2012年乔治亚国会选举

Background.

Protests.

In 2009, opposition parties together held protests to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili accusing him of concentrating power to himself, using riot police to crush opposition rallies in 2007. Again, in 2011 protests seeking the presidents resignation were suppressed.

2010 constitutional amendments.

According to the amendments to the Constitution of Georgia passed on October 15, 2010, the Parliament elected in 2012 will have to form the new government after the new constitution enters into force upon the inauguration of the next president, who was scheduled to be elected in October 2013. The amendments envisage significant reduction of the powers of President in favor of Prime Minister of Georgia and the government. According to another amendment, passed on 1 July 2011, the parliament elected in 2012 will be permanently relocated from Tbilisi to the country's second largest city of Kutaisi.

2010–2011 electoral reform talks.

In November 2010, the United National Movement and several opposition parties launched talks in order to develop a new electoral system. On 27 June 2011, the UNM succeeded in a gaining majority consensus for its proposed electoral system reform, effectively splintering the Group of Eight opposition coalition. Two members of the coalition—the Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM), and the New Rights, as well as two other opposition parties – the National-Democratic Party, and On Our Own—signed a deal with the UNM over the reformed electoral system, envisaging, among other provisions, increase in the number of parliamentary seats up to 190 (83 majoritarian and 107 proportional seats). Six of the former coalition members—National Forum, Our Georgia – Free Democrats (OGFD), Conservative Party, Republican Party, Georgia's Way, and the People's Party—refused to join the deal and unveiled, on July 8, a new alliance, which collapsed on 6 October 2011.

Parties.

Campaign.

The radical opposition party, Democratic Movement – United Georgia, led by Nino Burjanadze, which had refused to join the talks, was behind the May 21–26, 2011 rally, which ended up with the clash with police, leaving four dead.  On 7 October 2011, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the multi-billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who had formerly been on good terms with the authorities, stirred up the political scene of Georgia by unleashing criticism of the Saakashvili government and announcing his intention to establish a political party and to run in the 2012 parliamentary elections. He named the Republican Party, led by David Usupashvili, and Our Georgia – Free Democrats, led by Irakli Alasania, among his future partners. In a written statement, Ivanishvili revealed that, beyond dual Georgian and Russian citizenship, he also had a French passport. As a result, the Georgian civil registry agency ruled his Georgian citizenship had become invalid. According to the law, only Georgian citizens can set up or fund a political party. In May 2012, the parliament voted to allow the European Union citizens to become MPs. On 27 May 2012, Ivanishvili and his Georgian Dream alliance announced the start of the campaign, drawing tens of thousands of supporters in a large anti-government rally in downtown Tbilisi.  Because Ivanishvili was unsatisfied with the format proposed for the country's public TV broadcaster's election debates on September 9 and September 18, his Georgian Dream coalition refused to take part in them - the country's first such events. Ivanishvili would not debate prime minister Vano Merabishvili and would meet only Mikheil Saakashvili, saying: "I respect Vano, but [debates with him] will not work”.

Demonstrations.

After the screening of a video on Maestro TV and Ivanishvili's TV9 channel, showing torture in a Georgian prison, demonstrators called for Saakashvili's resignation. While the video was labeled as having been made by "political motivated persons," the national prosecutor's office announced the arrests of 10 people, including the head of the Prison No.8 in Tbilisi, two deputies and prison guards. The interior minister, Bacho Akhalaia resigned. As well as the Corrections and Legal Assistance Minister, Khatuna Kalmakhelidze, also resigned. Saakashvili said: "Tonight, I tell all the victims of these inhuman actions and the whole nation that the Georgia we have built and we are all building together shall not and will not tolerate such behaviour - in its prisons or anywhere else. Those who committed these crimes will spend long years in jail, as will those who bribed guards to stage these horrors and film them." At a televised meeting later with prime minister Merabishvili, justice minister Zurab Adeishvili, prosecutor-general Murtaz Zodelava and new prisons service chief Giorgi Lortkipanidze, he called for reforms, saying: "This system, the way it is now, should be entirely abolished." It was, he added, "an emergency" and he ordered that patrol police officers should perform prison duties until reforms were enacted.

