title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: From the early 1960s, the state began to actively prosecute Christians in places where the baptism of Nepali citizens had occurred; this active governmental persecution continued up to 1990. Following baptisms in Nepalgunj and Tansen between 1958 and 1960, pastors David Mukhia and Prem Pradhan, along with six baptized believers, were prosecuted by the authorities for proselytism and conversion. The pastors were sentenced to six years imprisonment; the male converts were sentenced to one year imprisonment and the female converts to six months. Prosecutions such as this continued for the whole of the Panchayat period: when an amnesty was proclaimed in 1990, there were 30 individuals in Nepal imprisoned for crimes of proselytism or conversion, and 200 others who were subject to legal action for the same offenses.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: After the overthrow of the Rana regime in 1951, King Tribhuvan opened Nepal's borders and appealed to the outside world to assist in Nepal's development. Then, he granted the freedom of religion to Nepalese, especially to Nepali Muslims, and the first church was established in Nepal. Though giving release to other religious groups, the society of Nepal followed strict and rigid Hindu laws for all the citizens, with Hinduism being the state religion.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: According to various historical sources, even though the presence of "varna" and caste had been known as an element in the social structure of the Kathmandu Valley since the Licchavi period (c., 3rd century CE), the majority of the residents of the Nepal Valley were for the first time codified into a written code only in the 14th century in the "Nepalarastrasastra" by the Maithil–origin king Jayasthithi Malla (1354–1395 A.D.). Jayasthithi Malla, with the aid of five Kānyakubja and Maithil Brahmins whom he invited from the Indian plains, divided the population of the valley into four major classes ("varna")—Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra—derived from the ancient Hindu text Manusmriti and based on individual's occupational roles. The four classes "varna" encompassed a total of 64 castes "jat" within it, with the Shudras being further divided into 36 sub-castes.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: After the Gurkhali conquest of Kathmandu Valley, King Prithvi Narayan Shah expelled the Christian Capuchin missionaries from Patan and revisioned Nepal as "Asal Hindustan" ("Real Land of Hindus"). The Tagadharis, thread wearing Hindus of higher categorization, enjoyed the privileged status in the Nepalese capital and more access to the central power after the Gurkhali King Prithvi Narayan's conquest of Kathmandu Valley. Since then Hinduization became the significant policy of the Kingdom of Nepal.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: The Nepali civil code Muluki Ain was commissioned by Jung Bahadur Rana after his European tour and enacted in 1854. It was rooted in traditional Hindu Law and codified social practices for several centuries in Nepal. The law also comprised "Prāyaścitta" (avoidance and removal of sin) and "Ācāra" (the customary law of different castes and communities). It was an attempt to include the entire Hindu as well as non-Hindu population of Nepal of that time into a single hierarchic civic code from the perspective of the Khas rulers.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: The Hinduization of Nepal was mainly predominant in Kathmandu and the adjoining regions near the Valley. Nepali society has been known for its interfaith religious harmony and tolerance, but the Hinduization and Saffronisation of Nepal by the Shah dynasty, especially by Prithvi Narayan Shah, were seen as the persecution of other religious communities. After that time, until the 1940s, propagation of any other faith than Hinduism was prohibited. The Hindu community was given special rights and even more rights than the other religious community, though freedom of religion was present in the Kingdom of Nepal.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: Then, there was the era of Rana dynasty, which was composed mainly of Kshatriya Hindus. Though in the regime of Rana dynasty, Nepal did not witness much Hinduization, but there were still strict Hindus law. Rana rulers focused on the saffronisation of tribal Hindus in the Kingdom and focused mainly on the warrior class Gurkhas. There were many temples and shrines built during the Rana dynasty and imposed the Vedic culture on the Nepalis.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: Popular tradition holds that Lord Vishnu had organized the Nepali people and given them their flag, with the sun and moon as emblems on it. In a Hindu Purana, it is written that it was Lord Shiva who handed the flag to Lord Vishnu, and then Lord Vishnu to Lord Indra, for the purpose for battling demons.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: Hindu and Buddhist traditions in Nepal go back more than two millennia. In Lumbini, Buddha was born, and Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu is an old and famous Shiva temple of Hindus. Nepal has several other temples and Buddhist monasteries, as well as places of worship for other religious groups. Traditionally, Nepalese philosophical thoughts are ingrained with the Hindu and Buddhist philosophical ethos and traditions, which include elements of Kashmir Shaivism, Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, works of Karmacharyas of Bhaktapur, and tantric traditions. Tantric traditions are deep rooted in Nepal, including the practice of animal sacrifices. Five types of animals, always male, are considered acceptable for sacrifice: water buffalo, goats, sheep, chickens, and ducks. Cows are very sacred animals and are never considered acceptable for sacrifice. Nepal has been the home of many ancient sites of the Hinduism and is the hub for the tourism for many Hindu pilgrimages.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: Before 2007, when Nepal was a Hindu country, the Pashupatinath Temple was considered as the "Temple of the Nepal". The Pashupatinath Temple is considered as the most sacred temple for the Hindus of Nepal.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: There has traditionally been a great deal of intermingling of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. Many people regarded as Hindus in the 1981 census could also in some senses be called Buddhists. Hindus long have worshipped at Buddhist temples and Buddhists at Hindu temples. The reason for this is that both Hinduism and Buddhism have common roots, and over most of their history have not been seen as separate communions, but rather rival tendencies within a shared religious tradition. Because of such dual faith practices (or mutual respect), the differences between Hindus and Buddhists have been very subtle and academic in nature; Hindus and Buddhists have never engaged in any religious conflicts for past millennia. There are many temples where both Hindus and Buddhists can enter and worship.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: Though historically, there have been no major conflict between the Hindus and Muslims in the Nepal, though in the 20th century there have been some controversies between the two communities due to the religious conversions and strict laws against the same. There have been claims of increases in Islamophobia in Nepal by local Hindus and Buddhists as a result of the rise of Hindutva in India and the prejudice against Muslims by Hindus. However, this is reported to have had no effect in the community level, reflected by demands of Muslims to convert Nepal into a Hindu State. This is because they feel their religion is not threatened by the other and that they have shared in a spirit of brotherhood for decades. Both see the Expansion of Christianity as a common problem.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: As a result, during the protests for Nepal re-declaration as a Hindu state, many Muslims supported the movement for Nepal as a हिंदू राष्ट्र ().


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: In Nepal, the relations between the Hindus and Christians have many often been a subject of controversy. The expansion of Christianity is a controversial subject in Nepal, and Nepali Christians have been subject to sporadic violence and widespread social exclusion by the local Hindus and Muslims. It is frequently claimed in Nepali media and political discourse that missionaries offer the poor material incentives to convert with necessary proof but these proofs are often left with no attention. There has been number of increase of conflicts between the Hindus and Christians of Nepal, due to the conversion of the poor and uneducated Hindus by the Christian Pastors and Missionaries. There have often been conflicts between the Hindus with Christians in Nepal, among the land and other cultural disputes. The Catholic Church of Nepal is the one of the fastest growing churches in the world, due to which the population and demographics of the Hindus of Nepal is decreasing leading to the serious tensions between the two communities. There have been several incident reporting the conflicts between the two communities. The rise of Hindu nationalism in Nepal is seen as a threat on non-Sanatani religions in Nepal. The only saying of people here is if western country can protect Christianity, Nepalese are also free to protect Sanatani religions. The persecution mainly occurs as attacks on tribal people who converted to Christianity by other tribal people, destruction of churches and a ban on proselytization. Specially, the conversion flourishes after an earthquake, flood and landslides when people are strivening. Pastures and missionories are often seen to take profit in these condition. Nepalese Hindu can certainly not accept missonories taking profit of onces economic condition and caste to change Religion. A bill passed in 2017 on the same.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: In 1952, the Hindu population of Nepal was 7,318,392 with the percentage of 88.87%. In recent years, the percentage of Hindus has decreased by nearly 7% from 88.87% in 1952 to 81.34%, as per 2011 census of Nepal. The Hindu population has experienced continuous decline in the population, which is mainly due to the low-fertility rate among the Nepali Hindus, which is also accompanied by diaspora of Nepalese to the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, India and Oman.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: The figures are based on the 2011 Nepal census. NEG denotes newly listed ethnic group, for which 2001 Nepal census figures are not available.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: As seen from the 2001 and 2011 Census data, the percentage of Hindus has gone up by 0.72%, from 80.62% to 81.34%. However, the overall trend remains largely negative. All the major racial group except the Sino/Tibetans showed a decline in the percentage of Hindus, which was especially sharp among certain Adivasi groups such as Tharu. Among the Sino/Tibetans, the percentage of Hindus went up by 2.37%, from 49.74% to 52.11%.


title: Hinduism in Nepal

text: Currently, Nepal is a secular country, as declared by the Constitution of Nepal 2072 (Part 1, Article 4), where secularism 'means religious, cultural freedom, along with the protection of religion, culture handed down from time immemorial (सनातन)'. Nepal remained the last Hindu nation until 2008, and still Nepal has a Hindu majority population. It has the highest Hindu population in the world, after India. By percentage, Nepal has the highest Hindu population in the world. Although many government policies throughout history have disregarded or marginalized minority religions, Nepalese societies generally enjoy religious tolerance and harmony among all religions, with only isolated incidents of religiously motivated violence. Nepal's constitution does not give anyone the right to convert any person to another religion. Nepal also passed a more stringent anti-conversion law on 2017.


title: Saint Crispin's Day

text: Saint Crispin's Day, or the Feast of Saint Crispin, falls on 25 October and is the feast day of the Christian saints Crispin and Crispinian, twins who were martyred c. 286. They are both the patron saints of cobblers, leather workers, tanners, saddlers and glove, lace and shoe makers (among other professions).


