title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Travestis are a historically vulnerable and criminalized population, victims of social exclusion and structural violence. Discrimination, harassment, arbitrary detentions, torture and murder are commonplace throughout Latin America. Several LGBT activists, journalists and artists denounce that the violence and early death to which the travesti population is subjected constitutes an authentic genocide. A study carried out in 2011 in Central America revealed, for example, that more than 80% of the surveyed population felt they have the right to attack trans and travesti people because of their way of being. In his pioneering investigation of the travesti population of Salvador, Bahia in the 1990s, anthropologist Don Kulick found that they are "one of the most marginalized and despised groups in Brazilian society." According to a 2017 research published by the Ministry of Defense of Argentina titled "La revolución de las mariposas", 74.6% of trans women and travestis in Buenos Aires said they had suffered some type of violence, a high number, although lower than that registered in 2005, which was 91.9%. The same study indicated that they die on average at the age of 32, well below the average life expectancy of the country. Similarly, travestis and transsexuals in Brazil have a life expectancy of 35 years. In 2021, it is estimated that a travesti or trans person dies violently every 48 hours in Brazil, with at least 80 murders in the first half of the year. Brazil is considered "the most transphobic country in the world", and, according to an annual balance carried out by Trans Murder Monitoring in 2020, the country is at the top of the list of trans people murders. Lohana Berkins reflected in 2015: "Reaching old age is for a travesti like belonging to an exclusive club, because the mishaps that accompany marginal life—which lead to a death that is always considered premature in terms of population statistics—are the perennial consequences of a persecuted identity."


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: In recent times, the concept of "travesticide" (Spanish: "travesticidio")—along with "transfemicide" or "trans femicide"— has been extended to refer to the hate crime understood as the murder of a travesti due to her gender condition. In 2015, the murder case of activist Diana Sacayán became the first precedent in Argentina and in Latin America to be criminally judged as a "travesticide". According to Blas Radi and Alejandra Sardá-Chandiramani:


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: "Travesticide"/"transfemicide" is the end of a continuum of violence that begins with the expulsion of home, exclusion from education, the health system and labor market, early initiation into prostitution/sex work, the permanent risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, criminalization, social stigmatization, pathologization, persecution and police violence. This pattern of violence constitutes the space of experience for trans women and "travesties", which is mirrored in their waning horizon of expectations. In it, death is nothing extraordinary; on the contrary, in the words of Octavio Paz "life and death are inseparable, and each time the first loses significance, the second becomes insignificant".


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Most travestis assume their condition at a very young age, and are usually perceived by others as overly effeminate boys during childhood. This mostly conflicts their relationships with their families and with the educational system, which are marked by discrimination and later abandonment. Most are either expelled from their families or left them of their own accord— generally between the ages of thirteen and eighteen—and in most cases judge the occasion as the beginning of their new lives as travestis. They are usually forced to leave their towns or even countries in search of less hostile locations. In her pioneering 2004 research book "Cuerpos desobedientes", Josefina Fernández found that most of the travestis surveyed had been victims of child sexual abuse, although she noted: "I must clarify, however, that it is a topic that I approached with great caution (...), in order to avoid any 'adventurous' readings that might associate rape with travestism in terms of cause-consequence."


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: The association between travestis and prostitution constitutes one of the most widespread "common sense representations in Latin American societies". As their living conditions are marked by exclusion from the formal educational system and the labor market, prostitution is constituted as their "only source of income, the most widespread survival strategy and one of the very few spaces for recognition of the travesti identity as a possibility of being in the world". This in turn, has an important—or defining— role in the construction of their identity. Brazilian organization ANTRA estimates that 90% of travestis and trans women of the country resort to prostitution at least once in their life. According to "La revolución de las mariposas", 88% of travestis and trans women from Buenos Aires never had a formal job, while 51.5% never had a job of any kind. 70.4% of those surveyed said they earned their living from prostitution, and of this group, 75.7% had been doing so from an age less than or equal to 18 years. 87.2% of these travesti and trans women surveyed who currently work as prostitutes wish to leave the activity if they were to be offered a job. The expulsion of travestis from the educational system is a necessary element to understand the use of prostitution as an almost exclusive means of support, since the "hostile circumstances that mark the schooling experience of the majority of travesti girls and adolescents severely condition the possibilities of these subjects in terms of social inclusion and access to quality employment in adulthood."


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: The strong stigmatization towards travestis and the sex work that they carry out generally conditions the service they receive from medical personnel. Fear of rejection by health workers often leads them to self-medicate and to attend health institutions when conditions or diseases are already at very advanced levels. Due to the strong stereotype towards travestis in relation to prostitution and HIV, they are usually automatically referred to HIV/AIDS centers every time they attend a medical center, ignoring their other health needs. Even though the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in travestis is real, it stems from a process of social exclusion that "ends up incarnating in travesti bodies and confirming the stereotype." Travestis are in an extremely vulnerable situation when it comes to the virus. A study published in "Culture, Health & Sexuality" in 2009 found that they are one of the groups most affected by HIV in Mexico; while a research published in "Global Public Health" in 2016 found that there is a 30% prevalence of the virus in the travesti population of Lima, Peru. Some health systems continue to include travestis under the epidemiological category of "men who have sex with men" (MSM), with little consideration of their unique situation and needs. Recent studies indicate the need for multilevel HIV prevention campaigns that prioritize the travesti population.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Access to housing is one of the problems that most affects the travesti community. In Buenos Aires, 65.1% of travestis and trans women live in rental rooms in hotels, private houses, pensions or apartments, whether authorized by the competent body or "taken" by those who manage them irregularly. According to a study carried out by INDEC and INADI in 2012, 46% of the travesti and trans women population in Argentina lived in deficit housing, while another study carried out by ATTTA and Fundacion Huesped in 2014 indicated that one third of them lived in poor households, particularly in the Northwest region of the country.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Travesti identity has an important history of political mobilization in Argentina, where it is proudly claimed as the "political locus par excellence" of resistance to the policies of gender binarism and cissexism. Argentine travestis began to get organized between the late 1980s and early 1990s, in repudiation of persecution, mistreatment and police violence, as well as the police edicts (Spanish: ""edictos policiales"") in force at that time. A pioneering figure was that of Karina Urbina, the first transgender rights activist in the country, although not framed under the term travesti but rather transsexual. Unlike the scandalous public attitude of travestis, transsexuals like Urbina showed themselves in television as sensitive and affected, qualities they most associated with femininity. Another initial difference between the two groups is that travestis fought against police edicts and demanded their annulment, while transsexuals sought to be recognized as women and to be registered as such in their documents.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: The travesti political movement began in an organized manner with the founding of the Asociación de Travestis Argentinas (ATA; English: "Association of Argentine Travestis"), in 1992 or 1993, depending on the author. Others consider that the creation of Travestis Unidas (TU; English: "United Travestis") precedes that of ATA, and regard it as the first travesti organization in the country. It was founded by Kenny de Michellis alongside three friends in May 1993. She first came into contact with local gay activism in the early 1990s through Gays DC, an organization formed by Carlos Jáuregui, César Cigliutti and Marcelo Ferreyra in 1991 after separating from the Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA; English: "Argentine Homosexual Community"). The three men founded the CHA in 1984 and Jáuregui had been its most visible member, becoming the first person to openly defend his homosexuality in Argentine mass media. The members of Gays DC encouraged De Michellis to form Travestis Unidas and offered her to write a column on the situation of travestis in their official magazine. Her involvement as an activist was fundamentally through her appearances in mass media, as she became the first travesti to appear on national television. At that time, the "exercise of visibility" was considered one of the optimal and preferred ways of approaching travesti activism.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: María Belén Correa, another of the travestis that began to organize in the early 1990s, also became involved with activism through Gays DC, which she contacted in 1993 seeking legal help. The association's lawyers encouraged her to form her own group and Correa founded ATA, which was later joined by Lohana Berkins and Nadia Echazú. Correa recalled Carlos Jáuregui's role in their activism:


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Carlos said that we had brought a new air to [local homosexual] activism. They were occupied with the civil union [project] and we were saying "we cannot live, we cannot walk, we cannot go to the supermarket." Things were literally this way. He was the first one to come to our meetings (...) He wrote our press releases, our speeches, because we didn't know how to do them. (...) He began to tell us that we were activists and taught us to behave as such. We didn't even understand the concept of transsexuality (...), we became activists almost without realizing it.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: One of the first major political struggles of travestis occurred within the context of the 1994 amendment of the Constitution of Argentina and revolved around the inclusion of an article of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation in the new constitution of the city of Buenos Aires. Noting that the project excluded travestis, they began to demand that the broader LGBT movement focused not only on sexual orientation but also gender identity issues. At the same time, travestis took part in the discussions to repeal the police edicts under which travestis and sex workers were regularly detained. These edicts were replaced by the Código de Convivencia Urbana (English: "Urban Coexistence Code"), which confronted travestis with Vecinos de Palermo, a group of residents of Palermo who demanded more police repression and tougher regulations to eradicate prostitutes from their neighborhood.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Within these debates, travestis came into contact with women's rights groups and soon began to be included into spaces of feminist discussion. Their contact with local feminism during the mid-1990s is regarded as a key moment in the development of the Argentine travesti rights movement, as it directed their concerns towards the concept of gender identity, and marked the beginning of transfeminism in the country. The inclusion in particular was that of Berkins, who got into the women's rights movement through meetings with lesbian feminists such as Alejandra Sarda, Ilse Fuskova, Chela Nadio and Fabiana Tron. Following this approach to gender theory, ATA was split into two new organizations in 1995: the Organización de Travestis y Transexuales de la República Argentina (OTTRA; English: "Organization of Travestis and Transsexuals from the Argentine Republic") and the Asociación Lucha por la Identidad Travesti y Transexual (ALITT; English: "Struggle for the Travesti and Transsexual Identity Association"). The former—led by Echazú—defended prostitution as a valid way of life, while the latter—led by Berkins—generally rejected it and mainly focused on the social recognition of their identities. They sought to distance themselves from ATA's position that argued that in order to change the living conditions of travestis, they should first of all modify the image that society had of them, ignoring the issue of prostitution.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Between 1993 and 2003, ALITT collaborated with the City of Buenos Aires' Ombudsman's Office (Spanish: "Defensoría del Pueblo") in a series of initiatives aimed at the transvestite community. One of the first initiatives promoted by the Ombudsman's Office was the "Informe preliminar sobre la situación de las travestis en la ciudad de Buenos Aires" in 1999, a statistical report on the living conditions of the city's travestis. Between 1995 and 2005, travesti organizations were strengthened by working with other groups, interacting with the academia and articulating with different political parties. Around 1995, the gay magazine "NX" organized meetings to discuss the problem of sexual minorities in the country and travesti groups were invited to share their life experiences. These gatherings led to a 1996 national meeting of activists organized in Rosario by the local group Colectivo Arco Iris, which is considered a milestone in the travesti movement, since they widely convinced the rest of the attendees to recognize them as part of the broader Argentine LGBT movement. The irruption of travestis in the Argentine academic environment occurred through the Colectivo Universitario Eros (CUE; "English: Eros University Collective"), a student collective from the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), which pioneered queer theory in the country and remained active from 1993 to 1996. In 1997, members of this group formed the Área de Estudios Queer (AEQ;English: Queer Studies Area) within the Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas (also of the UBA), and travesti activists Lohana Berkins, Marlene Wayar and Nadia Echazú soon joined. According to Berkins: "Our appearance in the academic field was through the Grupo Eros, which included Flavio Rapisardi, Silvia Delfino, Mabel Bellucci, and which later dissolved. Then they formed the Área Queer, where they also sat us next to an intellectual and we began to argue, on our terms, with our abilities, but we began to argue."


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: During the late 1990s and early 2000s, travesti activists claimed to have felt "invisible" by the broader LGBT movement, which mainly focused on the passing of a civil union law. As a result, the group of travesti activists led by Berkins was closer to the feminist and sex worker rights movements. In a 1997 landmark case, Mariela Muñoz, became the first transgender person to be officially recognized by the Argentine state and was granted the custody of some of the children she had raised. This distancing was also due to the reconfiguration of the local LGBT movement in response to the HIV epidemic. Following international prevention policies against the virus, the category of "men who have sex with men" (MSM) was established, within which the travestis were included. Berkins' ALITT group objected to this definition on the grounds that it undermined the fight for their identity, while ATTTA, on the other hand, requested and managed resources to finance prevention projects focused on MSM. These efforts by ATTTA occurred in parallel with its articulation with other local NGOs working on HIV/AIDS, such as Nexo and Fundación Buenos Aires Sida.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: In 2004, OTTRA was dissolved following the death of Echazú, due to complications derived from HIV/AIDS.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Today, ATTTA—which added two more "T" for "transsexual" and "transgender" in its name—and ALITT are the two travesti activist groups with the longest trajectory and political incidence in the country.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Between 2010 and 2012, a judicial strategy was carried out jointly by ATTTA and the Federación Argentina LGBT's (FALGBT; English: "Argentine LGBT Federation") legal team, resulting in a series of judicial appeals that established antecedents in the recognition of travesti and transgender identities. On May 9, 2012, the Argentine National Congress passed the Gender Identity Law (Spanish: "Ley de Identidad de Género"), which made the country one of the world's most progressive in terms of transgender rights. It allows people to officially change their gender identities without facing barriers such as hormone therapy, surgery, psychiatric diagnosis or judge approval. The law has been celebrated as a great victory for the local LGBT movement. Nevertheless, activist Marlene Wayar soon criticized the law claiming that travestis can only choose to change their legal gender to "female", a disacknowledgement of their perceived identity.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Since the implementation of the Gender Identity Law, there have been efforts by activists in search of the legal recognition of non-binary genders such as travesti. In early 2020, activist Lara Bertolini made news for claiming that her national ID should be legally registered as "travesti femininity" (Spanish: ""femineidad travesti""). She initially obtained a favorable ruling from a Buenos Aires judge, which was later rejected by the Chamber of Appeals (Spanish: "Cámara de Apelaciones"), with its three judges citing the Real Academia Española's official definition of "travesti" as their reasoning. In July 2021, the country became the first in Latin America to recognise non-binary gender identities in its national identification cards and passports, allowing to choose the letter X as a third option besides male (M) or female (F). The measure was criticized by various travesti and non-binary activists, who say that the letter X makes their identities invisible and that it actually reinforces the binary by othering othem.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: On June 24, 2021, the Argentine Senate passed the travesti-trans job quota law (Spanish: ""cupo laboral travesti-trans""), which established that the state must hire at least 1 percent of the public administration staff to travesti and trans people. The official name of the law is Law for the Promotion of Access to Formal Employment for Travestis, Transsexuals and Transgender Persons "Diana Sacayán - Lohana Berkins" (Spanish: "Ley de Promoción del Acceso al Empleo Formal para Personas Travestis, Transexuales y Transgénero "Diana Sacayán - Lohana Berkins"").


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Travesti activism—located within the broader transgender rights movement—has been marked by its tensions and differences with transsexual-identified groups. Historically, the creation of travesti organizations followed one of two models: on the one hand by self-organization and, on the other hand, from the action of NGOs linked to the homosexual movement or the movement against AIDS. In the late 1990s, gender identity-oriented activism emerged in Brazil, which adopted the terms "trans" and "transsexual" on the recommendation of foreign activists. The undertaking and demand for sex-reassignment surgery is recurrently used as a distinguishing factor between both groups, with travestis choosing not alter their genitality. The Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (ANTRA; English: "National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals") was founded in 2000 and remains the main organization of the transgender movement at the national level. As of 2003, travestis remained underrepresented within the broader LGBT movement, as well as in the growing Brazilian "pink market", since it emphasizes the aesthetics of masculine, gay men. As a result, the emerging Brazilian travesti movement of the 1990s and early 2000s has been developed mainly through AIDS-related funding, which resulted in the emergence of their own formal organizations, programs and venues. Travesti involvement in the Brazilian response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic dates to the mid-1980s, when São Paulo travesti Brenda Lee founded a support hospice for travestis living with the virus. The number of travesti-led and travesti-related programs in the country grew from a handful in the early 1990s to approximately twenty in the early 2000s. In a 1996 speech, Lair Guerra de Macedo Rodrigues—former Director of Brazil's National Program on Sexually Transmissible Diseases and AIDS—asserted: "The organization of travesti groups, especially following the advent of AIDS, is evidence of the beginning of the arduous task of defending citizenship."


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: In 2005, the transsexual-focused Coletivo Nacional de Transexuais (CNT; English: "National Transsexual Collective") was founded, which progressively moved away from the spaces of the LGBT movement towards women's right groups. The CNT was the target of criticism and accusations of division within the trans movement, and was criticized by travesti activists for its "lack of political commitment". In December 2009, the XVI Encontro Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (ENTLAIDS; English: "XVI National Meeting of Travestis and Transsexuals")—held in Rio de Janeiro—was marked by an intense debate for the "political definition" of the categories "travesti" and "transsexual" within the broader transgender rights movement. It was held following the dissolution of the CNT and the subsequent involvement of many of its members with ANTRA. Activist Luana Muniz was the most recognized voice defending the transvesti identity during the meeting, who pointed out the social class differences that are involved in the delimitation of the categories "travesti" and "transsexual". In 2018, Muniz defined being travesti as: "being daring, having the pleasure of transgressing what they say is normal."


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Other notable travesti activists include Majorie Marchi, Keila Simpson, Amara Moira, Indianara Siqueira, and Sofia Favero.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Unlike countries like Argentina, where there is a quota law for travesti and trans people in the public administration, Brazil is far from institutionalizing the labor inclusion of the trans community, although there are many travesti-led projects, such as Transgarçonne, an initiative of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Capacitrans, founded by Andréa Brazil; and TransEmpregos, created by Márcia Rocha, the largest job platform for trans people in the country.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: On April 22, 1973, a group of young travestis gathered in the Plaza de Armas in Santiago, holding the first protest of sexual diversity in the history of Chile.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: A key figure in the Chilean travesti movement and cultural scene is the poet Claudia Rodríguez, who began her activist career in the 1990s.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Paraguay is one of the most restrictive countries in the region with respect to the rights of transgender people. The first demonstrations of travestis and trans women took place in the late 1990s and early 2000s, mainly to defend their "paradas" (the places where sex work is carried out) and to protest police mistreatment and murder of their peers.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Yren Rotela is one of the leading figures of the Paraguayan movement for the rights of travesti, transgender and transsexual people, founding the Panambí association in 2009, which she chaired until 2017. She also inaugurated Casa Diversa in 2019, which in addition to being a home, is a community center for sexual diversity. When asked about her local references, she replied: "I can't forget the survivors of the dictatorship who taught me a lot: Liz Paola, Peter Balbuena, Carla. But above all, my murdered companions are always my great leaders, my greatest examples of struggle."


