title: Alicia Webb

text: On January 25, Ryan was officially introduced to the viewers by Val Venis. It was revealed that she had starred with Venis in the fictional pornographic film "Saving Ryan's Privates". At , Ryan slapped Ken across the face, which caused him to lose his match to Venis later on. On February 13, Ken Shamrock viciously attacked Val Venis and the WWF referees during an interview. On February 15, Ryan helped Venis win his match after she was accidentally knocked off the apron only to be dumped by Venis following. That same night backstage, Billy Gunn tried consoling Ryan only to be attacked from behind by Ken. On March 1, Ryan came down to the ring during a match involving Venis, Shamrock and Goldust and was kissed by Goldust afterwards.


title: Alicia Webb

text: On March 8, Ryan managed Goldust in a match against Ken. At WrestleMania XV, Ryan and The Blue Meanie were in Goldust's corner for the Fatal Four Way match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, which Road Dogg retained. On the April 5 episode of "Raw", The Undertaker and his disciples decided to sacrifice Ryan as a way of sending a message to Stephanie McMahon and Vince McMahon. The next week on April 12, Ryan was found by Mankind in the boiler room. Later in the night, The Undertaker revealed to Ken that Ryan was in the boiler room. As Ken found Ryan, who was being consoled by Mankind, they were attacked by the Ministry of Darkness and The Undertaker grabbed her by the hair and called her "a little slut".


title: Alicia Webb

text: Having disappeared from the WWF for over a month, Ryan returned on the May 16, episode "WWF Heat", distracting Droz during a tag team match, causing a loss against The Brood. Ryan then joined the Pretty Mean Sisters (PMS) stable with Terri Runnels and Jacqueline. She was depicted as a heel alongside Terri Runnels and Jacqueline Moore. On an episode of "Raw", GTV revealed footage of the Pretty Mean Sisters in the locker room wearing towels. After being with PMS for three months, Webb was released from the WWF in July 1999.


title: Alicia Webb

text: Webb later claimed that she was released because she refused to sign a five-year contract with the company. Other accusations were that Joanie Laurer had hated her and often messed with her possessions in the locker room. There were plans apparently by Vince McMahon to do an incest angle between Webb and her storyline brother Ken Shamrock, whom she was dating in real life at the time.


title: Alicia Webb

text: Webb made her debut for the National Wrestling Alliance as Ryan Shamrock, competing in an Evening Gown match against Bobcat on October 30, 1999. She then wrestled on the Independent circuit against wrestlers such as Nicole Bass, Kara Slice, and Taylor Matheny as well as managing Ken Shamrock. In late 1999, Webb debuted in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) on their "Nitro" show as "Symphony", the valet of The Maestro. She was depicted as being "very nice" and also grew flowers and roses. On December 23, 1999, Symphony, Madusa and Spice were in a promo with Evan Karagias to show how women "act". On February 21, 2000, Symphony turned down a date from Buff Bagwell. After managing the Maestro for five months, the Maestro was released from WCW. In August 2000, Webb was also released from WCW.


title: Alicia Webb

text: Webb made her debut for NWA Total Nonstop Action (TNA) as "Aleesha". Following this, Webb began to appear as a talent scout, appearing on the ramp and accepting money from various different wrestlers. The storyline did not go anywhere and Webb left the promotion shortly thereafter. In May 2007, Webb began working with the Mexican promotion AAA while managing X-Pac, whom she also dated during this time. While managing X-Pac, Webb became part of La Legión Extranjera until sometime in 2009. On August 17, 2013, Webb managed Daivari in a match where he lost to Matt Hardy, who was managed by Reby Sky.


title: A Darker Shade of Magic

text: A Darker Shade of Magic is an adult fantasy novel by American author V. E. Schwab published by Tor Books in 2015. It is the first installment of the "Shades of Magic" trilogy.


title: A Darker Shade of Magic

text: As a young Antari magician, Kell is one of the last magicians with the rare ability to travel between the four parallel Londons, which he calls Red, Grey, White, and Black.


title: A Darker Shade of Magic

text: Kell officially serves the royal family of Red London, "The Maresh Empire," as an ambassador, traveling between worlds to deliver messages, letters of importance and other such news. However, Kell has a secret life as a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of magic. It's a risky pastime with dangerous consequences.


title: A Darker Shade of Magic

text: After a smuggling job goes wrong, Kell escapes to Grey London where he finds Delilah Bard, a young thief looking for a taste of adventure and a chance at something more. Delilah first saves Kell, then captures him and talks him into going with him. In a world with magic, it's of course unavoidable that things go horribly wrong along the way.


title: A Darker Shade of Magic

text: "The Guardian" called "A Darker Shade of Magic" "a compelling, swashbuckling read reminiscent of Tim Powers’ more gung-ho fantasies". It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.


title: A Darker Shade of Magic

text: On February 3, 2016, it was announced that Gerard Butler's production company G-BASE have acquired rights to adapt the book as a limited TV series.


title: A Darker Shade of Magic

text: However, a year later, on February 24, 2017, it was reported that a movie would be produced instead, and that Sony Pictures won the movie rights, beating Fox 2000, eOne, and Lionsgate. With the format change, Schwab has become one of the producers of the movie alongside Robinson, Alan Siegel, and Neal Moritz. Toby Ascher from Original Productions is the executive producer, and Executive Matthew Milam and Sanford Panitch, the president of Sony Pictures, are set to oversee production.


title: A Darker Shade of Magic

text: On October 3, 2019, the movie's screenwriter was announced: Derek Kolstad, the creator of the John Wick franchise.


title: A Darker Shade of Magic

text: The second installment of the "Shades of Magic" series, titled "A Gathering of Shadows", was released on February 23, 2016. The third book in the series, "A Conjuring of Light", was released February 21 2017.


title: Mostafa Mohamed (footballer)

text: Mostafa Mohamed Ahmed Abdallah (; born 28 November 1997) is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a striker for French club Nantes, on loan from Süper Lig club Galatasaray, and the Egypt national team.


title: Mostafa Mohamed (footballer)

text: On 2 January 2020, Mohamed scored a goal in the 42nd minute for Zamalek against Aswan in the 11th round of the Egyptian League. On 28 January 2020, Mohamed scored a long-range goal in the 15th minute against Wadi Degla, which ended in a 1–1 draw.


title: Mostafa Mohamed (footballer)

text: On 1 February 2021, Süper Lig club Galatasaray signed Mohamed on a one-and-a-half-year loan for a reported fee of $2 million, with an option to buy for $4 million. He became the first Egyptian to sign for the Istanbul-based club.


title: Mostafa Mohamed (footballer)

text: Mohamed scored on his debut on 2 February, coming on as a 46th minute substitute in a 3–0 Süper Lig win against İstanbul Başakşehir; he scored his side's third goal from a penalty. In his second game for Galatasaray, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win against Fenerbahçe in the 54th minute on 6 February.


title: Mostafa Mohamed (footballer)

text: In the notification made by Galatasaray on 21 July 2022, it was announced that Mohammed was rented to the French Nantes club for one year. On 28 August 2022, he scored his first Ligue 1 goal in a 3–1 win over Toulouse. On 8 September 2022, he scored his first goal in European competitions in a 2–1 win over Olympiacos in the Europa League.


title: Mostafa Mohamed (footballer)

text: Mohamed has played for both the Egypt U-20 team and the Egypt U-23 team, representing Egypt in the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, scoring Egypt's opening goal of a 1–0 win over Mali in the group stage. He went on to score in his following two matches, one goal in a 3–2 win over Ghana, and two goals in a 2–1 win over Cameroon, with Egypt winning their first title by defeating Ivory Coast 2–1 in the final. Mohamed earned the tournament's golden boot.


title: Mostafa Mohamed (footballer)

text: On 23 March 2019, Mohamed made his debut for the Egypt national team in the Africa Cup of Nations qualification, in a 1–1 away draw against Niger. On 5 September 2021, he scored his first senior international goal in a 1–1 draw against Gabon in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.


title: Navicular bone

text: The navicular bone in humans is one of the tarsal bones, found in the foot. Its name derives from the human bone's resemblance to a small boat, caused by the strongly concave proximal articular surface. The term "navicular bone" or "hand navicular bone" was formerly used for the scaphoid bone, one of the carpal bones of the wrist.


title: Navicular bone

text: The navicular bone in humans is located on the medial side of the foot, and articulates proximally with the talus, distally with the three cuneiform bones, and laterally with the cuboid.


title: Navicular bone

text: It is the last of the foot bones to start ossification and does not tend to do so until the end of the third year in girls and the beginning of the fourth year in boys, although a large range of variation has been reported.


title: Navicular bone

text: The tibialis posterior is the only muscle that attaches to the navicular bone. The main portion of the muscle inserts into the tuberosity of the navicular bone. An accessory navicular bone may be present in 2–14% of the general population.


title: Navicular bone

text: The human navicular is not a commonly broken bone but it breaks due two reasons. The first mechanism is a stress fracture which happens commonly in athletes and the other mechanism is a high energy trauma. The navicular bone is a keystone of the foot: it is part of the coxa pedis and articulates with the talus, first, second and third cuneiform, cuboid and calcaneus. It plays an important role in the biomechanics of the foot helping in inversion, eversion and motion; it is a structural link between midfoot and forefoot and it is part of the longitudinal and transverse arch of the foot.


title: Navicular bone

text: The horse has a sesamoid bone called the navicular bone, located within the hoof, that lies on the palmar aspect of the coffin joint between the second phalanx and third phalanx (coffin bone). The navicular bone in the horse is supported by the distal sesamoidean impar ligament and two collateral sesamoidean ligaments. The navicular bursa is located between the flexor surface of the navicular bone and the deep digital flexor tendon, which runs between the bursa and the distal phalanx. The central tarsal bone in the hock of the horse is homologous and analogous to the navicular bone of the human foot, and thus the navicular bone in the horse is a different structure from the eponymously labeled bone in humans.


title: Navicular bone

text: The navicular region is an important structure in relation to lameness, particularly in the front feet, and is involved with a significant disease process called navicular disease or navicular syndrome. Recently much of the original literature concerning navicular disease has been called into question, particularly the significance of radiographic changes as a sole diagnostic criterion. Navicular syndrome may be responsible for as much as 1/3 of all cases of lameness in horses, but radiographic changes in the navicular bone do not always provide a definitive diagnosis. Newer imaging techniques have shown that damage to the soft tissues in the region may be significant contributors to lameness and that multiple causes may result in visible lameness.