title: Saint Crispin's Day

text: In modern times, the feast day is best known with reference to the St Crispin's Day Speech in Shakespeare's play "Henry V". A scene in the play recounts the Battle of Agincourt, which took place on Saint Crispin's Day in 1415, with the titular character giving a speech before the battle referencing the feast day.


title: Saint Crispin's Day

text: Other significant battles have taken place on St Crispin's Day, including the fall of Lisbon in 1147, the Battle of Balaclava (featuring the Charge of the Light Brigade) in 1854, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific theatre in 1944.


title: Saint Crispin's Day

text: The feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian is 25 October. Although this feast was removed from the Roman Catholic Church's universal liturgical calendar following the Second Vatican Council, the two saints are still commemorated on that day in the most recent edition of the Roman Martyrology. The feast remains as a "Black Letter Saints' Day" in the calendar of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (1662) and a "commemoration" in "Common Worship" (2000).


title: Saint Crispin's Day

text: The Battle of Agincourt was dramatised by William Shakespeare in "Henry V" featuring the battle in which Henry inspired his much-outnumbered English forces to fight the French through a St Crispin's Day Speech, saying "the fewer men, the greater share of honour". The main part of the speech begins "This day is called the feast of Crispian", and goes on to say that each soldier who survives the battle, will, each year, "rouse him at the name of Crispian" and say "'These wounds I had on Crispin's day'", and:


title: Saint Crispin's Day

text: When the Battle of Balaclava was fought on the 25 October 1854, the coincidence was noticed by contemporaries, who used Shakespeare's words to comment on the battle. The contrast between the two battles, one a complete victory, the other indecisive and notorious for the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade, has also been noted. The Battle of Shangani (1893) in the First Matabele War was also fought on that date.


title: Saint Crispin's Day

text: Several battles of World War II were fought on St Crispin's Day. In 1942, this day was the third day of the Second Battle of El Alamein, and, on the other side of the world, the Battle of Henderson Field was fought at Guadalcanal. Two years later, in 1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was being fought at Cape Engaño, Samar Island and in the Straits of Surigao; in the latter, the Japanese fleet was effectively destroyed.


title: Saint Crispin's Day

text: Other battles have also been fought on the day, but were not associated with its symbolism at the time. In 1315, a century before Agincourt, Adam Banastre, Henry de Lea and William Bradshaw, led an attack on Liverpool Castle. An early battle of the American Civil War, the First Battle of Springfield, Missouri, was fought on October 25, 1861, and was a Union victory. Another forgotten battle in that war, the Battle of Marais des Cygnes, Kansas (Mine Creek), was fought on that day in 1864.


title: Roxie Hart

text: Roxanne "Roxie" Hart is a fictional character. She is the main character of the 1926 play "Chicago" and its various remakes and derivatives.


title: Roxie Hart

text: The playwright, reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, was inspired by the trials, both of which ended in acquittals, of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner (for separate crimes), which she covered for the "Chicago Tribune". Annan's story served as the basis for the play: she had killed her paramour Harry Kalstedt and was able to convince her auto mechanic husband Albert to pay for her successful defense, only to dump him the day after the trial. For the play, Annan was fictionalized as Roxie Hart, Kalstedt became Fred Casely, and Albert became Amos Hart. Some of the details of Gaertner's crime, including her past as a vaudeville singer (Annan was a bookkeeper) and blaming of her misdeed on getting drunk, were also applied to the Roxie character. The 1975 musical adaptation bases Hart's mannerisms on Helen Morgan.


title: Roxie Hart

text: During her time as a young adult, Roxanne dreamed of a career in vaudeville but, despite dating noted mobster Al Capelli and getting some press attention as a socialite, is never able to break into the business beyond some work as a chorus girl in a seedy nightclub on Chicago's South Side. Defeated, she falls for auto mechanic Amos Hart, a kind-hearted but meek and naïve man with a stable working-class income; his relationship with Roxie is more akin to that of a father figure (her own father disowned her three years before she met Amos) than a romantic partner. Seven years into the marriage, she and Amos have stopped having sex and she begins an affair with Fred Casely, a furniture salesman, while Amos is working his long hours. At the start of the show, Roxie shoots Fred after he attempts to break off the affair and convinces Amos that she was stopping a burglar.


title: Roxie Hart

text: After Amos reneges on an agreement to take the fall when he deduces the truth, Roxie is arrested for the crime and, while being detained, falls under the influence of the prison's bribe-taking warden, "Mama" Morton, who has the connections to turn Roxie's case into a media sensation and also connects her to hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn. Roxie uses the media coverage as a way for her to revive her aspirations of a vaudeville career, with Flynn and Morton helping along the way. Throughout her trial, she forms a rivalry with another murder suspect, Velma Kelly.


title: Roxie Hart

text: In the end, Roxie is acquitted of the crime, Amos leaves her (both for lack of attention and lying about being pregnant to gain sympathy from the press), and her dreams of superstardom are dashed when the media abandons her story. She eventually returns to the vaudeville circuit, now with Velma as a partner.


title: Roxie Hart

text: The play made it to Broadway in 1926 and ran for 172 performances. Gaertner attended the Chicago opening. Its adaptations include:


title: Roxie Hart

text: Performers who have portrayed Roxie Hart in the musical also include Katherine Edgar, Paige Davis, Erika Jayne, Lisa Rinna, Liza Minnelli (who substituted for Gwen Verdon in the original production in 1975), Ann Reinking, Bianca Marroquin, Brooke Shields, Ruthie Henshall, Melora Hardin, Ashlee Simpson, Melanie Griffith, Samantha Harris, Michelle Williams, Shiri Maimon, Christie Brinkley, Brandy Norwood, Tiffany Young, and Pamela Anderson in her Broadway debut. Henshall, Simpson, Shields, and Williams have portrayed the character both on Broadway and The West End. Bebe Neuwirth, who won a Tony Award for the role of Velma Kelly in 1997, also portrayed Roxie in the same production in 2006.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: Sabre Corporation is a travel technology company based in Southlake, Texas. It is the largest global distribution systems provider for air bookings in North America. American Airlines founded the company in 1960, and it was spun off in 2000.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: In 2007, Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake Partners acquired what was then "Sabre Holdings". Sabre began publicly trading on the NASDAQ in 2014.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: In 1953, C.R. Smith, the president of American Airlines, met Blair Smith, an IBM salesman, on a flight and developed the Sabre (the Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment) concept. The system was based on SAGE, the first major system to use interactive real-time computing, which IBM had developed for military use.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: Sabre Corporation was founded in 1960 by American Airlines. Sabre Corporation installed the first Sabre reservation system in Briarcliff Manor, New York that year. The system consisted of two IBM 7090 mainframe computers and processed 84,000 calls per day.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: In 1964, Sabre's nationwide network was completed and became the largest commercial real-time data-processing system in the world. Sabre Corporation handled 7500 passenger reservations per hour in 1965. The Sabre system upgraded to IBM System/360 and moved to a new center in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1972.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: In 1976, the Sabre system was installed into a travel agency for the first time. This allowed travel agents to have instant access to flights. By the end of the year, 130 locations installed the Sabre system. Sabre introduced BargainFinder, the industry's first automated low-fare search capability, in 1984. The following year, easySabre was launched. It gave consumers with personal computers access to the Sabre system to make airline, hotel and car rental reservations.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: In 1996, the company launched Travelocity, an online travel agency. Sabre formed a joint venture with Abacus International in 1998 to create the SabreSonic passenger solution, a customized version of Sabre's reservations system to Abacus subscribers in Asia.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, spun off its controlling stake in Sabre Corporation in 2000 to form an independent company.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: In 2001, Electronic Data Systems (EDS) purchased Sabre Holdings' airline hardware and communications business, and Sabre began migrating its old mainframe for air travel shopping and pricing to HP NonStop and Linux servers. In 2005, the company acquired lastminute.com, an online travel and leisure retailer.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake Partners acquired Sabre Corporation in March 2007. In March 2010, the company acquired Calidris, a revenue integrity and business intelligence solutions company. Sabre Corporation acquired SoftHotel, a web-based property management solutions provider, in June 2011. The company launched Sabre Red App Centre in March 2012. In April 2014, Sabre Corporation went public on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol SABR. The IPO sold for $16 per share and valued Sabre at $3.93 billion. The company acquired Genares, a hospitality technology company, that September.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: In January 2015, Sabre sold its Travelocity brand to Expedia, Inc. for $280 million. In July 2015, Sabre acquired Abacus International, a global distribution system based in the Asia-Pacific region. The deal included long-term distribution agreements between Sabre and the 11 Asian airlines that previously shared ownership of Abacus.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: In October 2019 Sabre announced its purchase of Radixx for $110. Radixx is a seller of passenger service software to small and budget airlines. Sabre expects Radixx to generate $20 million in 2019.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: In October 2021, Sabre announced the sale of the AirCentre solution portfolio to CAE Inc for $392.5M.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: In May 2022 Sabre announced its purchase of Nuvola, a provider of hotel and service optimization software. Nuvola software gives hotels the tools needed to create intuitive and scalable cloud-based solutions that includes functions such as task management capabilities, guest messaging and concierge services, and advanced housekeeping management solutions. Sabre hopes this purchase will advance its hospitality retailing and merchandising strategy.