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Other active travesti activists today are Alejandra Grange, Fabu Olmedo and Reny Davenport. At the international level, the main references of the movement are from Argentina, including Diana Sacayán, Lohana Berkins, Marlene Wayar, Marcela Romero, Diana Zurco, Camila Sosa Villada, Susy Shock and Alma Fernández. In a 2020 interview with Mexican independent media Kaja Negra, Alejandra Grange —founder of the Transitar organization and the Radio Travesti program—stated:


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: For me it is very important to say that I am a travesti because it is a word that was born in the Latin American context that we are resignifying because it was a medical term, a man who dresses as a woman to achieve sexual satisfaction and all those things. But it is not that. For me, when I tell you that I am a travesti, I am telling you that this is resistance, for me this is happiness, it is struggle, being with my friends, it is a way of saying "japiró" to the system, [a Guaraní expression of anger and rage] go to hell, because I can exist within all of this.


title: Travesti (gender identity)

text: Uruguayan travesti activism emerged in the 1990s, during the neoliberal presidencies of Luis Alberto Lacalle and Julio María Sanguinetti, which "promoted a subordinate integration model of sexual dissidence anchored in the notion of toleration". In this context, the claims of the Mesa Coordinadora Travesti (English: Travesti Coordinating Board) and later the Asociación Trans del Uruguay (English: Uruguayan Trans Association), focused on the conquest of "negative rights": the end of discrimination and of police persecution. In 2002, the law on sex work was passed, legalizing the activity and undermining police surveillance in the streets. During the progressive governments of the Frente Amplio, the conquest of "positive rights" was achieved: in 2009 a law was approved that allows changing the gender and name in the identification documents and, in 2018, the Ley Integral para Personas Trans (English: Comprehensive Law for Trans People) was approved. Writing for "La Diaria" in 2020, Diego Sempol and Karina Pankievich pointed out that "the debates on the [Ley Integral para Personas Trans] were written in stone in the social imaginary and formatted trans memories in the public sphere," leading to the appearance of a series of testimonies that "broke a prolonged silence that put into discussion the recent Uruguayan past and the official accounts of state violence [during the civic-military dictatorship]".


title: Ravi Raja Pinisetty

text: Ravi Raja Pinisetty is an Indian film director known for his works in the Telugu cinema with actors such as Chiranjeevi, Nandamuri Balakrishna, Mohan Babu, Rajasekhar and Daggubati Venkatesh. Some of his major hits include "Yamudiki Mogudu" with Chiranjeevi, "Pedarayudu" with Mohan Babu, "Bangaru Bullodu" with Nandamuri Balakrishna and "Chanti" with Venkatesh. Most of his directorial ventures are remakes. He has directed about 40 films so far.


title: Ravi Raja Pinisetty

text: Ravi Raja Pinisetty has two sons. Eldest son, Satya Prabhas is a movie director and younger son Aadhi Pinisetty is an actor in Tamil and Telugu films.


title: Spur

text: A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back up the natural aids (the leg, seat, hands, and voice). The spur is used in many equestrian disciplines. Most equestrian organizations have rules in about spur design and use and penalties for using spurs in any manner that constitutes animal abuse.


title: Spur

text: This very old word derives from Anglo-Saxon "spura, spora", related to "spornan, spurnan", to kick, "spurn"; cf. Medieval High German "Sporn", modern German "Sporn", Dutch "spoor". The generalized sense of "anything that urges on, stimulus" is recorded in English from" circa" 1390.


title: Spur

text: Spurs are usually held on by a leather or leather-like spur strap that goes over the arch of the foot and under the sole in front of the boot heel. Some western designs have a leather strap that goes only over the top, with a heel chain or a rubber "tiedown" instead of a strap under the boot. Also, some styles have no straps, where the heel band is simply very tight and slips on wedged between the sole and heel of the boot. Some spur designs have a slot for running the spur strap through, others have "buttons", sometimes on the heel band itself and sometimes attached to the heel band by hinges that allow a strap with buttonholes to be attached.


title: Spur

text: When used in military ranks, senior officers, and officers of all ranks in cavalry and other formerly mounted units of some armies, wear a form of spur in certain orders of dress which is known as the box spur, having no spur strap, but a long metal prong opposite the neck, extending between the arms of the heel band, which is inserted into a specially fitted recess or "box" in the base of the boot heel. Due to the prong, such spurs can only be worn with appropriately equipped boots. This construction is shown in the photos of the swan neck and Waterford spurs below.


title: Spur

text: Spurs seen in western riding may also have small curved-up hooks on the shank in front of the rowel, called "chap guards", that were originally used to prevent the rider's chaps from interfering with the rowels of the spur. The shank angle from the yoke can vary from "full" to "one half" to "one quarter" to "straight". Some cowboys also added small metal "pajados," also known as "jingo bobs" or "jingle bobs," near the rowel, to create a jingling sound whenever the foot moved. Rowels can vary in size and number of points.


title: Spur

text: In the history of veterinary science, the word "rowel" described a small disk of leather or other material that was used as a seton stitch.


title: Spur

text: The spur was used by the Celts during the La Tène period (which began in the fifth century BC), and is also mentioned by Xenophon ("circa" 430 - 354 BC.) Iron or bronze spurs were also used throughout the Roman Empire. The spur also existed in the medieval Arab world. Early spurs had a neck that ended in a point, called a prick, riveted to the heel band. Prick spurs had straight necks in the 11th century and bent ones in the 12th. The earliest form of the spur armed the heel with a single prick. In England, the rowel spur is shown upon the first seal of Henry III and on monuments of the 13th century, but it did not come into general use until the 14th century. The earliest rowels probably did not revolve, but were fixed.


title: Spur

text: The spurs of medieval knights were gilt and those of squires were silvered. To "win his spurs" meant to gain knighthood, as gilded spurs were reckoned the badge of knighthood. In the rare cases of ceremonious degradation, the spurs were hacked from the disgraced knight's heels with the cook's chopper. After the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, where the French chivalry suffered a humbling defeat, the victors hung up bushels of knights' gilt spurs in the churches of Kortrijk as trophies of what is still remembered by the Flemings as the "Guldensporenslag" (the battle of the golden spurs). The English named the French rout from Thérouanne as the Battle of the Spurs, due to the rapidity of the French cavalry's flight.


title: Spur

text: Prick spurs were the standard form until the 14th century, when the rowel began to become more common. The prick design never died out entirely, but instead became a thicker, shorter neck with a dulled end, such as the modern "Prince of Wales" design commonly seen in English riding.


title: Spur

text: Though often decorated throughout history, in the 15th century, spurs became an art form in both decoration and design, with elaborate engraving, very long shanks, and large rowels. Though sometimes it has been claimed that the design changes were used because of barding, the use of barding had fallen out of fashion by the time the most elaborate spur designs were created. More likely, the elaborate designs reflected the increased abundance of precious metals, particularly silver, that followed the European exploration of the Americas that began in 1492. Spur designs in Spain and colonial Mexico were particularly elaborate. For example, the spurs of the Spanish "conquistadores" were sometimes called "espuela grande," the "grand spur", and could have rowels as large as 6 inches around.


title: Spur

text: In northern Europe, the spur became less elaborate after the 16th century, particularly following the Stuart Restoration, but elaborate spur designs persisted, particularly in the Americas, descendants of which are still seen today, particularly in Mexico and the western United States, where the spur has become an integral part of the "vaquero" and cowboy traditions. The spur as an art form, as well as a tool, is still seen in western riding, where spurs with engraving and other artistic elements, often handmade and using silver or other precious metals, are still worn.


title: Spur

text: Collecting of particularly beautiful antique spurs is a popular pastime for some individuals, particularly aficionados of western history and cowboy culture.


title: Spur

text: Just as a medieval knight was said to have "earned his spurs", the awarding of spurs has continued in the modern era as an honour bestowed upon individuals in organizations with military heritages, and among motorcycle riders. Members of the Papal Orders of Knighthood receive gilt spurs directly from the hands of the pope; members of the British Order of the Garter similarly receive gilt spurs from the monarch. Inductees into the American Order of the Spur receive gold-coloured (usually brass) spurs if they have earned their membership through combat, or silver-coloured (usually nickel) spurs if they have not seen combat, but complete a rite of passage.


title: Spur

text: Spurs are worn with the tip of the neck pointed downward, sitting on the spur rest of the riding boot, if there is one, with the buckle of the spur strap worn on the outside of the foot.


title: Spur

text: Spur styles differ between disciplines. Spurs for western riding tend to be heavier, often decorated, and have rowels that rotate. The neck of western spurs is usually longer and the rowel wide in diameter, to accommodate the leg position of the western-style rider, where the stirrup is adjusted long, and the heavy leather used for the saddle's fenders and stirrups places the rider's leg a bit farther from the horse.


title: Spur

text: Spurs in English riding tend to be very sleek, slim, and conservative in design, with a shorter neck, as the saddle and leg position is closer to the horse. They usually have a rounded or blunt end. Rowels are not as popular as the plain blunt end, although some types include a rowel or smooth disk on the end. When used in sports requiring finesse, such as dressage, the spur's purpose is not to speed up the horse, but to give accurate and precise aids in lateral and complex movements, such as pirouettes, "travers", and "renvers", and the airs above the ground. Dressage riders tend to ride in Waterford- style spurs with a rounded knob at the end. Conversely, show hunter and jumper riders may use a flatter end to encourage forward movement, such as the Prince of Wales design.


title: Spur

text: Another type of modern spur is those used on motorcycles. They are characterized by rowels worn as foot jewelry, hung off of boots. They can be similar in appearance to spurs worn by equestrians. Their bright material attracts motor vehicle drivers to the presence of motorcyclists, especially to their feet where riders are most vulnerable when stopped in traffic. Their owners may further customize them by adding miniature strobing LED lights. They are also awarded by motorcycle clubs.