title: Love (Beatles album)

text: Love is a soundtrack remix album of music recorded by the Beatles, released in November 2006. It features music compiled and remixed as a mashup for the Cirque du Soleil show of the same name. The album was produced by George Martin and his son Giles Martin, who said, "What people will be hearing on the album is a new experience, a way of re-living the whole Beatles musical lifespan in a very condensed period."


title: Love (Beatles album)

text: George Martin and his son Giles began work on "Love" after obtaining permission from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison (the latter two representing the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison, respectively). The idea for using the Beatles' music in a Cirque du Soleil production had originally come from Harrison, who died in November 2001, through his friendship with the company's founder, Guy Laliberté.


title: Love (Beatles album)

text: Speaking to "Mojo" editor Jim Irvin in December 2006, Giles Martin said that he first created a demo combining "Within You Without You" with "Tomorrow Never Knows", which he then nervously presented to McCartney and Starr for their approval. In Martin's recollection, "they loved it", with McCartney saying: "This is what we should be doing, more of this."


title: Love (Beatles album)

text: In discussing the project, Giles Martin commented that elements were used from recordings in the Beatles catalogue, "the original four tracks, eight tracks and two tracks and used this palette of sounds and music to create a soundbed". Because he was concerned that they might not get the green light to proceed with "Love", he began by making digital back-ups of the original multi-track recordings, just to get started on the project. He also said that he and his father mixed more music than was eventually released, including "She's Leaving Home" and a version of "Girl" that he was particularly fond of, with the latter eventually being released in 2011 as a bonus track on the album on iTunes.


title: Love (Beatles album)

text: McCartney and Starr both responded very positively to the completed album. McCartney said that it "puts The Beatles back together again, because suddenly there's John and George with me and Ringo". Starr commended the Martins for their work, adding that "Love" was "really powerful for me and I even heard things I'd forgotten we'd recorded".


title: Love (Beatles album)

text: "Love" contains elements from 130 individual commercially released and demo recordings of the Beatles, and is a complex remix and polymix of multiple songs known as a mashup.


title: Love (Beatles album)

text: "Love" was first played publicly on Virgin Radio's "The Geoff Show". Geoff Lloyd, the show's host, chose to play the entire work uninterrupted, to allow younger fans to experience an album premiere.


title: Love (Beatles album)

text: The album was released as a standard compact disc version, a two-disc CD and DVD-Audio package, a two-disc vinyl package, and as a digital download. The DVD-Audio disc contains a 5.1-channel surround sound mix (96 kHz 24-bit MLP), downmixable to two-channel. For backwards compatibility it also contains separate audio-only DVD-Video content with two-channel stereo (48 kHz 16-bit PCM) and 5.1-channel surround (448 kbit/s Dolby Digital and 754 kbit/s DTS).


title: Love (Beatles album)

text: "Love" placed at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart during its first week of release, trailing Westlife's "The Love Album" and Oasis' "Stop the Clocks" compilation. In the United States, it debuted at number 4 on the "Billboard" 200, where it was certified Platinum in late 2006. At the 50th Grammy Awards in February 2008, "Love" won in the categories Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Surround Sound Album.


title: Abby Trott

text: Abby Trott is an American voice actress. She started out by acting in puppet shows in Japan, before moving to the United States and joining Bang Zoom! Entertainment, where she has worked on numerous anime, animation, and video game series. Some of her major roles include Nezuko Kamado in "", Yoh Asakura in the "Shaman King" remake, and Maya Fey in "". She also performed the English version of the main theme of "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate".


title: Abby Trott

text: Abby Trott was born on May 8 in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Trott would later move to Tokyo, where she started professionally voice acting in puppet shows. In order to pursue a career in voice acting, she moved to New York City. In New York, she entered an online voice acting contest hosted by Bang Zoom! Entertainment, which she won. After winning, she moved to Los Angeles and began working as a voice actress.


title: Abby Trott

text: In 2018, she performed the English version of "Lifelight", the song used as the main theme for the video game "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate".


title: Sansui Electric

text: The company was founded in Tokyo in 1947 by Kosaku Kikuchi, who had worked for a radio parts distributor in Tokyo before and during World War II. Due to the poor quality of radio parts Kikuchi had to deal with, he decided to start his private radio part manufacturer facility in December 1944 in Yoyogi, Tokyo. He picked transformers as his initial product line. Kikuchi's thought was "Even with higher prices, let's make the higher quality of products."


title: Sansui Electric

text: In 1954 manufacturing Pre-Amp, Main-Amp kits, as well as finished amplifiers which used tubes, was started; in 1958 Sansui introduced the first stereo tube Pre- and Main amplifiers. By the 1960s Sansui had developed a reputation for making serious audio components. They were sold in foreign markets through that and the next decade. Sansui's amplifiers and tuners from the 1960s and 1970s remain in demand by audio enthusiasts.


title: Sansui Electric

text: Since 1965 the iconic matte-black-faced AU-series amplifiers were released. In 1967 Sansui produced its first turntable.


title: Sansui Electric

text: In 1971, Sansui introduced the Quadphonic Synthesizer QS-1, which could make simulated four-channel stereo from two-channel sources. Sansui developed the QS Regular Matrix system, which made it possible to transmit four-channel Quadraphonic sound from a standard LP. The channel separation was only 3 dB, but because of the human way of hearing it sounded relatively good. In 1973, Sansui introduced the more advanced QS Vario Matrix decoder with 20 dB separation. Unfortunately, the SQ system developed by Columbia/CBS was the most popular matrix system. But later QS decoders could also play SQ records. Some Sansui receivers could also play the most advanced four-channel system – CD-4 (or Quadradisc) by Japanese JVC and American RCA. Most big record companies used either SQ or CD-4, but Decca used the Sansui QS system. For completeness, it should be mentioned that the 2-channel-range was extended by tape machines and cassette decks, too. The company also produced in the mid-70s, the Sansui AU-11000 which was known for its high-output power and low Total harmonic distortion.


title: Sansui Electric

text: In the late 1970s, the first-generation '07' models included the dual-mono power supply AU-517 and AU-717, and the second generation featured the updated AU-719, 819, and 919 were released. The separate pre-amp/power-amp CA-F1/BA-F1 topped the model range along with the AU-X1 integrated amplifier (1979).


title: Sansui Electric

text: In the UK around 1982, the Sansui AU-D101 amplifier and its more powerful sibling the AU-D33, were acclaimed by audiophiles and were so well matched to a pair of KEF Coda III speakers that they could be bought as a set from some outlets. These amplifiers used a complex feed-forward servo system which resulted in very low second order harmonic distortion. Despite this success, Sansui failed to follow up with further mass-market audiophile components.


title: Sansui Electric

text: As the mid-1980s arrived, sales were lost to competitors (Sony, Pioneer, Matsushita's Technics). Sansui began to lose visibility in the United States around 1988, and then focused on manufacturing high-end components in Japan. The company began to manufacture high-end television sets and other video equipment, but ceased exportation. In the late 1990s, the company's brand was used on video equipment manufactured by other companies. The current manufacturer of the rebranded sets is Orion Electric, based in Osaka and Fukui, Japan. Its U.S. subsidiary markets products under the Sansui brand, among others. Sansui is thus a mere umbrella brand at present. This radical change in Sansui's corporate identity has resulted in a notable change in its product quality as consumers now tend to consider Sansui a mass-market brand rather than a maker of high-end electronics.


title: Sansui Electric

text: Sansui had developed the patented a-x balanced circuit, that used in its high power amplifier along with the so-called double diamond differential, another patent for balanced driver stage. Lately Sansui had developed a turntable, P-L95R, with a handling similar to CD-players; it allowed to play both sides of the record without turning it.


title: Sansui Electric

text: Its latest amplifiers included the a-u alpha series like the 707´and 907 (1987) au-x1111 (round about 1990) and others; b-2105 mos with a weight of (1999)


title: Sansui Electric

text: Sansui ended its Japanese production of high-end amplifiers some time between 2002 and 2005. In 2001 the headquarters in Shi-Yokohama was closed.


title: Sansui Electric

text: The Japanese website as HiFi-manufacturer was last updated January 2014; Sansui went out of business in 2014. Sansui's sales had shriveled to just 40.4 million yen by 2010. The 2003 founded Sansui Electric China Co Ltd stayed longer than 2014. In Japan, consumer product maker Doshisha has the right to manufacture and sell under the Sansui brand. Outside of Japan, the brand belongs to Nimble Holdings of Hong Kong.


title: Sansui Electric

text: Many Sansui devices, particularly vintage items, have a large following in the audio community to date, with online forums dedicated to the Sansui brand.


title: Amelia Lily

text: Amelia Lily Oliver (born 16 October 1994) is an English singer and television personality. In 2011, she became a finalist on the eighth series of "The X Factor", where she finished in third place. In 2017, she finished as runner-up on the twentieth series of "Celebrity Big Brother". In 2020, she began appearing in the MTV reality series "Geordie Shore".


title: Amelia Lily

text: Following "The X Factor", Lily signed a record deal with Sony, and released a single titled "You Bring Me Joy". The single peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, and number 21 in the Republic of Ireland. Lily's follow up single, "Shut Up (And Give Me Whatever You Got)", charted at 11 on the UK Singles Chart. Lily's third single, "Party Over", peaked within the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. In 2015, Lily joined the cast of "American Idiot", in the lead role of Whatsername.


title: Amelia Lily

text: The daughter of Aranka Bradley and Barry Horowitz, Amelia Lily Oliver was born in Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough on 16 October 1994. She was educated at Chandlers Ridge Primary School and Teesside High School. Lily began her musical career as a secondary school pupil by posting videos of herself singing on YouTube. Her cover of Adele's "Someone Like You" garnered over 1 million views. From the age of 13, she began writing songs with her guitar, and aspired to be a country singer. She was also a figure skater for 6 years during her childhood. She was also working on the tills at a garden centre in Nunthorpe. In a Sugarscape interview in August 2012, she revealed that she wanted to be a nun when she was younger.


title: Amelia Lily

text: In 2011, Lily auditioned for "The X Factor" in Liverpool in front of judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Tulisa, and Kelly Rowland. She sang Erma Franklin's "Piece of My Heart" and won praise from all four judges. Barlow said, "...oh my goodness, 16 years old that was incredible. That absolutely lifted the top of this arena, well done. Amazing vocals. Amelia I am blown away..."