Foreign support.

The foreign ministers of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania arrived in Georgia on 17 September in support of the democratic process, political reforms in the country and Georgia's "Euro-Atlantic integration." They were due to meet with President Saakashvili, Speaker of Parliament David Bakradze, Secretary of the National Security Council Giga Bokeria, unnamed opposition figures and the EU's electoral Monitoring Mission. This followed a visit by the foreign ministers of Sweden and Poland the previous week in order to discuss preparations for the election with unnamed national leaders and opposition figures.

Electoral observers.

The OSCE electoral observer team's Tonino Picula said on 23 August said his organization's monitors "had seen a growing political polarization in the country. They were particularly concerned by the practice of the State Audit Office of using broad discretionary authority to investigate the legality of individual or party spending and making questionable decisions and imposing harsh penalties without clear or transparent guidelines. The fines levied were disproportionate and apparently being applied in a selective manner mainly targeting one political subject". President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Riccardo Migliori added that "there was little part of Leninism in Georgian electoral campaign, rather than presenting programs, they were trying to destroy their enemies."

Exit polls.

Multiple exit polls displayed varying results, but all showed the Georgian Dream party to be in the lead. The first exit polls in Georgia's parliamentary election were showing a lead for the country's opposition group, the Georgian Dream coalition leaving United National Movement behind. The announcement was met with clapping and cheers at Tbilisi's Freedom Square.  One of the polls was conducted by American company Edison Research, and was ordered by Georgian TV channel Rustavi-2. It showed the opposition with a 51 percent lead, with the ruling party taking only 41 percent of the votes which were given away by voters.  Another poll conducted by the "NGO Voters’ League" showed Georgian Dream with 70 per cent of the votes, and the United National Movement with 25 per cent.

Reactions.

One day after the elections, President Saakashvili conceded that his United National Movement had been defeated. He announced to transfer power to a new government formed by the successful Georgian Dream coalition. Georgian Dream leader Ivanishvili called on the president to resign to avoid a "sort of dual power situation," but took back this demand on the day after. The opposition coalition formed a three-person working group to consult with the outgoing executives over a smooth shift of power. On 4 October, the UNM formed a four-member team to negotiate with the new parliamentary majority.  Georgian Dream activists gathered in front of some District Election Commissions in constituencies were UNM's candidates were leading, according to official preliminary results. The chairman of the Central Election Commission, Zurab Kharatishvili, complained that electoral commissioners had been intimidated. Prominent Georgian Dream politician Irakli Alasania claimed there had been manipulations in some precincts. Representatives of the joint opposition list challenged the official figures and asserted that Georgian Dream had won more seats than announced by the Electoral Commission. However, on 4 October Ivanishvili prompted his supporters to halt their protests in front of District Election Commissions.

International.

Russia - Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on the day after the elections that "information on results of the elections demonstrates the people of that country are looking for changes. If those results become a reality – Georgia’s political landscape will be more versatile. This is only positive, as, most likely, this means more constructive and responsible forces will appear in the parliament. United Russia, being the leading political force in Russia, is ready for a dialogue on future of the Russia-Georgia relations".  Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said "I hope for constructive changes to let us normalise the relations. We will be judging not by statements, but by deeds”. At the same time, he warned Georgia’s new ruling power that Russia was not going to hold any negotiations on the law on "occupied territories", which Georgia adopted following the 2008 South Ossetia war. Lukashevich said that Russia would refer to the "Republic of Abkhazia" and "Republic of Ossetia" and not use the term "occupied territories".  Chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on the CIS and compatriots Leonid Slutsky said "Georgia’s parliament will be managed by people, who oppose the present regime of Mikheil Saakashvili, and there is hope of a positive element in relations between Russia and Georgia."

Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on 1 October 2012. The opposition Georgian Dream coalition of billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili won a majority of seats. President Mikheil Saakashvili conceded his party's loss.

2012年乔治亚国会选举举办于2012年10月1日,是乔治亚1991年自苏联独立以来第七次国会选举。本次选举中毕齐纳·伊万尼什维利率领的乔治亚梦想获得了85个议席,成为乔治亚国会的最大党派。


Components.