title: Sabre Corporation

text: The company is based in Southlake, Texas and has additional offices in London, Kraków, Bangalore, Montevideo and Singapore. In December 2013, the company handled approximately 85,000 data transactions ,every second for customers according to the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram". At the time, the company did business with 70 airlines and 100,000 hotels. Sabre has two major business verticals - Sabre Travel Solutions and Sabre Hospitality Solutions.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: Lovers Rock is the fifth studio album by English band Sade, released on 13 November 2000 by Epic Records. The album was titled after a style of reggae music known as lovers rock, noted for its romantic sound and content, which frontwoman Sade Adu listened to in her youth. "Lovers Rock" was seen as a departure from the band's previous use of jazz elements, opting instead for a wider use of musical elements from soul music, R&B, soft rock, folk music, dub, reggae, neo soul and lovers rock. The album's production has been characterised as spare, with simple arrangements and reggae flourishes. A concept album, the lyrics focus on both the positive and the negative sides of love; the album's lyrical content also touches upon political themes.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: Upon release, "Lovers Rock" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the band's musical direction. The album earned Sade the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2002. Commercially, the album reached number 18 on the UK Albums Chart and number three on the US "Billboard" 200. It has since been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having sold over 3 million copies in the United States by February 2010. The album spawned two singles—"By Your Side" and "King of Sorrow"—and was further promoted by the band's Lovers Rock Tour. Following the release of "Love Deluxe" (1992), the band began an eight-year hiatus, during which Adu would experience media scrutiny and give birth to her first child.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: The band's fourth studio album, "Love Deluxe", was released on 26 October 1992. The album peaked at number three on the US "Billboard" 200 and has sold 3.4 million copies in the United States. It was later certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of four million copies. The album was also commercially successful elsewhere, reaching number one in France and the top 10 in the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Following the release of "Love Deluxe", the band took an eight-year hiatus, during which Adu came under media scrutiny with rumours of depression and addiction, and later went on to give birth to her first child. During this time, the other members of the band—Stuart Matthewman, Paul S. Denman, and Andrew Hale—worked on side projects, including the band Sweetback, which released a self-titled album in 1996. Matthewman also played a major role in the development of Maxwell's career, providing instrumentation and production work for the R&B singer's first two albums.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: "Lovers Rock" was recorded in only a year, and was influenced by Adu's experiences during the eight-year hiatus. The album's recording took place between September 1999 and August 2000 at three locations—Sarm Hook End and Deliverance Studios, both in London, and El Cortijo Studios in San Pedro de Alcántara, Spain. The band produced and arranged the album; Hale served as the album's keyboards and programmer, Matthewman served as the album's guitarist, programmer, woodwind player whilst Denman provided the album's bass. Mike Pela helped with the co-production of the album and its recording, Andy "Nipper" Davies served as the assistant engineer and Tom Coyne mastered "Lovers Rock".


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: Additional help came from a variety of people. Karl Van Den Bossche supplied the album's percussion, while Nick Ingman supplied the string arrangements on the song "King of Sorrow". Andy Nice provided the cello on "Every Word" and Janusz Podrazik provided keyboards on two of the album's songs "Immigrant" and "It's Only Love That Gets You Through", additional vocals for the album came from vocalist Leroy Osbourne. The album's recording and themes were inspired by Adu's experiences during the previous decade, particularly of how she had become preoccupied with the complexity of other people's lives and extremely unhappy.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: Unlike Sade's previous work, "Lovers Rock" did not contain saxophones or instrumentation, but instead spare, deceptively simple arrangement—sometimes no more than an acoustic guitar. The album's music borrowed reverb and echo effects from dub as well as an ease and fluidity, tougher beats and basslines, from R&B. Ed Hogan of AllMusic stated that "Lovers Rock" was the first album by the band that contained a more experimental sound with the infusion of mainstream rock elements and strummed guitars. According to Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone", the groove on "Lovers Rock" is predominantly "light", with "slight reggae flourishes" appearing throughout. He noted that the songs, each lasting around five minutes, rarely vary from one another in rhythm. Del F. Cowie of "Exclaim!" described "Lovers Rock" as a collection of songs with sparse arrangements, based upon acoustic guitars with gently applied beats.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: "Lovers Rock" was seen as offering a more stripped-down, subtle backdrop than the band's previous work, and the album's production saw the use of modern dance beats and reggae. "Lovers Rock" was described as a concept album by Sal Cinquemani of "Slant Magazine", who stated the album was lyrically a "soundtrack for lovers, lovers who are in love and making love and lovers who have been scorned." Cinquemani also noted political themes of two of the album's songs, "Slave Song" and "Immigrant", which were noted as social statements. "Lovers Rock" contains a continuous composition, with each song leading to the next with a "united flow." The album's lyrics were described as being fixated on the themes of love, loss and rejection.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: The album opens with the lead single "By Your Side", a hymnlike song that received comparisons to "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "No Woman, No Cry". Lyrically, Adu insists she will never leave someone in trouble.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: "Flow" is sonically a mixture of folky acoustic guitar, slow-paced hip hop loops, and layered harmonies. "King of Sorrow" explores the complexities of a faltering relationship, in which Adu is torn between what she has invested and the opportunities she might be missing. "The Sweetest Gift" is an acoustic song, which is dedicated to the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity caring for children who have a life-threatening or terminal illness and their families, both in their own homes and at the Trust's two UK family respite centres.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: "Slave Song" is lyrically a social statement, calling for an awareness of history and the sensibility to rise above it, the song's concept is introduced through lyrics like; "Teach my beloved children who have been enslaved/To reach for the light continually." "Immigrant" is backed by hip hop beats, and explores racial tensions with lyrics including, "Coming from where he did/He was turned away from every door like Joseph/To even the strongest among us/That would be too much."


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: The album was first released in the United Kingdom on 13 November 2000. "Lovers Rock" was titled after the romantic strain of reggae also known as lovers rock, which Adu listened to in her youth. "By Your Side" was released as the lead single from the album and was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, but lost out to Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird". It also placed at number 48 on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Love Songs". The single reached number 75 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and number 17 on the UK Singles Chart. "King of Sorrow" was released as the album's second single on 12 March 2001. The song performed poorly on charts, peaking at number 59 on the UK chart and failing to impact the US "Billboard" Hot 100, instead reaching number one on the US "Billboard" Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: To promote the album, Sade embarked on the Lovers Rock Tour across North America, which was announced via Sade's website in April 2001. The announcement stated the tour would begin in the summer of 2001 with 30 shows. Initial dates were rescheduled due to extended rehearsal time. The shows sold well, with many stops adding additional shows. In August 2001, the tour was extended by eight weeks, due to ticket demand.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: Deemed by many critics as a comeback tour, it marked the band's first performance since 1994 and lasted until 2011. Although many believed the trek would expand to other countries, this never came to fruition. It became the 13th highest-grossing tour of 2001, earning $26,488,293 million and drawing 491,151 audience members to 42 concerts.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: Following the tour, Sade released their first live album, "Lovers Live", on 5 February 2002 by Epic Records. "Lovers Live" reached number 10 on the US "Billboard" 200 and number 51 on the UK Albums Chart, Sade's first album to miss the top 20 in the UK. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on 7 March 2002, having sold 562,000 copies in the US, while the DVD was certified platinum on 30 January 2003 for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: Upon release, "Lovers Rock" received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 78, based on 11 reviews. Ed Hogan of AllMusic praised Sade's choice to infuse "more mainstream rock elements (prominent strummed guitars) into her music." Michael Paoletta of "Billboard" described the album as "sterling" and "signature Sade". James Hannaham of "Spin" found "Lovers Rock" "demo-like in its simplicity" and praised its "airy" tones, dubbing the album "ephemeral". In a review for "Rolling Stone", Rob Sheffield wrote that the album "sounds exactly like Sade, heavily influenced by "Diamond Life" with a bit of "Love Deluxe" thrown in. Needless to say, it's also pretty damn good, because this smooth operator shrewdly sticks to the tricks she'd already mastered before turning pro."


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: Yahoo! Music UK critic Cyd Jaymes also gave the album a positive review, stating, "Back with the same band that helped her notch up such smoky, smooth jazz hits as 'Your Love Is King', 'Smooth Operator' and 'The Sweetest Taboo', Sade has produced an album of class, sophistication and melancholy soul." Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" praised the album's cohesiveness, saying each "song melts into the next; the result is an undifferentiated dreaminess." In a more mixed review, "Q" considered "Lovers Rock" less memorable than Sade's "past triumphs", but highlighted the "refined ache and minimalist chic" of certain songs. "Revolution" said that the band had not taken "a gigantic creative leap forward", assessing "Lovers Rock" as an "acceptable soul album for the adoring Sade fan". On 27 February 2002, the album earned Sade the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.


title: Lovers Rock (Sade album)

text: "Lovers Rock" debuted at number 18 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 28,245 copies in its first week. The album had sold 325,363 copies in the United Kingdom as of February 2010, and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 22 July 2013. "Lovers Rock" debuted at number three on the "Billboard" 200 with 370,000 copies sold in its first week, marking the largest first-week sales of 2000 by a British artist in the United States. It spent 58 weeks on the chart, and went on to become the 14th best-selling album of 2001 in the US and the 109th best-selling album of the 2000s decade. On 18 July 2001, it was certified triple platinum by the RIAA, and had sold 3.9 million copies in the United States by February 2010. The album also peaked at number two on "Billboard"s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, as well as number 13 on the Canadian Albums Chart, where it was later certified double platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA).


title: Susan Stafford

text: Susan Stafford (born Susanna Gail Carney; October 13, 1945) is an American former model, actress and television host. She was the original hostess of the American game show "Wheel of Fortune" from January 6, 1975, until she left on October 22, 1982. She returned to "Wheel of Fortune" in 1986 to substitute for Vanna White.


title: Susan Stafford

text: Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Stafford grew up in Missouri, and won several beauty contests as a teenager in Kansas City. Stafford moved to California as an adult to work as a television actress.


title: Susan Stafford

text: Stafford married radio pioneer Gordon McLendon in 1973, and was then married to Dick Ebersol of NBC Sports and "Saturday Night Live" in 1976. Ebersol and Stafford were married on a beach in Malibu. Their wedding was attended by John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels. After they exchanged vows, Chase jokingly grabbed Stafford and threw her into the ocean. According to "People" magazine, "[they] parted 18 months later." Their marriage was annulled in 1981. Stafford later fell in love with game show producer Dan Enright, 28 years her senior. Enright employed her as vice president of Barry & Enright Productions.


title: Susan Stafford

text: After leaving "Wheel of Fortune", Stafford earned a B.A. in nutrition and an M.A. in clinical psychology from Antioch University, and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the unaccredited Pacific Western University. During this time, Stafford returned to television in 1988 as host of "Alive", which aired on the Christian Broadcasting Network and in syndication. In 2003, Stafford made her first game show appearance since "Wheel of Fortune", appearing on "Hollywood Squares" Game Show Week (Part 2).


