title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: The foot soldiers appear to have been divided into the "sạ bū ša kakkē" ("weapon troops") and the "sạ bū ša arâtē" ("shield-bearing troops"). Surviving inscriptions do not specify what kind of weaponry these soldiers carried. In lists of the troops in armies, the "sạ bū ša kakkē" appear opposite the chariots, whereas the "sạ bū ša arâtē" appear opposite to the archers. It is possible that the "sạ bū ša kakkē" included ranged troops, such as slingers ("ṣābū ša ušpe") and archers ("ṣābū ša qalte"). The chariots were a separate component of the army. Based on surviving depictions, chariots were crewed by two soldiers: an archer who commanded the chariot ("māru damqu") and a driver ("ša mugerre"). Chariots were not used extensively before the time of Tiglath-Pileser I, who put particular emphasis on the chariots not just as a combat unit but also as the vehicle to be used by the king. Clear evidence of the special strategic importance of chariots comes from chariots forming their own branch of the army whereas cavalry ("ša petḫalle") did not. When used, cavalry was often simply employed for escorting or message deliveries. Further specialized combat roles existed, including the sappers ("ša nēpeše"), particularly useful at sieges.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: Military officials and generals, included individuals appointed to positions termed "sukkallu", "sukkallu rabi’u", "tartennu" and "nāgiru". Generals were generally recruited from officials in the royal administration, not the common soldiers. Some appointed generals used the title "kiṣri" ("captain"). The personnel of the baggage train, not partaking in active combat, also included a variety of people with different positions and duties.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: Because of the limited surviving material, information regarding social life and living conditions of the Middle Assyrian period is generally available in detail only for the socio-economic elite and upper classes of society. At the top of Middle Assyrian society were members of long-established and large families, called "houses", who tended to occupy the most important offices within the government. These houses were in many cases the descendants of the most prominent merchant families of the Old Assyrian period. It is clear from surviving documents that corruption among royal officials, who at times used the resources provided to them by the Assyrian government to generate private profits, was a large problem. Corruption was viewed as high treason, with officials accused of using royal funds for their own personal gain simultaneously being accused of hating the king. On the other hand, officials were at times expected to provide some of their own personal funds to public institutions if the king commanded them to. In addition to the funds granted to them by the government, high officials could generate money in various other ways. They could for instance loan money to private individuals and charge highly unfavorable interests, sometimes amounting to up to 100 percent, in addition to demanding goods such as sheep and vessels. Another source of income was "gifts" ("šulmanū"), i.e. bribes, from private individuals. In exchange for money, many officials are recorded to have paid extra attention to certain requests made to them or to the royal administration.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: The majority of the population, who did not belong to the upper class, had a much lower standard of living. The highest group in terms of classes was the free men ("a’ılū"), who like the upper classes could receive land in exchange for performing duties for the government, but who could not live on these lands since they were comparably small. Below them were the "šiluhlu̮", or unfree men. These people were men who had given up their freedom and entered into the service (mainly agricultural) of others on their own accord, who were in turn provided with rations and clothes. Many of them likely also originated as prisoners of war and foreign deportees. It was possible for a "šiluhlu̮" to regain their freedom by providing a substitute who could then fulfill their obligations. Though not wholly different from slavery, surviving documents demonstrate that the "šiluhlu̮" were not considered property of their employers but rather of the Assyrian government. In one instance, royal officials are explicitly recorded to have intervened after the death of an employer of "šiluhlu̮" to distribute their contracts among his sons and an apparently unrelated individual. Other members of clearly lower social classes included the "village residents" ("ālāyû"), also depended on the owner of the land they lived on, as well as the "ālik ilke" (people providing services through the "ilku" system) and "hupšu" people, though their position, standing and living standards vis-à-vis each other is not clear.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: Some information on families and living conditions in the Middle Assyrian Empire can be gathered from the preserved Middle Assyrian Laws, as well as from surviving lists of rations and censuses. The norm was that families were relatively small in size. In addition to family members, many households employed various servants. Such servants could be either bought or provided by the Assyrian government. Marriage was rarely decided between the prospective spouses, but instead the result of negotiations between their families. Polygamy was practised by Assyrians, as well as by foreign groups in the empire, such as the Hurrians and Elamites, though many monogamous families are also attested. Censuses and ration lists record members of families by age and sex, chiefly due to this aiding in calculating how much rations should be provided to each family. The head of a household was generally the father, but in the case the father was dead and his eldest son was not yet old enough to take over the role, the mother could also act as a representative of the household.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: The social position of women in the Middle Assyrian Empire can be examined in detail due to the laws concerning them in the Middle Assyrian Laws. These laws include punishment for various crimes, often sexual or marital ones. Women's rights in the Middle Assyrian Empire appear to have decreased somewhat since the Old Assyrian period, when women and men had little difference in legal standing and by and large the same legal rights. While out in the street, many women, including widows, wives and concubines, were obligated by law to wear veils. It is uncertain whether these laws were ever strongly enforced. Many women were also prohibited from wearing veils. Certain priestesses (identified as "qadiltu" priestesses) were only allowed to wear veils if they were married. Slave women and prostitutes ("ḫarımtū") were not allowed to wear veils in any circumstance. Children born of a concubine, or someone who was not the primary wife, were lower in status but could still inherit money and property if the "main" marriage remained childless. The status of widowed women depended on whether they were the main or secondary wife and on whether they had children. The Middle Assyrian Laws specify that a woman who lost her husband as a prisoner of war was expected to wait for two years; if she had a father-in-law or a son to support her, she was given no support from the government, but if she was alone and her husband had been a free man, she could appeal for government support by making an application to the "judges" ("da”anū"), royal officials who were obligated to help her.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: The expansion of the Middle Assyrian Empire, combined with deportations and movements of conquered peoples, led to contact between the Assyrians of the Assyrian heartland and foreign groups growing closer. The most prominent foreign ethnic groups within the Middle Assyrian Empire were the Hurrians (incorporated through conquests in northern Syria), Kassites (descendants of deportees and captives from the Babylonian campaigns) and Arameans. Though many Aramean tribes were fought by the Assyrian kings, others traded with the Assyrians and several Aramean tribes towards the end of the Middle Assyrian period had begun to settle and become well-established within Assyrian borders. People belonging to foreign ethnic groups often contributed with manpower, being employed in construction projects. Though most of them appear to have held inferior positions in society, they also contributed to Assyrian cultural developments with their own cultural traditions.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: Ancient Assyrian civilization was relatively open in regards to what an Assyrian was; with a person's fulfillment of obligations (such as military service), their affiliation to the Assyrian Empire and their loyalty to the Assyrian king being the primary factors of being seen as Assyrians, rather than language or ethnic background. As such, there was likely several instances of gradual assimilation of some conquered peoples, who after just a few generations may not have identified as anything other than Assyrians.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: The ancient Assyrians primarily spoke and wrote the Assyrian language, a Semitic language (i.e. related to modern Hebrew and Arabic) closely related to Babylonian, spoken in southern Mesopotamia. Both Assyrian and Babylonian are generally regarded by modern scholars to be distinct dialects of the Akkadian language. This is a modern convention as contemporary ancient authors considered Assyrian and Babylonian to be two separate languages; only Babylonian was referred to as "akkadûm", with Assyrian being referred to as "aššurû" or "aššurāyu". Though both were written with cuneiform script, the signs look quite different and can be distinguished relatively easily.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: The Middle Assyrian textual record is somewhat spotty and what is known mainly comes from libraries in Assur and Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta. As such, many stages of the language still poorly documented. Though a large number of texts are known from the 13th and 12th century, texts from after the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I are very rare. The Middle Assyrian form of the Assyrian language was not the only language to be employed in the Middle Assyrian Empire. Though most often used in letters, legal documents and administrative documents, the contemporary Babylonian dialect was often used for royal inscriptions and literature. In Middle Assyrian texts from the royal archives, the most official documents, such as laws, decrees and descriptions of coronations, are all written in the Middle Assyrian language, with Babylonian, as in other cases, being reserved only for royal inscriptions and literature. In some scholarly sources from the Middle Assyrian period, the ancient Sumerian language was employed alongside more modern versions of Akkadian.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: A sophisticated Assyrian imperial road system was created in the Middle Assyrian period. Though extensive road systems must have been employed in older civilizations as well, such as by the Hittites and Egyptians, the Middle Assyrian road system is the as of yet the earliest known such road system in the Ancient Near East, its creation perhaps stemming from the trading expertise of the Assyrians in the preceding Old Assyrian period. The road system of the Middle Assyrian Empire was the direct precursor of the sophisticated road systems of the succeeding Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid empires.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: The Middle Assyrian road system was mainly established through creating facilities along existing routes. Contemporary Assyrian sources refer to the network of roads as "harran sarri" ("the king's roads"). Construction of new roads and extensive renovations of old roads appear to have been rather limited, probably because it was not needed since the ancient roads in the region were still in good condition. Only two stone bridges are securely attested to have been built in this period, one at Khorsabad and the other at Nineveh, with wooden bridges perhaps being used in other places. The new facilities, relay stations or rest stops, provided nourishment, accommodation for travellers, and additional horses if the need arose. Though the distance between stations is not entirely clear from the surviving sources, it appears that many stations were placed at distances from each other equal to about a day's journey by chariot, perhaps amounting to intervals of about 30 kilometers (18.7 miles).