title: Amelia Lily

text: She progressed through to bootcamp and then to judges' houses, where she sang "E.T." by Katy Perry in front of Rowland and guest judge Jennifer Hudson. Lily made it to the live shows in Rowland's Girls category (solo females aged 16–24), along with Misha B, Janet Devlin and Sophie Habibis. She performed "Billie Jean" on the Britain vs America theme show. The judges loved her performance with Walsh saying, "Amelia, you deserve to be on that stage"; Barlow also gave her thumbs-up, commenting, "That was a really great opening to the show", but she was the first of Kelly's girls to be eliminated from the show on 9 October by her mentor as there was no public vote in the inaugural live show. After her surprise elimination, Lily continued to perform at clubs. Prior to the sixth live show of the series, it was announced that Frankie Cocozza was removed from the show after breaking competition rules and that the public would be given the chance to reinstate a contestant eliminated during the first live show. Lily was voted back into the competition after winning 48.8% of the vote, beating duo 2 Shoes, James Michael and Jonjo Kerr. Her comeback performance of "The Show Must Go On" received critical acclaim from all the judges. She topped week 6's public vote by 27.4%.


title: Amelia Lily

text: In week 7, she sang "Think" by Aretha Franklin. Despite positive comments from the judges, she was in the bottom two with Craig Colton, and was saved after Barlow and Tulisa voted to send Lily home while Rowland and Walsh voted to send Colton home. The result went to deadlock for the first time in the series. Lily advanced to the quarter-final in week 8 while Colton was sent home. In the quarter-final, Lily again received critical acclaim from the judges for her two performances: "China in Your Hand" and "Since U Been Gone", with Barlow commenting that her first performance was "really nice to hear it sung in tune." It was later revealed that she topped the quarter-final public vote by 23.8%. In the semi-final, she performed Motown classic "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "I'm with You" to win her place in the final. On 4 December, she won a place in the show's final at Wembley Arena by finishing third on the semi-final public vote, receiving 21.4%. Throughout the series, she topped the public vote twice and was in the bottom two only once before reaching the finals, where she sang "Ain't No Other Man" and performed "River Deep – Mountain High" alongside Rowland. She finished the competition in third place with 26.5% of the final part-1 public vote.


title: Amelia Lily

text: After Lily embarked on the "X Factor" tour 2012, it was announced that she had signed a £500,000 record deal with Sony subsidiary Xenomania. In September 2012, she released her debut single, "You Bring Me Joy", which reached number one on iTunes following its release, eventually charting at number two in the UK. Her second single, "Shut Up (And Give Me Whatever You Got)", was released in January 2013, peaking at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. Her third single, "Party Over", was released in April 2013 and reached number 40.


title: Amelia Lily

text: Her debut album was planned to be released on 29 April 2013, and was to be titled "Be a Fighter". Lily described the album as featuring an eclectic range of genres—"There's a bit of dubstep on there as well which I think will surprise people! The sound is all over the place but I think the record works because we've only included songs that I really connected with." Lily announced in July 2013 that the album's release had been postponed to record new material for it as she wanted it to be "perfect". "Be a Fighter" appeared on online retailers later in 2013 with a new release date of 4 February 2014, but was subsequently taken down.


title: Amelia Lily

text: Lily was the support act for Girls Aloud's arena tour, , participating from 21 February to 20 March 2013. Lily was also the main support act for Olly Murs's gig at the INTRO Festival. She also performed at Allstarz Summer Party at Madejski Stadium in Reading and later Chester Rocks at Chester Racecourse in June 2013, both of which were alongside Jessie J and Lawson.


title: Amelia Lily

text: In July 2014, Lily announced the release of a single titled "California" with Warner Music, due for release 7 September 2014. Lily released the music video for "California" on 25 July 2014. In 2016, a CD featuring the explicit version of "California" appeared online, including two new tracks, "The Best Of Me Yet (Greatest Night)" and "U Get Me".


title: Amelia Lily

text: In November 2014, it was announced that Lily would be replacing Marcus Collins in the UK tour of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" from February 2015. In May 2015, the "London Evening Standard" announced that Lily would be taking on the role of Whatsername when Green Day's "American Idiot" came to London.


title: Amelia Lily

text: In 2017, Lily competed in the twentieth series of "Celebrity Big Brother". She left the house on Day 25 as the runner up behind Sarah Harding. Lily returned to the musical theatre stage in the 2017–2018 UK tour of "Shrek the Musical" in the role of Princess Fiona. In October 2019, it was announced that Lily had joined the cast of the MTV reality series "Geordie Shore". In September 2022, Lily started hosting her own podcast called "The Talent Factory: Inside the Music Machine", on BBC Radio One.


title: Amelia Lily

text: Lily credits Pink as her major musical influence and idol. She also admires Kelly Clarkson, and cited her as her hero during "The X Factor", singing one of her songs in the show's quarter final, "Since U Been Gone".


title: Amelia Lily

text: Lily is a Type 1 diabetic, having been diagnosed with the condition aged three. She is the sister of "Any Dream Will Do"s Lewis Bradley. Her father, John Barry Oliver, was the manager of Billingham Town.


title: Oh Yeon-seo filmography

text: Oh Yeon-seo (, born Oh Haet-nim []; June 22, 1987), is a South Korean actress, singer and model. She was a member of the girl group Luv under SidusHQ.


title: Share capital

text: A corporation's share capital, commonly referred to as capital stock in the United States, is the portion of a corporation's equity that has been derived by the issue of shares in the corporation to a shareholder, usually for cash. "Share capital" may also denote the number and types of shares that compose a corporation's share structure.


title: Share capital

text: In accounting, the share capital of a corporation is the nominal value of issued shares (that is, the sum of their par values, sometimes indicated on share certificates). If the allocation price of shares is greater than the par value, as in a rights issue, the shares are said to be sold at a premium (variously called share premium, additional paid-in capital or paid-in capital in excess of par). Commonly, the share capital is the total of the nominal share capital and the premium share capital. Most jurisdictions do not allow a company to issue shares below par value, but if permitted they are said to be issued at a discount or part-paid.


title: Share capital

text: Sometimes, shares are allocated in exchange for non-cash consideration, most commonly when corporation A acquires corporation B for shares (new shares issued by corporation A). Here the share capital is increased to the par value of the new shares, and the merger reserve is increased to the balance of the price of corporation B.


title: Share capital

text: In practice, the concept of "par value" has very little meaning, since shares usually represent a residual claim; they do not endow their owners with a claim toward any fixed sum of money. In some jurisdictions, share par values have been either abolished or made optional, so a corporation can issue shares having no par value. In that case, from an accounting perspective, all of the corporation's share capital is premium.


title: Share capital

text: Legal capital is a concept used in European corporate and foundation law, United Kingdom company law, and various other corporate law jurisdictions to refer to the sum of assets contributed to a company by shareholders when they are issued shares. The law often requires that this capital is maintained, and that dividends are not paid when a company is not showing a profit above the level of historically recorded legal capital.


title: Patricia Cockburn

text: Patricia Cockburn (17 March 1914 – 6 October 1989) was an Irish writer, traveller, conchologist and artist. She was best known for her journalism and her later artist's career creating shell pictures.


title: Patricia Cockburn

text: Patricia Cockburn was born Patricia Evangeline Anne Arbuthnot on 17 March 1914 at Derry House, Rosscarbery, County Cork. She was the youngest of the six children of Major John Bernard Arbuthnot and Olive Blake, daughter of Lady Edith Blake and Sir Henry Arthur Blake. Her father served in the Scots Guards during World War I. The family inherited the Blake fortune through Olive once her brothers were cut out of her parents' will. In 1916, the family moved in with Lady Blake at Myrtle Grove, Youghal. The Arbuthnots moved to London in 1918, leaving Cockburn to live with her grandmother. Whilst in Myrtle Grove, she received no formal education, spending her time horse-riding. She joined her parents in London in 1922 to start school. When in London, she was a witness to the murder of Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet.


title: Patricia Cockburn

text: Cockburn was unhappy at school and missed her life in the countryside. She stopped eating, inspired by Terence MacSwiney, and was returned to Cork with a governess. After the death of Lady Blake in 1926, her parents returned to Myrtle Grove but did not live there continuously. Cockburn remained there, ceasing her school lessons at 14 to concentrate on her horse-riding. On her 16th birthday, however, she was thrown from a horse and broke her back. During her recovery she moved to Algiers, living with Clare Sheridan. Upon returning to London in 1931, Cockburn made her appearance as a debutante and started her studies at Westminster School of Art. Later in life she reflected that she "was no Michelangelo", which led to her switching her course to study design.


title: Patricia Cockburn

text: It was while studying that Cockburn met the Lloyds underwriter, Arthur Byron. The couple married on 10 October 1933 which led to Cockburn leaving her artistic studies. The couple lived briefly in Clarendon Place, Bayswater before taking a world tour. When the couple returned to London in 1936, Cockburn gave birth to a son, Darrell.


title: Patricia Cockburn

text: Cockburn accepted a brief from the Royal Geographical Society to compile an etymological report on the dialects of central Africa. The couple left their son with her parents, and travelled to the Ituri Rainforest. She constructed a language map by meeting different tribes. She was not a linguist, but instead used observation and pragmatism. Her photographs were exhibited in London. Having returned to London, Cockburn was preparing to rejoin her son in Cork, when Darrell had an accident which resulted in blood poisoning. She suffered a period of depression from the grief and guilt over her son's death.


title: Patricia Cockburn

text: Her next commission came from the "Evening Standard" in early 1939, writing a series of articles on the newly independent Ruthenia. By this time her marriage to Byron was over, with the couple divorcing in 1939, and having returned to London she met and fell in love with Claud Cockburn. Her parents objected to the relationship, and cut her off when she married him in 1940. When she fell pregnant, her parents resumed contact, but it is not clear why they reinstated her allowance. In contrast to her early life, she and Claud often struggled for money throughout their marriage.


title: Patricia Cockburn

text: While her husband travelled, Cockburn edited his newspaper "The Week" in 1945. Cockburn grew tired of London, and in 1947 the family returned to Cork, where her brother and parents were living. Having initially lived in Myrtle Grove, the Cockburns moved into Brook Lodge, a Georgian house nearby. As the house was practically derelict, they rented it for a nominal fee. Cockburn installed a cesspit and created a garden, as well as schooling ponies she purchased from Travellers and sold on to buyers in England. She published her first book in 1968, "The Years of The Week", about her husband's paper.


