death" (DAW/Penguin Books), won the 2011 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award. The prequel "The Book of Phoenix" won the 2018 Kurd Laßwitz Preis and was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: In 2011, she returned to young adult with "Akata Witch" (Viking/Penguin), the first book in the "Nsibidi Scripts Series", which was a Junior Library Guild Selection. The sequel, "Akata Warrior", went on to win the 2018 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor's science fiction novel "Lagoon" was a finalist for a British Science Fiction Association Award (Best Novel), a Red Tentacle Award (Best Novel), and a Tiptree Honor Book.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: The "Binti" trilogy began with the 2015 novella, "Binti". This was followed by "", published in 2017, and "", published in 2018. "Binti" won both the 2016 Nebula Award and 2016 Hugo Award for best novella, and was a finalist for a British Science Fiction Association Award (Best Short) and BooktubeSFF Award (Best Short Work). "Binti: Home" and "Binti: The Night Masquerade both" received Hugo nominations for best novella in 2018 and 2019, respectively.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Also in 2016, the United Bank for Africa, a Nigerian bank, partnered with Cassava Republic Press to distribute 24,000 copies of Okorafor's novel "Akata Witch" in nine African countries.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor's science fiction novella "Remote Control", set in a near future Ghana, was published in January 2021; while her adult novel "Noor", set in a futurist northern Nigeria, was released in November 2021.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: In January 2022, Okorafor's "Akata Woman", which is the third novel in the "Nsibidi Scripts Series" was released. Following the release of the novel, the series debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: In February 2017, Okorafor announced via Facebook that her science-meets-witchcraft short story "Hello, Moto" had been optioned by Nigerian production company Fiery Film. The story was adapted into a short film, titled "Hello, Rain" by filmmaker C. J. Obasi. The story tells the tale of a woman who discovers that she can merge witchcraft and technology when she creates wigs for herself and her friends that allow them to wield influence and power, to help battle corruption. Instead, she watches her friends themselves become corrupted. A teaser was released in January 2018. "Hello, Rain" had its world premiere at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen on May 6, 2018.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: In July 2017, Okorafor announced via Twitter that "Who Fears Death" had been picked up by HBO to become a television series, with novelist and "Game of Thrones" producer George R. R. Martin joining the project as an executive producer. Okorafor will remain involved with the project as a consultant. In January 2021, it was announced that Tessa Thompson's newly formed production company, Viva Maude, had joined the team.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: In April 2019, it was announced that Okorafor would co-write the screenplay of an adaptation of Octavia Butler's "Wild Seed" with filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu for Amazon Prime Video and reportedly will be produced by Viola Davis.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: In January 2020, it was announced that Okorafor would co-write the screenplay of an adaptation of her "Binti trilogy" for Hulu with writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: In 2005, Okorafor wrote and published her first play, "Full Moon". The Buxville Theater Company in Chicago helped produce this full-length theatrical work.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: In 2009, Okorafor donated her archive to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Northern Illinois University Library.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor was the Young Adult Author special Guest of Honor at Detcon1, the 2014 North American Science Fiction Convention; Detcon1 was putting special emphasis on YA science fiction.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: In October 2017, Okorafor announced via Twitter she would be writing three issues for Marvel's "Black Panther" comic, picking up where author Ta-Nehisi Coates left off. The first issue of "Black Panther: Long Live the King" was released in December 2017. A month earlier, a short comic of hers titled "Blessing in Disguise" was included in Marvel's "Venomverse War Stories No. 1", inspired by the 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls. In March 2017, it was announced that she would return to writing derived from the Black Panther, in "Wakanda Forever", where the Dora Milaje team-up with Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Avengers. In July 2018, it announced that Okorafor would write a solo title focused on Black Panther's sister, Shuri.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: "Broken Places & Outer Spaces", Okorafor's first non-fiction title, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2019.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor contributed the essay "Zula of the fourth-grade playground" to the 2019 anthology "New Daughters of Africa", edited by Margaret Busby.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: In 2018, her comic book limited series "LaGuardia" was published by Berger Books. In 2020, the collected trade won an Eisner Award and a Hugo Award.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor's novels and stories reflect both her West African heritage and her American life. Rather than identifying as Nigerian-American, she refers to herself as "Naijamerican" and explains the importance of her dual heritage during a 2016 NPR interview: That's very much a part of my identity, and it's also very much a reason why I think I ended up writing science fiction and fantasy because I live on these borders – and these borders that allow me to see from multiple perspectives and kind of take things in and then kind of process certain ideas and certain stories in a very unique way. And that has led me to write this strange fiction that I write, which really isn't that strange if you really look at it through a sort of skewed lens. Okorafor noticed how the fantasy and science fiction genre contain little diversity, and that was her motivation for writing books of these genres set in Africa. She wanted to include more people of color and create stories with Africa as the setting because so few stories were set there. She wrote her first story as a college sophomore and made the setting of her story Nigeria. Her stories place black girls in important roles that are usually given to white characters. Okorafor cites Nigeria as "her muse" as she is heavily influenced by Nigerian folklore and its rich mythology and mysticism.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Gary K. Wolfe wrote of her work: "Okorafor's genius has been to find the iconic images and traditions of African culture, mostly Nigerian and often Igbo, and tweak them just enough to become a seamless part of her vocabulary of fantastika."