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: The road system was an important factor in Middle Assyrian success as it improved communication channels within the empire. The most frequent users of the roads, at least in terms of appearances in the surviving source material, were members of the Assyrian administration; couriers of officials and royal messengers, sometimes accompanied by an escort for protection. The roads are also known to have been used by foreign messengers and by private individuals not associated with the Assyrian government due to their appearances in documents describing the rations provided to them. Many travellers travelled in carriages or chariots, but many also travelled on foot.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: The Assyrians worshipped the same pantheon of gods as the Babylonians in southern Mesopotamia. The chief Assyrian deity was the national deity Ashur. Though the deity and the city are commonly distinguished by modern historians through calling the god Ashur and the city Assur, both were inscribed in the exact same way in ancient times ("Aššur"). In documents from the preceding Old Assyrian period, the city and god are often not clearly differentiated, which suggests that Ashur originated sometime in the Early Assyrian period as a deified personification of the city itself. Ashur's role as a deity was flexible and changed with the changing culture and politics of the Assyrians themselves. In the Old Assyrian period, Ashur was mainly regarded as a god of death and revival, related to agriculture. In the Middle Assyrian Empire, Ashur's role had been thoroughly altered. Possibly originating as a reaction to the period of suzerainty under the Mittani kingdom, Middle Assyrian theology presented Ashur as a god of war, who bestowed the Assyrian kings not only with divine legitimacy, something retained from the Old Assyrian period, but also commanded the kings to enlarge the "land of Ashur" with Ashur's "just scepter", i.e. expand the Assyrian Empire through military conquest.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: It is possible that the dominant military role of Ashur in the Middle Assyrian period was the result of the theology promulgated by the Amorite conqueror Shamshi-Adad I, who conquered Assur in the 19th century BC. Shamshi-Adad replaced the decaying original temple of Ashur in Assur with a new temple dedicated to the chief god of the Mesopotamian pantheon, Enlil. Since Shamshi-Adad also respected Ashur, and his temple was in later times used as a temple of Ashur, it is probable that Shamshi-Adad equated Enlil with Ashur. This equation might have been what resulted in later Assyrians viewing Ashur as "king of the gods", a role previous civilizations in both northern and southern Mesopotamia ascribed to Enlil. The development of equating Ashur with Enlil, or at least transferring Enlil's role to Ashur, was parallelled in Babylon, where the previously unimportant local god Marduk was elevated in the reign of Hammurabi (18th century BC) to the head of the pantheon, modeled after Enlil.


title: Middle Assyrian Empire

text: The importance and implications of the equation of Ashur with Enlil, the old Sumerian king of the gods, is first apparent in the Middle Assyrian period. The goods sent by every province of the Middle Assyrian Empire to Assur to be a part of the offerings to Ashur demonstrates that it was seen as important that the basic care of the god was jointly carried out by every part of the empire. This helps explain why the empire as a whole was designated as "māt Aššur", the "land of Ashur", since all parts of the land fed the god and the god in turn embodied the land. All parts of an empire donating goods for offering was not a new idea; it had for instance been employed under the Third Dynasty of Ur ( 2112–2004 BC), though in that case the offerings were sent to Nippur and were for Enlil. The development of Ashur into a unifying god for the entire empire through the offerings likely strengthened Assyrian identity among all social classes as it brought them together as people of the god.


title: Languages of Iraq

text: There are a number of languages spoken in Iraq, but Mesopotamian Arabic (Iraqi Arabic) is by far the most widely spoken in the country. Arabic and Kurdish are both official languages in Iraq.


title: Languages of Iraq

text: The most widely spoken language in Iraq is the Arabic language (specifically Mesopotamian Arabic); the second most spoken language is Kurdish (mainly Sorani and Kurmanji dialects), followed by the Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman dialect of Turkish, and the Syriac (referring to Neo-Aramaic languages, specifically: Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, and Mandean Neo-Aramaic).


title: Languages of Iraq

text: Standard Arabic is written using the Arabic script but Mesopotamian Arabic is written with a modified Perso-Arabic script and so is Kurdish (see Sorani alphabet). In 1997 the Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman adopted the Turkish alphabet as the formal written language and by 2005 the community leaders decided that the Turkish language would replace traditional Turkmeni (which had used the Arabic script) in Iraqi schools. In addition, the Neo-Aramaic languages use the Syriac script.


title: Languages of Iraq

text: Official languages of Iraq are defined by the Constitution of Iraq, that was adopted on September 18, 2005 by the Transitional National Assembly of Iraq. It was confirmed by constitutional referendum, held on October 15, 2005. Official text of the Constitution was published on December 28, 2005 in the "Official Gazette of Iraq" (No. 4012), in Arabic original, and thus came into force. Official translation (in English language, for international use) was produced in cooperation between Iraqi state authorities and the United Nations' Office for Constitutional Support.


title: Languages of Iraq

text: According to the Article 4 of the Constitution, Arabic and Kurdish are the official languages of Iraq, while three other languages: Turkish, Syriac and Armenian, are recognized as minority languages. In addition, any region or province may declare other languages official if a majority of the population approves in a general referendum.


title: Languages of Iraq

text: Term ""Syriac"" () is used in the Constitution as an official designation for the minority language of Neo-Aramaic-speaking communities, including speakers of Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, and Mandean Neo-Aramaic languages. Constitutional recognition of Syriac (Neo-Aramaic) was the result of political changes in Iraq, that occurred after 2003.


title: Languages of Iraq

text: The oldest recorded languages of Iraq were Sumerian language and Akkadian language (including ancient Assyrian and Babylonian). Sumerian was displaced by Akkadian by 1700 BCE, and Akkadian was gradually displaced by Aramaic, from 1200 BCE to 100 CE. Sumerian and Akkadian (including all ancient Assyrian and Babylonian dialects) were written in the cuneiform script from 3300 BCE onwards. The latest positively identified Akkadian text comes from the first century CE.


title: Languages of Iraq

text: The language with the longest recorded period of use in Iraq is Aramaic, which has a written tradition dating back for more than 2000 years, and survives today in its descendants, the Neo-Aramaic languages.


title: Paul Gilbert (actor)

text: Paul Gilbert (born Ed MacMahon; December 27, 1918 – February 13, 1976) was an American film and television actor.


title: Paul Gilbert (actor)

text: Gilbert's family were vaudeville performers, and he began his career as an aerialist until he had a fall. He continued performing music, dancing and comedy.


title: Paul Gilbert (actor)

text: He starred in the 1954 series "The Duke" as a former boxer who has decided to give up his fighting career to become a respectable nightclub owner. In the pilot episode, Gilbert sings, dances, juggles and plays four instruments in the band.


title: Paul Gilbert (actor)

text: Gilbert played various roles and performed on numerous shows including "The Spike Jones Show" in 1954. He played the role of murder victim Harrison Boring in the 1964 "Perry Mason" episode "The Case of the Blonde Bonanza." Gilbert also appeared in other early television shows such as "The NBC Comedy Hour", "The Colgate Comedy Hour" and "Lux Video Theatre".


title: Paul Gilbert (actor)

text: In the 1960s, Gilbert was seen on several network television series including "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "The Hollywood Palace", "Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.", "Good Morning World" and "The Dean Martin Show". An accomplished juggler, Gilbert appeared on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" as a French juggler.


title: Paul Gilbert (actor)

text: On May 9, 1963 (the day after her birth), Gilbert and his wife Barbara Crane adopted Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls Wilder, and her brother Jonathan Gilbert, who played Willie Oleson, on the NBC TV series "Little House on the Prairie".


title: Paul Gilbert (actor)

text: Gilbert was believed to have died suddenly of a stroke on February 13, 1976. In her autobiography, Melissa Gilbert wrote that because of suffering caused by constant pain stemming from World War II injuries, he died by suicide.


title: Paul Gilbert (actor)

text: Actress and producer Sara Gilbert (born Sara Rebecca Abeles), the daughter of Paul Gilbert's wife Barbara and her second husband, Harold Abeles, took the Gilbert surname in 1984 although she had no blood or legal ties to Paul Gilbert.


title: Naughty Boy

text: Shahid Khan (; born 1 January 1981), better known by his stage name Naughty Boy, is a British DJ, record producer, songwriter and musician. In 2012, Khan signed a three–year publishing deal with Sony ATV, as well as a recording contract to release one album under Virgin EMI Records. Khan launched himself as a record producer under the moniker "Naughty Boy" and runs his own production company called Naughty Boy Recordings.


title: Naughty Boy

text: He has produced two records for rappers Chipmunk and Wiley, both featuring Emeli Sandé. Naughty Boy and Sandé later formed a writing and production partnership, leading to Sandé landing her own record deal with Virgin and EMI. Sandé went on to be named the Critics Choice for the 2012 BRIT Awards, and release her debut album "Our Version of Events" (2012), a record co-written and produced with Naughty Boy. Khan spent 2011 and 2012 working on records for Leona Lewis, JLS, Cheryl, Jennifer Hudson, Alesha Dixon and Tinie Tempah, among others.


title: Naughty Boy

text: In 2013, Naughty Boy released his debut album "Hotel Cabana". The set features prominent collaborator Sandé, as well as Ed Sheeran, Gabrielle and others. It was preceded by the release of the top-ten single "Wonder" (featuring Sandé), the number one hit "La La La", featuring Sam Smith and "Lifted", another collaboration with Sandé. His debut album peaked at number two in the UK.


title: Naughty Boy

text: On 19 October 2013, Naughty Boy's "La La La" was awarded 'Best Song' and 'Best Video' at the MOBO Awards' 18th Anniversary.


title: Naughty Boy

text: Shahid Khan was born on 1 January 1981 in Watford, Hertfordshire. His parents being originally from Pakistan, and explaining the importance of his Pakistani identity, having also been in a school near Rawalpindi for two years, he says that he grew up listening to Pakistani music and watching Pakistani movies more than being influenced by Western culture, admiring the likes of Sultan Rahi and Mustafa Qureshi, ultimately professing that "I am a very proud Pakistani and I celebrate that". Educated at Westfield Academy, Watford, initially, Khan was studying Business and Marketing at London Guildhall University (now London Metropolitan University), but during his first semester, he decided to drop out and did various part-time jobs in Domino's Pizza and Watford General Hospital. He won £44,000 on "Deal or No Deal" and spent the money on a studio in his parents' garden, as well as giving his parents £15,000 and buying an Audi sports car. He "decided to follow his ambition to write and produce his own music, under the name Naughty Boy Recordings." In the background, Khan was recording songs in his parents' garden shed in Charlock Way in Watford, Hertfordshire. The finances allowed Khan to upscale production from the garden shed to a studio in Ealing, West London. Eventually, he got a three-year contract with Sony ATV, and a one-album record deal with Virgin Records (EMI Records).