title: Patricia Cockburn

text: Cockburn returned to art as a career later in life. She began making shell pictures, a form of art which had been popular in the 18th century and had fallen out of fashion. Encouraged by her friends Desmond Guinness and Norah McGuinness, Cockburn took it up professionally exhibiting in Ireland and New York.


title: Patricia Cockburn

text: When the lease on Brook Lodge ended in 1980, the Cockburns moved to a smaller property in Ardmore, County Waterford. Claud died in 1981, with Cockburn living in Ardmore for the rest of her life. She became president of the local chapter of the Irish Countrywomen's Association. She published her memoir, "Figure of Eight", in 1985. Cockburn died on 6 October 1989 in Mercy University Hospital, Cork, from cancer. She was buried beside her husband in the graveyard of Collegiate Church of St Mary Youghal, under a tree planted by her mother in memory of her brother. All three of the Cockburns' sons became journalists: Alexander, Andrew, and Patrick. Through Andrew she was the paternal grandmother of actress Olivia Wilde.


title: Earned It

text: "Earned It", alternatively titled "Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)", is a song by Canadian singer the Weeknd. The song was released as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2015 film "Fifty Shades of Grey" and was included on the Weeknd's second studio album "Beauty Behind the Madness" (2015).


title: Earned It

text: "Earned It" was lauded by critics upon release, and peaked at number three on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming the Weeknd's first top five single. The song's popularity made "Fifty Shades of Grey" the latest soundtrack to generate concurrent top-ten singles with Ellie Goulding's "Love Me like You Do", which also peaked at number three. Its music video was directed by the film's director, Sam Taylor-Johnson, features the film's lead actress, Dakota Johnson, and has the same BDSM theme. The song was nominated for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards and won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: Earned It

text: The Weeknd was involved in the project very early on. Tom Mackay, a manager at Republic Records, explained: "He worked on a number of songs for a number of scenes. Some were working and some weren't, but he just kept at it, and kept at it, and kept at it. In the end, he wrote 'Earned It' and it's the biggest song of his career to date. It's the only song that's in the movie twice". Director Sam Taylor-Johnson said the Weeknd's voice is instantly seductive, which fit the film perfectly. The singer agreed saying the film and his music is like "a match made in heaven". An alternative version of the single, with a new slightly long intro, was later included in the Weeknd's album "Beauty Behind the Madness" (2015).


title: Earned It

text: "Earned It" is a chamber pop and R&B song. It is written in the key of D minor with a slow tempo of 40 beats per minute (Largo) in time. There is an alternation between the chords Gm and Dm, and Tesfaye's vocals span two octaves from D to D.


title: Earned It

text: "Earned It" received critical acclaim. "Rolling Stone" ranked the song at number 39 on its year-end list to find the 50 best songs of 2015; the Weeknd appears an additional two times on this list with his following singles, "The Hills" and "Can't Feel My Face".


title: Earned It

text: The song won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, while also being nominated for Best R&B Song, and Best Song Written for Visual Media. The song also received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards.


title: Earned It

text: In the Weeknd's native Canada, "Earned It" peaked at number eight on the Canadian Hot 100. "Earned It" peaked at number three on the "Billboard" Hot 100, the second single from the "Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack" to enter the top 10, after Ellie Gouldings "Love Me like You Do", which also peaked at number three. It became the Weeknd's second top-ten hit, after his collaboration with Ariana Grande on the number seven peaking hit, "Love Me Harder" and his highest-selling song on the chart. The song has also been a commercial success overseas, reaching the top ten in 10 other countries, including the United Kingdom and New Zealand, while attaining a top twenty position in countries that include Australia, Germany, and Ireland.


title: Earned It

text: The music video, directed by the film's director Sam Taylor-Johnson, was shot at the Palace Theater in Los Angeles. It was released on Vevo and YouTube on January 21, 2015. It includes the BDSM theme as seen in the film. The video shows The Weeknd performing on stage as a group of topless women with black tape over their breasts perform a BDSM-themed burlesque routine behind him. Dakota Johnson makes a cameo appearance in the video.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The siege of Szigetvár or the Battle of Szigeth (pronunciation: [ˈsiɡɛtvaːr] , , ) was a siege of the fortress of Szigetvár, Kingdom of Hungary, that blocked Sultan Suleiman's line of advance towards Vienna in 1566. The battle was fought between the defending forces of the Habsburg monarchy under the leadership of Nikola IV Zrinski (, ), former Ban of Croatia, and the invading Ottoman army under the nominal command of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent ( "Süleymān").


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, which resulted in the end of the independent Kingdom of Hungary, Ferdinand I was elected King by the nobles of both Hungary and Croatia. This was followed by a series of conflicts with the Habsburgs and their allies, fighting against the Ottoman Empire. In the Little War in Hungary both sides exhausted themselves after sustaining heavy casualties. The Ottoman campaign in Hungary ceased until the offensive against Szigetvár.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: In January 1566 Suleiman went to war for the last time. The siege of Szigetvár was fought from 5 August to 8 September 1566 and, though it resulted in an Ottoman victory, there were heavy losses on both sides. Both commanders died during the battle Zrinski in the final charge and Suleiman in his tent from natural causes. More than 20,000 Ottomans had fallen during the attacks and almost all of Zrinski's 2,300-man garrison was killed, with most of the final 600 men killed on the last day. Although the battle was an Ottoman victory, it stopped the Ottoman push to Vienna that year. Vienna was not threatened again until the Battle of Vienna in 1683.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The importance of the battle was considered so great that the French clergyman and statesman Cardinal Richelieu was reported to have described it as "the battle that saved (Western) civilization". The battle is still famous in Croatia and Hungary and inspired both the Hungarian epic poem "The Siege of Sziget" and the Croatian opera "Nikola Šubić Zrinski".


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: On 29 August 1526 the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II were defeated at the Battle of Mohács by Ottoman forces led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Louis died in the battle which resulted in the end of the independent Kingdom of Hungary, as he died without an heir. Both Hungary and Croatia became disputed territories with claims from both the Habsburg and Ottoman empires. Ferdinand I from the House of Habsburg, brother of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, married the sister of Louis II and was elected King by the nobles of both Hungary and Croatia. On 1 January 1527, the Croatian nobles convened the Parliament at Cetin and unanimously elected Ferdinand I, Archduke of Austria as their king, and confirmed the succession to him and his heirs. In return for the throne, Archduke Ferdinand promised to respect the historic rights, freedoms, laws, and customs the Croats had when united with the Hungarian kingdom and to defend Croatia from Ottoman invasion.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The throne of Hungary became the subject of a dynastic dispute between Ferdinand and John Zápolya from Transylvania. Suleiman had promised to make Zápolya the ruler of all Hungary. Ferdinand set out to enforce his claim on Hungary and captured Buda from John Zápolya in 1527, only to relinquish his hold on it in 1529 when an Ottoman counter-attack stripped Ferdinand of all his territorial gains during 1527 and 1528. The siege of Vienna in 1529 was the first attempt by Suleiman the Magnificent to capture the Austrian capital. This siege signalled the pinnacle of Ottoman power and the maximum extent of Ottoman expansion in central Europe.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The years from 1529 to 1552 were known as the "Little War". Following Suleiman's unsuccessful siege of Vienna in 1529, Ferdinand launched a counter-attack in 1530 to regain the initiative. An assault on Buda was driven off by John Zápolya, although Ferdinand was successful elsewhere—capturing Gran (Esztergom) and other forts along the Danube river, a vital strategic frontier.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Suleiman's response came in 1532 when he led a massive army of over 120,000 troops to besiege Vienna again. Ferdinand withdrew his army, leaving only 700 men with no cannons and a few guns to defend Güns (Koszeg) although Ibrahim Pasha, the Grand Vizier of the Ottomans, did not realize how poorly defended Koszeg was. Suleiman came to join him shortly after the siege of Güns had started. For more than 25 days, Croatian captain Nikola Jurišić and his garrison of 800 Croats held out against 19 full-scale assaults and an incessant bombardment by the over 120,000 Ottomans. As a result, the city was offered a surrender on favourable terms and, although the offer was rejected, the Ottomans retreated leading to a peace treaty between Ferdinand and Suleiman. John Zápolya was recognized as the King of Hungary by the Habsburgs, although as an Ottoman vassal.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The treaty did not satisfy either John Zápolya or Ferdinand, and their armies began skirmishes along the borders. In 1537, Ferdinand attacked John's forces at Osijek in violation of the treaty. The siege was a disaster of similar magnitude to that of Mohács, with an Ottoman relief army smashing the Austrians. Rather than attack Vienna again, Suleiman attacked Otranto in southern Italy. At the naval Battle of Preveza in 1538, the Ottomans inflicted another defeat on the Habsburg-led coalition.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: John Zápolya died in 1540 and was succeeded by his infant son John II Sigismund Zápolya. For much of his reign, the country was governed by his mother Isabella Jagiellon, with continued support from Suleiman. John II remained the nominal King of Hungary until he abdicated in 1570 and returned the country to Habsburg rule.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: A further humiliating defeat was inflicted on the Habsburgs in the 1541 siege of Buda, when the Ottomans responded to a request for help from Isabella Jagiellon. In April 1543, Suleiman launched another campaign in Hungary, taking back Bran and other forts and returning much of Hungary to Ottoman control. In August 1543, the Ottomans succeeded in the siege of Esztergom, which was followed by the capture of three Hungarian cities: Székesfehérvár, Siklós, and Szeged, offering better security for Buda.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Another peace agreement between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans lasted until 1552, when Suleiman decided to attack Eger. The siege proved futile, and the Habsburg victory reversed a period of territorial losses in Hungary. Their retention of Eger gave the Austrians good reason to believe that Hungary was still contested ground and the Ottoman campaign in Hungary ended, until its revival in 1566.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: In January 1566 Sultan Suleiman I had ruled the Ottoman Empire for 46 years and went to war for the last time. He was 72 years old and, although having gout to the extent that he was carried on a litter, he nominally commanded his thirteenth military campaign. On 1 May 1566 the Sultan left Constantinople at the head of one of the largest armies he had ever commanded.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: His opposite number, Count Nikola IV Zrinski, was one of the largest landholders in the Kingdom of Croatia, a seasoned veteran of border warfare, and a Ban (Croatian royal representative) from 1542 to 1556. In his early life he distinguished himself in the siege of Vienna and pursued a successful military career.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Suleiman's forces reached Belgrade on 27 June after a forty-nine-day march. Here he met with John II Sigismund Zápolya who he earlier promised to make the ruler of all Hungary. Learning of Zrinski's success in an attack upon a Turkish encampment at Siklós, Suleiman decided to postpone his attack on Eger () and instead attack Zrinski's fortress at Szigetvár to eliminate him as a threat.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The advanced guard of the Turks arrived on 2 August 1566 and the defenders made several successful sorties causing considerable loss to the Turks. The Sultan arrived with the main force on 5 August and his big war tent was erected on the Similehov hill, giving him a view of the battle. The Sultan stayed in his camp where he received verbal battle progress reports from his Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, the real operational commander of the Ottoman forces.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Count Zrinski found himself besieged by a hostile army of at least 150,000 soldiers with powerful artillery. Zrinski had assembled a force of around 2,300 Croatian and Hungarian soldiers prior to the siege. These consisted of his personal forces, and those of his friends and allies, primarily Count Gašpar Alapić and lieutenants Miklouš Kobak, Petar Patačić, and Vuk Paprutović. The majority of the defenders were Croatian, with a significant Hungarian contingent represented in both the men-at-arms and the leadership.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Szigetvár was divided by water into three sections: the old town, the new town, and the castle—each of which was linked to the next by bridges and to the land by causeways. Although it was not built on particularly high ground, the inner castle, which occupied much of the area of today's castle, was not directly accessible to the attackers. This was because two other baileys had to be taken and secured before a final assault on the inner castle could be launched.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: When the Sultan appeared before the fortress, he saw the walls hung with red cloth, as though for a festive reception, and a single great cannon thundered once to greet the mighty warrior monarch. The siege began on 6 August when Suleiman ordered a general assault on the ramparts, which was repulsed. Despite being undermanned, and greatly outnumbered, the defenders were sent no reinforcements from Vienna by the imperial army.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: After over a month of exhausting and bloody struggle, the few remaining defenders retreated into the old town for their last stand. The Sultan tried to entice Zrinski to surrender, ultimately offering him leadership of Croatia under Ottoman influence. Count Zrinski did not reply and continued to fight. Emperor Maximilian and 80,000 soldiers stood in the vicinity of Győr but did not attack the Ottomans to take the pressure off Szigetvár.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The fall of the castle appeared inevitable but the Ottoman high command hesitated. On 6 September Suleiman died in his tent. His death was kept secret at great effort, with only the Sultan's innermost circle knowing of his demise. This was because the Ottomans feared that their soldiers would give up the battle if they knew that their leader died, so his death was kept secret for 48 days. A courier was dispatched from the camp with a message for Suleiman's successor, Selim II. The courier may not even have known the content of the message he delivered to distant Asia Minor within a mere eight days.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The final battle began on 7 September, the day after Suleiman's demise. By this time, the fortress walls had been reduced to rubble by mining with explosives and wood fueled fires at the corners of the walls. In the morning an all-out attack began with fusillades from small arms, "Greek fire", and a concentrated cannonade: according to Robert William Fraser, more than 10,000 large cannonballs were shot into the fortress during the siege. Soon the castle, the last stronghold within Szigetvár, was set ablaze and cinders fell into the apartments of the count.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The Ottoman army swarmed through the city, drumming and yelling. Zrinski prepared for a last charge addressing his troops:


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Zrinski did not allow the final assault to break into the castle. As the Turks were pressing forwards along a narrow bridge the defenders suddenly flung open the gate and fired a large mortar loaded with broken iron, killing 600 attackers. Zrinski then ordered a charge and led his remaining 600 troops out of the castle. He received two musket wounds in his chest and was killed shortly afterwards by an arrow to the head. Some of his force retired into the castle.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The Turks took the castle and most of the defenders were slain. A few of the captured defenders were spared by Janissaries who had admired their courage, with only seven defenders managing to escape through the Ottoman lines. Zrinski's corpse was beheaded and it is considered his head was sent by Mehmed Pasha to Budin Pasha Sokullu Mustafa, or to new Sultan Selim II, but eventually, the head was buried by son Juraj IV Zrinski, Boldizsár Batthyány, and Ferenc Tahy in September 1566 at the Pauline monastery in Sveta Jelena, Šenkovec, Croatia. His body received an honourable burial by a Turk who had been his prisoner, and well treated by him.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Before leading the final sortie by the castle garrison, Zrinski ordered a fuse be lit to the powder magazine, although whether this ultimately happened is disputed. After cutting down the last of the defenders the besiegers poured into the fortress. The Ottoman Army entered the remains of Szigetvár and fell into the booby trap; thousands perished in the blast when the castle's magazine exploded.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The Vizier Ibrahim's life was saved by one of Zrinski's household who warned him of the trap when the Vizier and his troops searched for treasure and interrogated the survivors. While inquiring about the treasure the prisoner replied that it had been long expended, but that 3,000 lbs of powder were under their feet to which a slow match had been attached. The Vizier and his mounted officers had just enough time to escape but 3,000 Turks perished in the explosion.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Almost all of Zrinski's garrison was wiped out after the final battle. Ottoman casualties were also heavy. Three pashas, 7,000 Janissaries, and 28,000 other soldiers are said to have perished. Sources vary on the exact number with estimates ranging from 20,000 to 35,000.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: After the battle the Grand Vizier forged bulletins in the Sultan's name, proclaiming victory. These announced that the Sultan regretted that his current state of health prevented him from continuing with the successful campaign. His body was returned to Constantinople while the inner circle of officials pretended to keep up communication with him. Turkish sources state that the illusion was maintained for three weeks and that even the Sultan's personal physician was strangled as a precaution.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: It is likely that the long journey and the siege had a detrimental effect on the Sultan's health. His death meant that any advances were postponed as the Grand Vizier had to return to Constantinople for the succession of the new Sultan, Selim II. Even if Suleiman had lived his army could not have achieved much in the short time that remained between the fall of Szigeth and the onset of winter. The prolonged resistance at Szigeth delayed the Ottoman push to Vienna.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Two ambassadors were sent by Emperor Maximilian: Croatian Antun Vrančić and Styrian Christoph Teuffenbach. They arrived in Istanbul on 26 August 1567 and were well received by Sultan Selim II. An agreement ending the war between the Austrian and Ottoman empires was reached on 17 February 1568, after five months of negotiations with Sokollu Mehmed Pasha (also known as "Mehmed-paša Sokolović," being originally from Bosnia). The Treaty of Adrianople was signed on 21 February 1568. Sultan Selim II agreed to an eight-year truce, although the agreement brought 25 years of (relative) peace between the Empires until the Long War. The truce was conditional and Maximilian agreed to pay an annual tribute of 30,000 ducats.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The Croatian Renaissance poet and writer Brne Karnarutić, from Zadar, wrote "The Conquest of the City of Sziget" ("Vazetje Sigeta grada") sometime before 1573. His work was posthumously published in 1584 in Venice. This is the first Croatian historical epic dealing with national history and the Battle of Szigetvár. It was inspired by Marko Marulić's "Judita", which in turn is inspired by the Biblical Book of Judith.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: The battle was also immortalized in the Hungarian epic poem "Szigeti Veszedelem" (""Peril of Sziget""), written in fifteen parts by Zrinski's great-grandson Nicholas VII of Zrin (also a Ban of Croatia) in 1647 and published in 1651. This was one of the first such epics in Hungarian and was also inspired by Marulić's "Judita". Kenneth Clark's renowned history "Civilisation" lists the "Szigeti Veszedelem" as one of the major literary achievements of the 17th century. In spite of the author and other members of Zrinski family being fierce enemies of the Turks, the poem never demonizes them. The Turks are portrayed as human beings and a love story between Deliman the Tatar and the Sultan's daughter Cumilla is interwoven into the main plot. Petar Zrinski (), the brother of Nikola VII Zrinski, published "Opsida Sigecka" (1647–8) in Croatian—not surprising since the Zrinski family were bilingual.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Another Croatian nobleman warrior-poet Pavao Ritter Vitezović (1652–1713) wrote about the battle. His poem "Odiljenje sigetsko" ("The Sziget Farewell"), first published in 1684, reminisces about the event without rancour or crying for revenge. The last of the four cantos is titled "Tombstones" and consists of epitaphs for the Croatian and Turkish warriors who died during the siege, paying equal respect to both.


title: Siege of Szigetvár

text: Karl Theodor Körner, 1791–1813, a German poet, wrote in 1812 a drama, "Zriny", about the battle. Ivan Zajc's 1876 opera "Nikola Šubić Zrinski" is his most famous and popular work in Croatia. This recounts the heroic defiance of the Croats towards the Turks, as a metaphor for their later nationalist impulses within the Habsburg monarchy. Zrinski is depicted in the plot as a 16th-century Croatian hero who defeated the Turks a couple of times before perishing sacrificially, along with his family and close supporters, in the siege of Szigeth castle. The opera is patriotic with a famous aria "U boj, u boj".


title: Sir Creek

text: Sir Creek ( ), originally Ban Ganga, is a 96-km (60-mi) tidal estuary in the uninhabited marshlands of the Indus River Delta on the border between India and Pakistan. The creek flows into the Arabian Sea and separates Gujarat state in India from Sindh province in Pakistan. The long-standing India-Pakistan Sir Creek border dispute stems from the demarcation "from the mouth of Sir Creek to the top of Sir Creek, and from the top of Sir Creek eastward to a point on the line designated on the Western Terminus". From this point onward, the boundary is unambiguously fixed as defined by the Tribunal Award of 1968.


title: Sir Creek

text: Sir Creek was originally known as Ban Ganga. It was renamed Sir Creek after a representative of the British Raj.


title: Sir Creek

text: This marshy area is home to Russell's vipers and scorpions, which makes the lives of border soldiers difficult. During the monsoon season between June and September, the creek floods its banks and envelops the low-lying salty mudflats around it. During the winter season, the area is home to flamingoes and other migratory birds. The 24th parallel north passes through Sir Creek. Sir Creek is mainly fed by Nareri Lake, whose outlet joins the creek on its right bank. LBOD, a canal, also discharges water effluents into Sir Creek.