The main component of the extracellular fluid (ECF) is the interstitial fluid, or tissue fluid, which surrounds the cells in the body. The other major component of the ECF is the intravascular fluid of the circulatory system called blood plasma. The remaining small percentage of ECF includes the transcellular fluid. These constituents are often called fluid compartments. The volume of extracellular fluid in a young adult male of 70 kg, is 20% of body weight – about fourteen litres.

Interstitial fluid.

The interstitial fluid is essentially comparable to plasma. The interstitial fluid and plasma make up about 97% of the ECF, and a small percentage of this is lymph.  Interstitial fluid is the body fluid between blood vessels and cells, containing nutrients from capillaries by diffusion and holding waste products discharged out by cells due to metabolism. Eleven litres of the ECF is interstitial fluid and the remaining three litres is plasma. Plasma and interstitial fluid are very similar because water, ions, and small solutes are continuously exchanged between them across the walls of capillaries, through pores and capillary clefts.  Interstitial fluid consists of a water solvent containing sugars, salts, fatty acids, amino acids, coenzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, white blood cells and cell waste-products. This solution accounts for 26% of the water in the human body. The composition of interstitial fluid depends upon the exchanges between the cells in the biological tissue and the blood. This means that tissue fluid has a different composition in different tissues and in different areas of the body.  The plasma that filters through the blood capillaries into the interstitial fluid does not contain red blood cells or platelets as they are too large to pass through but can contain some white blood cells to help the immune system.  Once the extracellular fluid collects into small vessels (lymph capillaries) it is considered to be lymph, and the vessels that carry it back to the blood are called the lymphatic vessels. The lymphatic system returns protein and excess interstitial fluid to the circulation.  The ionic composition of the interstitial fluid and blood plasma vary due to the Gibbs–Donnan effect. This causes a slight difference in the concentration of cations and anions between the two fluid compartments.

Transcellular fluid.

Transcellular fluid is formed from the transport activities of cells, and is the smallest component of extracellular fluid. These fluids are contained within epithelial lined spaces. Examples of this fluid are cerebrospinal fluid, aqueous humor in the eye, serous fluid in the serous membranes lining body cavities, perilymph and endolymph in the inner ear, and joint fluid. Due to the varying locations of transcellular fluid, the composition changes dramatically. Some of the electrolytes present in the transcellular fluid are sodium ions, chloride ions, and bicarbonate ions.

Function.

The extracellular fluid provides the medium for the exchange of substances between the ECF and the cells, and this can take place through dissolving, mixing and transporting in the fluid medium. Substances in the ECF include dissolved gases, nutrients, and electrolytes, all needed to maintain life. The ECF also contains materials secreted from cells in soluble form, but which quickly coalesces into fibres (e.g. collagen, reticular, and elastic fibres) or precipitates out into a solid or semisolid form (e.g. proteoglycans which form the bulk of cartilage, and the components of bone). These and many other substances occur, especially in association with various proteoglycans to form the extracellular matrix or the "filler" substance between the cells throughout the body. These substances occur in the extracellular space, and are therefore all bathed or soaked in ECF, without being part of the ECF.

Regulation.