title: Spur

text: The spur is a refined tool, designed to allow the rider to transmit very subtle signals to the horse that are nearly invisible to any other observer. No matter the discipline, it is important that a rider has a correct position before using spurs, with a deep seat, legs lengthened to the extent allowed by the stirrups, heels down, with knees and thighs rolled in so that the rider has a solid base of support. A swinging or unstable leg may inadvertently jab the horse with the spur as the rider sits, thus irritating, harming, and frightening the horse, and chronic misuse may deaden it to the leg aids. Improper use may also provoke dangerous or undesirable behaviors such as bucking or running away.


title: Spur

text: Spurs are rarely used in sports such as horse racing, where the rider's leg is not significantly in contact with the horse.


title: Spur

text: Most spurs are activated by the rider flexing the heel slightly up and in. A roweled spur permits an additional type of action; a rider can roll the spur lightly against the side of the horse rather than being limited to simply pressing inward.


title: Spur

text: The exception to the use of spurs in a subtle fashion is in the rodeo events of bull riding and saddle bronc and bareback riding, where the rider is required to spur in an elaborate, stylized fashion, touching the horse or bull at every stride. This requirement is designed to resemble the behavior of old-time horse-breakers, who would deliberately provoke a horse to buck. In modern times, riders are required to use spurs in a manner that is merely encouraging a horse that is already predisposed to buck; they are not to produce pain. Spur design and use is strictly defined by rodeo rules, spurs are dull, and rowels must turn freely. In fact, the way spurs are to be used in bucking events generally makes it harder for the rider to stay on; in bareback bronc competition, the spurs must be above the point of the horse's shoulder at the first jump and remain forward at all times, deliberately creating a very awkward position for the rider that requires both strength and coordination to stay on the horse. In saddle-bronc competition, the rider must make a full sweep with the spurs from shoulder to flank with each jump, requiring great concentration, and any error in balance puts the rider in a position to be quickly unseated. Bull riders are allowed a position that is the closest to that of classic riding, they are not required to spur the bull, but if they choose to spur, may do so with their legs down in a style that resembles a normal riding position.


title: Spur

text: Spurs are divided into men's, women's, and children's, according to width (which must fit on the heel of the rider's boot). Spurs are further divided according to the length of the neck, with being relatively small (and a common size in children's spurs), with some being 2–3 in (5–7.5 cm) long. Many competition rules limit the length of the neck.


title: Aditya Mittal

text: Aditya Mittal (born 22 January 1976) is the CEO of ArcelorMittal which was founded by his father Lakshmi Mittal, who was ranked 21st in the 2012 Forbes list of billionaires.


title: Aditya Mittal

text: Born in India and raised in Indonesia, Mittal attended high school at Jakarta International School. He has a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the US, from which he graduated in 1996.


title: Aditya Mittal

text: He worked for a short time in the mergers and acquisitions department at investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston. He joined the family business in 1997 and was appointed Head of Mergers and Acquisitions in 1999, and has been involved in several purchases since then as Mittal Steel has played a major role in the consolidation of the global steel industry. He lives in London. He led Mittal Steel's offer for Arcelor that led to its acquisition and merger with Mittal Steel in 2006. The two companies were merged in 2006, with the merged company being named ArcelorMittal.


title: Aditya Mittal

text: Mittal is a member of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Forum, the Young President's Organization, a Board Member at the Wharton School, a Board Member at Bennett, Coleman & Co., a Board Member at PPR and a member of Citigroup's International Advisory.


title: Aditya Mittal

text: In 2008, Aditya and Megha Mittal made a donation of £15m to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, the largest private contribution the hospital had ever received. The donation was used to help fund their new facility, the Mittal Children's Medical Centre. On 17 January 2018, the Duchess of Cambridge officially opened the Mittal Children's Medical Centre at the Great Ormond Street Hospital.


title: Aditya Mittal

text: Aditya Mittal is married to Megha Mittal, former owner of German fashion company Escada. The pre-wedding event was held at Victoria Memorial, Kolkata, with entertainment from Mallika Sarabhai and Shah Rukh Khan.


title: Aditya Mittal

text: He has one sister, Vanisha, who is also a board member of ArcelorMittal. He has a son and two daughters.


title: Hepatomegaly

text: Hepatomegaly is the condition of having an enlarged liver. It is a non-specific medical sign having many causes, which can broadly be broken down into infection, hepatic tumours, or metabolic disorder. Often, hepatomegaly will present as an abdominal mass. Depending on the cause, it may sometimes present along with jaundice.


title: Hepatomegaly

text: The individual may experience many symptoms, including weight loss, poor appetite and lethargy (jaundice and bruising may also be present).


title: Hepatomegaly

text: The mechanism of hepatomegaly consists of vascular swelling, inflammation (due to the various causes that are infectious in origin) and deposition of (1) non-hepatic cells or (2) increased cell contents (such due to iron in hemochromatosis or hemosiderosis and fat in fatty liver disease).


title: Hepatomegaly

text: Suspicion of hepatomegaly indicates a thorough medical history and physical examination, wherein the latter typically includes an increased liver span.


title: Hepatomegaly

text: On abdominal ultrasonography, the liver can be measured by the "maximum dimension" on a sagittal plane view through the midclavicular line, which is normally up to 18 cm in adults. It is also possible to measure the "cranio-caudal dimension", which is normally up to 15 cm in adults. This can be measured together with the "ventro-dorsal dimension" (or "depth"), which is normally up to 13 cm. Also, the caudate lobe is enlarged in many diseases. In the axial plane, the caudate lobe should normally have a cross-section of less than 0.55 of the rest of the liver.


title: Hepatomegaly

text: Other ultrasound studies have suggested hepatomegaly as being defined as a longitudinal axis > 15.5 cm at the hepatic midline, or > 16.0 cm at the midclavicular line.


title: Hepatomegaly

text: Blood tests should be done, importantly liver-function series, which will give a good impression of the patient's broad metabolic picture.


title: Hepatomegaly

text: A complete blood test can help distinguish intrinsic liver disease from extrahepatic bile-duct obstruction. An ultrasound of the liver can reliably detect a dilated biliary-duct system,


title: Hepatomegaly

text: Computerized tomography (CT) can help to obtain accurate anatomical information, in individuals with hepatomegaly for the purpose of a complete diagnosis.


title: Hepatomegaly

text: Treatment of hepatomegaly will vary depending on the cause of the liver enlargement and hence accurate diagnosis is the primary concern. In the case of auto-immune liver disease, prednisone and azathioprine may be used for treatment.


title: Hepatomegaly

text: In the case of lymphoma the treatment options include single-agent (or multi-agent) chemotherapy and regional radiotherapy, also surgery may be an option in specific situations. Meningococcal group C conjugate vaccine are also used in some cases.


title: Hepatomegaly

text: In primary biliary cirrhosis ursodeoxycholic acid helps the bloodstream remove bile which may increase survival in some affected individuals.


title: Adam Rayner

text: Adam Chance Abbs Rayner (born 28 August 1977) is an English actor. He is known for television roles including: Dominic Montgomery in "Mistresses", Dr. Steve Shaw in "Hawthorne", Aidan Marsh in "Hunted", Bassam "Barry" Al-Fayeed in "Tyrant", and Tal-Rho in "Superman & Lois". He has also appeared on stage in "The Rivals" (Bristol Old Vic, 2004), "Romeo and Juliet" (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 2006) and "Much Ado About Nothing" (Novello, 2006).


title: Adam Rayner

text: Rayner studied at Durham University and after graduating completed a two-year acting course at LAMDA.


title: Adam Rayner

text: He made an appearance as 'Dr. Gail' in the 2010 Christmas Special 'The Perfect Christmas' episode of the BBC sitcom "Miranda" alongside regulars Sally Phillips, Miranda Hart, Tom Ellis, Sarah Hadland and Patricia Hodge, and his character returned in the fourth episode of the third series, titled "Je Regret Nothing".


title: Adam Rayner

text: In November 2012, it was announced that Rayner was cast as Simon Templar in a pilot for a new television series of The Saint, based on the character. Principal photography began on Monday, 17 December 2012 in Pacific Palisades, California. Executive producer Roger Moore was unable to sell the pilot. It was ultimately released in 2017 following Moore's death.


title: Adam Rayner

text: Rayner was cast as the lead in the FX television series, "Tyrant", which ran from June 2014 to September 2016. In 2021, Rayner was cast as Morgan Edge / Tal-Rho in "Superman & Lois".


title: Adam Rayner

text: Rayner's mother is American and father is English and also holds a dual citizenship for the United Kingdom and the United States. He married actress Lucy Brown, on New Year's Eve 2015. They have a son together, Jack, born 28 December 2014, and a daughter, Annie Rose, born 11 July 2017.


title: Jim Kenney

text: James Francis Kenney (born August 7, 1958) is an American politician who is the 99th Mayor of Philadephia. Kenney was first elected on November 3, 2015, defeating his Republican rival Melissa Murray Bailey after winning the crowded Democratic primary contest by a landslide on May 19.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Before he became mayor, Kenney was a member of the Philadelphia City Council for 23 years, serving as a Councilman at Large from January 1992 until January 29, 2015, when he resigned to run for mayor.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Jim Kenney was born on August 7, 1958, in the Whitman neighborhood of South Philadelphia. His father was a firefighter and his mother was a homemaker. His parents both worked second jobs to put Jim and his four siblings through private Catholic schools. In high school, Kenney was a newspaper deliveryman and busboy. Kenney graduated from Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in 1976 and in 1980 received a political science bachelor's degree from La Salle University. He was the first in his family to graduate from college.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney was elected to his first term in 1991 when he was 32 years old. During his time on Philadelphia's City Council, Kenney served as Chairman of the Council Committee on Labor and Civil Service. He was also Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Rules, Committee on the Environment, and Committee on Law and Government, and was a member of the Committee on Public Safety, Technology and Information Services, Public Property and Public Works, Fiscal Stability and Intergovernmental Cooperation, Public Health and Human Services, and the Legislative Oversight Committee.