title: Sir Creek

text: On the Pakistani side are several other creeks to the west of Sir Creek, most of which are part of the Keti Bunder South Wildlife Sanctuary.


title: Sir Creek

text: Sir Creek lies just to the west of the Great Rann of Kutch area of India. On the Indian side, Sir Creek is one of the six main creeks in this area, the others being Vian Wari Creek (Vianbari and Viyanbari), Pir Sanai, Pabevari, Padala ( southeast from Sir Creek), and easternmost Kori ( southeast from Sir Creek). All of these creeks are within the undisputed territory of India, except the westernmost creek, Sir Creek, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan. These evershifting creeks exit Indian territory, enter Pakistan, reenter India, and vice versa, creating a hard-to-patrol, marshy wetland border with no physical barrier or fencing.


title: Sir Creek

text: Two channels, the Harami Nala and Bondho Dhoro, are of specific concern to India for preventing infiltration and illegal activities. Vian Wari Creek (Vianbari and Viyanbari) on the Indian side enters Pakistan in the north, where is it called Harami Dhoro (bastard's stream); turns east and reenters India, where it is called Harami Nala (bastard's drain); then splits into two streams, one of which reenters Pakistan, which poses a strategic challenge for India for guarding against infiltration from Pakistan. The Bondho Dhoro channel, which enters India further north of Harami Nala in the Sujawal District of Sindh province of Pakistan, is another potential point of infiltration by boat. Chinese activities in the area are of concern, too, since China Bund just north of Bondho Dhoro was built with finances from China.


title: Sir Creek

text: The Indian military Border Security Force (BSF) patrols Sir Creek up to midstream using floating border posts, amphibious vehicles, and foot travel by the Creek Crocodile Commandos. The coastal area of Sir Creek is manned by the Indian Coast Guard, and the larger open sea beyond is patrolled by the Indian Navy.


title: Sir Creek

text: The dispute lies in the interpretation of the maritime boundary line between Pakistan and India. Before independence, the area was part of British India. After independence in 1947, Sindh became a part of Pakistan while Gujarat remained a part of India.


title: Sir Creek

text: In 1968, an international tribunal resolved the larger Great Rann of Kutch border claims of India and Pakistan, which also covered Sir Creek. In this resolution, India received 90% of its request and Pakistan received 10%. Elements of dispute remain in Sir Creek with conflicting claims from both sides. From 1997 to 2012, there have been twelve rounds of talks between the two nations, without a breakthrough. In 2008, in the fourth round, both sides agreed to a joint map of the area based on a joint survey. Steps to resolve the dispute included allocation, delimitation, demarcation, and administration. Since neither side has conceded ground, India has proposed that the maritime boundary could be demarcated first, as per the provisions of Technical Aspects of Law of Sea (TALOS). However, Pakistan has refused the proposal because it feels that the dispute should be resolved first. Pakistan has also proposed that the two sides go in for international arbitration, which India has refused. India maintains that under the bilateral Simla Agreement, all bilateral disputes should be resolved without the intervention of third parties.


title: Sir Creek

text: The resolution by the 1968 tribunal demarcated the boundaries between the two nations, and Pakistan claims that the creek was included as part of Sindh, thus setting the boundary as the eastern flank of the creek. Pakistan lays claim to the entire creek as per paragraphs 9 and 10 of the Sindh Government Resolution of 1914 signed between the Government of Sindh Division and Rao Maharaj of Kutch.


title: Sir Creek

text: India disagrees with Pakistan's claims because in 1908, when the dispute arose between the Sindh Division and Rao Maharaj, the whole area was under the legal jurisdiction of the Bombay Presidency of British India, including the Sindh Division and the territory of Rao Maharaj. The Sindh Division was separated from the Bombay Presidency only on 1 April 1936 when it became the Sindh Province. The government of the Bombay Presidency conducted a survey in 1911 and awarded a dispute resolution verdict in 1914 containing two contradictory paragraphs. Paragraph 9 of the verdict states that the border between Kutch and Sindh lies to the east of Sir Creek, whereas paragraph 10 of the verdict further qualifies that "since Sir Creek is navigable most of the year. According to international law and the thalweg principle, a boundary can only be fixed in the middle of the navigable channel, which meant that it has been divided between Sindh and Kutch, and thereby India and Pakistan." The text of the resolution suggests that the resolution was based on the thalweg principle. India supports its stance by citing the thalweg doctrine in international law. The thalweg legal principle states that if the border between two political entities is stated to be a waterway without further description (e.g. a median line, right bank, eastern shore, low tide line, etc.), the boundary follows the thalweg of that watercourse; in particular, the boundary follows the center of the principal navigable channel of the waterway (which is presumably the deepest part). If there are multiple navigable channels in a river, the one principally used for downstream travel (likely having the strongest current) is used. When the thalweg principle is applied, the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) supports India's position, which "would result in the shifting of the land/sea terminus point several kilometres to the detriment of Pakistan, leading in turn to a loss of several thousand square kilometres of its Exclusive Economic Zone under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea."


title: Sir Creek

text: India further argues for its position that the boundary lies mid-channel, as depicted in another map drawn in 1925 and implemented by the installation of mid-channel pillars back in 1924. Though Pakistan does not dispute the 1925 map, it maintains that the doctrine is not applicable in this case as it most commonly applies to non-tidal rivers, and Sir Creek is a tidal estuary. India rejects the Pakistani stance by maintaining that the creek is navigable at high tide, the thalweg principle is used for international boundaries in tidal waters, and fishing trawlers use Sir Creek to go out to sea.


title: Sir Creek

text: Another point of concern for Pakistan is that Sir Creek has changed its course considerably over the years. If the boundary line is demarcated according to the thalweg principle applied to the current channel, Pakistan and India would both lose small amounts of wetland territory that were historically part of their provinces.


title: Sir Creek

text: Though the creek has little military value, it offers immense economic gain. Much of the region is rich in oil and gas below the sea bed, and control over the creek would have a huge bearing on the energy potential of each nation. Also, defining the boundaries would help in the determination of the maritime boundaries, which are drawn as an extension of onshore reference points. Maritime boundaries also help in determining the limits of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and continental shelves. EEZs extend to 200 nautical miles (370 km) and can be subjected to commercial exploitation.


title: Sir Creek

text: The demarcation would also prevent the inadvertent crossing over of fishers of both nations into each other's territories. In contrast to economic reasons described by India and Pakistan, fishers of both countries get trapped in conflict and their economic rights of earning are affected. The governments of India and Pakistan regularly arrest fishers of the other nation for crossing the boundary; however, a conventional fisher may not know where the boundary starts and ends in the sea. Wind flow, waves, and turbulence that move the boat in the sea add to this unawareness. UN law advocates a minimum penalty for this offense and release of boats, but the governments of India and Pakistan catch these fishers and keep them in prisons for a long time. Their release happens through the land boundary of India and Pakistan (Wagha border), so these fishers return to their home country without their boats.


title: Sir Creek

text: Pakistan built the LBOD canal between 1987 and 1997 to collect agricultural saline water and industrial effluents generated in the area around the main Indus river. The LBOD canal discharges the saline and contaminated water into the Sir Creek for disposal to the sea without contaminating the freshwater available in the Indus River. However, the LBOD construction is in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty (Article IV), causing material damage (i.e. inundating the creek area exposed during the low tide) to India. Thus Pakistan has an economic interest in keeping the dispute alive and not settled as per international conventions. If India is physically holding (partially or fully) the water area of the creek, India can settle the LBOD dispute as per the arbitration procedure available in the Indus Waters Treaty.


title: Sir Creek

text: This disputed region is known for the Atlantique Incident that occurred on August 10, 1999. Indian Air Force MiG-21FL fighters shot down a Pakistan Navy reconnaissance plane, the Breguet Atlantique, which was carrying 16 naval officers on board, for an alleged airspace violation of Indian airspace. The episode took place just a month after the Kargil War, creating a tense atmosphere between India and Pakistan.


title: Sir Creek

text: After the incident, Pakistan Marine units were deployed in the region, with sizable SAMs active in the region. In 1999, the Marines reportedly fired an errant missile on an Indian Air Force MiG-21FL, which narrowly missed. Additional marine battalions and sniper recon units have been deployed in the Sir Creek region.


title: Sir Creek

text: From June 2019, several newspapers reported that Pakistan had rapidly built up forces at Sir Creek, and India swiftly responded likewise. After the 1999 Atlantique incident, Pakistan deployed its 31st Creek Battalion, headquartered at Sujawal and responsible for the area from Haji Moro Jat Creek in the north to Korangi Creek Cantonment in Karachi in the south. In 2019, Pakistan also deployed the 32nd Creek Battalion, headquartered at Gharo, with the view to increase the troop strength to three brigades by deploying more infantry and amphibious battalions. Pakistan has procured 6 coastal defense boats for coastal surveillance, and 4 of 18 newly acquired marine assault crafts will be deployed in the Sir Creek. Pakistan is planning to buy 60 more naval ships, including hovercraft and offshore petrol boats. Pakistan has also set up two new marine posts west of Pir Samadhi Creek in the area of Bandha Dhora and Harami Dhoro. Pakistan also has its 21st Air Defense unit and three marine units at Gwadar Port as well as the Jinnah Naval Base at Ormara. Pakistan has also boosted its air defense with an enhanced radar network, air defense missiles, radar operated guns, four Lockheed P-3 Orion anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft, and two ATR aircraft stationed at Pakistan Air Force's PAF Base Masroor in Karachi and PNS Mehran naval airbase.