The internal environment is stabilised in the process of homeostasis. Complex homeostatic mechanisms operate to regulate and keep the composition of the ECF stable. Individual cells can also regulate their internal composition by various mechanisms. There is a significant difference between the concentrations of sodium and potassium ions inside and outside the cell. The concentration of sodium ions is considerably higher in the extracellular fluid than in the intracellular fluid. The converse is true of the potassium ion concentrations inside and outside the cell. These differences cause all cell membranes to be electrically charged, with the positive charge on the outside of the cells and the negative charge on the inside. In a resting neuron (not conducting an impulse) the membrane potential is known as the resting potential, and between the two sides of the membrane is about -70 mV.  This potential is created by sodium-potassium pumps in the cell membrane, which pump sodium ions out of the cell, into the ECF, in return for potassium ions which enter the cell from the ECF. The maintenance of this difference in the concentration of ions between the inside of the cell and the outside, is critical to keep normal cell volumes stable, and also to enable some cells to generate action potentials.  In several cell types voltage-gated ion channels in the cell membrane can be temporarily opened under specific circumstances for a few microseconds at a time. This allows a brief inflow of sodium ions into the cell (driven in by the sodium ion concentration gradient that exists between the outside and inside of the cell). This causes the cell membrane to temporarily depolarize (lose its electrical charge) forming the basis of action potentials.  The sodium ions in the ECF also play an important role in the movement of water from one body compartment to the other. When tears are secreted, or saliva is formed, sodium ions are pumped from the ECF into the ducts in which these fluids are formed and collected. The water content of these solutions results from the fact water follows the sodium ions (and accompanying anions) osmotically. The same principle applies to the formation of many other body fluids.  Calcium ions have a great propensity to bind to proteins. This changes the distribution of electrical charges on the protein, with the consequence that the 3D (or tertiary) structure of the protein is altered. The normal shape, and therefore function of very many of the extracellular proteins, as well as the extracellular portions of the cell membrane proteins is dependent on a very precise ionized calcium concentration in the ECF. The proteins that are particularly sensitive to changes in the ECF ionized calcium concentration are several of the clotting factors in the blood plasma, which are functionless in the absence of calcium ions, but become fully functional on the addition of the correct concentration of calcium salts. The voltage gated sodium ion channels in the cell membranes of nerves and muscle have an even greater sensitivity to changes in the ECF ionized calcium concentration. Relatively small decreases in the plasma ionized calcium levels (hypocalcemia) cause these channels to leak sodium into the nerve cells or axons, making them hyper-excitable, thus causing spontaneous muscle spasms (tetany) and paraesthesia (the sensation of "pins and needles") of the extremities and round the mouth. When the plasma ionized calcium rises above normal (hypercalcemia) more calcium is bound to these sodium channels having the opposite effect, causing lethargy, muscle weakness, anorexia, constipation and labile emotions.  The tertiary structure of proteins is also affected by the pH of the bathing solution. In addition, the pH of the ECF affects the proportion of the total amount of calcium in the plasma which occurs in the free, or ionized form, as opposed to the fraction that is bound to protein and phosphate ions. A change in the pH of the ECF therefore alters the ionized calcium concentration of the ECF. Since the pH of the ECF is directly dependent on the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the ECF, hyperventilation, which lowers the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the ECF, produces symptoms that are almost indistinguishable from low plasma ionized calcium concentrations.  The extracellular fluid is constantly "stirred" by the circulatory system, which ensures that the watery environment which bathes the body's cells is virtually identical throughout the body. This means that nutrients can be secreted into the ECF in one place (e.g. the gut, liver, or fat cells) and will, within about a minute, be evenly distributed throughout the body. Hormones are similarly rapidly and evenly spread to every cell in the body, regardless of where they are secreted into the blood. Oxygen taken up by the lungs from the alveolar air is also evenly distributed at the correct partial pressure to all the cells of the body. Waste products are also uniformly spread to the whole of the ECF, and are removed from this general circulation at specific points (or organs), once again ensuring that there is generally no localized accumulation of unwanted compounds or excesses of otherwise essential substances (e.g. sodium ions, or any of the other constituents of the ECF). The only significant exception to this general principle is the plasma in the veins, where the concentrations of dissolved substances in individual veins differ, to varying degrees, from those in the rest of the ECF. However, this plasma is confined within the waterproof walls of the venous tubes, and therefore does not affect the interstitial fluid in which the body's cells live. When the blood from all the veins in the body mixes in the heart and lungs, the differing compositions cancel out (e.g. acidic blood from active muscles is neutralized by the alkaline blood homeostatically produced by the kidneys). From the left atrium onward, to every organ in the body, the normal, homeostatically regulated values of all of the ECF's components are therefore restored.

Interaction between the blood plasma, interstitial fluid and lymph.