title: Naughty Boy

text: Khan applied to The Princes Trust in 2005, where he was awarded a grant of £5,000 to help start up his business. Speaking to the "Watford Observer" in 2009 about the opportunity, Khan said "The Prince's Trust has a scheme where they want to help people who they feel can set up their own business. I wanted to make music but I didn't have any equipment. They said they wanted to help me." That same year, Khan appeared on Channel 4's hit day-time gameshow "Deal or No Deal", where he won £44,000, further enabling him to purchase equipment and begin recording. The producer now bases his recordings at his studio in Ealing, West London.


title: Naughty Boy

text: The producer burst on to the music scene in 2009, by co-writing and producing Chipmunk's hit single "Diamond Rings", featuring Emeli Sandé. Khan would once again work with Sandé, this time on Wiley's "Never Be Your Woman" (2010), a cover of White Town's "Your Woman" (1997). Sandé later earned a record deal with Virgin Records, with Khan co-writing and producing her debut album, "Our Version of Events". Naughty Boy was formally introduced and credited as an artist on Sandé's second single "Daddy", though he doesn't actually perform on the track.


title: Naughty Boy

text: Khan has also worked with Alesha Dixon, JLS, Lily Allen, Alexandra Burke and Jennifer Hudson. He also produced records for Professor Green, Cheryl Cole and Tinie Tempah. Khan worked with Sandé to produce and co-write Leona Lewis' 2012 comeback single "Trouble" which features Childish Gambino. Khan also wrote and produced "When It Hurts" and "Mountains" for Lewis' album "Glassheart"; However, "Mountains" was re-recorded by Sandé and put on her own album "Our Version of Events". He also worked on records for Rihanna including "Half of Me" (co-produced with Stargate), "Side Effects of You" for Fantasia Barrino and co-produced "Craziest Things" with will.i.am for Cheryl Cole.


title: Naughty Boy

text: Khan also spent time, throughout the development of his career, working on his own debut album titled "Hotel Cabana", which was scheduled to be released under his moniker "Naughty Boy" by Virgin EMI Records in 2013. The album's first single "Wonder" features frequent collaborator Sandé on the lead vocals. It was released on 30 September 2012 and also was the leading single from the re-release of Sandé's debut album, "Our Version of Events", after already appearing on the US version of the album. It peaked at number ten on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Naughty Boy

text: British singer Gabrielle also worked with Naughty Boy for "Hotel Cabana" on a song called "Hollywood", which was initially tipped to be the album's second single, with the album following in February 2013. Gabrielle also revealed that fellow British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and British rapper Tinie Tempah will also feature on "Hotel Cabana". Both Tempah and Sheeran have worked with Naughty Boy on previous records. It is the album's title song, "Hotel Cabana" which features Tempah. A trailer for "Hotel Cabana" was premiered on Naughty Boy's Vevo account on 20 September 2012. It states "Hotel Cabana" is "directed by Naughty Boy, starring Emeli Sandé, Tinie Tempah, Professor Green, Gabrielle and George the Poet". Of the album, Khan's opinion of it was "It has a concept to it, so it's more like a film in some respects", claiming "I'm not just a producer – I'm a director too". However, it did not happen until May 2013, that the second single "La La La" featuring Sam Smith was released. It reached number one in the UK, three in Ireland and three in Scotland. The album was released on 26 August 2013. It peaked at number two in the UK.


title: Naughty Boy

text: After completing work on his own album, in 2013, Khan resumed production for other artists. He worked on pop records for American singer Britney Spears, as well as joining Spears' sessions with producer William Orbit. British singer Lily Allen also asked Khan to produce records for her upcoming album. Additionally, he teamed up with Sandé and Katy Perry in New York to work on a song for Perry's then upcoming album, "Prism" (2013).


title: Naughty Boy

text: In March 2015, it was confirmed that Naughty Boy had worked with then-One Direction member Zayn Malik for one of the tracks of his second album. Malik exited the band shortly after this announcement, which led to many One Direction fans blaming Naughty Boy for Malik's departure.


title: Naughty Boy

text: On 16 September 2015, Naughty Boy announced that he would release a song titled "Runnin' (Lose It All)" featuring Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin. On the same date, he shared the artwork for the single, its lyrics, a 15-second sound snippet along with a video through his Instagram account and began a countdown until its online release. The following day, on 17 September 2015, "Runnin' (Lose It All)" premiered online. It was available for digital download on the iTunes Store on 18 September 2015. "Should've Been Me", featuring vocals from Kyla and Popcaan was released as the second single on 18 November 2016. The song has peaked at number 61 on the UK Singles Chart. "One Chance to Dance", featuring vocals from Joe Jonas was released as the third single on 20 October 2017.


title: Naughty Boy

text: On 13 September 2017, Naughty Boy released a reworked edition of the Jackson 5's song "Dancing Machine" featuring vocals from Laura Mvula under the name of "Naughty Town", from an upcoming Motown covers album. According to "The Evening Standard", Naughty Boy has also collaborated with Justin Timberlake and Dua Lipa on the album. In December 2017, Naughty Boy along with Wyclef Jean appeared on the final of the fourteenth series of "The X Factor", guest performing "Dimelo" with contestants Rak-Su, his fellow Watford natives. Rak-Su won and the performance was released as the winner's single.


title: Naughty Boy

text: In January 2018, Naughty Boy announced his second album had experienced some delays due to legal issues; he wanted to call the album "Now That's What I Call Naughty", but was legally challenged over its similarity to the "Now That's What I Call Music!" compilation album series. Describing the album as a playlist, he said "with my new album I wanted to make a real sick playlist that anyone and everyone can listen to." At the time of writing, he had completed studio sessions with Dua Lipa, Mike Posner, MNEK, Ray BLK, Joe Jonas, WizKid, Bebe Rexha, Paloma Faith, Tom Walker, Miguel, Calum Scott, Shenseea, Popcaan, Kyla, Ray BLK, Wyclef Jean, Craig David and Julia Michaels but refused to confirm which were for his own album.


title: Naughty Boy

text: On 18 April 2018, he released his collaboration with artist Ray BLK and Wyclef Jean titled "All or Nothing". On 7 December 2018, "Bungee Jumping" was released featuring vocals from Emeli Sandé and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.


title: Naughty Boy

text: On 22 March 2019, "Undo" was released featuring Calum Scott and Jamaican dancehall artist Shenseea. At the time of writing (April 2019) Naughty Boy's second studio album was set for release in Autumn 2019. From 9–15 December, Naughty Boy appeared was part of the 'industry' panel for "The X Factor" spin off series, "", launched to try and find the UK's next biggest band. In July 2020, Naughty Boy was still working on the album. He said "But for my new album, I want (a song) to be entirely in Urdu and Hindi... It's the last song I need to complete (for the album) and I'm so excited for it." There were plans to release two singles in the Summer, with Naughty Boy confirming that "the two tracks will feature UK rappers Jaykae, Mist and American singer Harloe". He was also set to collaborate with tv personality Gemma Collins but this did not happen in the end as he chose to focus on his album. According to English DJ Jordan North, Naughty Boy was originally supposed to appear as contestant on series 20 of the British reality tv show "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" (2020) but dropped out at the last minute; North ended up replacing Naughty Boy as a contestant.


title: Naughty Boy

text: Naughty Boy has also been working with British actress Jemima Khan and Indian Director Shekhar Kapur on their project "What's Love Got to do with It?", due in 2022.


title: Naughty Boy

text: In 2021, Naughty Boy was announced as a contestant on the twenty-first series of "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!". Despite threatening to leave multiple times, and having regular arguments with campmates, he survived 16 days before he was eliminated on 8 December 2021.


title: Naughty Boy

text: In 2017, Naughty Boy's mother was diagnosed with dementia, and he has openly spoken about using music as therapy to help his mother cope with the condition. He since joined the Dementia UK charity as an ambassador in 2020. Explaining his decision to join, he said "I'm so proud to announce that I'm an ambassador of Dementia UK and I hope that I can use my profile to raise awareness of the cause and the charity. With my mum's ever-changing condition and the pressures this places on the wider family, I understand how beneficial an Admiral Nurse would be."


title: Naughty Boy

text: Naughty Boy has also campaigned with local residents of Watford to change the Atria Shopping Centre back to its original name of "The Harlequin".


title: Pacu

text: Pacu () is a common name used to refer to several species of omnivorous South American freshwater serrasalmid fish that are related to the piranha. Pacu and piranha do not have similar teeth, the main difference being jaw alignment; piranha have pointed, razor-sharp teeth in a pronounced underbite, whereas pacu have squarer, straighter teeth and a less severe underbite, or a slight overbite. Pacu, unlike piranha, mainly feed on plant material and not flesh or scales. Additionally, the pacu can reach much larger sizes than piranha, at up to in total length and in weight.


title: Pacu

text: The common name "pacu" is generally applied to fish classified under the below listed genera. Among these, several genera contain species where commonly used English names include the word "pacu", as listed.


title: Pacu

text: Each of these groups contains one or more separate species. For example, the fish often found in pet stores known as the black pacu and red-bellied pacu typically belong to the species "Colossoma macropomum" and "Piaractus brachypomus", respectively. A species popular among fish farmers is "Piaractus mesopotamicus", also known as Paraná River pacu or small-scaled pacu.


title: Pacu

text: Pacu is a term of Tupi/Guaraní origin. When the large fish of the genus "Colossoma" entered the aquarium trade in the U.S. and other countries, they were labeled pacu. In the Brazilian Amazon, the term "pacu" is generally reserved to smaller and medium-sized fish in the "Metynnis", "Mylossoma", "Mylesinus" and "Myleus" genera. "Colossoma macropomum" are known as tambaqui, whereas "Piaractus brachypomus" is known as pirapitinga. In Peru, both of the species ("Colossoma macropomum" and "Piaractus brachypomum") are called pacú and gamitana. "Piaractus mesopotamicus" of the Paraná-Paraguay basin is also called pacú in Paraguay and Argentina.


title: Pacu

text: Pacu, along with their piranha relatives, are a characin fish, meaning a kind of tetra, belonging to the Characiformes order. The ongoing classification of these fish is difficult and often contentious, with ichthyologists basing ranks according to characteristics that may overlap irregularly. DNA research sometimes confounds rather than clarifies species ranking. Ultimately, classifications can be rather arbitrary.