title: Sir Creek

text: In 2018, India's BSF caught 14 boats in the Bandha Dhora and Harami Dhoro channels of the creek. Each one was screened to ascertain if they were ordinary fishers or terrorists because the Pakistani terrorists of the 2008 Mumbai attacks had entered India after launching their boat from this general area of Pakistan. On 9 September 2019, after abandoned boats were found by the Indian Army in Sir Creek, India issued an alert regarding a potential terror attack.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: The culture of Morocco is a blend of Arab, Berber, Jewish, and Western European cultures. It represents and is shaped by a convergence of influences throughout history. This sphere may include, among others, the fields of personal or collective behaviors, language, customs, knowledge, beliefs, arts, legislation, gastronomy, music, poetry, architecture, etc. ... While Morocco started to be stably predominantly Sunni Muslim starting from 9th–10th century AD, in the Almoravids empire period, a very significant old Jewish population had contributed to the shaping of Moroccan culture. In antiquity, starting from the second century A.D and up to the seventh, a rural Donatist Christianity was present, along an urban still-in-the-making Roman Catholicism. All of the cultural super strata tend to rely on a multi millennial aboriginal Berber substratum still strongly present and dates back to prehistoric times.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: The linguistic landscape of Morocco is complex. It generally tends to be horizontally diverse and vertically stratified. It is though possible to broadly classify it into two main components: Arab and Berber. It is hardly possible to speculate about the origin of Berber languages as it is traced back to low antiquity and prehistoric times. The Semitic influence, on the contrary, can be fairly documented by archaeological evidence. It came in two waves: Canaanite, in its Punic, Carthaginian and Hebrew historic varieties, from the ninth century B.C and up to high antiquity, and Arabic, during the low Middle Ages, starting from the seventh century A.D. The two Semitic languages being close, both in syntax and vocabulary it is hard to tell them apart as to who influenced more the structure of the modern Moroccan Arabic dialect. The Arab conquerors having certainly encountered large romanized urban Punic population as they advanced. In any case, the linguistic and cultural identity of Morocco, just as its geography would predict, is the result of the encounter of three main circles: Arab, Berber, and Western Mediterranean European.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: While the two official languages of Morocco are Standard Arabic and Standard Moroccan Berber, according to the 2014 general census, 92% of Moroccans speak Moroccan Arabic (Darija) as a native language. About 26% of the population speaks a Berber language, in its Tarifit, Tamazight, or Tashelhit varieties.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Modern Standard Arabic and Standard Moroccan Berber are the official languages of Morocco, while Moroccan Arabic is the national vernacular dialect; Berber languages are spoken in some mountain areas, such as Tarifit, spoken by 1.2 million, Central Atlas Tamazight, spoken by 2.3 million, and Tashelhit, spoken by 3 to 4.7 million. Varieties of Judeo-Arabic have also traditionally been spoken in Morocco. Foreign languages, particularly French, English, and Spanish, are also spoken in urban centers such as Tangier or Casablanca. With all of these languages, code-switching is an omnipresent phenomenon in Moroccan speech and media.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Classical Arabic, a formal rather than natural language, is used primarily in formal, academic, and religious settings. Moroccan Arabic, in its various regional and contextual forms, is used more often in casual situations, at home, and on the street. Hassaniya is another dialect of Arabic spoken in the south of Morocco.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Tashelhit (also known locally as "Soussia") is spoken in southwest Morocco, in an area between Sidi Ifni in the south, Agadir in the north, and the Draa and Sous valleys in the east. Central Atlas Tamazight is spoken in the Middle Atlas, around Khenifra and Midelt. Tarifit is spoken in the Rif area of northern Morocco in towns like Nador, Al Hoceima, and Ajdir.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Moroccan literature is the literature produced by people who lived in or were culturally connected to Morocco and the historical states that have existed partially or entirely within the geographical area that is now Morocco. Most of what is known as Moroccan literature was created since the arrival of Islam in the 8th century. Moroccan literature was historically and mainly written in Arabic.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Moroccan music is characterized by its great diversity from one region to another. It includes Arabic music genres, such as chaâbi and aita in the Atlantic plains (Doukkala-Abda, Chaouia-Ouardigha, Rehamna), "melhoun" in the cities associated with al-Andalus (Meknes, Fes, Salé, Tetouan, Oujda...), and Hassani in the Moroccan Sahara. There is also Berber music such as the Rif "reggada", the "ahidus" of the Middle Atlas and the Souss "ahwash". In the South there is also "deqqa Marrakshia" and gnawa. In addition, young people synthesize the Moroccan spirit with influences from around the world (blues, rock, metal, reggae, Moroccan rap, etc.).


title: Culture of Morocco

text: A genre known as Contemporary Andalusian Music and art is the brainchild of Morisco visual artist/composer/oudist Tarik Banzi, founder of the Al-Andalus Ensemble.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Chaabi ("popular") is a music consisting of numerous varieties which are descended from the multifarious forms of Moroccan folk music. Chaabi was originally performed in markets, but is now found at any celebration or meeting.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Popular Western forms of music are becoming increasingly popular in Morocco, such as fusion, rock, country, metal and, in particular, hip hop.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Morocco participated in the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, where it finished in the penultimate position.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: The decorative arts have a long and important history in Morocco. One of the traditional elements of artistic expression in Morocco is Maghrebi-Andalusian art and architecture. Carved plaster Arabesques, zellige tilework, carved wood, and other expressions of Islamic geometric patterns are typical features of this style.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Maghrebi Arabic script is an important feature of the history of visual art in Morocco. While some aspects of Maghrebi script are codified and prescribed, there have also been innovations, such as those by the 19th century calligrapher Muhammad al-Qandusi. Muhammad Ben Ali Rabati was one of the first Moroccans to paint in a European style.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Hamid Irbouh identifies three groups within Moroccan modernism: the Populists, the Nativists, and the Bipictorialists. Among the Populists—usually self-trained artists who received support from French and American patrons and depicted everyday vernacular life—were artists such as Ahmed Louardighi, Hassan El Glaoui, Ahmed Drissi, and Fatima Hassan El Farouj. The Nativists—active in the 1960s and led by Farid Belkahia and other members of the Casablanca School, such as Mohamed Melehi and Mohamed Chabâa—sought to break entirely with the West in general and with France in particular. The Bipictorialists, including Ahmed Cherkaoui and Jilali Gharbaoui, entered in dialog with Moroccan, French, and Western influences, working toward a reconciliation of the various dimensions of postcolonial Moroccan identity.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Contemporary art in Morocco is still developing. with considerable potential for growth. Since the 1990s–2000s Moroccan cities have welcomed institutions that contribute to the diffusion of contemporary art and the visual arts: L'appartement 22 and Radio Apartment 22 in Rabat, the Cinémathèque de Tanger in Tangier, La Source du Lion in Casablanca, Dar Al-Ma'mûn residency and center, the Marrakech Art Fair, and the Marrakech Biennale, all in Marrakech.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Local art galleries such as Galerie Villa Delaporte, Atelier 21, Galerie Matisse and Galerie FJ are also platforms showing contemporary artwork and contributing to its development.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: The global art market also influences the development and visibility of contemporary art in Morocco; international exhibitions such as "Africa Remix" (2004) and "Uneven Geographies" (2010) featured contemporary artists from North Africa, including Moroccan ones. Regional events such as the Dakar Biennale (or Dak'Art – Biennale de l'Art Africain Contemporain), a major contemporary African art exhibition, gives greater visibility to artists from the African continent.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Artists born in Morocco or with Moroccan origins include Mounir Fatmi, Latifa Echackhch, Mohamed El Baz, Bouchra Khalili, Majida Khattari, Mehdi-Georges Lahlou, and Younes Baba-Ali.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Moroccan artists have devised several initiatives to help develop a contemporary art market in the country. For example, Hassan Darsi created La Source du Lion in 1995, an art studio that welcomes artists-in-residence, and Bouchra Khalili and Yto Barrada founded the Cinémathèque de Tanger in 2003, which is dedicated to promoting Moroccan cinematographic culture. A group of seven Moroccan artists, among them Amina Benbouchta, Hassan Echair, Jamila Lamrani, Safâa Erruas and Younès Rahmoun, formed "Collectif 212" to exhibit their work at Le Cube, an independent art room. Their first major show was in 2006 at the exhibition "Un Siècle de peinture au Maroc" [A century of painting in Morocco] when the new premises of the French Institute of Rabat ("L'Institut Français de Rabat") were officially opened. They committed to creating artistic experiences in the context of Moroccan culture, as well as collaborating with other artists such as Hicham Benohoud.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: The young local artists Batoul Shim and Karim Rafi participated in the "Working for Change" project, which aims to create art expressive of Moroccan culture, during the 2011 Venice Biennale.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: There is a burgeoning market for modern & contemporary art. The art movement began over 50 years ago at the center of Marrakech, in the bustling market place of Jemaa el-Fna, when a group of abstract artists got together and exhibited their work. The exhibit lasted for 10 days and is considered the beginning of a movement in modern and contemporary art. It has been gaining recognition throughout the African continent and globally ever since.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Marrakech has emerged as the "art capital" of Morocco. It houses numerous art museums including the Farid Belkahia Museum, named after one of the leading Jemaa el-Fna artists who died in 2014. Marrakech is home to the Yves Saint Laurent Museum and hosts the annual Marrakech International Film Festival.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Tangier is another center for art, producing renowned artists like Ahmed Yacoubi and Abdellatif Zine and Mohamed Hamri whose works are displayed around the world.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Moroccan cuisine is generally a mix of Arab, Andalusi, Berber and Mediterranean cuisines with slight European and sub-Saharan influences. Berbers had food staples such as figs, olives and dates and prepared lamb and poultry dishes frequently. This has heavily influenced Moroccan cuisine as all of these are used in abundance. Morocco is known for dishes such as couscous, tajine, and "pastilla". Moroccan cuisine uses many herbs, including cilantro, parsley, and mint; spices such as cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, cumin, and saffron; and produce such as tomatoes, onions, garlic, zucchini, bell peppers, and eggplant. One of the defining features of Moroccan cuisine is the interplay between sweet and savory flavors, as exemplified by "tfaya", a mix of caramelized onions, butter, cinnamon, sugar, and raisins often served with meat.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Historically, couscous has been the staple of the Moroccan diet. On special occasions, more complex meals like the traditional Moroccan pastilla and some special pastries such as "gazelle ankles" and "briwates" are served for guests. Mint tea, called "atay" in Morocco, is commonly regarded as the national beverages. Coffee is also universally enjoyed from espresso to cappuccinos.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Morocco' official religion is Islam. The rhythm of life for Moroccans is dictated by religious celebrations throughout the year, such as Ramadan and Eid Al Adha. During these celebrations, most of them being public holidays, Moroccans focus on praying and spending time with their family. Moroccans also celebrate al-Mawlid al-Nabawi, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, and the Islamic New Year.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Other religious celebrations include the Friday weekly prayer where most Moroccans go to the mosque for the Friday mid-day prayer.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Morocco has long had a significant Jewish population, distinguished by traditions particular to Moroccan Jews. For example, "Mimouna" is a characteristically Maghrebi holiday celebrated the day after Passover. "Mahia" is traditionally associated with Moroccan Purim celebrations.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: "Yennayer", the Amazigh new year, has been celebrated from January 12 to January 13, the beginning of the Julian calendar, since antiquity.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Other celebrations include Ashura, the tenth day of the Islamic year, and "Bujlood", a folk carnival celebrated after Eid al-Adha.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: "Taburida", or "mawsam" or "fantasia", is a traditional exhibition of horsemanship in the Maghreb performed during cultural festivals and for Maghrebi wedding celebrations. There are also several annual festivals that take place in Morocco, such as the "Betrothal Festival" in Imilshil, the rose festival in Qalaat Megouna, or the saffron festival in Taliween.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Carpet weaving is a traditional craft in Morocco. Styles vary dramatically from region to region and from tribe to tribe. Among the more popular varieties there are:


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Some Atlas tribes, such as the Beni Ouarain, also weave , which are ornate woven cloaks for use in the winter. When it is snowing, they can be overturned and the loose loops of wool help snow fall off to keep the cloak dry.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: The traditional dress for men and women is called "djellaba" (); a long, loose, hooded garment with full sleeves. The djellaba has a hood that comes to a point called a "qob". The "qob" protects the wearer from the sun or in colder climates, like the mountains, the "qob" keeps in body heat and protects the face from falling snow. For special occasions, men also wear a red cap called a "bernousse", more commonly referred to as a "Fez". Women wear "kaftans" () decorated with ornaments. Nearly all men, and most women, wear "balgha" () —- soft leather slippers with no heel, often dyed yellow. Women also wear high-heeled sandals, often with silver or gold tinsel.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: The distinction between a "djellaba" and a "kaftan" is the hood on the "djellaba", which a "kaftan" lacks. Most women's "djellabas" are brightly colored and have ornate patterns, stitching, or beading, while men's "djellabas" are usually plainer and colored neutrally.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Among other cultural and artistic traditions, jewellery of the Berber cultures worn by Berber women and made of silver, beads and other applications was a common trait of Berber identities in large areas of the Maghreb up to the second half of the 20th century.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: In the first half of the 20th century, Casablanca had many movie theaters, such as Cinema Rialto, Cinema Lynx and Cinema Vox—the largest in Africa at the time it was built.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: The 1942 American film "Casablanca" is supposedly set in Casablanca and has had a lasting impact on the city's image, though it was filmed entirely in California and doesn't feature a single Moroccan character with a speaking role. "Salut Casa!" was a propaganda film brandishing France's purported colonial triumph in its civilizing mission in the city.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Mostafa Derkaoui's 1973 film "About Some Meaningless Events" () was screened twice in Morocco before it was banned under Hassan II.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: "Love in Casablanca" (1991), starring Abdelkarim Derqaoui and Muna Fettou, was one of the first Moroccan films to deal with Morocco's complex realities and depict life in Casablanca with verisimilitude. Bouchra Ijork's 2007 made-for-TV film "Bitter Orange" achieved wide support among Moroccan viewers. Nour-Eddine Lakhmari's "Casanegra" (2008) depicts the harsh realities of Casablanca's working classes. The films "Ali Zaoua" (2000), "Horses of" God (2012), "Much Loved" (2015), and "Ghazzia" (2017) of Nabil Ayouch—a French director of Moroccan heritage—deal with street crime, terrorism, and social issues in Casablanca, respectively. The events in Meryem Benm'Barek-Aloïsi's 2018 film Sofia revolve around an illegitimate pregnancy in Casablanca. Hicham Lasri and Said Naciri also from Casablanca.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Some directors have set films in Morocco. In 1952 Orson Welles chose Essaouira as the setting for several scenes in his adaptation of Shakespeare's "Othello", which had won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film at that year's Cannes Film Festival. In 1955, Alfred Hitchcock directed "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and in 1962, David Lean shot the Tafas Massacre scene of "Lawrence of Arabia" in the city of "Ouarzazate", which houses Atlas Studios. Aït Benhaddou has been the setting of many films. The film "Hideous Kinky" was filmed in Marrakech.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: A "qsar" (), (p. ) is a North African fortified village. There are over 300 and the Draa Valley, particularly in the area between Agdz and Zagora.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: An "agadir", not to be confused with the city Agadir, is a communal granary traditionally found in Shilha communities in southern Morocco.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Andalusi gardens, inherited from Morisco refugees who settled in Morocco, are a prominent feature of Moroccan architecture. These have been used in building palaces such as the Bahia Palace in Marrakesh. The Andalusi garden, which usually features a burbling fountain, has an important role in cooling riads: the evaporation of water is an endothermic chemical reaction, which absorbs heat from the area garden and surrounding rooms.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Morocco has many beautiful gardens, including the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech and the Andalusian Garden in the Kasbah of the Udayas in Rabat.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: "Dar" (), the name given to one of the most common types of domestic structures in Morocco, is a home found in a "medina", or walled urban area of a city. Most Moroccan homes traditionally adhere to the "Dar al-Islam", a series of tenets on Islamic domestic life. "Dar" exteriors are typically devoid of ornamentation and windows, except occasional small openings in secondary quarters, such as stairways and service areas. These piercings provide light and ventilation. "Dars" are typically composed of thick, high walls that protect inhabitants from thievery, animals, and other such hazards; however, they have a much more symbolic value from an Arabic perspective. In this culture the exterior represents a place of work, while the interior represents a place of refuge. Thus, Moroccan interiors are often very lavish in decoration and craft.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Consistent with most Islamic architecture, "dars" are based around small open-air patios, surrounded by very tall thick walls, to block direct light and minimize heat. Intermediary triple-arched porticos lead to usually two to four symmetrically located rooms. These rooms have to be long and narrow, creating very vertical spaces, because the regional resources and construction technology typically only allow for joists that are usually less than thirteen feet.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Upon entering a "dar", guests move through a zigzagging passageway that hides the central courtyard. The passageway opens to a staircase leading to an upstairs reception area called a "dormiria", which often is the most lavish room in the home adorned with decorative tilework, painted furniture, and piles of embroidered pillows and Moroccan rugs. More affluent families also have greenhouses and a second "dormiria", accessible from a street-level staircase. Service quarters and stairways were always at the corners of the structures.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: Ziliij (), colorful geometric mosaic tile work, is a decorative art and architectural element commonly found in Moroccan mosques, mausolea, homes, and palaces. These probably evolved from Greco-Roman mosaics, which have been found in cities such as Volubilis and Lixus.


title: Culture of Morocco

text: In the mid to late 20th century, architects such as Elie Azagury, Jean-François Zevaco, Abdeslam Faraoui, Patrice de Mazières, and Mourad Ben Embarek marked the architecture of Casablanca and other parts of Morocco with significant works of modernist and brutalist architecture.


title: The Mysteries of Udolpho

text: The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe, appeared in four volumes on 8 May 1794 from G. G. and J. Robinson of London. Her fourth and most popular novel, "The Mysteries of Udolpho" tells of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers misadventures that include the death of her mother and father, supernatural terrors in a gloomy castle, and machinations of an Italian brigand. Often cited as the archetypal Gothic novel, "The Mysteries of Udolpho" appears prominently in Jane Austen's 1817 novel "Northanger Abbey", where an impressionable young woman reader comes to see friends and acquaintances as Gothic villains and victims, with amusing results.


title: The Mysteries of Udolpho

text: "The Mysteries of Udolpho" is a quintessential Gothic romance, replete with incidents of physical and psychological terror: remote crumbling castles, seemingly supernatural events, a brooding, scheming villain and a persecuted heroine.


title: The Mysteries of Udolpho

text: Modern editors note that only about a third of the novel is set in the eponymous Gothic castle, while tone and style vary markedly between sections of the work, to which Radcliffe added extended descriptions of exotic landscapes in the Pyrenees and Apennines, and of Venice, none of which she had visited. For details she relied on travel books, which led her to make several anachronisms. The novel, set in 1584 in Southern France and Northern Italy, explores the plight of Emily St. Aubert, a young French woman orphaned by the death of her father. She is imprisoned in Castle Udolpho by Signor Montoni, an Italian brigand who has married her aunt and guardian Madame Cheron. He and others frustrate Emily's romance with the dashing Valancourt. Emily also investigates a relationship between her father and the Marchioness de Villeroi, and its connection to Castle Udolpho.


title: The Mysteries of Udolpho

text: Emily St. Aubert is the only child of a landed rural family whose fortunes are in decline. Emily and her father share a notably close bond in a shared appreciation for nature. They grow still closer after her mother's death from illness. She accompanies him on a journey from their native Gascony, through the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean coast of Roussillon, over many mountainous landscapes. During the journey, they encounter Valancourt, a handsome man who also feels an almost mystical kinship with the natural world. Emily and Valancourt fall in love.


title: The Mysteries of Udolpho

text: Emily's father succumbs to a long illness. Emily, now orphaned, is forced by his wishes to live with her aunt, Madame Cheron, who shares none of Emily's interests and shows little affection for her. Her aunt marries Montoni, a dubious nobleman from Italy. He wants his friend Count Morano to become Emily's husband and tries to force him upon her. After discovering that Morano is nearly ruined, Montoni brings Emily and her aunt to his remote castle of Udolpho.


title: The Mysteries of Udolpho

text: Emily fears she has lost Valancourt forever. Morano searches for Emily and tries to carry her off secretly from Udolpho, but Emily's heart still belongs to Valancourt, and she refuses. Morano's attempted escape is discovered by Montoni, who wounds the Count and chases him away. In subsequent months, Montoni threatens his wife with violence, trying to force her to sign over her properties in Toulouse that will otherwise go to Emily on his wife's death. Without resigning her estate, Madame Cheron dies of a severe illness caused by her husband's harshness.


title: The Mysteries of Udolpho

text: Many frightening but coincidental events happen in the castle, but Emily manages to flee with the help of a secret admirer, Du Pont, also a prisoner there, and of the servants Annette and Ludovico. Returning to her aunt's estate, Emily learns that Valancourt has gone to Paris and lost his wealth. Nonetheless, she takes control of the property and is reunited with Valancourt in the end.


title: The Mysteries of Udolpho

text: "The Mysteries of Udolpho" was published by the radical bookseller George Robinson's company G. G. and J. Robinson at 25, Paternoster Row, in the City of London. The Robinsons paid her £500 for the manuscript and later also published her "A Journey Made in the Summer of 1794".