The arterial blood plasma, interstitial fluid and lymph interact at the level of the blood capillaries. The capillaries are permeable and water can move freely in and out. At the arteriolar end of the capillary the blood pressure is greater than the hydrostatic pressure in the tissues. Water will therefore seep out of the capillary into the interstitial fluid. The pores through which this water moves are large enough to allow all the smaller molecules (up to the size of small proteins such as insulin) to move freely through the capillary wall as well. This means that their concentrations across the capillary wall equalize, and therefore have no osmotic effect (because the osmotic pressure caused by these small molecules and ions – called the crystalloid osmotic pressure to distinguish it from the osmotic effect of the larger molecules that cannot move across the capillary membrane – is the same on both sides of capillary wall).  The movement of water out of the capillary at the arteriolar end causes the concentration of the substances that cannot cross the capillary wall to increase as the blood moves to the venular end of the capillary. The most important substances that are confined to the capillary tube are plasma albumin, the plasma globulins and fibrinogen. They, and particularly the plasma albumin, because of its molecular abundance in the plasma, are responsible for the so-called "oncotic" or "colloid" osmotic pressure which draws water back into the capillary, especially at the venular end.  The net effect of all of these processes is that water moves out of and back into the capillary, while the crystalloid substances in the capillary and interstitial fluids equilibrate. Since the capillary fluid is constantly and rapidly renewed by the flow of the blood, its composition dominates the equilibrium concentration that is achieved in the capillary bed. This ensures that the watery environment of the body's cells is always close to their ideal environment (set by the body's homeostats).  A small proportion of the solution that leaks out of the capillaries is not drawn back into the capillary by the colloid osmotic forces. This amounts to between 2-4 liters per day for the body as a whole. This water is collected by the lymphatic system and is ultimately discharged into the left subclavian vein, where it mixes with the venous blood coming from the left arm, on its way to the heart. The lymph flows through lymph capillaries to lymph nodes where bacteria and tissue debris are removed from the lymph, while various types of white blood cells (mainly lymphocytes) are added to the fluid. In addition the lymph which drains the small intestine contains fat droplets called chylomicrons after the ingestion of a fatty meal. This lymph is called chyle which has a milky appearance, and imparts the name lacteals (referring to the milky appearance of their contents) to the lymph vessels of the small intestine.  Extracellular fluid may be mechanically guided in this circulation by the vesicles between other structures. Collectively this forms the interstitium, which may be considered a newly identified biological structure in the body. However, there is some debate over whether the interstitium is an organ.

Electrolytic constituents.

Main cations:  Main anions:

Extracellular fluid (ECF) denotes all body fluid outside the cells of any multicellular organism. Total body water in healthy adults is about 60% (range 45 to 75%) of total body weight; women and the obese have a lower percentage than lean men. Extracellular fluid makes up about one-third of body fluid, the remaining two-thirds is intracellular fluid within cells. The main component of the extracellular fluid is the interstitial fluid that surrounds cells.

细胞外液(英语:extracellular fluid,缩写:ECF)通常指位于细胞外的体液,包括血浆以及介于血管和组织细胞之间的组织间液,即组织液(包括淋巴)。细胞外液的总量大约占体重的20%,四分之一存在于血管系统中,其余存在于组织间隙。细胞外液构成了机体封闭的水溶液内环境系统,并与细胞内液一起构成了体液。


Definitions.

According to Martha Nussbaum, a person is objectified if one or more of the following properties are applied to them:  Rae Langton proposed three more properties to be added to Nussbaum's list:

Arguments.