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settled by immigrant pioneers in 1859, at which time it was renamed Admiral Island. It was the first of the Gulf Islands to be settled and the first agricultural settlement on the islands in the Colony of Vancouver Island, as well as the first island in the region to permit settlers to acquire land through pre-emption. The island was retitled to its current name in 1910. It is named for the salt springs found in the northern part of the island.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Salt Spring Island is the largest, most populous, and the most frequently visited of the Southern Gulf Islands.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Other Saanich placenames on the island include: "t̕θəsnaʔəŋ̕" (Beaver Point), "čəw̕een" (Cape Keppel), "xʷən̕en̕əč" (Fulford Harbour), "syaxʷt" (Ganges Harbour), and "ṮÁȽEṈ" (Isabella Point).


title: Salt Spring Island

text: The island became a refuge from racism for African Americans who had resided in California. They left California in 1858 after the state passed discriminatory legislation against blacks. Several of the families settled on this island including families of George Richardson and William Isaacs who occupied land behind the village of Shiya'hwt; others on Vancouver Island. Before the emigration, Mifflin Wistar Gibbs travelled with two other men up to the colony to interview Governor Sir James Douglas about what kind of treatment they could expect there. The Governor was a Guyanese man of multi-ethnic birth, and assured them that people of African descent in Canada would be fairly treated and that the colony had abolished slavery more than 20 years before. Nevertheless the natives opposed the black settlers' presence.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: The island was the first of the Gulf Islands to be settled by non-First Nations people. According to 1988's "A Victorian Missionary and Canadian Indian Policy", it was the first agricultural settlement established anywhere in the Colony of Vancouver Island that was not owned by the Hudson's Bay Company or its subsidiary the Pugets Sound Agricultural Company.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Salt Spring Island was the first in the Colony of Vancouver Island and British Columbia to allow settlers to acquire land through pre-emption: settlers could occupy and improve the land before purchase, being permitted to buy it at a cost per acre of one dollar after proving they had done so. Before 1871 (when the merged Colony of British Columbia joined Canada), all property acquired on Salt Spring Island was purchased in this way; between 1871 and 1881, it was still by far the primary method of land acquisition, accounting for 96% of purchases. As a result, the history of early settlers on Salt Spring Island is unusually detailed.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Demographically, early settlers of the island included not only African Americans, but also Hawaiians, First Nation peoples, and British Isles settlers, including English, Irish and Scottish. The method of land purchase helped to ensure that the land was used for agricultural purposes and that the settlers were mostly families. Ruth Wells Sandwell in "Beyond the City Limit" indicates that few of the island's early residents were commercial farmers, with most families maintaining subsistence plots and supplementing through other activities, including fishing, logging and working for the colony's government. Some families later abandoned their land as a result of lack of civic services on the island or other factors, such as the livestock-killing cold of the winter of 1862.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: During World War II, 77 Japanese Canadians living on Salt Spring Island were forcibly relocated away from the coast due to the Internment of Japanese Canadians. Gavin C. Mouat was appointed Custodian of the properties they left behind. Mouat sold the properties below market value using his Custodial rights without the consent of the owners. Salt Spring Lands Ltd., of which Mouat was the president, ended up purchasing some of the properties. Only one of the interned families, the Murakami's, purchased property on the island again and returned.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: During the 1960s, the island became a political refuge for United States citizens, this time for draft evaders during the Vietnam War.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: The island was known as "Chuan" or "Chouan" Island in 1854, but it was also called "Salt Spring" as early as 1855, because of the island's salt springs. In 1859, it was officially named "Admiralty Island" in honour of Rear-Admiral Robert Lambert Baynes by surveyor Captain Richards, who named various points of the island in honour of the Rear-Admiral and his flagship, HMS "Ganges". Even while named "Admiralty Island", it was referred to popularly as Salt Spring, as in James Richardson's report for the Geological Survey of Canada in 1872. According to records of the Geographic Board of Canada, the island was officially retitled Saltspring on March 1, 1910, though the year 1905 is given by unofficial sources. According to the Integrated Land Management Bureau of British Columbia, locals incline equally to Salt Spring and Saltspring for current use. The official chamber of commerce website for the island, which gives a date of 1906 for the renaming, adopts the two word title, stating that the Geographic Board of Canada, in choosing the one word name, "cared nothing for local opinion or Island tradition."


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Located between Mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island, Salt Spring Island is the most frequently visited of the Gulf Islands as well as the most populous, with a 2016 census population of 10,557 inhabitants. The largest village on the island is Ganges. The island is known for its artists. In addition to Canadian dollars, island banks and some island businesses accept Salt Spring's own local currency, the Salt Spring dollar.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: The island is part of the Southern Gulf Islands, (Salt Spring Island, Galiano Island, Pender Island, Saturna Island, Mayne Island), which are all part of the Capital Regional District, along with the municipalities of Greater Victoria. Salt Spring Island's highest point of elevation is Bruce Peak, which according to topographic data from Natural Resources Canada is just over above sea level.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Salt Spring Island has a temperate warm-summer mediterranean climate (Csb) and experiences warm, dry summers and cool winters.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Salt Spring Island has many hiking trails. Two of these trails are rough and windy trails that lead to the summit regions of both Bruce Peak above sea level, and Mount Tuam 602 meters (1,975 feet) above sea level. These two mountain peaks are the tallest points of land on the Southern Gulf Islands. Many short hikes can also be found on the island. One of these is the long trek to the summit of Mount Erskine, which is above sea level.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: BC Ferries operates three routes to Salt Spring: between Tsawwassen (on the BC mainland) and Long Harbour (on the east side of Salt Spring), between Swartz Bay (at the north end of Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula) and Fulford Harbour (at the south end of Salt Spring), and between Crofton (on the east side of Vancouver Island) and Vesuvius (on the west side of Salt Spring).


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Salt Spring Air, Seair Seaplanes and Harbour Air Seaplanes operate floatplane services from Ganges Water Aerodrome to Vancouver Harbour Water Airport and Vancouver International Water Airport. Kenmore Air operates between Ganges and Lake Union, Seattle, United States.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Library facilities have existed on Salt Spring in one form or another since the early 1930s. The demand for books and resources has only grown since then, requiring constant expansions over the years to accommodate the needs of the island residents. In December 2012, the new Salt Spring Island Public Library was opened. The library is staffed by three librarians, among other paid positions and close to 200 volunteers.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Telecommunications service providers include Telus and Shaw, with most wireless carriers providing coverage. The Island is served by the Ganges and Fulford Harbour exchanges.