title: Pacu

text: Pacu, along with piranha, are currently further classified into the family Serrasalmidae (formerly a subfamily of Characidae). Serrasalmidae means "serrated salmon family" and refers to the serrated keel running along the belly of these fish. However, dental characteristics and feeding habits further separate the two groups from each other.


title: Pacu

text: Pacus are native to tropical and subtropical South America. They inhabit rivers, lakes, floodplains and flooded forests in the Amazon, Orinoco, São Francisco River and Río de la Plata Basins, as well as rivers in the Guianas. Here they form part of the highly diverse Neotropical fish fauna. Their habitat preferences varies significantly depending on the exact species. Several species are migratory.


title: Pacu

text: Pacus have been introduced to the wild in many places outside their native range, both in South America and other continents. They are sometimes released to increase the local fishing, but others are released by aquarists when they outgrow their aquarium. This is illegal in many countries and strongly advised against. When becoming established they can be invasive species that damage the local ecosystem. In many regions where individuals have been seen they are unlikely to survive long-term because of temperature. Among the large pacu species ("Colossoma" and "Piaractus"), the most cold-adapted species is "Piaractus mesopotamicus", which tolerates water down to , but stops feeding below .


title: Pacu

text: Pacus have become established in Puerto Rico and singles have been caught in numerous U.S. states. Discoveries have been reported in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho,


title: Pacu

text: Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,


title: Pacu

text: Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Among the numerous recent records are a pacu caught in the California Delta, near Stockton in 2015, two in Lake St. Clair in 2016 and a single in Lake Huron in 2016.


title: Pacu

text: Some state wildlife authorities have advised home aquarists who wish to get rid of overgrown pacu to cut the heads off the fish and dispose of them as garbage. Habitattitude, a U.S. national initiative led by the Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Task Force, recommends humanely disposing the fish through a veterinarian or pet retailer, returning them to retailers, or donating them to a local aquarium society, school, or aquatic business. Additionally, aquarium-raised fish can be eaten (see "Food fish").


title: Pacu

text: In August 2013, a pacu was discovered in Scandinavian waters; a fisherman pulled a specimen from the Øresund, a semi-brackish strait between Sweden and Denmark.


title: Pacu

text: In June 2017, a pacu was accidentally caught during a fishing contest at the Port of Drobeta Turnu Severin, Romania. The fish bit one of the fishermen, leading to a general warning being issued in the region, until the origin of the fish can be determined.


title: Pacu

text: Pacu were introduced in 1994 to the Sepik River, and in 1997 to the Ramu river as a food source, due to overfishing of native species. Local people blame the fish for outcompeting native species, including juvenile crocodiles, as well as for several attacks on humans. As a primarily vegetarian fish, red-bellied pacu, have also consumed the floating mats of vegetation in the Sepik River, which operated as fish nurseries and crocodile and bird nesting sites. Thus the entire ecosystem has become impoverished and local people cannot subsist as easily as they once did.


title: Pacu

text: In their native range, pacus are widely fished and farmed. Based on a study by IBAMA, "Colossoma macropomum", "Piaractus brachypomus" and "Mylossoma" spp. are all in the top-15 of the most caught fish (by weight) in the Brazilian Amazon.


title: Pacu

text: Pacu are commonly sold as "vegetarian piranhas" to home aquarium owners. With the proper equipment and commitment, pacu have been known to make responsive pets. One such example was Swish, a 75-cm (30-inch) pacu owned for over 20 years by a Chinese restaurant (Kau Kau) in the Chinatown district in Seattle, Washington; one aquarium technician said of Swish, "He'd rub his body on your arms, kind of like a dog."


title: Pacu

text: However, there is some question of whether the fish are a good choice for the typical aquarist. While they are not aggressive carnivores like the piranha, their crushing jaw system, used primarily for eating seeds and nuts, can be hazardous. One toddler needed surgery after a pacu (misreported as a piranha) bit her finger at Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World in Scotland. Commenting on the incident, Deep Sea World zoological manager Matthew Kane warned, "Pacus will eat anything, even children's wiggling fingers."


title: Pacu

text: If a large population of pacu enters an ecosystem to which it is not native, the fish can have a very adverse effect. Pet stores sell pacu as small as long and neglect to warn customers that fish growth is not inhibited by tank size, contrary to popular fish lore. "Most UK dealers now refuse to stock this species due to the large size and expensive aquarium requirements it demands," according to Practical Fishkeeping magazine's Matt Clarke. Incapable of maintaining large aquaria, overwhelmed hobbyists are suspected of illegally releasing their pacu into wild waterways. As tropical fish, pacu will die in cold weather; as newcomers to an ecosystem, pacu may out-compete native species for available food, habitat, and other resources, or displace them by introducing exotic parasites or diseases. Most wildlife resource authorities prohibit releasing exotic fish, including pacu, into the wild. Officials of one Texas lake have put a $100 bounty on the pacu caught there.


title: Pacu

text: In Appendix B of "Through the Brazilian Wilderness" (see also online version), Theodore Roosevelt advised, "For small fish like the pacu and piranha an ordinary bass hook will do." Concerning the pacu, he added:


title: Pacu

text: "A light rod and reel would be a convenience in catching the pacu. We used to fish for the latter variety in the quiet pools while allowing the canoe to drift, and always saved some of the fish as bait for the big fellows. We fished for the pacu as the native does, kneading a ball of mandioc farina with water and placing it on the hook as bait. I should not be surprised, though, if it were possible, with carefully chosen flies, to catch some of the fish that every once in a while we saw rise to the surface and drag some luckless insect under."


title: Pacu

text: More recently, South American rivers including the Amazon have become a popular destination for recreational anglers, who go to fly fish for pacu. The International Game Fish Association has sponsored fly-fishing courses for native Brazilian fishermen, typically accustomed to subsistence fishing, so they can work as guides to fishing tourists.


title: Pacu

text: When bait-fishing in pacu-stocked ponds, anglers in Malaysia are advised to use circle hooks, size 2 or larger, and braided leather rather than nylon leaders which are easily broken by the pacu's teeth. Since pond pacu often nibble at the bait before taking it, anglers should let them swim away with the bait. If the angler simply allows the line to tighten, the circle hook will slide to the side of the fish's mouth and embed its point there.


title: Pacu

text: Theodore Roosevelt wrote of catching and eating pacu in his book "Through the Brazilian Wilderness". He described them as "good-sized, deep-bodied fish," and noted, "They were delicious eating."


title: Pacu

text: Today, the Amazon river is experiencing a crisis of overfishing. Both subsistence fishers and their commercial rivals compete in netting large quantities of pacu, which bring good prices at markets in Brazil and abroad.


title: Pacu

text: Aquaculture may relieve the overfishing crisis, as well as improve food security by boosting fish supplies. Various species of pacu are increasingly being used for warm-water farm fishing around the world. Pacu are considered ideal for their tolerance of the low-oxygen water in farm ponds. They also don't require a lot of expensive protein in their diet, and can be raised year-round in warm or temperature-controlled environments.


title: Pacu

text: Research shows that the "flavor of [farmed] pacu is comparable to that of hybrid striped bass, tilapia, and rainbow trout, but superior to catfish." In South America, pacu are prized for their sweet, mild flavor.


title: Pacu

text: Aquarium-raised pacu can be cooked and eaten, but care should be taken to ensure that no toxic medications were used in the aquarium. A recipe and preparation instructions are provided on the Greater Seattle Aquarium Society's Web site.


title: Pacu

text: In 2013, a pacu was caught in the Øresund, a strait between Sweden and Denmark. This led to media reports mistakenly warning that the fish could attack testicles. The reports were based on a joke (referring to their actual feeding on tree nuts) that was not meant to be taken seriously. Nevertheless, their very strong jaws made for crushing plant seeds and the like means that fishermen and aquarists sometimes are warned about the powerful bite that may cause traumatic injuries.


title: Ashleigh Ball

text: Ashleigh Adele Ball (born March 31, 1983) is a Canadian voice actress and musician, known for performing with the rock band Hey Ocean!, as well as voicing characters in several toyetic movies and television series, notably the "Barbie" film series, "Bratz", "Johnny Test", "Littlest Pet Shop", and "". She is the subject of the documentary "A Brony Tale" directed by Brent Hodge, which follows her through her first interactions with the brony community at BronyCon 2012.


title: Ashleigh Ball

text: Ball has found a fan following through her band Hey Ocean! and through bronies, the adult fans of the television show "", a show in which she voices and sings as two of the six main characters, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Ball has been to several My Little Pony fan conventions, including BronyCon and Everfree Northwest as a guest of honor. Ball stated in her documentary "A Brony Tale", in which she is the main subject, "It's (My Little Pony) a really important part of a lot of these people's lives. So yeah, as long as My Little Ponies exist, there will be bronies."


title: Ashleigh Ball

text: On May 2, 2017, she released the music video "Crazy" and on June 2, released her debut solo EP "Gold in You".


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Anthony Irwin Kornheiser (; born July 13, 1948) is an American television sports talk show host and former sportswriter and columnist. Kornheiser is best known for his endeavors in three forms of media: as a writer for "The Washington Post" from 1979 to 2008, as a co-host of ESPN's Emmy Award-winning sports debate show "Pardon the Interruption" since 2001, and as the host of "The Tony Kornheiser Show", a radio show and podcast. Longtime ESPN executive John Walsh once declared that "in the history of sports media, [Kornheiser] is the most multitalented person ever."