title: Jim Kenney

text: In 2010, Kenney sided with the local firefighters' union when Mayor Nutter took action to remove the collective bargaining rights of paramedics.


title: Jim Kenney

text: In 2014, Kenney successfully introduced legislation that ended arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana. The bill replaced incarceration with the requirement to pay a fine. In advocating for the bill, Kenney had cited the disproportionate effect of arrests for small amounts of marijuana on African-Americans. Philadelphia became the largest city in the country to decriminalize marijuana.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney garnered criticism from local and national economic commentators when he proposed bonus pension payments, distributing funds when pension plans exceed target returns in any given year even though solvency depends on retaining above-average earnings to prepare for years with below-average earnings.


title: Jim Kenney

text: While on the Philadelphia City Council, Kenney worked as a consultant at Vitetta Architects and Engineers, served on the Independence Blue Cross board, and was an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He gave up these positions when he was elected mayor in 2015.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Incumbent Democratic Mayor Michael Nutter could not run for re-election to a third consecutive term due to the home-rule charter's two-term limit. Registered Democrats hold a formidable 7-to-1 ratio over registered Republicans in Philadelphia, giving Democratic candidates a distinct advantage in citywide elections. The mayoral primary elections were held on May 19, 2015. Kenney won the primary in a landslide with 55.83% of the vote, defeating a crowded field of five other Democratic candidates, including Anthony H. Williams and former District Attorney Lynn Abraham. Republican Melissa Murray Bailey, a business executive, ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. Kenney won with 85.1% of the vote. Kenney was inaugurated as the 99th Mayor of Philadelphia on January 4, 2016.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney was reelected as mayor in 2019. The Democratic primary was held on May 21, 2019, and he defeated former City Controller Alan Butkovitz and Pennsylvania State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams with 67% of the vote. On November 5, 2019, Kenney won re-election by defeating Billy Ciancaglini, a Philadelphia defense attorney and fellow La Salle grad, in the general election with more than 80% of the vote.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney proposed a citywide soda tax that would raise the price of soda at three cents per ounce, originally with the intent to raise money for universal pre-k. At the time, it was the biggest soda tax proposal in the United States. Kenney promoted using tax revenue to fund universal pre-K, jobs, and development projects, which he expected would raise $400 million over five years, all the while reducing sugar intake by decreasing the demand for sugary beverages Kenney's soda tax proposal was brought to the national spotlight and divided key members of the Democratic Party. The idea of a soda tax quickly became a national issue. Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election gave their take. Senator Bernie Sanders said that the tax would hurt the poor. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, said that she was "very supportive" of the idea. The lobbying organization American Beverage Association took a stand against Kenney's proposal. The trade organization, funded by soda companies and distributors, ran local television, radio, and newspaper advertisements against the idea, claiming that the tax would disproportionately hurt the poor. The American Heart Association, on the other hand, has supported Kenney's efforts. On June 16, 2016, the soda tax passed with a 13–4 vote from City Council. The initial proposal of three cents per ounce was lowered to 1.5 cents per ounce. The tax was implemented at the start of the 2017 calendar year.


title: Jim Kenney

text: After the tax took effect, Kenney said retailers' price gouging blamed on the tax and charging the tax on items not subject to it was "wrong" and "misleading". In February 2017, soda manufacturers and retailers announced sales declines of 30–50% in Philadelphia and announced layoffs for March. The city called the predicted layoffs "fear-mongering". While the tax was projected to raise about $2.7 million in its first month, far below the estimate of $7.6 million per month, the city expected that figure to rise.


title: Jim Kenney

text: In March 2017, Pepsi announced plans to lay off between 80 and 100 employees, and blamed this on the tax. The city stated the program had created 251 jobs, mostly full-time pre-K teaching positions and said the soda industry was "holding hostage the jobs of hard-working people in their battle to overturn the tax. Pepsi reported nearly $35 billion in gross income and $6 billion in profit last year... The idea that they can afford to do that but 'must lay off workers' should make every Philadelphian very skeptical of whether these layoffs are actually due to the tax." The layoffs would occur at plants in Philadelphia and Wilmington which are run as independent businesses.


title: Jim Kenney

text: In May 2019, the University of Pennsylvania released a study describing the aftermath of the soda tax, two years later. Total volume sales of taxed beverages in Philadelphia decreased by 1.3 billion ounces (from 2.475 billion to 1.214 billion) or by 51.0% after tax implementation. Volume sales in the Pennsylvania border zip codes, however, increased by 308.2 million ounces (from 713.1 million to 1.021 billion), offsetting 24.4% of the decrease in Philadelphia's sales volume.


title: Jim Kenney

text: The sugary drinks tax became an issue in the 2019 mayoral election, with the American Beverage Association spending $521,196 to run advertisements opposing Kenney's reelection.


title: Jim Kenney

text: In October 2017, Mayor Kenney announced that the city was taking back control of its public schools after sixteen years of state control. In an address to City Council, Kenney outlined the end of the state-dominated School Reform Commission and a path to local control of the Philadelphia School District by July 1, 2018.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney created "The Mayor's Task Force to Combat the Opioid Epidemic in Philadelphia" in 2016. The committee concluded its work and presented a final proposal in May 2017.


title: Jim Kenney

text: In June of that year, Kenney and U.S. Representative Bob Brady negotiated a deal with Conrail, the company that owns abandoned train tracks in Kensington that became a well-known area for open-air heroin use, to clean up the property.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney has supported opening supervised injection sites within the city. On January 23, 2018, Philadelphia's Public Health Commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, announced he wants the city to establish one or more in the city. He cited Vancouver, stating overdose deaths have been reduced, as has the spread of diseases like HIV and hepatitis C.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Other city officials differ. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross has publicly stated he is "totally adamant against" the idea, but has an open mind and a lot of questions. Kenney has also said he supports the recommendation. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro disagrees that the sites are an effective path to treatment and suggested changes would be needed in both state and federal laws in order for such sites to operate legally.


title: Jim Kenney

text: The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Kenney's efforts to open safe injections sites. The Court relied on a federal law known as the "Crack House" statute.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney has committed the City of Philadelphia to reduce air pollution and city-wide emissions with specific projects aimed at reforming their respective transit and buildings sectors, areas which are typically responsible for 80 percent total of all citywide emissions and over which mayors have significant authority.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Before and after Donald Trump's election as President in 2016, Kenney has taken a vocal stand against Trump and his policies. Kenney has maintained that Philadelphia will continue to act as a sanctuary city despite threats that cities would stop receiving federal funding. Trump said, "Here in Philadelphia, murder has been steady—I mean—just terribly increasing."


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney, along with Democratic colleagues Representative Dwight Evans, Senator Bob Casey Jr., Councilwoman Helen Gym, and Governor Tom Wolf, joined protesters at Philadelphia International Airport after Trump signed Executive Order 13769 to ban travel from seven majority-Muslim countries.


title: Jim Kenney

text: On November 6, while the US awaited the final few results of the 2020 election, Kenney gave remarks aimed at Donald Trump: "What the president needs to do is, frankly, put his big boy pants on, acknowledge that he lost, and congratulate the winner." The statement was made in the interest of the nation moving forwards, and Kenney cited several former presidents and presidential candidates, including George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Al Gore.


title: Jim Kenney

text: In March 2020, Kenney declared state of emergency amid the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2. The pandemic has resulted in severe social and economic disruption around the world, including the largest global recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s. In Philadelphia, COVID has led to widespread supply shortages exacerbated by panic buying, agricultural disruption, and food shortages, as well as increased gun violence, opioid usage, and housing insecurity. Kenny has referred to COVID as a "nuclear bomb" because of the way it affected the city.


title: Jim Kenney

text: During the summer of 2020, Kenney approved the use of CS gas on protestors during a peaceful protest, who were blocking traffic, on Interstate 676.


title: Jim Kenney

text: In response to protests over the murder of George Floyd, Kenney had the Center City statue of Frank Rizzo removed in June 2020.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney was known for his outspoken feuds and reports on public figures or groups who attack his legislative agenda, image, or the city of Philadelphia. Early in his career, Kenney was known as a candid and opinionated councilman and mayor, particularly on social media platforms like Twitter. Since his election as Mayor of Philadelphia, Kenney has taken a much more measured tone with respect to his political opponents.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney has engaged in numerous feuds with the leadership of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Kenney mobilized numerous gay rights legislation during his time in the Philadelphia City Council, many of which were criticized by Catholic leaders in the city. Notably, Kenney joined the debate over the abrupt firing of a beloved faculty member at Waldron Mercy Academy in Merion who came out as gay. In a "Philadelphia Inquirer" story, Kenney accused the "cowardly men" in the Archdiocese of orchestrating the firing: "If you're a church official and you feel that strongly that this woman and her partner are such a threat to society, stand up and say so," Kenney told the paper. In a 2014 tweet, Kenney stated, "The Arch "[sic]" don't care about people. It's about image and money. Pope Francis needs to kick some ass here!"


title: Jim Kenney

text: Philadelphia sports radio host Howard Eskin has used his talk show to blast Kenney and his authorization of the sugary drinks tax. In April 2017, Kenney appeared on Eskin's radio station, 94.1 WIP, to contend his claims and promote the 2017 NFL draft in Philly. Kenney attacked Eskin, saying, "Here's what I don't understand about Eskin. First of all, he's in that prime spot of 8–10 a.m. on Saturday mornings... I mean like, it's like the show should be called 'The Sound of One Hand Clapping.' Cause no one hears it." Kenney also jokingly said that he would handle things differently with Eskin if he weren't mayor. "If we were regular people sitting at a bar and he was doing that to me, there would be a consequence," Kenney said. "But because I am an elected official, I can't do it."


title: Jim Kenney

text: Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a self-proclaimed Dallas Cowboys fan, has frequently slammed the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the Cowboys' biggest rivals. In early 2017, Christie called Philadelphia fans "angry, awful people" and said Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies, "is not safe for civilized people." Kenney went on a local sports talk radio program to respond to Christie's claims. "He's got the biggest 'L' on his forehead of anybody in the country. He ran for president for one hot-mess minute and then when that was over he was moon-dogging Trump thinking he was going to get a big job," Kenney said. "Now I think he's just bitter and has got nowhere to go. Who's going to hire him? I just think he's just done," Kenney said. "Bullies always lose, and he's a bully."