Nussbaum found people's understanding of objectification too simplistic to serve as a normative concept by which people evaluate the moral implications of sexualization of women. Thus, her project is to clarify the concept by testing out the 7 dimensions of objectification and distinguish between benign and harmful forms in different circumstances in relation to sex. Nussbaum has argued that the topic of objectification is not only important to sexuality, which has been discussed at length, but to the Marxist view on capitalism and slavery. Nussbaum argues that potentially not all forms of objectification are inherently negative acts and that objectification may not always be present when one of the seven properties is present.  Immanuel Kant believes that sexual desire is a powerful desire that is necessarily objectifying. When people are sexually aroused, we have an urge to take in and engulf the other person for the purpose of sexual satisfaction. Our sexual desire manifest itself as a denial of autonomy which one wishes to dictate how the other person will behave, so as to secure one's own satisfaction. It is also as a denial of subjectivity that one stop asking how the other person is thinking or feeling, bent on securing one's own satisfaction. Sexual desire is so acute and powerful that it drives out other thoughts that consider the well-being of others and people start to reduce others as a set of bodily parts. Sexual Objectification is a general feature of sexuality that both parties eagerly desire both to be objectifiers and to be objects.  Catherine Mackinnon and Andrea Dworkin adopt Kant's understanding of sex as inherently objectifying but refuse to accept that both are objectifiers and the objectified one. They argue that objectification of men and women as asymmetrical. The way men express sexuality and the way women express sexuality are structured by a larger social and culture context that the power between men and women are unequal. Men express their sexuality in a dominant way by objectifying women while women express their sexuality in submissive way by being objectified or self-objectified. Hence, women are more vulnerable to violability and lack of subjectivity and autonomy. Nussbaum argues that it is important to put male-female sexuality in a more macro-perspective in which Mackinnon and Dworkin ignore the personal histories and psychologies that are equally morally important.

Feminist objectification theory.

The objectification theory as proposed by Barbara Fredrickson and Tomi-Ann Roberts states that the objectification of a woman or a girl can eventually lead to an increased feeling of anxiety or self-awareness. The woman supposedly immediately internalizes the status that the society has given to her and sees this outcome as a primary view of herself.  Fredrickson and Roberts argue that in some way, the objectification of women can even affect the mental health of the female. The perspective of the public imposed on the female body can lead to body monitoring and obsessive eating patterns which will eventually lead into an internal feeling of shame or anxiety. Fredrickson and Roberts argue that influences from the new wave feminists and scholars have put the female body in a sociocultural perspective. This has led to a new dimension of the perspective of the body, however, it has also underemphasized the significance of viewing the female body in a biological as well as a sociocultural perspective. They argue that the one should not be overshadowed by the other, as it is the combined effect that has created a social construction behind the body image.  The objectification theory tries to push the general idea behind the sociocultural analysis of the female body a step further within the psychology of women and gender. As Fredrickson and Roberts state: "Perhaps the most profound and pervasive of these experiences is the disruption in the flow of consciousness that results as many girls and women internalize the culture's practices of objectification and habitually monitor their bodies' appearance."

In social philosophy, objectification is the act of treating a person, or sometimes an animal, as an object or a thing. It is part of dehumanization, the act of disavowing the humanity of others. Sexual objectification, the act of treating a person as a mere object of sexual desire, is a subset of objectification, as is self-objectification, the objectification of one's self. In Marxism, the objectification of social relationships is discussed as "reification".

物化(reification),就是一种客体化(即对象化,objectify),透过社会分工来区分物我,也就是把某些东西当作劳动的对象,是可以被控制、分解、操弄、改变、转型、交换、消费、生产...的东西。人类在劳动中,必须先物化身体,把身体当作劳动工具使用,进而得到劳动的报酬或成果,是一个交易的过程。在这个过程中,不但将报酬与成果物化,成为可以交换而得的东西,自己的身体也必须跟着物化,以便衡量,并以劳力的方式交易出去。有人的地方就有物化,物化是人类生存的必要过程。


Origin of name.

Some people believe that the town of Khambat may be the Camanes of Ptolemy. James Tod believed that the name comes from the Sanskrit Khambavati or 'City of the Pillar'.Nothing could be said conclusively.

History.