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser was born in New York City and raised in nearby Lynbrook. He was the only child of Estelle ("née" Rosenthal; 1915–1978) and Ira Kornheiser (1910–2000). His father was a dress cutter. During his youth, Kornheiser spent his summers at Camp Keeyumah in Pennsylvania. One of his counselors was future NCAA and NBA basketball coach Larry Brown. Kornheiser attended George W. Hewlett High School, where he was the sports editor of the school newspaper. He graduated in 1965.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: After high school, Kornheiser went to Harpur College (now Binghamton University), where he majored in English literature and began his journalism career at the "Colonial News" (now called "Pipe Dream"). He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1970. Kornheiser has frequently spoken positively of his college years. For a brief period of time after college, he worked with children with disabilities.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser began his career in New York City, where he wrote for "Newsday" between 1970 and 1976. His first work at "Newsday" consisted of covering high school sports. Kornheiser then moved to "The New York Times", where he wrote between 1976 and 1979.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In 1979, George Solomon recruited Kornheiser to join "The Washington Post" as a general assignment reporter in Style and Sports. In 1980, Kornheiser also authored a profile of Nolan Ryan that served as the cover story for the charter issue of "Inside Sports". He became a full-time sports columnist at the "Post" in 1984. He also began writing columns for the "Post"'s Style Section on November 12, 1989.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In the 1990s, Kornheiser usually wrote three columns per week, which were a Tuesday column and a Thursday column in the Sports Section and a Sunday column (written for a more general audience) in the Style Section. He also started working for ESPN Radio in 1997 and kept his column at the "Post". As part of his ESPN Radio contract, Kornheiser wrote columns called "Parting Shots" for "ESPN The Magazine" between 1998 and 2000.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser's columns were usually sarcastic with touches of humor. The most distinct style of his columns was that he often used an alter ego in italics to question his points of views for self-deprecation, like ""Excuse me, Tony..."" At times, he would also use exaggeration for the sake of humor. According to Stephanie Mansfield of "Sports Illustrated", Kornheiser was regarded by many as "the wittiest columnist" in American newspapers. Robert Weintraub of the "Columbia Journalism Review" praised him, in retrospect, for his "blend of beauty and precision." Kornheiser was also capable of being "deadly serious" when need be.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In 1991, Kornheiser created a string of now-famous Bandwagon columns to describe the Washington Redskins' Super Bowl run that year. He first came up with the idea when the Redskins trounced the Detroit Lions, 45–0, in the opening game of the season. He officially unveiled the first "Bandwagon" column when the team had an undefeated 4–0 record. From then on, the Bandwagon column appeared every Tuesday, celebrating "the fun and hilarity of sports." As the season progressed and the team's performances improved, a growing number of fans read the Bandwagon column in earnest.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: When the Redskins advanced to Super Bowl XXVI, Kornheiser and his "Post" colleagues Jeanne McManus and Norman Chad drove in a 38-foot recreational vehicle decorated as the Bandwagon for a 1,200-mile journey to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kornheiser later described the Bandwagon columns as "the most fun I ever had as a writer."


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In the early 2000s – because of his work on both radio and "Pardon the Interruption –" Kornheiser stopped writing Style Section columns and only wrote one column a week. His last Style Section column was published on September 30, 2001. Three of his books – "Pumping Irony", "Bald as I Wanna Be", and "I'm Back for More Cash –" are compilations of his Style Section columns.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In 2005, Kornheiser started to write short columns called "A Few Choice Words" with his photo in the Post's Sports Section. These short, sports-related columns appeared on the second page of the "Post"'s Sports section and were much shorter than the full-length columns Kornheiser used to write for the paper. This was the first time that the "Post" displayed a columnist's photo beside his column. He called these short columns "columnettes," writing three per week unless he had other duties. He did not write columns between April 26, 2006, and August 7, 2006, to prepare as an analyst of ESPN's "Monday Night Football". Starting August 8, 2006, he wrote columns called "Monday Night Diary" to describe his adventures on "Monday Night Football". His short-column space was later replaced by Dan Steinberg's "D.C. Sports Bog".


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: On May 14, 2008, it was announced that Kornheiser had accepted a buyout from the "Post". "I love the paper. They were great to me every day that I was there," he told "Reuters". "But I don't do much for the paper anymore." Kornheiser had not written a regular column for the paper's print edition since 2006. However, Kornheiser and Wilbon continued to tape a "Talking Points" mini online TV feature for the "Washington Post" until June 2, 2009, when an installment termed the final one was posted on the "Post"'s site. In it Wilbon says he thinks there will be further installments while Kornheiser seems certain it is a permanent decision management has made.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: On May 20, 2010, Kornheiser said on his radio show that in fact he was fired by the "Washington Post", saying "they fired me in a despicable way." On September 11, 2013, Kornheiser repeated his account: "Raju Narisetti fired me from the "Washington Post" and I hate his guts."


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser hosted "The Tony Kornheiser Show" first locally on WTEM – known as Sports Radio 570 – in Washington, D.C. between May 25, 1992, and November 14, 1997. The Kornheiser-led show was part of WTEM's original lineup. The show was then syndicated by ESPN Radio between January 5, 1998, and March 26, 2004. He was back on WTEM locally between November 10, 2004, and April 28, 2006, after which point Kornheiser put the show on hiatus in order to prepare for his duties with "Monday Night Football". His show was also carried for a short while by XM Satellite Radio, airing between February 28, 2005 and April 28, 2006.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: After completing the 2006 season on "Monday Night Football", Kornheiser signed with WTWP, Washington Post Radio, to relaunch his radio show on February 20, 2007. The show aired live from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and was then replayed from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. XM Radio carried his show on a thirty-minute delay, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., beginning March 5, 2007, on XM Sports Nation, Channel 144. Kornheiser went on hiatus from the show following the June 28, 2007, broadcast because of his "Monday Night Football" duties. The show was hosted by David Burd and included the same supporting cast. The show was called "The Tony Kornheiser Show Starring David Burd" during the hiatus.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser returned to the show as the full-time host from January 21, 2008, to June 27, 2008, after which point WWWT – the successor to WTWP – declined to renew his contract due to declining ratings. The show aired live from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and was replayed from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m on WWWT, as well as on XM Sports Nation, XM channel 144 from 8:15 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. He announced during this period in 2008 that he would not be back on the radio until he was done with "Monday Night Football".


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: "The Tony Kornheiser Show" was on the air daily Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to noon on Washington, D.C. radio station WTEM and streamed live on the station's website, ESPN980.com, until June 2016. The show was also available as a podcast. There was originally a 24-hour "podcast delay," a source of many jokes amongst fans and show members alike. The delay ended in 2015, allowing listeners to download episodes a few minutes after the live broadcast.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: On June 2, 2016, Kornheiser announced that his show will be relaunched as a podcast-only show. According to Kornheiser, the reason to do a podcast-only show was to own his content and do the podcast a little closer to his home. However, the show format would still be the same as the radio show, albeit slightly shorter in length. Kornheiser's son, Michael, handled the social media for the podcast and launched a website with information about how to subscribe.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: On September 6, 2016, Kornheiser returned from his summer vacation with the first full episode of the new podcast. The first episode was titled "We're Back!!! The Tony Kornheiser Show Returns" and ran for 1 hour and four minutes. Most parts of the old show – including "Old Guy Radio" and the Mailbag – were retained. Gary Braun and Chris Cillizza joined Kornheiser in studio. Michael Wilbon of "ESPN" and Steve Sands of the Golf Channel were the first guests joining by phone.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: The podcast-only show is produced in partnership with sports talent agency IMG and on-demand audio company DGital Media. The podcast is available at 11 a.m. ET via iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Throughout its many iterations, a central quality of the show has been its eagerness to discuss issues other than sports, including news, politics, entertainment, and the idiosyncrasies of modern life. In its early years, the show amassed a large and loyal following that remains to this day. The fans – who refer to themselves as "littles" – have an annual musical convention and use "La Cheeserie" as a catch phrase (in reference to a cheese counter at D.C.-area liquor store Calvert Woodley).


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser appeared on a local weekly Washington Redskins TV show during the NFL football season on Washington's Channel 50 in the early 1980s with Pete Wysocki, a popular former Redskins linebacker and local hero, which was televised from a local restaurant/bar in Washington, D.C. called "Champions."


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: He appeared on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" beginning in 1988 and continuing during the 1990s. He sometimes guest-hosted the program when the then-host of the show, Dick Schaap, was away. He was also a panelist on "Full Court Press" hosted by George Michael on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. during the NFL off-season until that show was canceled in December 2008 due to budget cuts. He also made a number of appearances on "Redskins Report" on WRC. He has appeared on numerous other ESPN productions, including "SportsCenter", "Who's Number One?", and multiple player's/sportspeople's profiles for "SportsCentury".


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: "Pardon the Interruption" (abbreviated "PTI") is a sports television show that airs weekdays on various ESPN TV channels, TSN, BT Sport ESPN, XM, and Sirius satellite radio services, and as a downloadable podcast. On "PTI", Kornheiser and co-host Michael Wilbon discuss, and frequently argue over, the top stories of the day in "sports... and other stuff" (as Kornheiser put it in the show's original promo).


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser's lively segments with Wilbon on the radio and on "Full Court Press –" which mirrored their actual discussions in the newsroom of "The Washington Post –" sparked the idea for "PTI" well before the end of his run at ESPN Radio. The show won a Sports Emmy Award for best Daily Outstanding Studio Show in 2010, 2017, and 2019.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: When "Monday Night Football" moved from ABC to ESPN, Kornheiser received and accepted an offer to be a color analyst on "Monday Night Football" in early 2006. He was originally passed over in favor of "Sunday Night Football" commentator Joe Theismann; however, when play-by-play man Al Michaels left ABC to call "Sunday Night Football" for NBC, Kornheiser was brought in alongside Theismann and new play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico. As such, Kornheiser was part of the broadcast team covering the New Orleans Saints' 23–3 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the Saints' first game in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Unlike Wilbon, Kornheiser does most episodes of "PTI" in-studio due to his self-admitted fear of flying. Prior to joining "MNF", his last trips outside of the studio were to cover Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans and to attend the NFL owners meetings in Orlando in 2006; Kornheiser both times traveled via train, though returned from the Orlando trip via airplane. On the April 6, 2006 edition of "PTI", he expressed his dismay at the amount of travel required for "MNF". Though he has mentioned on his radio program that he is taking steps to overcome his aviophobia, he in fact spent a five-week period on the road traveling to mainly western "MNF" sites, doing "PTI" via satellite.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser returned for a second season of "Monday Night Football". On January 9, 2007, Kornheiser told "Newsday", "If they would like to have me back, my inclination is that I would like to do it again."