title: Salt Spring Island

text: Active Radio Amateurs maintain wireless repeaters located on Mt Bruce. 2 meter band (147.320 MHz). Coverage from Nanaimo, Vancouver and Victoria.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The Gods Themselves is a 1972 science fiction novel written by Isaac Asimov, and his first original work in the science fiction genre in fifteen years (not counting his 1966 novelization of "Fantastic Voyage"). It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1973.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The book is divided into three main parts, which were first published in "Galaxy Magazine" and "Worlds of If" as three consecutive stories.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The book is divided into three sections; the first set on the Earth, the second set on a planet in a parallel universe, and the third set on a lunar colony.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: In the first section, the book opens at chapter six to give context to the other chapters, and alternates timelines. Thus, the flow is Chapter six overview of Chapter one, then Chapter one. Next, is Chapter six overview of Chapter two, then Chapter two. Following chapter three to five, chapter six then concludes, and the story proceeds with chapter seven.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The main plot-line is a project by those who inhabit a parallel universe (the para-Universe) with different physical laws from this one. By exchanging matter from their universe—para-Universe—with our universe, they seek to exploit the differences in physical laws. The exchange of matter provides an alternative source of energy to maintain their universe. However, the exchange will likely result in the collapse of the Earth's Sun into a supernova, and possibly even turning a large part of the Milky Way into a quasar. There is hope among those in the para-Universe that the energy explosion does happen in our universe.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: In Part I, the novel specifically refers to the date October 3, 2070, as a date when the character Hallam entered the laboratory to work. Later in Part I, in chapter two, the book states that the character Peter Lamont had been two years old when Hallam performed the work set in 2070, and Lamont was 25 years old when he began working at the Pump Station. Accordingly, the bulk of the novel is set sometime around the year 2093. In Part III, the novel states that the Earth's population has been reduced to two billion people following a "Great Crisis". It caused significant ecological damage, with all apes except for gibbons extinct outside of zoos, and technological progress being viewed with suspicion – for example, genetic engineering research is banned outright. Part III of the novel takes place on a lunar colony with about 20,000 people, half of which were "native Lunarites". The colony is stated to be the last leftover of pre-Crisis humanity, making it the leader in many sciences.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The first part takes place on Earth, almost a century after the "Great Crisis", where ecological and economic collapse reduced the world's population from six billion to two billion. The timeline alternates between the events of the 2070s, outlining the discover of the "electron pump," and events twenty-three years later.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Radiochemist Frederick Hallam discovers that a container's contents have been altered. He finds out that the sample, originally tungsten, has been transformed into plutonium 186—an isotope that cannot occur naturally in our universe. As this is investigated, Hallam gets the credit for suggesting that the matter has been exchanged by beings in a parallel universe; this leads to the development of a cheap, clean, and apparently endless source of energy: the "Pump", which transfers matter between our universe (where plutonium 186 decays into tungsten 186) and a parallel one governed by different physical laws (where tungsten 186 turns into plutonium 186), yielding a nuclear reaction in the process. The development process grants Hallam high position in public opinion; winning him power, position, and a Nobel Prize.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Physicist Peter Lamont, while writing a history of the Pump about 25 years later, comes to believe that the impetus of the Pump was the effort of the extraterrestrial "para-men". Lamont enlists the help of Myron "Mike" Bronowski, an archeologist and linguist known for translating ancient writings in the Etruscan language, to prove his claim by communicating with the parallel world. They inscribe symbols on strips of tungsten to establish a common written language as the strips are exchanged for ones made of plutonium-186. As Bronowski works, Lamont discovers that the Pump increases the strong nuclear force inside the sun, and thus threatens both universes by the explosion of Earth's Sun and the cooling of that in the parallel universe. Bronowski receives an acknowledgment from the parallel universe that the Pump may be dangerous. Lamont attempts to demonstrate this to a politician and several members of the scientific community, but they refuse his request. Lamont decides to tell the para-men to stop the use of the Pump, but Bronowski reveals that they have been in contact not with the other side's authorities, but with dissidents unable to stop the Pump on their side. The last message was them begging "Earth" to stop.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The second part is set in the parallel universe in which, because the nuclear force is stronger, stars are smaller and burn out faster than in our universe. It takes place on a world orbiting a sun that is dying. Because atoms behave differently in this universe, substances can move through each other and appear to occupy the same space. This gives the intelligent beings unique abilities. Time itself appears to flow differently in this universe: the events take place in an apparently short space of time in the lives of the inhabitants, while more than 20 years pass in our universe, and a long feeding break of one of the characters translates into a two-week gap on Lamont's side.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Like the first part of the novel, this section has an unusual chapter numbering. Each chapter except the last is in three parts, named "1a", "1b", and "1c". Each reflects the viewpoint of one of the three members of the "triad" central to the story's theme.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The inhabitants are of two types: the dominant "hard ones," whose bodies are solid and of a fixed shape, and the more fluid "soft ones", whose bodies are mutable. The latter have three sexes with fixed roles for each sex:


title: The Gods Themselves

text: All three 'genders' are embedded in sexual and social norms of expected and acceptable behavior. All three live by photosynthesis; whereas sexual intercourse is accomplished by bodily collapse into a single pool (known as 'melting'). Rationals and Parentals can do this independently, but in the presence of an Emotional, the "melt" becomes total, which causes orgasm and also results in a period of unconsciousness and memory loss. Only during such a total "melt" can the Rational "impregnate" the Parental, with the Emotional providing the energy. Normally, the triad produces three children; a Rational, a Parental and Emotional (in that order), after which they "pass on" and disappear forever. In the past, some triads have repeated the cycle of births (thus ensuring population growth), but the declining amount of solar radiation no longer allows that. "Stone-rubbing" is a practice of partially melting with solid objects like rocks, possible for Emotionals, but the other genders are only capable of it in a very limited form. It is an analogue of human masturbation and generally frowned upon. Dua, the Emotional who functions as protagonist of this section of the book, appears to be the only one who practices it while married.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The hard ones regulate much of soft one society, allocating one of each sex to a mating group called a "triad," and acting as mentors to the Rationals. Little is shown of "hard one" society; whereas Dua suspects that the "hard ones" are a dying race, retaining the "soft ones" as a replacement for their absent children. This is dismissed by Odeen, the Rational of Dua's triad. Having the most contact with the "hard ones," Odeen has heard them speak of a new "hard one" called Estwald, accounted of exceptional intelligence and the creator of the Pump.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Dua is an oddball Emotional who exhibits traits normally associated with Rationals, resulting in the nickname "left-em." While being taught by Odeen, she also discovers the supernova problem that Lamont uncovered in the first section. Outraged that the Pump is allowed to operate, she attempts to halt it but cannot persuade her own species to abandon the Pump. Given that their own sun and all the other stars in their universe can no longer provide the energy necessary for reproduction, they consider the possible destruction of Earth's Sun worthwhile if it might provide a more reliable source of energy.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Driven by an innate desire to procreate, Tritt, the "Parental" of the triad, at first asks Odeen to persuade Dua to facilitate the production of their third child. When this fails, Tritt steals an energy-battery from the Pump and rigs it to feed Dua, which stimulates the triad into a total melt, resulting in conception. Dua discovers this betrayal and escapes to the caves of the hard ones, where she transmits the warning messages received by Lamont. This effort nearly exhausts her mortally before she is found by her triad. Here it is revealed that the hard ones are not a separate species, but the fully mature form that the triads eventually coalesce into permanently. Each melt briefly allows the triad to shift into its hard form during the period they can't later remember. Odeen convinces Dua that the hard one they will become will have influence with the others to stop the Pump; but as their final metamorphosis (the true meaning of "passing on") begins, Dua realizes (too late to prevent irreversible union) that her own triad's "hard" form is the scientist Estwald.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The third part of the novel takes place on the Moon. Lunar society is diverging radically from that of Earth. The lower gravity has produced people with a very different physique. Their food supply is manufactured from algae and distasteful to inhabitants of Earth. They enjoy low-gravity sports that would be impossible on Earth, such as an acrobatic game like "tag" performed in a huge cylinder (these sports are vital to them, since their metabolism is still that of Earthmen, and proper strenuous exercise must be maintained for it to function properly). Some Lunarites want to further adapt their bodies to life on the Moon, but Earth has outlawed genetic engineering decades ago. Lunarites are beginning to see themselves as a separate race, although procreation between them and Earth people is quite common. Sex, however, is problematic, since an Earthborn person is likely to injure his or her partner due to loss of control. Sexual morals are loose, and nudity is not taboo.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The plot centers on a cynical middle-aged ex-physicist named Denison, briefly introduced in Part 1 as the colleague and rival of Hallam whose snide remark drove Hallam to investigate the change in his sample of tungsten and, eventually, develop the Pump. Finding his career blocked by Hallam, Denison leaves science and enters the business world, becoming a success.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Denison, independently of Lamont, had deduced the danger in the Electron Pump. He visits the Moon colony hoping to work outside of Hallam's influence using technology that the Lunarites have developed. He is helped by a Lunarite tourist guide named Selene Lindstrom. She is secretly an Intuitionist (a genetically engineered human with superhuman intuition), who is working with her lover, Barron Neville. They are both part of a group of political agitators who want independence from Earth. The group particularly wants to be allowed to research ways to use the Electron Pump on the Moon. Although solar energy is plentiful enough to power their underground habitats, Neville wants to live entirely underground and never have to venture out on the surface. With the scientists' help, Denison gets access to the technology and proves that the strong force is indeed increasing, and will cause the Sun to explode.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Denison continues his work, tapping into a third parallel universe that is in a pre-Big Bang state (called "cosmic egg" or "cosmeg"), where physical laws are totally opposite to those of Dua's universe. Matter from the cosmeg starts with very weak nuclear force, and then spontaneously fuses as our universe's physical laws take over. The exchange with the second parallel universe both produces more energy at little or no cost, and balances the changes from the Electron Pump, resulting in a return to equilibrium. However, Selene clandestinely conducts another test showing that momentum can also be exchanged with the cosmeg. Denison catches her and forces her to admit her secret purpose: Neville thinks the momentum exchange can be used to move anything without using rockets, including the Moon itself; he wants to break away from Earth in the most complete way possible. Denison is appalled, although he sees the potential of the technology to make travel within the Solar System easier, and to the stars possible.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: When Selene discusses Neville's plan with the rest of the group, most of them agree that moving the entire Moon will be meaningless, and building self-sufficient sublight starships will be better. A later public vote goes against Neville as well. Hallam is ruined by Denison's revelations. Selene and Denison become a couple. Having received permission to conceive a second child, Selene requests Denison to become its father. The novel ends with them deciding to try working around the sexual incompatibility problem.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: In a letter of February 12, 1982, Asimov identified this as his favorite science fiction novel. Asimov's short story "Gold", one of the last he wrote in his life, describes the efforts of fictional computer animators to create a "compu-drama" from the novel's second section.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Asimov took the names of the immature aliens—Odeen, Dua, and Tritt—from the words One, Two, and Three in the language of his native Russia, i.e. "odin" (один), "dva" (два) and "tri" (три).


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Asimov's inspiration for the title of the book, and its three sections, was a quotation from the play "The Maid of Orleans" by Friedrich Schiller: "Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens.", "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain" (quoted in the book itself).