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney has two adult children, Nora and Brendan, with his former wife Maureen. Kenney and Maureen separated in 2010. They formally divorced in 2018.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney is engaged to Letitia Santarelli. Santarelli was the head coach of the St. John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic School girls basketball team, taking the school to the state championship. The couple started dating in 2015.


title: Jim Kenney

text: Kenney first made his relationship with Santarelli public when she accompanied him to Iceland as part of a cultural exchange to mark the first-ever direct flights between Reykjavík and Philadelphia in 2017.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: Finders Keepers is a crime novel by American writer Stephen King, published on June 2, 2015. It is the second volume in a trilogy focusing on Detective Bill Hodges, following "Mr. Mercedes". The book is about the murder of reclusive writer John Rothstein (an amalgamation of John Updike, Philip Roth, and J. D. Salinger), his missing notebooks, and the release of his killer from prison after 35 years. The book's cover was revealed on King's official site on January 30. An excerpt was published in the May 15, 2015 issue of "Entertainment Weekly".


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: In 1978, petty criminal Morris Bellamy and two of his friends break into the home of author John Rothstein, an author famous for his "Jimmy Gold Runner" trilogy, who lives a reclusive lifestyle away from civilisation. They hurt him badly before demanding to know where he keeps his cash. Although Rothstein tries to lie to them by saying he only keeps petty amounts of cash in his house, they find his safe and force him to give them the combination, discovering a small fortune of cash and a large amount of notebooks. Rothstein pleads with them and tells them they can keep the cash as long as they leave the notebooks, but Morris tells the others to take everything. Rothstein begins to insult Morris and, much to the disapproval of the others, Morris kills him. When they are driving away, the thieves reach a deserted rest area and Morris tells them to pull over. When they get out, Morris kills both of them and drives to his estranged mother's house, who is currently away for the semester lecturing in history.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: The next morning, Morris goes to see an old friend Andrew "Andy" Halliday to show him the notebooks, and Andy immediately confronts him about what he has done. When Morris asks him how long he should wait until they are able to start selling the notebooks to private collectors, Andy tells him to wait until the turn of the twenty-first century, to hide the notebooks and stay away from him, or he will call the police. That night, Morris puts the cash and notebooks in a trunk and buries them underneath a tree behind the house and goes to a bar. Later, he wakes up in a jail cell, having no memory of what happened and wonders if he was arrested for the murders of Rothstein and his friends, but he later finds out that he violently attacked and raped a woman while he was drunk. Morris pleads guilty in the hopes of getting a reduced sentence but is given life sentence instead. Years gone by and his parole hearings are constantly always rejected until in 2014, when his granted parole.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: In 2010, Pete Saubers (who is now living in Morris Bellamy's childhood home) is struggling at home with his parents fighting all the time due to their financial problems as his father is no longer working and needs constant physiotherapy sessions due to being injured in the Mercedes Massacre two years prior. While his parents were arguing, Pete left the house and went out the back path towards the creek. While sitting on a log by the creek, he sees the trunk buried underneath the roots of the tree. Pete then fakes being sick to get a day off school and goes back to the tree with a shovel to dig up the trunk and discovers the cash and notebooks. Over the next few years, he starts anonymously sending envelopes to his parents every month with $500 in them and their lives drastically improve and their father is finally able to secure a job at a real estate firm. He also starts reading the notebooks and becomes a fan of the Jimmy Gold character. When he looks into the author of the notebooks, he finds out that he was murdered and it was never solved but figures as it has been so long since it happened, the culprit is almost certainly dead or in prison for life.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: The money Pete has been sending to his parents finally runs out after a few years and he looks into how he can sell some of the notebooks. He goes to his favourite teacher Mr. Ricker saying he has a first edition of a Rothstein book and he wants to sell it. Pete shows him a list of book dealers which includes Andrew Halliday, asking him which would be best and Mr. Ricker warns to him to stay away from Halliday as he has a reputation for selling stolen property.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: Pete goes to Halliday's shop using a fake name, showing him scanned copies of some of the pages of Rothstein’s notebooks. Halliday, who is deeply in debt, immediately recognizes them and tells him to bring them the next time he comes, realizing they are worth a fortune. Halliday manages to find out Pete's real name and the next time Pete goes to see Halliday, he blackmails him, telling him to give him the notebooks or he will report him to the police. Pete then goes home and hides the notebooks in the basement of a property his father is currently selling that was once a recreation center.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: Pete's sister Tina, who always suspected it was Pete sending the money, notices how distressed he has been lately and goes to her friend Barbara (Jerome's younger sister and survivor of Brady Hartsfield) who takes her to Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney. She tells them she thinks her brother stole the money to help their parents. However, Hodges and Holly are more confident that he found it and ended up in trouble as a result.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: Unbeknownst to Halliday, Morris has recently been paroled and found the empty trunk and now suspects Halliday of stealing the notebooks as he was the only person who knew about them. Morris goes to Halliday's shop with an axe and threatens to kill him if he doesn't tell him where the notebooks are but after he tells him about Pete, he kills him anyway.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: Hodges waits outside the school for Pete and questions him but he refuses to tell him anything. They follow him but he manages to lose them and goes to Halliday's shop to tell him he is not giving him notebooks but finds Morris there instead waiting for him and narrowly manages to escape. Pete finally calls Hodges for help and they start driving towards his house.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: Morris then shoots Pete's mother Linda and kidnaps Tina. He takes her to the recreation center (not knowing the notebooks are hidden there) and calls Pete telling him to call him once he has the notebooks. Pete goes to the recreation center to retrieve them but when he discovers that Morris is there with Tina, he throws the notebooks on the floor, pours lighter fluid on them and threatens to drop his lighter on them if he doesn't let Tina go. When Hodges, Holly and Jerome get to Pete's house they find his badly injured mother who tells them where Pete has gone. Hodges and Jerome make their way to the recreation center while Holly stays with Linda. When Hodges gets to the recreation center and finds Morris at the stairs of the basement, he throws a pair of shoes to create a distraction and then tackles him which causes Pete to jerk and drop the lighter, setting the notebooks alight. Morris goes to the notebooks to try to save them but dies in the blaze. Tina, Pete and Hodges manage to escape out the basement window with the help of Jerome.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: The novel ends with Hodges going to see Brady Hartsfield in the hospital and the picture of Hartsfield and his mother mysteriously falls over while he is there. After Hodges leaves, the tap turns on and then off and the picture falls over again.


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: "Finders Keepers" received mixed to positive reviews. In her review for "The Guardian", Alison Flood praised the book as "expertly plotted" and a "fresh take" on one of King's favorite subjects – "the relationship between a writer and their fans." Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" wrote that while "Finders Keepers" "feels very much like a middle volume," it was still a page-turner, and praised the jumps between time periods and the "very appealing trio of crime-solvers who joined forces in 'Mr. Mercedes.'" Nick Romeo of "The Boston Globe" was more critical, faulting the "somewhat outlandish plot" and how "Deeper themes about the power of fiction feel somewhat grafted onto the suspenseful story."


title: Finders Keepers (King novel)

text: The third season of "Mr. Mercedes" retains the title from the first Bill Hodges book, and follows the events from "Finders Keepers". As of April 2020 the TV show has an uncertain future, as the Audience Network closed and it was uncertain whether the show would return for a fourth season.


title: Javan rusa

text: The Javan rusa or Sunda sambar (Rusa timorensis) is a deer native to Indonesia and East Timor. Introduced populations exist in a wide variety of locations in the Southern Hemisphere.


title: Javan rusa

text: The Javan rusa is dark blackish brown and has a grey forehead. Its back is almost black, the underparts and inner thighs are yellowish brown. The abdomen is lighter brown, and the tail tuft is dark blackish brown. The hair is coarse and longer on the chest than on the remaining body. Its ears are wide and a little shorter than the head. The antlers are medium long and rather wide, the upper branch points forward.


title: Javan rusa

text: Fawns are born without spots. Males are bigger than females; head-to-body length varies from , with a tail. Males weigh , female about .


title: Javan rusa

text: The Javan rusa natively occurs on the islands of Java, Bali, and Timor in Indonesia. It has been introduced to Irian Jaya, Borneo, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku, Sulawesi, Pohnpei, Mauritius, Reunion, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, the Christmas Islands, the Cocos Islands, Nauru, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, New Britain, and New Ireland. The Javan rusa was introduced by the Dutch to New Guinea in the early 1900s.


title: Javan rusa

text: Since its introduction to the West Papuan lowlands, the species has become widely dispersed and is common in much of its new range. However its population in its native range has declined markedly by approximately 10,000 individuals in the past two decades and likely faces further decline. As a result it has been listed as vulnerable in its native range and was declared as a protected species under Indonesian law in 2018.