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: On May 18, 2009, ESPN announced that Kornheiser would be leaving "Monday Night Football" due to fear of flying. Former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden replaced Kornheiser in the "MNF" booth.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: The 2004–2005 sitcom "Listen Up!", which aired on CBS, was loosely based on Kornheiser's life. It featured Jason Alexander as Tony Kleinman. The sitcom's material mostly came from Kornheiser's columns (collected in "I'm Back for More Cash") that he contributed to the "Style" section of the "Washington Post", which took a humorous view of his family life.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In June 2016, Kornheiser participated in the roast of political commentator and strategist James Carville.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In January 2017, it was announced that Kornheiser was part of a new ownership group for Chad's (formerly Chadwick's), a bar and restaurant located in the Friendship Heights area of Washington, D.C. The group also included former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams, TV host Maury Povich, and D.C. businessman and socialite Alan Bubes. Kornheiser is quoted as saying: "Did I always want to be part of a restaurant? No. But now with a podcast and trying to own my own content, the ability to put it on during the mornings or during the day and to have other people use it, that would be fun for me."


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In April 2017, Kornheiser announced that Chad's would be renamed Chatter. The new owners made several improvements, including remodeling the interior and adding a podcast studio. Kornheiser began recording episodes of "The Tony Kornheiser Show" at Chatter on May 1, 2017. Many fans of the show visited the restaurant to listen live.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: On June 28, 2019, Kornheiser announced that the podcast would move to a new location after the summer break due to the closure of Chatter.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser currently resides in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington, D.C., as well as Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with his wife Karril. They have two children, Michael and Elizabeth. Kornheiser is Jewish.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser was a member of the Young Democrats club while in high school. As of 1990, Kornheiser was a registered Republican, although he did so because his wife was a registered Democrat and the couple wanted to "receive mailings from both sides." Later, he referred to the decision to register as a Republican as a "mistake." Kornheiser voted for Barack Obama during the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. During a podcast episode released on January 31, 2017, Kornheiser stated: "I land on the liberal side of the fence almost all the time, certainly on social issues."


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser has a pronounced fear of flying. He regularly goes to bed early. He can name all fifty U.S. states and their capitals in alphabetical order.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: While earning a name as a critic of many people and organizations, he has appeared sensitive to criticism directed toward his own work.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Stephen Rodrick wrote for "Slate" that Kornheiser was allowed by ESPN to argue aimlessly on television and that his "Washington Post" column was being used to plug side projects rather than gather news from cited sources. Kornheiser called on Slate, owned by the "Post's" parent company, to fire Rodrick.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: After Kornheiser's first game on "Monday Night Football", Paul Farhi wrote in "The Washington Post" that Kornheiser had emphasized the obvious, played third fiddle, and was reminiscent of Dennis Miller "in a bad way." Kornheiser responded during an interview on "The Dan Patrick Show" on August 15, 2006, saying that Farhi was a "two-bit weasel slug" and his own newspaper had back-stabbed him. His response generated more criticism from media outlets, including the "Post". Other criticism came from Toronto Argonauts play-by-play commentator Mike Hogan, who said, "The thing that really bothers me is that Kornheiser doesn't seem to know his place. If you're there for comic relief, that's one thing. But for God's sake, leave the football analysis to guys who actually played the game." Former NFL offensive lineman Mike Schad also criticized Kornheiser, saying that "when people watch a game, they want to learn something. I don't need a guy who's sarcastic or trying to be funny. I love listening to Ron Jaworski on Monday Nights. He played the game and has lots of good insight and Kornheiser just gets in his way."


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Mike Golic – an ESPN colleague of Kornheiser's who had expressed skepticism regarding the latter's prospects as an on-air analyst because he was never an athlete – said that Kornheiser's performance on "MNF" was "fine." Kornheiser's response was, "I just want to wring Golic's neck and hang him up over the back of a shower rod like a duck."


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: During a "Monday Night Football" telecast on September 15, 2008, Kornheiser made a comment about a clip of the ESPN Deportes crew's call of a Felix Jones touchdown, saying, “I took high-school Spanish, and that either means ‘nobody is going to touch him’ or ‘could you pick up my dry cleaning in the morning.’” Later in the broadcast, Kornheiser apologized on-air for the remark.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: On February 23, 2010, it emerged that ESPN had suspended Kornheiser for two weeks for comments he made on his radio show about fellow high-profile ESPN personality Hannah Storm's wardrobe that day.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In March 2010, Kornheiser commented: "The last time I looked, the roads were made for automobiles...We're going to be dominated as if this was Beijing by hundreds of thousands of bicyclists... They all wear... my God... with the little water bottle in the back and the stupid hats and their shiny shorts. They are the same disgusting poseurs that in the middle of a snowstorm come out with cross-country skiing on your block. Run 'em down... Let them use the right, I’m okay with that. I don’t take my car and ride on the sidewalk because I understand that’s not for my car... Why do these people think that these roads were built for bicycles?... They dare you to run them down." Cyclist Lance Armstrong replied. "Disgusting, ignorant, foolish. What a complete f-ing idiot." Kornheiser later apologized to Armstrong on-air and offered to go on a bike ride with him.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In June 2010, Green Bay Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers criticized Kornheiser's performance on Monday Night Football, saying: "He's terrible... I don’t think he’s funny. I don’t think he’s insightful. I don’t think he knows, really, anything about sports." Rodgers also criticized ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski and other ESPN employees during the interview. Kornheiser responded in an interview by saying: "If he thinks I'm no good, he wouldn't be the first. Or the last," and "I tried to establish some rapport with that. I guess that rapport didn't exist." The two have since reconciled. Kornheiser and Rodgers even played a round of golf together with Barack Obama and Mark Kelly in April 2016.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In October 2015, Kornheiser was interviewing Huffington Post editor Howard Fineman about the conservative movement in Congress when he asked if Tea Party members are "like ISIS trying to establish a caliphate here," which Fineman called a "good analogy" but without the violence.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In 2012, Kornheiser was ranked No. 8 in the list of the 100 most important sports talk radio hosts in America compiled by Talkers Magazine. In 2016, the "Tony Kornheiser Show" was ranked No. 1 as America's Top 20 Local Sports Midday Shows for 2015 by Barrett Sports Media.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: In May 2017, Binghamton University – Kornheiser's alma mater – awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: On July 9, 2017, Kornheiser was inducted into the Washington, D.C. Sports Hall of Fame alongside such notable names as Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky and former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: On October 4, 2017, Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon shared the National Press Club's 2017 Fourth Estate Award, which "recognizes journalists who have made significant contributions to the field."


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: On July 12, 2013, Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon and Tony Reali were guests at the White House. After lunch, the trio met in the Oval Office with President Barack Obama. Obama invited Kornheiser and Wilbon to play golf with him the following day, which happened to be Kornheiser's 65th birthday.


title: Tony Kornheiser

text: Kornheiser also played golf with Obama on a number of other occasions, including in September 2013, June 2014, July 2014, July 2015, April 2016, and May 2016.


title: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: The Grand Prince of Kiev (sometimes grand duke) was the title of the ruler of Kiev and the ruler of Kievan Rus' from the 10th to 13th centuries. In the 13th century, Kiev became an appanage principality first of the grand prince of Vladimir and the Mongol Golden Horde governors, and later was taken over by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.


title: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: According to Slavophiles, Kyi ruled since 430, one of the dates attributed to the legendary founding of Kiev in 482, although that date relates to Kovin on the Danube in Serbia. Some historians speculate that Kyi was a Slavic prince of eastern Polans in the 6th century. Kyi's legacy along with Shchek's is mentioned in the Book of Veles, the authenticity of which, however, is disputed.


title: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: Oleg, an apocryphal Kiev voivode, probably of Danish or Swedish origin, ruled under the overlordship of the Khazar Khaganate.


title: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: Bravlin was a Varangian prince or chieftain, who led a Rus military expedition to devastate the Crimea, from Kerch to Sugdaea, in the last years of the 8th century.


title: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: According to some Russian historians (i.e., Gleb S. Lebedev), Dir was a "chacanus" of Rhos (Rus khagan). Thomas Noonan asserts that one of the Rus "sea-kings", the "High king", adopted the title khagan in the early 9th century. Peter Benjamin Golden maintained that the Rus became a part of the Khazar federation, and that their ruler was officially accepted as a vassal khagan of the Khazar Khagan of Itil.


title: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: Some western historians (i.e., Kevin Alan Brook) suppose that Kiev was founded by Khazars or Magyars. Kiev is a Turkic place name ("Küi" = riverbank + "ev" = settlement). At least during the 8th and 9th centuries Kiev functioned as an outpost of the Khazar empire (a hill-fortress, called "Sambat", "high place" in Old Turkic). According to Omeljan Pritsak, Constantine Zuckerman and other scholars, Khazars lost Kiev at the beginning of the 10th century.


title: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: Due to the Mongol invasion of 1240, Michael of Chernigov left Kiev to seek military assistance from King Béla IV of Hungary. During that time, the prince of Smolensk, Rostislav, occupied Kiev, but was captured the same year by Daniel of Galicia who placed his voivode Dmytro to guard Kiev while the grand prince was away. Being unsuccessful in Hungary, Michael visited Konrad I of Masovia. Receiving no results in Poland, he eventually asked Daniel of Galicia for asylum due to the Mongol invasion.


title: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: Since the 14th century, the principality of Kiev started to fall under the influence of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1299, the Metropolitan of Kiev Maximus moved his metropolitan see from Kiev to Vladimir-on-Klyazma. In 1321, after the battle on the Irpin River, Gediminas installed Mindgaugas, one of his subjects from the house of Olshanski, a descendant of the family of Vseslav of Polotsk that was exiled to the Byzantine Empire.


title: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: In 1331, Kiev was once again taken by a member of the Rurik dynasty (Olgovich branch), the prince of Putivl.


title: Grand Prince of Kiev

text: After the Battle of Blue Waters in 1362, Kiev and its surrounding areas were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by Grand Duke Algirdas.