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Her work often looks at "weighty social issues: racial and gender inequality, political violence, the destruction of the environment, genocide and corruption" through "the framework of fantasy".


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor shares that while the themes of her stories are often multi-layered they are always grounded in "stories of the women and girls around me and also within myself".


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Okorafor asserts that her work and parental responsibility relate to each other because "writing and being a mother are a part of me, so they are mixed together and balance each other out."


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: As of 2019, she began strongly rejecting the term "afrofuturism" as a label for her work and coined the terms africanfuturism and africanjujuism instead. In October 2019, she published an essay titled "Defining Africanfuturism" that defines both terms in detail.


title: Nnedi Okorafor

text: Shortly after winning the World Fantasy Award in 2011, Okorafor published an essay "Lovecraft's racism & The World Fantasy Award statuette, with comments from China Miéville", in which she reflected upon her conflicting emotions on winning an award in the shape of a large silver bust of H. P. Lovecraft. She would later voice her support for Daniel José Older's 2014 petition to replace the Lovecraft bust with one of Octavia Butler. In the essay, she acknowledges both the literary legacy of Lovecraft and his continued influence in the contemporary world of science fiction:Do I want "The Howard" (the nickname for the World Fantasy Award statuette. Lovecraft's full name is "Howard Phillips Lovecraft") replaced with the head of some other great writer? Maybe. Maybe it's about that time. Maybe not. What I know I want is to face the history of this leg of literature rather than put it aside or bury it. If this is how some of the great minds of speculative fiction felt, then let's deal with that ... as opposed to never mention it or explain it away.


title: American Forces Network

text: The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which include global radio and television satellite feeds, emanate from the AFN Broadcast Center/Defense Media Center in Riverside, California. AFN was founded on 26 May 1942, in London as the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS).


title: American Forces Network

text: The American Forces Network can trace its origins to 26 May 1942, when the War Department established the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). A television service was first introduced in 1954 with a pilot station at Limestone Air Force Base, Maine. In 1954, the television mission of AFRS was officially recognized and AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service) became AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and Television Service). All of the Armed Forces broadcasting affiliates worldwide merged under the AFN banner on 1 January 1998. On 21 November 2000, the American Forces Information Service directed a change of the AFRTS organizational title from Armed Forces Radio and Television Service back to American Forces Radio and Television Service. A timeline of the history of AFN is available online.


title: American Forces Network

text: KODK began broadcasting from the U.S. Army base Fort Greely at Kodiak, Alaska, before the inception of the AFRS. Fort Greeley was built to defend and was an integral part of the Kodiak Naval Air Station, sometimes called Naval Operating Base. Construction of both was under way in 1940. The naval station and AFRS radio remained in operation, but Fort Greely closed at the end of World War II. Years later the name Fort Greely was resurrected for the Big Delta (near Delta Junction) Army base. The small town of Kodiak, located six miles away, had no radio station, while Anchorage and Fairbanks, where Army and Army Air Force bases soon would be established, had civilian radio stations. Thus KODK had a primary role to bring radio to the armed forces and civilians in the Kodiak area. The sign-off at KODK was the memorable "Goodnight, Sweetheart" set to a stirring melody from Liszt's Les Preludes. The station lived on to bring the first television to Kodiak.