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Asimov describes a conversation in January 1971 when Robert Silverberg had to refer to an isotope—just an arbitrary one—as an example. Silverberg said "plutonium-186". "There is no such isotope", said Asimov, "and such a one can't exist either". Silverberg dared Asimov to write a story about it. Later Asimov figured out under what conditions plutonium-186 could exist, and what complications and consequences it might imply. Asimov reasoned that it must belong to another universe with other physical laws; specifically, different nuclear forces necessary to allow a Pu-186 nucleus to hold itself together. He wrote down these ideas, intending to write a short story, but his editor, Larry Ashmead, asked him to expand it into a full novel. As a result of that request, Asimov wrote the second and third parts of the book.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: In his autobiography, Asimov stated that the novel, especially the second section, was the "biggest and most effective over-my-head writing [that I] ever produced".


title: The Gods Themselves

text: At the time of writing, quasars had been only recently discovered and were not well understood. In the story Lamont suggests that quasars are in fact parts of galaxies that have undergone sudden increase in the strength of the strong nuclear force, resulting in an explosion of fusion energy. It is not certain if Asimov took into account the nature of solar fusion, where the primary reaction rate is governed by the weak nuclear force, transforming protons into neutrons, while the strong force governs the amount of energy released during reactions.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: The book mentions quarks, but confines its discussion of the strong force to pions, which are the carriers of the force that binds protons and neutrons together, while gluons bind quarks within protons and neutrons. At the time, gluons were only suspected to exist while particles thought to be quarks had been observed directly.


title: The Gods Themselves

text: Similarly, the Etruscan language and particularly Etruscan writings had not yet been translated and were enigmatic. As of 2022, the language's possible relation to any other known language remains unproven. The character Bronowski is imagined to have solved the puzzle by considering the Basque language, which is also unique in Europe, as a relative of ancient Etruscan. Bronowski decides to help Lamont when the president of the university refers to the language as "Itascan", confusing it with Lake Itasca. He resolves to do something that "even that idiot will remember".


title: Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken

text: Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken (born 30 June 1954) is a Dutch billionaire businesswoman, and the owner of a 25% controlling interest in the world's second-largest brewer, Heineken N.V. She is the richest person in the Netherlands, with a net worth of $16.7 billion as of May 2021, according to the Forbes billionaires list.


title: Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken

text: Charlene Heineken was born on 30 June 1954, the daughter of Freddy Heineken, a Dutch industrialist, and Lucille Cummins, an American from a Kentucky family of bourbon whiskey distillers. She was educated at Rijnlands Lyceum Wassenaar, followed by a law degree from Leiden University.


title: Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken

text: She owns a 25% controlling stake in Dutch brewer Heineken, of which she is also an executive director.


title: Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken

text: She is married to Michel de Carvalho, a financier and director of Citigroup, whom she met on a ski holiday in St. Moritz, Switzerland. He is a member of the supervisory board of Heineken NV. They reside in London with their five children.


title: Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken

text: Upon the death of her father in 2002, she inherited about £3 billion, making her the wealthiest person with Dutch citizenship. In 2019, the "Sunday Times Rich List" ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK named her the wealthiest woman and the 7th overall, with an estimated fortune of £12 billion.


title: Century break

text: In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a mark of the highest skill in snooker. Ronnie O'Sullivan has described a player's first century break as the "ultimate milestone for any snooker player".


title: Century break

text: In the 2013–14 season, Neil Robertson became the first player to compile 100 century breaks in a single season—a number that only some 60 other players have surpassed throughout their entire careers—and ended the season with 103 centuries, a record number for one season. In 2019–20, Judd Trump became the second player to achieve a "century of centuries", ending the season with 102 century breaks. O'Sullivan holds the record for the most career centuries and is the only player to have achieved 1,000 century breaks, a milestone he reached in the final frame of the 2019 Players Championship in Preston.


title: Century break

text: A century is a score of 100 points or more within one to the table. The player does this by potting and alternately, where the coloured balls are repositioned on their starting locations. After repositioning the coloured ball paired to the last red on the table, the six coloured balls are potted in order of their increasing value. Because a break is defined as series of consecutive by a player during a single , scoring 100 points over the course of a whole frame does not necessarily constitute a century break, as it must be done on a single turn at the table. Points for a foul shot by the opponent do not count in a player's break.


title: Century break

text: Under normal circumstances, the highest possible century in snooker is 147 (a "maximum break"), composed of 15 reds (one point each), 15 blacks (seven points each) and the six remaining colours; yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black potted consecutively (two through seven points each for a total of 27). If for example only the least-valued colour (yellow, two points) would be used instead of the black ball, the break value would only be 72 points. This means that only a single century break is possible in a of snooker under a limited number of combinations, but it requires the potting of at least 25 consecutive balls (10 x (1 + 7) + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 = 100). To score one, there must be at least ten reds on the table when the player comes to play since if there are only nine reds left, only 99 (= 9 × (1 + 7) + 27) points may be scored. An exception exists if the opponent and leaves the incoming player on all the remaining reds. In such a situation, the player can nominate one of the other as a red, known as a "", which carries the same value as a red for just that shot, and therefore, a century break is still possible with only nine reds left.


title: Century break

text: Breaks above 147 are possible (up to 155) when an opponent fouls and leaves a with all fifteen reds still remaining on the table, creating a situation identical to as if there were 16 red balls on the table. This has happened only once in professional competition, when Jamie Burnett made a 148 at the qualifying stage of the 2004 UK Championship.


title: Century break

text: A "century of centuries" refers to a total of 100 breaks of at least 100 points each. By December 2001, only 15 players had reached this milestone in professional snooker tournaments. With the increased occurrence of centuries compiled in professional competition in the past decades, another 27 players had achieved a "century of centuries" by October 2011, bringing the total to 42. By the end of the 2013–14 season, the total number of players reaching the 100 centuries threshold had increased to 52. By the end of the English Open in October 2018, there were 66 players that had reached the 100 century breaks marker.


title: Century break

text: The following players are reported to have passed 500 breaks and at least the given threshold above this.


title: Visa requirements for Swiss citizens

text: Visa requirements for Swiss citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Switzerland. As of 13 April 2021, Swiss citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 187 countries and territories, ranking the Swiss passport 7th in terms of travel freedom (tied with the passports of Belgium, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States), and the highest of the EFTA member states, according to the 2021 Henley Passport Index.


title: Visa requirements for Swiss citizens

text: As a member state of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Swiss citizens enjoy freedom of movement to live and work in Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein in accordance with the EFTA convention. Moreover, by virtue of Switzerland's bilateral agreements with the EU, Swiss citizens also have freedom of movement in all EU member states. All EFTA and EU citizens are not only visa-exempt but are legally entitled to enter and reside in each other's countries.


title: Visa requirements for Swiss citizens

text: In order to travel to another country, a Swiss citizen requires a passport, except travel to EFTA and EU countries, European microstates, Greenland ("de facto"), Turkey, and on organized tours to Tunisia, where the Swiss identity card is valid.


title: Visa requirements for Swiss citizens

text: The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) (German: "Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten EDA", French: "Département fédéral des affaires étrangères DFAE", Italian: "Dipartimento federale degli affari esteri DFAE", Romansh: ') regularly publishes travel warnings on its website and allows Swiss citizens to register on the online portal "itineris" or the mobile app "Travel Admin" before they travel abroad. Registered persons will receive a message if the situation in their destination country changes for the worse.


title: Visa requirements for Swiss citizens

text: Since 1919, Switzerland has also represented Liechtenstein in countries where Liechtenstein does not maintain consular representation. Liechtenstein maintains a very small network of diplomatic missions; four embassies in Central Europe, and one embassy in North America.


The International Islamic University Malaysia (; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي اسلام انتارابڠسا مليسيا; ), also known as IIUM, is a public university in Malaysia. Headquartered in Gombak, Selangor, IIUM has six other campuses all over Malaysia: two medical-centric campuses and a Centre for Foundation Studies in Gambang, Pahang, two city campuses in Kuala Lumpur, and a language and tourism campus in Pagoh, Johor.


title: International Islamic University Malaysia

text: The university is sponsored by eight governments and the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It is distinct from the International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan and International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh.


text: The university was established on 23 May 1983 and founded upon Islamic principles. Islamic values are inculcated into all disciplines. IIUM offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees courses at its 14 faculties or "Kulliyyah" ("Kulliyyat", in plural).


text: Since 1987, IIUM has produced more than 70,000 graduates and undergraduates from more than 100 countries around the world. Most of them were from Malaysia.


text: Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad conceived the idea for an international institution of Islamic education in 1982 during a meeting between OIC leaders about the Islamization of knowledge. The idea was shared with the then-minister of education, Sulaiman Daud; the then-director-general of education, Murad Mohamed Nor; and two others. Mohamed Kamal Hassan, then of the National University of Malaysia, along with a senior academic official who attended the meeting, produced the first working paper on the concept of the university.


text: IIUM was once a private university. As the university's language of instruction was not to be Malay but instead English and Arabic, which was initially prohibited by Malaysian law, IIUM was initially incorporated under the currently-repealed Companies Act 1965. However, IIUM was officially made a public university on 23 May 1983, by Section 5A (2) of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, when the university received its establishment order from the then King, Ahmad Shah of Pahang, after an exchange of diplomatic notes of co-sponsorship between the government of Malaysia, seven other governments and OIC.


text: A batch of 153 students from Malaysia and abroad were enrolled for the first academic session, which started on 8 July 1983. Courses were conducted under the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Laws, the Centre for Fundamental Knowledge, and the Centre for Languages. The members of this first batch received their degrees and diplomas during the first convocation held on 10 October 1987. 68 graduates were conferred the degree of Bachelor of Economics, 56 other graduates received the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and 29 Qadhis were conferred Diploma in Law and Administration of Islamic Judiciary.


text: As a public university, IIUM has a ceremonial head called the constitutional head who presides over convocations and serves as the point of reference for all constitutional issues. Equivalent to the chancellor in other public universities, they are appointed by the King on the recommendation of the federal government for a term of seven years.


text: Ahmad Shah of Pahang was the founding constitutional head since 1 July 1983. Before his death, he was replaced by her daughter-in-law, the current Queen, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah. She was made the constitutional head on 12 April 2019 for a five-year term, ending her father-in-law's chancellery in IIUM for 36 years, but the instrument of appointment was only presented to her by the federal government on 17 June 2019.