title: Network security

text: Network security consists of the policies, processes and practices adopted to prevent, detect and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-accessible resources. Network security involves the authorization of access to data in a network, which is controlled by the network administrator. Users choose or are assigned an ID and password or other authenticating information that allows them access to information and programs within their authority. Network security covers a variety of computer networks, both public and private, that are used in everyday jobs: conducting transactions and communications among businesses, government agencies and individuals. Networks can be private, such as within a company, and others which might be open to public access. Network security is involved in organizations, enterprises, and other types of institutions. It does as its title explains: it secures the network, as well as protecting and overseeing operations being done. The most common and simple way of protecting a network resource is by assigning it a unique name and a corresponding password.


title: Network security

text: Network security starts with authentication, commonly with a username and a password. Since this requires just one detail authenticating the user name—i.e., the password—this is sometimes termed one-factor authentication. With two-factor authentication, something the user 'has' is also used (e.g., a security token or 'dongle', an ATM card, or a mobile phone); and with three-factor authentication, something the user 'is' is also used (e.g., a fingerprint or retinal scan).


title: Network security

text: Once authenticated, a firewall enforces access policies such as what services are allowed to be accessed by the network users. Though effective to prevent unauthorized access, this component may fail to check potentially harmful content such as computer worms or Trojans being transmitted over the network. Anti-virus software or an intrusion prevention system (IPS) help detect and inhibit the action of such malware. An anomaly-based intrusion detection system may also monitor the network like wireshark traffic and may be logged for audit purposes and for later high-level analysis. Newer systems combining unsupervised machine learning with full network traffic analysis can detect active network attackers from malicious insiders or targeted external attackers that have compromised a user machine or account.


title: Network security

text: Honeypots, essentially decoy network-accessible resources, may be deployed in a network as surveillance and early-warning tools, as the honeypots are not normally accessed for legitimate purposes. Honeypots are placed at a point in the network where they appear vulnerable and undefended, but they are actually isolated and monitored. Techniques used by the attackers that attempt to compromise these decoy resources are studied during and after an attack to keep an eye on new exploitation techniques. Such analysis may be used to further tighten security of the actual network being protected by the honeypot. A honeypot can also direct an attacker's attention away from legitimate servers. A honeypot encourages attackers to spend their time and energy on the decoy server while distracting their attention from the data on the real server. Similar to a honeypot, a honeynet is a network set up with intentional vulnerabilities. Its purpose is also to invite attacks so that the attacker's methods can be studied and that information can be used to increase network security. A honeynet typically contains one or more honeypots.


title: Network security

text: Security management for networks is different for all kinds of situations. A home or small office may only require basic security while large businesses may require high-maintenance and advanced software and hardware to prevent malicious attacks from hacking and spamming. In order to minimize susceptibility to malicious attacks from external threats to the network, corporations often employ tools which carry out network security verifications.


title: Network security

text: Networks are subject to attacks from malicious sources. Attacks can be from two categories: "Passive" when a network intruder intercepts data traveling through the network, and "Active" in which an intruder initiates commands to disrupt the network's normal operation or to conduct reconnaissance and lateral movements to find and gain access to assets available via the network.


title: Wu Xuanyi

text: Wu Xuanyi (born January 26, 1995), is a Chinese singer and actress. She began her career in 2016 with debuted as a member of the South Korean girl group WJSN. She later take a hiatus from the group in the first half of 2018 to compete as contestant of Tencent Video's survival reality show, "Produce 101 China"and then she finishing in second place and joined as a member of the Chinese project girl group Rocket Girls 101 until June 2020. Following the disbandment of project group, she remained her hiatus from WJSN and pursue her solo career in China.


title: Wu Xuanyi

text: Wu was born in Hainan, China. She joined Yuehua Entertainment, moved to South Korea around 2014 to 2015 and joined Starship Entertainment where she became a trainee.


title: Wu Xuanyi

text: On December 4, 2015, Starship Entertainment and Yuehua Entertainment introduced a 12-member Chinese-South Korean girl group WJSN. Wu was introduced as a member of "Joy Unit". Together with Wonder Unit, they released a Christmas cover of "All I Want For Christmas Is You". WJSN officially debuted in February 2016 with their mini album "Would You Like?" with "MoMoMo" and "Catch Me" as the two lead singles.


title: Wu Xuanyi

text: While juggling her acting and WJSN activities, Wu and bandmate, Meng Meiqi, participated in the Chinese reality survival girl group show "Produce 101" aired from April 21 to June 23 on Tencent Video. Wu placed 2nd overall of 181,533,349 votes and debuted as a member of Rocket Girls 101.


title: Wu Xuanyi

text: On August 9, Yuehua Entertainment and Mavericks Entertainment released a joint announcement stating that they would be withdrawing Xuanyi along with Meiqi and Zining from Rocket Girls 101. Xuanyi and Meiqi are to resume their activities with WJSN. However, on August 17, both companies confirmed that after coming to an agreement with Tencent, that Xuanyi would be returning to group with Meiqi and Zining.


title: Wu Xuanyi

text: A month before Xuanyi came back to China for Produce 101, her teammate Cheng Xiao invited her as a guest in a travel variety show on Tencent Video, "Best Friends' Perfect Vacation." The two variety shows she joined after her debut with Rocket Girls 101 are "Space Challenge" (on Youku Video) and "Nice to Meet You" (on Zhejiang TV). She is also the leading actress of voice movie "Future Girlfriend Lab" released in November.


title: Lassa fever

text: Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. Many of those infected by the virus do not develop symptoms. When symptoms occur they typically include fever, weakness, headaches, vomiting, and muscle pains. Less commonly there may be bleeding from the mouth or gastrointestinal tract. The risk of death once infected is about one percent and frequently occurs within two weeks of the onset of symptoms. Of those who survive, about a quarter have hearing loss, which improves within three months in about half of these cases.


title: Lassa fever

text: The disease is usually initially spread to people via contact with the urine or feces of an infected multimammate mouse. Spread can then occur via direct contact between people. Diagnosis based on symptoms is difficult. Confirmation is by laboratory testing to detect the virus's RNA, antibodies for the virus, or the virus itself in cell culture. Other conditions that may present similarly include Ebola, malaria, typhoid fever, and yellow fever. The Lassa virus is a member of the "Arenaviridae" family of viruses.


title: Lassa fever

text: There is no vaccine. Prevention requires isolating those who are infected and decreasing contact with the mice. Other efforts to control the spread of disease include having a cat to hunt vermin, and storing food in sealed containers. Treatment is directed at addressing dehydration and improving symptoms. The antiviral medication ribavirin has been recommended, but evidence to support its use is weak.


title: Lassa fever

text: Descriptions of the disease date from the 1950s. The virus was first described in 1969 from a case in the town of Lassa, in Borno State, Nigeria. Lassa fever is relatively common in West Africa including the countries of Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ghana. There are about 300,000 to 500,000 cases which result in 5,000 deaths a year.


title: Lassa fever

text: Onset of symptoms is typically 7 to 21 days after exposure. In 80% of those who are infected few or no symptoms occur. These mild symptoms may include fever, tiredness, weakness, and headache. In 20% of people more severe symptoms such as bleeding gums, breathing problems, vomiting, chest pain, or dangerously low blood pressure may occur. Long term complications may include hearing loss. In those who are pregnant, miscarriage may occur in 95% of child-bearing women. Lassa fever can be difficult to distinguish clinically from other viral hemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola virus disease. A combination of pharyngitis, pain behind the sternum, presence of excess protein in the urine and fever can indicate Lassa fever with higher specificity.


title: Lassa fever

text: In cases in which death occurs, this typically occurs within 14 days of onset. About 1% of all Lassa virus infections result in death. Approximately 15%-20% of those who have required hospitalization for Lassa fever die. The risk of death is greater in those who are pregnant. A "Swollen baby syndrome" may occur in newborns, infants and toddlers with pitting edema, abdominal distension and bleeding.


title: Lassa fever

text: Lassa virus is a member of the Arenaviridae, a family of negative-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses. Specifically it is an old world arenavirus, which is enveloped, single-stranded, and bi-segmented RNA. This virus has both a large and a small genome section, with four lineages identified to date: Josiah (Sierra Leone), GA391 (Nigeria), LP (Nigeria) and strain AV.


title: Lassa fever

text: Lassa virus commonly spreads to humans from other animals, specifically the "Natal multimammate mouse" or African rat, also called the Natal multimammate rat ("Mastomys natalensis"). This is probably the most common mouse in equatorial Africa, common in human households and eaten as a delicacy in some areas.


title: Lassa fever

text: The multimammate mouse can quickly produce a large number of offspring, tends to colonize human settlements, increasing the risk of rodent-human contact, and is found throughout the west, central and eastern parts of the African continent.


title: Lassa fever

text: Once the mouse has become a carrier, it will excrete the virus throughout the rest of its lifetime through feces and urine creating ample opportunity for exposure. The virus is probably transmitted by contact with the feces or urine of animals accessing grain stores in residences. No study has proven presence in breast milk, but the high level of viremia suggests it may be possible.


title: Lassa fever

text: Individuals who are at a higher risk of contracting the infection are those who live in rural areas where Mastomys are discovered, and where sanitation is not prevalent. Infection typically occurs by direct or indirect exposure to animal excrement through the respiratory or gastrointestinal tracts. Inhalation of tiny particles of infectious material (aerosol) is believed to be the most significant means of exposure. It is possible to acquire the infection through broken skin or mucous membranes that are directly exposed to infectious material. Transmission from person to person has been established, presenting a disease risk for healthcare workers. The virus is present in urine for between three and nine weeks after infection, and it can be transmitted in semen for up to three months after becoming infected.


title: Lassa fever

text: A range of laboratory investigations are performed, where possible, to diagnose the disease and assess its course and complications. The confidence of a diagnosis can be compromised if laboratory tests are not available. One comprising factor is the number of febrile illnesses present in Africa, such as malaria or typhoid fever that could potentially exhibit similar symptoms, particularly for non-specific manifestations of Lassa fever. In cases with abdominal pain, in countries where Lassa is common, Lassa fever is often misdiagnosed as appendicitis and intussusception which delays treatment with the antiviral ribavirin. In West Africa, where Lassa is most common, it is difficult to diagnose due to the absence of proper equipment to perform testing.