title: Javan rusa

text: During the 1980s and 1990s, protected areas such as national parks were used to control poaching and the effects of land conversion that destroyed grazing areas. However large numbers of Javan rusa died in Baluran National Park in Indonesia due to the loss of grazing area as a result of the invasive thorny acacia.


title: Javan rusa

text: Javan rusa are nocturnal, although they do graze during the day. They are rarely seen in the open and are very difficult to approach due to their keen senses and cautious instincts.


title: Javan rusa

text: The rusa deer is often found in small groups or pairs, although males are often seen alone. When alarmed, a rusa stag lets out an extremely loud honk. This is an alarm call and alerts any other deer in the vicinity.


title: Javan rusa

text: As with other deer species, Javan rusa mainly feed on grass, leaves, and fallen fruit. Most of their fluid requirements are met by the food they consume, so they hardly drink water.


title: Javan rusa

text: The main predators of the Javan rusa include the Javan leopard, the dhole, crocodiles, pythons, and the Komodo dragon on the islands of Rinca, Komodo, and Flores.


title: Javan rusa

text: The Javan rusa mates around July and August, when stags contest by calling in a loud, shrill bark and dueling with the antlers. The doe gives birth to one or two calves after a gestation period of 8 months, at the start of spring. Calves are weaned at 6–8 months, and sexual maturity is attained at 3–5 years, depending on habitat conditions. Javan rusas live 15–20 years both in the wild and in captivity.


title: Choi Hyun-suk

text: Choi Hyun-suk (Korean: 최현석; born April 21, 1999) is a South Korean rapper and one of two leaders of Treasure alongside Jihoon under YG Entertainment. The band debuted on August 7, 2020 with the single album entitled "". He is also known for his television appearance as a contestant on "Mix Nine" (2017).


title: Choi Hyun-suk

text: Choi Hyun-suk was born on April 21, 1999 in South Korea. He is the eldest in his family and has a younger sister. In his childhood, his mother often travelled for business trips while he remained home. While he studied at , 8-year-old Choi (Korean age) grew an interest for rap and hip hop after he watched Big Bang's documentary, "The Beginning" (2006). This resulted him to solely fixate his eyes on the hip hop label, YG Entertainment. He formally encountered hip hop and began to dance at ages 11–12 and 13–14 (Korean ages) respectively, and soon realized his urge to become an artist. Alternatively he wished to become a footballer which stemmed from his interest in the sport and his stance as an avid fan of Real Madrid CF. In his adolescence, he enrolled himself at an academy called "V-Spec" for lessons and through it, he attended a private audition held by YG Entertainment and was recruited in its trainee program in 2015. Choi dropped out of Chungdam High School the day after his recruitment at his own will and completed his secondary education through a High School Proficiency Assessment.


title: Choi Hyun-suk

text: Choi first appeared on television through "Mix Nine" (2017–2018) with his band-mate, Kim Jun-kyu, and Lee Byoung-gon of CIX. He participated as a contestant representing YG Entertainment in the midst of his trainee period and finished in fifth place. The winning contestants' agencies, however, were unable to reach an agreement in regards to the tenure of the project band, and so,


title: Choi Hyun-suk

text: lead to its debut's abolishment. That same year, Choi was given a cameo role and was incorporated in the third episode of "YG Future Strategy Office" (2018) as himself while filmed alongside other trainees from the agency.


title: Choi Hyun-suk

text: 20-year-old Choi (Korean age) competed in "YG Treasure Box" (2018–2019) — composed of twenty nine trainees — as one seventh of "Team A". The broadcast documented the formation of YG Entertainment's next boy band, Treasure. He became the seventh and last member to join the septet, however, with the announcement of a second line-up and soon a permanent merge, the initial septet became the eventual 12-piece band. Choi was notified of his addition to the band by his parents subsequently after its revelation by the news reporters. In the midst of its preparation for debut, Choi featured on the B-side single, "1, 2" (한두번; "handubeon") by label-mate Lee Hi from her extended play titled "24°C" and participated as its lyricist. He also served as an "unofficial leader" with Jihoon in their respective teams when they were divided into two for training due to the number of members. His training period came to an end after five years, followed his debut in Treasure on August 7, 2020, with the single album entitled "". The band adopted the two-tier leadership with Choi and Jihoon in the frontlines after seeing positive aspects from the once temporary system.


title: Choi Hyun-suk

text: Choi cited G-Dragon and Taeyang of Big Bang alongside American artists Kendrick Lamar, Asap Mob and XXXTentacion as influences towards rap and hip hop.


title: Choi Hyun-suk

text: In January 2018, Choi modeled for Japanese sports clothing and accessories brand, Descente, for their new semester menswear range.


title: Choi Hyun-suk

text: In 2022, Choi participated in the "News 1 Bazaar of Love" following an invitation by the South Korean news agency, News 1. All proceeds were given for the treatment and care of children with severe, rare and intractable diseases and children from low-income families through items from various celebrities.


title: Choi Hyun-suk

text: All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database, unless otherwise noted.


title: Ethnic groups in the Middle East

text: The ethnic groups in the Middle East in the transcontinental region commonly known with its geopolitical term; the Middle East. The region has historically been a crossroad of different cultures and languages. Since the 1960s, the changes in political and economic factors (especially the enormous oil wealth in the region and conflicts) have significantly altered the ethnic composition of groups in the region. While some ethnic groups have been present in the region for millennia, others have arrived fairly recently through immigration. The largest socioethnic groups in the region are Arabs, Kurds, Persians and Turks but there are dozens of other ethnic groups which have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of members.


title: Ethnic groups in the Middle East

text: Other indigenous, religious, or long-standing minority ethnic groups include: Arameans, Assyrians, Armenians, Bahrani , Baloch, Copts, Cappadocian Greeks, Cypriots, Druze, Gilaks, Greeks, Jews, Laz, Lurs, Mandaeans, Maronites, Mazanderanis, Mhallami, Nawar, Pontic Greeks, Rûm, Samaritans, Shabaks, Talysh, Tats and Zazas.


title: Ethnic groups in the Middle East

text: Diaspora ethnic groups include: Albanians, Bengalis, Britons, Bosniaks, Chinese, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Filipinos, French people, Georgians, Indians, Indonesians, Kawliya, Italians, Malays, Malayali, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Romani, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankans, Turkmens, and Sub-Saharan Africans.


title: Ethnic groups in the Middle East

text: Because of the low population of many of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf and the demand for labor created by the large discoveries of oil in these countries there has been a steady stream of immigration to the region (mainly from South Asia). Ethnic groups which comprise the largest portions of this immigration include Afghans, Bengalis, Britons, Chinese, Filipinos, Indians, Indonesians, Malays, Nepalis, Pakistanis, Punjabis, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankans, and Sub-Saharan Africans. Many of these people are denied certain political and legal rights in the countries in which they live and frequently face mistreatment by the native-born citizens of the host countries.


title: After Sex (2007 film)

text: After Sex is a 2007 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Eric Amadio. The plot revolves around several couples having conversations after having sex. It looks at the complexity of modern-day relationships told through eight separate couples. Through dialogue and compromising situations, the film goes from the beginning of a relationship to the aftermath of one, and examines every stage in between.


title: After Sex (2007 film)

text: The film had its world premiere at the Calgary International Film Festival on September 26, 2007, and was released in the United States on DVD on February 19, 2008, by Anchor Bay Entertainment.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: Iké Dominique Ugbo (born 21 September 1998) is a professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Troyes. Born in England, he represents the Canada national team.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: Born in England, Ugbo grew up in Canada and played youth soccer there before returning to England, where he played with the youth team of Chelsea. He had loan spells at Barnsley, Milton Keynes Dons, Scunthorpe United, Roda JC and Cercle Brugge, before signing for Genk in 2021.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: He represented England at under-17 and under-20 youth levels, before making his senior international debut for Canada in 2021.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: Ugbo was born in Lewisham, Greater London, to Nigerian parents. He moved to Canada with his family when he was four or five. In Canada, he played youth soccer with Brampton East SC and Woodbridge Strikers, winning an international under-10 tournament at Disney in 2008 with the latter.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: Upon his return to the UK, he joined the Chelsea Academy at under-10 level. He won the UEFA Youth League with Chelsea in 2014–15 and 2015–16.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: In 2015, he signed his first professional contract with Chelsea, but continued to play for the U17 through U23 sides. On 17 July 2017, Ugbo signed a season-long loan deal with Barnsley. On 5 August 2017, Ugbo made his debut off the bench against Bristol City which resulted in a 3–1 loss. He scored his first professional goal on 26 August against Sunderland. On 3 January 2018, Ugbo's loan spell with Barnsley was terminated, following a lack of game time.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: The next day, Ugbo joined League One club Milton Keynes Dons on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. On 6 January 2018, Ugbo made his debut for the club, featuring in a 1–0 third round FA Cup away victory over Queens Park Rangers.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: In August 2019, it was announced the striker would head to Holland to spend the season on loan at Roda JC in the Dutch second tier.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: In August 2021, he signed a permanent deal with Belgian club Genk. He made his first competitive appearance on 29 August against Anderlecht as a late substitute for Paul Onuachu and scored on his debut, netting the game-winner in a 1–0 victory.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: In January 2022, Ugbo joined Troyes of Ligue 1 on loan. He made his debut for Troyes on 13 February, playing the full 90 in a 5–1 defeat to Brest. In Ugbo's third game for Troyes against Rennes on 20 February, he scored his first goal. In August 2022 Troyes announced they had reached a deal with Genk over the permanent transfer of Ugbo, signing him on a four-year deal until 2026.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: Ugbo was eligible to represent England (through birth), Canada (through youth residency), and Nigeria (through his parents).