text: As a federal statutory body, IIUM operates under the supervision of a board of governors, a body that directs and supervises all affairs of the university. The board is chaired by a president who is appointed by the constitutional head on the advice of the federal government for a five-year term. By tradition, the secretary-general of the Ministry of Education is deputy chairman of the board. Other than the president and a deputy chairman, the board comprises 15 members, including the secretary-general of OIC and diplomatic heads of member states, i.e. Bangladesh, Egypt, Libya, the Maldives, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Mohd. Daud Bakar, an Islamic finance expert in Malaysia, sits as the eighth and current president since 1 July 2019.


text: The board of governors is assisted by a senate, a body that provides for academic and student affairs of the university, and a management committee that oversees the day-to-day operation of the university. Both the Senate and the management committee are chaired by a rector who is appointed by the constitutional head on the advice of the federal government for a three-year term.


text: IIUM is headquartered at a 700-acre (2.8 km²) campus at Gombak, Selangor and has six other campuses. Three of campuses are in Kuantan, Pahang, with the Centre for Foundation Studies situated at Gambang, medical-centric campus situated at Bandar Indera Mahkota and clinical campus situated near Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital. Two city campuses are located at Persiaran Duta and Jalan Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, and another campus is located at Bandar Universiti Pagoh, Johor.


text: IIUM has 14 following faculties. Each of them is, in Arabic, called "Kulliyyah" ("Kulliyyat" in plural):


text: There have been, however, other academic centres that are not equivalent to a Kulliyyah but offered pre-university, undergraduate and postgraduate courses:


text: IIUM has online services, such as i-Ma'luum, in which IIUM students can check and organise their personal schedules and information in a centralized online database. IIUM has an e-learning and online community portal (called i-Ta'leem), where students can organise and coordinate their schedules, announcements and activities.


text: IIUM has six libraries. The main library, the Dar al-Hikmah Library, is situated at Gombak Campus together with IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance Library, and satellite libraries are located at Kuantan Campus, Centre for Foundation Studies at Gambang, Kulliyyah of Languages and Management at Pagoh, and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas Library at Kuala Lumpur.


text: IIUM Cultural Centre is the university's biggest centre, used as a venue for the annual convocation ceremony. ICC can be converted to an examination venue. Cultural performances, talks and seminars have been held at the centre.


text: The Azman Hashim Complex is a RM 7-million multipurpose hall and commercial centre that serves the needs of IIUM students. It is also a revenue source for the IIUM Endowment Fund.


text: IIUM has four sport complexes. Two sports complexes are built separately for male and female students at Gombak Campus. Two other sports complexes are situated at Kuantan Campus and Centre for Foundation Studies at Gambang.


text: The students’ residential colleges in IIUM are known as "Mahallah" ("Mahallat", in plural), which is ‘neighbourhood’ in Arabic. IIUM residential colleges are self-contained not only with services but also activities, and are named after the leading companions of the Prophet and the female Mujahidah and Syuhada. Since the early years of its establishment, IIUM has practised full accommodation for its full-time undergraduate students. For postgraduate students, accommodation is provided based on availability of rooms. Priority is given to non-Malaysian students, especially students from the newest intake.


text: Since 2016, IIUM has a teaching hospital called "IIUM Medical Centre" at Kuantan. Other than the teaching hospital, IIUM has a number of clinics and a specialist medical centre which are also at Kuantan, a Health and Wellness Centre at Gombak and a satellite clinic at Centre for Foundation Studies at Gambang.


text: Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Mosque is located at the centre of Gombak Campus. The mosque's main prayer hall has a maximum capacity of 9000 people, with female prayer halls on the second and third levels. The mosque organises lectures, seminars and classes on concepts such as marriage and Janazah management, Tilawah and Tahfiz Al-Qur'an, as well as activities such as Qiyamullail and Tarbiyyah and training for students.


text: IIUM started with 153 students in 1983. Today, approximately 3,000 students enrol each year. There have been, so far, approximately 27,000 students from over 40 Muslim majority countries studying in IIUM, as well as students from non-Muslim majority countries, such as Germany, Finland, China, South Korea, Japan, India, United States of America, Russia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.


text: From 1987 to 2012, 60,785 graduates and postgraduates have completed their studies at IIUM. Out of this, 53,241 were from Malaysia while 7,530 were international students. Having graduates all over the world, IIUM has established alumni chapters in Thailand, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, Maldives, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Singapore. Branches of alumni chapters have also been opened in Turkey, China, Nigeria, the Philippines, Yemen, Brunei, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Gambia, Guinea and the United Arab Emirates.


text: The medium of instruction is English, with Arabic used in courses related to the study of Islamic sciences like theology, jurisprudence and ethics. Basic Arabic is a compulsory course. In addition, basic Malay language is compulsory for international undergraduate students.


text: IIUM is the only public university in Malaysia that requires all of its foundation and undergraduate students to attend Usrah, i.e. Islamic study circle held weekly for the purpose of social, spiritual and intellectual enhancement. Since the establishment of IIUM, Usrah has been a requirement for students to graduate from IIUM. Since 2014, a separate Usrah has been held at residential colleges in addition to centralised Usrah, which is also compulsory to intermediate undergraduate students living in campus.


text: IIUM has been well-known locally and internationally in the field of debate, public speaking and mooting. In 2014, IIUM was ranked tenth out of 440 teams participated in the 35th World Universities Debating Championship. In 2016, IIUM won the United Asian Debating Championship, the Australasian Intervarsity Debate Championship, and the Asian British Parliamentary Championship. In 2017, IIUM was made the runner-up of World Universities Arabic Debating Championship.


text: Other than joining and winning multi-level tournaments, IIUM has been successful in producing quality debaters and orators of Malay, English and Arabic languages, like Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Ameera Natasha Moore, Mubarrat Wassey (for English), Abdul Muiz Mustafa, Mohd. Sharul Nizam Md. Roni (for Malay), Muhammad Nurfirman Mohamed and Muhammad Ikmal Hakimi Mohd. Helni (for Arabic).


text: In the field of research, IIUM have received recognition at regional and international level by winning gold, silver and bronze medals at exhibitions and expos, including PENCIPTA, INPEX, ITEX Geneva and KIPA. IIUM entered the inaugural Proton Green Mobility Challenge 2012 (PGMC) when the University's entry, an electric powered Proton Saga BLM named "Smart Mobility" became the overall champion and also took "Farthest Distance" and "Fastest Two Laps Challenge" award.


text: IIUM was involved in the creation of the Malaysian Shariah Index with collaboration from JAKIM and YADIM which Malaysia will be the first country in the world to adopt it. The index will measure the compliance of eight fields – judiciary, politics, economics, health, education, culture, infrastructure and environment, and social – with “maqasid syariah”, or the intentions of Shariah. The Malaysian Shariah Index was officially launched by the Prime Minister of Malaysia on 10 February 2015.


text: IIUM is considered one of the top five Islamic universities of the world and has been recognized as “The Premier International Islamic Research University” by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. In addition, it is one of the best public universities in Malaysia with a specific mission of Integration, Islamization, Internationalization and Comprehensive Excellence.


title: Claire's

text: Claire's (formerly known as Claire's Boutiques, Claire's Boutique and Claire's Accessories) is an American retailer of accessories, jewelry, and toys primarily aimed toward tween and teen


title: Claire's

text: girls. It was founded in 1961 and is based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The company is primarily owned by Elliott Management and Monarch Alternative Capital, but in 2022 announced plans to go public with an initial public offering.


title: Claire's

text: As of October 27, 2012, Claire's has 3,469 stores in 37 countries. Claire's claims it has done more ear piercings than any other retailer, totaling at over 100 million in 25+ years.


title: Claire's

text: In 1961, Rowland Schaefer founded Fashion Tress Industries, a company that sold wigs and became the world's largest retailer for fashion wigs. In 1973, Fashion Tress acquired Claire's, a 25-store jewelry chain, and began shifting its focus towards a line of fashion jewelry and accessories under the new name, Claire's Accessories, Inc. Claire's Accessories began providing ear piercing services in 1978 and, in 1980, established a Hong Kong-based sourcing office. During the 1980s, Claire's Accessories opened new stores throughout the United States and bought Topkapi, a Japanese chain of 16 stores, in 1989. Claire's Accessories continued acquiring companies in the 1990s, including Bow Bangles — a British chain with 71 stores in England, Wales, and Scotland — in 1995; two American chains, The Icing (85 stores) and Accessory Place (31 stores), in 1996; and Bijoux One, a Swiss chain, in 1998. The Icing would become the company's primary brand for women in their 20s. In 1999, Claire's purchased Cleopatre, a chain in Paris with 42 stores, for $11 million cash, as well the American chain, Afterthoughts. Afterthoughts stores were converted to Icing stores after they were purchased. In 1997, the business changed its name to Claire's. In 2001, claires.com was launched. In 2002, the company purchased the US-based clothing chain Mr. Rags.


title: Claire's

text: Claire's was a publicly-traded company listed on the NASDAQ in 2005, but was taken private by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management in a $3.1 billion leveraged buyout in 2007. In 2008, Claire's consolidated its European operations into one group with headquarters in Birmingham. The first stores in Ukraine were opened in 2010. In 2011, e-commerce operations were launched in the United States, alongside the opening of stores in India and Mexico. In 2012, Claire's expanded its international presence by opening its first stores in China, Italy, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Honduras.


title: Claire's

text: In 2018, Claire's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. But by 2022, Claire’s had exited bankruptcy, announced preliminary sales growth for fiscal year 2021 of 53% on revenue of $1.4 billion, and announced plans for an initial public offering. The company's new strategy involves shuttering stores in underperforming locations in favor of "prestige" malls, as well as setting up kiosk shops within drug and grocery store chains.