title: Lassa fever

text: The FDA has yet to approve a widely validated laboratory test for Lassa, but there are tests that have been able to provide definitive proof of the presence of the LASV virus. These tests include cell cultures, PCR, ELISA antigen assays, plaque neutralization assays, and immunofluorescence essays. However, immunofluorescence essays provide less definitive proof of Lassa infection. An ELISA test for antigen and Immunoglobulin M antibodies give 88% sensitivity and 90% specificity for the presence of the infection. Other laboratory findings in Lassa fever include lymphocytopenia (low white blood cell count), thrombocytopenia (low platelets), and elevated aspartate transaminase levels in the blood. Lassa fever virus can also be found in cerebrospinal fluid.


title: Lassa fever

text: Control of the "Mastomys" rodent population is impractical, so measures focus on keeping rodents out of homes and food supplies, encouraging effective personal hygiene, storing grain and other foodstuffs in rodent-proof containers, and disposing of garbage far from the home to help sustain clean households. Gloves, masks, laboratory coats, and goggles are advised while in contact with an infected person, to avoid contact with blood and body fluids. These issues in many countries are monitored by a department of public health. In less developed countries, these types of organizations may not have the necessary means to effectively control outbreaks.


title: Lassa fever

text: There is no vaccine for humans as of 2019. Researchers at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases facility had a promising vaccine candidate in 2002. They have developed a replication-competent vaccine against Lassa virus based on recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vectors expressing the Lassa virus glycoprotein. After a single intramuscular injection, test primates have survived lethal challenge, while showing no clinical symptoms.


title: Lassa fever

text: Treatment is directed at addressing dehydration and improving symptoms. All persons suspected of Lassa fever infection should be admitted to isolation facilities and their body fluids and excreta properly disposed of.


title: Lassa fever

text: The antiviral medication ribavirin has been recommended, but evidence to support its use is weak. Some evidence has found that it may worsen outcomes in certain cases. Fluid replacement, blood transfusions, and medication for low blood pressure may be required. Intravenous interferon therapy has also been used.


title: Lassa fever

text: When Lassa fever infects pregnant women late in their third trimester, inducing delivery is necessary for the mother to have a good chance of survival. This is because the virus has an affinity for the placenta and other highly vascular tissues. The fetus has only a one in ten chance of survival no matter what course of action is taken; hence, the focus is always on saving the life of the mother. Following delivery, women should receive the same treatment as other people with Lassa fever.


title: Lassa fever

text: About 15–20% of hospitalized people with Lassa fever will die from the illness. The overall case fatality rate is estimated to be 1%, but during epidemics, mortality can climb as high as 50%. The mortality rate is greater than 80% when it occurs in pregnant women during their third trimester; fetal death also occurs in nearly all those cases. Abortion decreases the risk of death to the mother. Some survivors experience lasting effects of the disease, and can include partial or complete deafness.


title: Lassa fever

text: There are about 300,000 to 500,000 cases which result in 5,000 deaths a year. One estimate places the number as high as 3 million cases per year.


title: Lassa fever

text: Estimates of Lassa fever are complicated by the lack of easy-available diagnosis, limited public health surveillance infrastructure, and high clustering of incidence near high intensity sampling.


title: Lassa fever

text: The infection affects females 1.2 times more than males. The age group predominantly infected is 21–30 years.


title: Lassa fever

text: Lassa high risk areas are near the western and eastern extremes of West Africa. As of 2018, the Lassa belt includes Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia. As of 2003, 10-16% of people in Sierra Leone and Liberia admitted to hospital had the virus. The case fatality rate for those who are hospitalized for the disease is about 15-20%. Research showed a twofold increase risk of infection for those living in close proximity to someone with infection symptoms within the last year.


title: Lassa fever

text: The high risk areas cannot be well defined by any known biogeographical or environmental breaks except for the multimammate rat, particularly Guinea (Kindia, Faranah and Nzérékoré regions), Liberia (mostly in Lofa, Bong, and Nimba counties), Nigeria (in about 10 of 36 states) and Sierra Leone (typically from Kenema and Kailahun districts). It is less common in the Central African Republic, Mali, Senegal and other nearby countries, and less common yet in Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Benin had its first confirmed cases in 2014, and Togo had its first confirmed cases in 2016.


title: Lassa fever

text: As of 2013, the spread of Lassa outside of West Africa had been very limited. Twenty to thirty cases had been described in Europe, as being caused by importation through infected individuals. These cases found outside of West Africa were found to have a high fatality risk because of the delay of diagnosis and treatment due to being unaware of the risk associated with the symptoms. Imported cases have not manifested in larger epidemics outside of Africa due to a lack of human to human transmission in hospital settings. An exception had occurred in 2003 when a healthcare worker became infected before the person showed clear symptoms.


title: Lassa fever

text: An outbreak of Lassa fever occurred in Nigeria during 2018 and spread to 18 of the country's states; it was the largest outbreak of Lassa recorded. On 25 February 2018, there were 1081 suspected cases and 90 reported deaths; 317 of the cases and 72 deaths were confirmed as Lassa which increased to a total of 431 reported cases in 2018.


title: Lassa fever

text: The total cases in Nigeria in 2019 was 810 with 167 deaths, the largest case fatality rate(23.3%) until then.


title: Lassa fever

text: The epidemic started from the second week of the January. By the tenth week the total number of cases has risen to 855 and deaths to 144, the case fatality rate of 16.8%.


title: Lassa fever

text: On the 8th of December 2021, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) was notified of the death of two persons from Lassa fever.


title: Lassa fever

text: The epidemic took a new form, from 3 to 30 January 2022, 211 laboratory confirmed Lassa fever cases including 40 deaths (case fatality ratio: 19%) have been cumulatively reported in 14 of the 36 Nigerian states and the Federal Capital Territory across the country. In total from January until March, 132 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 19.1% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (21.0%).


title: Lassa fever

text: Lassa fever is endemic in Liberia. From 1 January 2017 through 23 January 2018, 91 suspected cases were reported from six counties: Bong, Grand Bassa, Grand Kru, Lofa, Margibi, and Nimba. Thirty-three of these cases were laboratory confirmed, including 15 deaths (case fatality rate for confirmed cases = 45.4%).


title: Lassa fever

text: In February 2020, a total of 24 confirmed cases with nine associated deaths has been reported from nine health districts in six counties. Grand Bossa and Bong counties account for 20 of the confirmed cases.


title: Lassa fever

text: The disease was identified in Nigeria in 1969. It is named after the town of Lassa, where it was discovered.


title: Lassa fever

text: The Lassa virus is one of several viruses identified by WHO as a likely cause of a future epidemic. They therefore list it for urgent research and development to develop new diagnostic tests, vaccines, and medicines.


title: Lassa fever

text: In 2007, SIGA Technologies, studied a medication in guinea pig with Lassa fever. Work on a vaccine is continuing, with multiple approaches showing positive results in animal trials.


title: Zaire ebolavirus

text: Zaire ebolavirus, more commonly known as Ebola virus (; EBOV), is one of six known species within the genus "Ebolavirus". Four of the six known ebolaviruses, including EBOV, cause a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and other mammals, known as Ebola virus disease (EVD). Ebola virus has caused the majority of human deaths from EVD, and was the cause of the 2013–2016 epidemic in western Africa, which resulted in at least suspected cases and confirmed deaths.


title: Zaire ebolavirus

text: Ebola virus and its genus were both originally named for Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the country where it was first described, and was at first suspected to be a new "strain" of the closely related Marburg virus. The virus was renamed "Ebola virus" in 2010 to avoid confusion. Ebola virus is the single member of the species "Zaire ebolavirus", which is assigned to the genus "Ebolavirus", family "Filoviridae", order "Mononegavirales". The members of the species are called Zaire ebolaviruses. The natural reservoir of Ebola virus is believed to be bats, particularly fruit bats, and it is primarily transmitted between humans and from animals to humans through body fluids.


title: Zaire ebolavirus

text: The EBOV genome is a single-stranded RNA, approximately 19,000 nucleotides long. It encodes seven structural proteins: nucleoprotein (NP), polymerase cofactor (VP35), (VP40), GP, transcription activator (VP30), VP24, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L).


title: Zaire ebolavirus

text: Because of its high fatality rate (up to 83 to 90 percent),<ref name="Elsevier/Academic Press"></ref> EBOV is also listed as a select agent, World Health Organization Risk Group 4 Pathogen (requiring Biosafety Level 4-equivalent containment), a US National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Category A Priority Pathogen, US CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Category A Bioterrorism Agent, and a Biological Agent for Export Control by the Australia Group.


title: Zaire ebolavirus

text: EBOV carries a negative-sense RNA genome in virions that are cylindrical/tubular, and contain viral envelope, matrix, and nucleocapsid components. The overall cylinders are generally approximately 80 nm in diameter, and have a virally encoded glycoprotein (GP) projecting as 7–10 nm long spikes from its lipid bilayer surface. The cylinders are of variable length, typically 800 nm, but sometimes up to 1000 nm long. The outer viral envelope of the virion is derived by budding from domains of host cell membrane into which the GP spikes have been inserted during their biosynthesis. Individual GP molecules appear with spacings of about 10 nm. Viral proteins VP40 and VP24 are located between the envelope and the nucleocapsid (see following), in the "matrix space". At the center of the virion structure is the nucleocapsid, which is composed of a series of viral proteins attached to an 18–19 kb linear, negative-sense RNA without 3′-polyadenylation or 5′-capping (see following); the RNA is helically wound and complexed with the NP, VP35, VP30, and L proteins; this helix has a diameter of 80 nm.


title: Zaire ebolavirus

text: The overall shape of the virions after purification and visualization (e.g., by ultracentrifugation and electron microscopy, respectively) varies considerably; simple cylinders are far less prevalent than structures showing reversed direction, branches, and loops (e.g., U-, shepherd's crook-, 9-, or eye bolt-shapes, or other or circular/coiled appearances), the origin of which may be in the laboratory techniques applied. The characteristic "threadlike" structure is, however, a more general morphologic characteristic of filoviruses (alongside their GP-decorated viral envelope, RNA nucleocapsid, etc.).