title: Iké Ugbo

text: Ugbo has represented England at under-17 and under-20 level. In June 2017, Ugbo represented England U20 at the 2017 Toulon Tournament, scoring the only goal in their 1–0 opening group stage match against Angola and converted a penalty kick in the shootout of the final against Ivory Coast, helping his side win the title.


title: Iké Ugbo

text: In September 2021, he announced that he had decided to change his international allegiance to Nigeria. However, two months later on 4 November, he instead switched his international allegiance to Canada. The next day he was called up to the team for that month's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Costa Rica and Mexico. He made his international debut for Canada in the match against Costa Rica on 12 November, appearing as an 83rd minute substitute. In November 2022, Ugbo was named to Canada's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.


title: America's Got Talent (season 14)

text: The fourteenth season of American talent show competition series "America's Got Talent" was broadcast on NBC from May 28 to September 18, 2019. Following the previous season, Tyra Banks left the program to focus on other projects, leading to Terry Crews replacing her as host following his involvement on "" earlier that year. In addition, both Mel B and Heidi Klum also left the program, with their replacements as judges being Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough. The guest judges for this season's Judge Cuts stage included Brad Paisley, Dwyane Wade, Ellie Kemper and Jay Leno. The semi-finals involved two additional guest judges, a first in the program's history, with Sean Hayes and Queen Latifah.


title: America's Got Talent (season 14)

text: The fourteenth season was won by singer and pianist Kodi Lee, with choir Detroit Youth Choir finishing second, and stand-up comedian Ryan Niemiller placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around 9.12 million viewers.


title: America's Got Talent (season 14)

text: Open auditions were held in late 2018, within New York City, Detroit, Knoxville, Tampa, Charlotte, San Antonio and Los Angeles. As with the previous year, the judges' auditions were held in March 2019, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The Judge Cuts stage of the competition included singer Brad Paisley, former basketball player Dwyane Wade, actress Ellie Kemper and host Jay Leno. Following the previous season, Tyra Banks left the program to focus on other television projects, announcing her decision in late December 2018. Due to her departure, Terry Crews became her replacement beginning in April 2019, after being popular with viewers as host of the first season of the spin-off series "". In addition to the departure of Banks, two judges were replaced due to conflicting obligations in 2019. Mel B could not return since she was needed to headline the Spice Girls reunion tour that year, while Heidi Klum signed on to producing a new fashion competition series for Amazon and could not remain committed to "AGT". Therefore, actress Gabrielle Union and dancer Julianne Hough were offered the role of judges, with the announcement of their predecessor's replacements being made at the same time as Crews in April 2019.


title: America's Got Talent (season 14)

text: This season had a minor change to the format of the program, with the semi-finals featuring two guest judges. Their inclusion would only be for feedback on the performances of the semi-finalists, not for stopping a performance with a buzzer nor having any involvement with the judge votes. The judges recruited for this format in this season were Sean Hayes and Queen Latifah. Other than this change, an undisclosed issue forced the judges' vote to be suspended during first quarter-final's results. While the top six quarter-finalists voted for by the public were advanced, those placed 7th, 8th and 9th respectively faced only the online vote as a result.


title: America's Got Talent (season 14)

text: Of the participants who auditioned for this season, thirty-six secured a place in the live quarter-finals, with twelve quarter-finalists in each one. Among these included: singer and pianist Kodi Lee, singer and rapper Joseph Allen, violinist Tyler Butler-Figueroa the Detroit Youth Choir, and singer Luke Islam, who had each received a Golden Buzzer from the main judges and host; singer and guitarist Sophie Pecora, acrobatic dance group V.Unbeatable, light-up dance group Light Balance Kids and opera singer Emanne Beasha, who had each received a Golden Buzzer from the guest judges; singer Ansley Burns, mentalists The Sentimentalists and aerialist Matthew Richardson, who were chosen as Wildcard quarter-finalists. About twenty-two quarter-finalists advanced and were split between the two semi-finals, including dog tricks act Lukas & Falco (chosen as the Wildcard semi-finalist), with ten semi-finalists securing a place in the finals. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this season:


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's "one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kong's hybrid representative democracy.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: The functions of the Legislative Council are to enact, amend or repeal laws; examine and approve budgets, taxation and public expenditure; and raise questions on the work of the government. In addition, the Legislative Council also has the power to endorse the appointment and removal of the judges of the Court of Final Appeal and the Chief Judge of the High Court, as well as the power to impeach the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: Following the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, the National People's Congress disqualified several opposition councilors and initiated electoral overhaul in 2021. The current Legislative Council consists of three groups of constituencies—geographical constituencies (GCs), functional constituencies (FCs), and Election Committee constituencies—and has been dominated by the pro-Beijing camp since an opposition walkout in 2020. Following the 2021 reform, the percentage of directly elected representatives dropped to 22% as the overall number of seats increased to 90.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: The original two groups (GCs and FCs) had constitutional significance. Government bills requires a simple majority of the council for passage, whereas private member bills requires simple majorities in two discrete divisions of geographical members and functional members for passage. Therefore, the directly elected legislators (mainly from the GCs) had minimal influence over government policy and legislative agenda.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: The historical Legislative Council of Hong Kong in the British colonial era was created under the 1843 Charter as an advisory council to the Governor. The authority of the colonial legislature expanded throughout its history. A parallel Provisional Legislative Council was put in place by China from 1996 to 1998 to pass laws in anticipation of the Hong Kong handover.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 for the first time as a colonial legislature under British rule. Hong Kong's first constitution, in the form of Queen Victoria's letters patent, issued on 27 June 1843 and titled the Charter of the Colony of Hong Kong, authorised the establishment of the Legislative Council to advise the Governor of Hong Kong's administration. The council had four official members including the governor who was president of the council when it was first established. The Letters Patent of 1888, which replaced the 1843 charter, added the significant words "and consent" after the words "with the advice". The Legislative Council was initially set up as the advisory body to the governor, and for the most of the time, consisted half of official members, who were the government officials seated in the council, and half of unofficial members who were appointed by the Governor.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: After the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed on 19 December 1984 (in which the United Kingdom agreed to transfer the sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997), the Hong Kong government decided to start the process of democratisation based on the consultative document, "" on 18 July 1984. The first elections to the Council were held in 1985, followed by the first direct elections of the Legislative Council held in 1991. The Legislative Council became a fully elected legislature for the first time in 1995 and extensively expanded its functions and organisations throughout the last years of the colonial rule.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: The People's Republic of China government did not agree with reforms to the Legislative Council enacted by the last Governor Chris Patten in 1994. Therefore, it withdrew the previous so-called "through-train" policy that would have allowed for members elected to the colonial Legislative Council automatically becoming members of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) legislature. Instead, the Beijing government resolved to set up an alternative legislative council in preparation for the return of Hong Kong sovereignty from Britain to China.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: Before the 1997 transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, rather than working through the 1995 elected colonial legislature, the government of China, through the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), unilaterally established, in 1996, the Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) in Shenzhen, under the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. The Provisional Legislative Council, seen as unconstitutional by the British authorities and boycotted by most pro-democracy legislators, was in operation from 25 January 1997 to 30 June 1998 and held its meetings in Shenzhen until 30 June 1997, when the PLC moved to Hong Kong and replaced the elected legislature from the 1997 handover of Hong Kong until the 1998 Hong Kong legislative election. Since 2000, the terms of the Legislative Council have been four years, with the exception of the 6th Legislative Council.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: The current HKSAR Legislative Council was established on 1 October 1998 under the Hong Kong Basic Law. The first meeting of the council was held in July of the same year. Five subsequent Legislative Council elections have been held — the most recent being held on 4 September 2016. The Democratic Party had briefly held the largest-party status in the early years of the SAR period, but its support was slowly eaten away by its pro-democracy allies such as The Frontier and later the Civic Party. In the 2004 election, the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) surpassed the Democrats as the largest party for the first time and has since held its superior status. Due to the indirectly elected trade-based functional constituencies which largely favour business interests — represented by the Liberal Party and subsequently the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) — the pro-Beijing camp has been able to keep the majority in the legislature despite receiving fewer votes than the pro-democracy bloc in the direct elections.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: Article 68 of the Hong Kong Basic Law states that the ultimate aim is the election of all the members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage. This and a similar article dealing with election of the Chief Executive have made universal suffrage for the council and the Chief Executive a dominant issue in Hong Kong politics.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: In 2010, the government's constitutional reform proposal became the first and only constitutional move to have been passed by the Legislative Council in the SAR era with the support of the Democratic Party after the Beijing government accepted the modified package as presented by the party, which increased the composition of the Legislative Council from 60 to 70 seats; adding five seats in the directly elected geographical constituencies and five new District Council (Second) functional constituency seats which are nominated by the District Councillors and elected by all registered electorates. The 2014 Hong Kong electoral reform proposal, which suggested the electoral method of the Legislative Council remain unchanged, was vetoed in 2015, after a massive occupation protest demanding universal suffrage — often dubbed the "Umbrella Revolution" — broke out in 2014.


title: Legislative Council of Hong Kong

text: The 2016 New Territories East by-election and September general election saw the rise of localist tide where a number of pro-independence candidates were elected to the council. In November, in Beijing's fifth interpretation of the Basic Law since the 1997 handover, the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) disqualified two pro-independence legislators from assuming public office pursuant to Article 104. Four more pro-democracy and localist legislators were unseated in subsequent court cases. Returning officers also disqualified certain candidates who had advocated for Hong Kong self-determination, with or without option for independence, from running in the following by-elections; the government expressed support for such decisions.