title: Claire's

text: Claire's has its Illinois offices in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The facility is a brown brick building off of Interstate 90, near Barrington Road. The building serves as Claire's distribution center and main facility, and all merchandise is routed through this facility. Its products, which, as of 1996, are mainly imported, are distributed and marketed through the Hoffman Estates location. The company's buying, distribution, and marketing divisions are in the Hoffman Estates facility. As of 1996, 236 full-time employees and several temporary employees worked in the facility. Leslie Mann of the "Chicago Tribune" said that the facility "contrasts with Claire's glittery stores in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and Japan." Mann added, "Except for the prototype store in the lobby and the fashion accessories that line the walls of the buyers' offices, the center is unremarkable."


title: Claire's

text: A facility in Wood Dale, Illinois, used to serve the purposes now held by the Hoffman Estates office. In early January 1995, Pfizer sold its Hoffman Estates headquarters building for $7.4 million to Claire's so it could consolidate its operations in Memphis, Tennessee. At the time, the Hoffman Estates office had of space. In 1998, Claire's announced plans to build a two-story office building and a warehouse at the Hoffman Estates site. This would double the total amount of space at the Illinois site.


title: Claire's

text: Its Florida office in Pembroke Pines, Florida, in Greater Miami. The Florida offices are west of the intersection of Flamingo Road and Pines Boulevard. It has of space in its Florida offices. The current CEO for Claire's is Ryan Vero As of 1997 the CEO has his office in Pembroke Pines. In addition, the company's customer service and investor relations divisions are located in the Pembroke Pines offices. In November 1990 Claire's moved its Florida offices from northern Dade County to Pembroke Pines. The former headquarters in Dade County had of space.


title: Claire's

text: Stores are aimed at teens and tweens and have a kids' sections. They average about 1,000 square feet, are typically located in malls and shopping centers, and carry the widest selection of merchandise among Claire's brands. Merchandise is targeted at different age groups ranging from babies to teens. Customers can find earrings, necklaces, bracelets, purses, hair accessories, fashion accessories, stuffed animals, makeup, and licensed merchandise. Stores are merchandised to accommodate different ages, and fashion trends are manipulated to appeal to all ages. Toys "R" Us also included a Claire's section for girls and teens.


title: Claire's

text: In North America, Claire's also operates under the Icing brand, stores targeted toward women aged 19–28. The merchandise has a higher price point and is more mature. Most items are accessories and jewelry, but merchandise also includes items like candles, mineral-based cosmetics, birthday accessories, bachelorette and wedding accessories, and footwear. Icing typically does not offer licensed merchandise.


title: Claire's

text: Claire's sells accessories that are geared towards kids, tweens, teens, and young adults and are meant to imitate high-end fashion trends. Costume jewelry, imitation jewelry of precious gems and materials like pearls and diamonds, branded merchandise that advertise tween musicians, body jewelry, hair accessories, make-up and clothing items are usually available for purchases.


title: Claire's

text: The store's merchandise is often divided into sections. Claire's Club is a line of accessories meant for children under 7 years old, featuring princess-themed jewelry and accessories with children's musicians such as Sophia Grace & Rosie. The rest of the store is for tweens and teens.


title: Claire's

text: Claire's also carries an assortment of seasonal holiday items, such as for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, and Christmas.


title: Claire's

text: Nearly all locations also offer ear piercing, as all staff are fully trained in using the Studex gun. Claire's starts piercing customers at the age of two months with their 8-week immunizations and does not pierce the cartilage of people under 13 years of age. Although the target customers are girls and young women, as fashion trends have changed, the place has become popular for young boys to get their ears pierced as well.


title: Claire's

text: Claire's have been subject to numerous cases of alleged "asbestos presence" in its products. These traces have been found in products containing talcum powder, a naturally occurring silicate substance. Talcum powder has been known to contain traces of asbestos, a recognized human carcinogen.


title: Claire's

text: On March 5, 2019, Claire's stated that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believed some of the company's products may have been contaminated with asbestos. Claire's stated that the FDA had "mis-characterized fibers in the products as asbestos, in direct contradiction to established EPA and USP criterion for classifying asbestos fibers".


title: Claire's

text: On March 11, 2019, the FDA tested more Claire's products, indicating "the possible presence of asbestos". The affected products were sold between October 2016 to March 2019. In response to the FDA claim, Claire's stated they continue to have confidence in the safety of their products, however also issued a voluntary recall and advised consumers to discontinue use.


title: Claire's

text: On May 30, 2019, a JoJo Siwa cosmetic kit was voluntarily recalled due to the FDA warning consumers of "the possible presence of asbestos". The powder eyeshadow element of the kit was affected due to the possible presence of "trace amounts of asbestos fibers". Claire's stated these trace amounts were acceptable by European and Canadian cosmetic regulations, and they had ended the use of talc powder in its products. The company still "continues to have confidence in the safety and composition of its products" and "is not aware of any adverse reactions, injuries or illness caused by the possible presence of asbestos in the recalled products". Siwa posted a video informing her audience Claire's would accept refunds of products new and used, stating she puts her "trust into other people's hands" with her products and was working to recall items from all shelves.


title: Jestha (Nepali calendar)

text: Jestha ( jyeṣṭh) is the second month in Bikram Samwat, the official Nepali calendar. This month starts with May 15 to 14 June of the Western calendar and is 30 days long. The Bikram Sambat originated from the Jonish Samwat.


title: Jestha (Nepali calendar)

text: This month was initially identical to second of Indian calendar month Jyeshta or Bengali calendar month Joishtho, however, due to regional pronunciation it differed later. The name is derived from the Bikram Sambat calendar


The People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF; ) is the naval aviation branch of the People's Liberation Army Navy.


title: People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force

text: Historically, the PLANAF's main role has been to provide the navy's warships with air defense coverage. Part of the coastal defense doctrine was to have naval aircraft protecting the ships, hence the reason why many PLA ships of the 1960s–70s lacked long range anti-aircraft missiles or artillery. During the Sino-Vietnamese War, the PLANAF carried out many successful bombing and airstrike missions against Vietnamese territories, such as in the Spratly Islands. The 1960s saw a series of air combat sorties flown against the Republic of China Air Force. PLANAF pilots have been credited with many major victories over the Taiwanese in these small incidents. Historical aircraft operated by the PLANAF include the J-5, the J-6, and H-5. These aircraft have been retired by the late 1990s.


text: Today, the PLANAF has a strength of around 26,000 personnel and 710 aircraft. It operates similar aircraft to the People's Liberation Army Air Force, including fighters, bombers, strike aircraft, tankers, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, maritime patrol, seaplane, transport, training and helicopter types. The PLANAF has traditionally received older aircraft than the PLAAF and has taken less ambitious steps towards mass modernization. Advancements in new technologies, weaponry and aircraft acquisition were made after 2000. The modern day PLANAF is capable of performing a number of roles, and is quite numerically and technologically adept in anti-ship and air defense operations.


text: Its future is unclear. However, it is certain that as the navy receives more attention, the PLANAF will receive newer aircraft and much more funding, as its significant role in projecting power over the sea is becoming evermore realized. A new transport helicopter, the Z-15, may enter naval service by 2015 as a dedicated medium-sized multi-role shipborne helicopter. This would replace the Z-9C and complement the Ka-28 Helix. In early 2006, an article reported a deal between China and Russia, which sees the PLANAF's acquisition of 40 Ka-29 assault transports, 20+ Ka-31 airborne early warning (AEW) helicopters (mounted with search radar) and up to 20 Be-200 jet amphibians. If the purchase goes ahead, that would represent a major step forward for the PLANAF in terms of capabilities. The Ka-29 may form the first dedicated transport for the marine corps, the Ka-31's powerful radar can serve in over-the-horizon target acquisitions and early warning for Chinese surface ships, and the Be-200 jet amphibian would replace the SH-5 in maritime patrol duties and ASW.


text: As of 2011, SAC is developing its own naval jet, called Shenyang J-15, which first flew in 2009. The Shenyang J-31 may be a future carrier based stealth fighter in the same role as the F-35C.


text: On June 4, 2009, UPI reported that Eastern European sources had reported that preparations had been completed to construct an aircraft carrier at Changxing Island Shipyard. China has also started constructing its own Naval Aviation Testing and Training Complex (NITKA) near Xingcheng.


text: The 67,500 ton ex-Soviet aircraft carrier "Varyag" ("Admiral Kuznetsov" class), which was only 70% completed and floating in Ukraine, was purchased and underwent a long refit. "Varyag" was stripped of any military equipment as well as her propulsion before she was put up for sale. News reports stated that she was being refitted to be returned to operational status. Sea trials of the carrier started in late 2011, and it was commissioned on September 25, 2012, as the "Liaoning".


text: In 2013, PLAN Air Force officer Hue Xsai announced that a second larger and more capable Type 001A aircraft carrier would be domestically produced.


text: In July 2018, Lieutenant General Zhang Honghe of the PLAAF stated that China is developing a new carrier-based aircraft that will replace the J-15 due to four crashes and numerous technical problems. One problem with the aircraft is that it is the heaviest carrier-borne fighter in current operation with an empty weight of 17,500 kg compared to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet's 14,600 kg (though it is less than the F-14 Tomcat's weight of 19,800 kg). Weight problems are compounded when operating off "Liaoning", as its STOBAR launch and recovery method further limits payload capacity.


title: Steel Rain

text: Steel Rain is a 2017 South Korean action thriller film directed by Yang Woo-suk, based on his 2011 webtoon of the same name. The film stars Jung Woo-sung and Kwak Do-won.