Cambay was formerly a flourishing city, the seat of an extensive trade, and celebrated for its manufactures of silk, chintz and gold stuffs. The Arab traveler al-Mas'udi visited the city in 915 AD, describing it as a very successful port; it was mentioned in 1293 by Marco Polo, who, calling it Cambaet, noted it as a busy port. He mentions that the city had its own king. Indigo and fine buckram were particular products of the region, but much cotton and leather was exported through Cambay. In the early 1340s, the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta remarked on its impressive architecture and cosmopolitan population. "Cambay is one of the most beautiful cities as regards the artistic architecture of its houses and the construction of its mosques. The reason is that the majority of its inhabitants are foreign merchants, who continually build there beautiful houses and wonderful mosques -- an achievement in which they endeavour to surpass each other."An Italian traveler, Marino Sanudo, said that Cambeth was one of India's main two ocean ports. Another Italian, visiting in about 1440, Niccolò de' Conti, mentions that the walls of the city were twelve miles in circumference. The Kothi gateway traditioally believed to be constructed by an English factory is in fact a 14th-century gate, probably dating to the 1330s, of Tughluq era.  The Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa visited the city, which he calls Cambaia, in the early sixteenth century. His description of the city is very full. He states:  "Entering by Guindarim [Gandhar port, Bharuch], which is within on the river, there is a great and fair city called Cambaia in which dwell both'mouros' [Muslims] and 'gentios' [Hindus]. Therein are many fair houses, very lofty, with windows and roofed with tiles in our manner, well laid out with streets and fine open places, and great buildings of stone and mortar."(translation of )He describes the city as very busy and affluent, with merchants coming frequently by sea from the world around.  Owing principally to the gradually increasing difficulty of access by water by the silting up of the gulf, its commerce has long since fallen away, and the town became poor and dilapidated. The spring tides rise upwards of 30 ft (10 m) and in a channel usually so shallow that it is a serious danger to shipping. By 1900, the trade was chiefly confined to the export of cotton. The town was celebrated for its manufacture of agate and carnelian ornaments, of reputation, principally in China.  The houses in many instances are built of stone (a circumstance which indicates the former wealth of the city, as the material had to be brought from a very considerable distance); and remains of a brick wall, three miles (five km) in circumference, which formerly surrounded the town, enclose four large reservoirs of good water and three bazaars. To the southeast there are very extensive ruins of subterranean temples and other buildings half-buried in the sand by which the ancient town was overwhelmed. These temples belong to the Jains and contain two massive statues of their deities: one black, the other white. The principal one, as the inscription intimates, is Pariswanath or Parswanath, carved in the reign of the emperor Akbar; the black one has the date of 1651 inscribed.  A few members of Shia community settled in Khambhat during 18th century from Iran. Among these the most known was Nawab Mohammed Jaffar Ali Khan Najamesani and his son Nawab Yavar Ali khan Najamesani. Nawab Yavar Ali khan Najamesani ruled 84 villages when he was crowned as a Nawab. Nawab Yavar Ali Khan was titled Sarkar Sahab (Governing Prince), because he was able to maintain peace and unity. The name Cambay to Khambhat was also given by Nawab Yavar Ali Khan during Pre-independence period. Nawab Yavar Ali Khan passed away in July 1996. His family still lives in Khambhat.

Princely State of Cambay.

Khambat was the capital of Cambay State, a princely state of British India. It was the only state in the Kaira Agency of the Gujarat division of the Bombay Presidency. It had an area of 350 square miles (906 km2). It was founded in 1730, at the time of the dismemberment of the Mughal Empire. The Nawabs of Cambay were descendants of Mumin Khan, the last of the Mughal governors of Gujarat, who in 1742 defeated his brother-in-law Nizam Khan, governor of Khambhat, and established himself there.  The sport of cricket in India was first played in Cambay State in 1721.  In 1780 Cambay was taken by the army of general Goddard Richards, but it was restored to the Marathas in 1783. Finally it was ceded to the British by the Peshwa under the treaty of 1803. The state was provided with a railway in 1901.

Geography and Climate.

Khambhat is at. It has an average elevation of 8 metres (26 feet).  Khambhat has warm and humid climate. It is located on the plains. The land on which Khambhat sits is the silt deposited by Mahi River, so Khambhat has very fertile, wet coastal alluvial soil. The area south of Khambhat is muddy wetlands and then coast line comes. Normally April to June is summer. From July, it rains until September. It has a muggy climate for most of the year except winters. Sometimes Khambhat receives heavy rain, and surrounding areas get affected from floods in the Mahi River. Mid November to January is winter, which results in essentially mild cold during the nights and early mornings with warm noons. Maximum average temperatures are 25 to 30 degrees Celsius and minimum average temperatures are 10 to 12 C. Summer maximum average temperatures are 38 C and minimum around 22 C. In summer, high winds are common. Khambhat coast's tides are among the highest in the world. It runs up to 35 feet.

Demographics.

As of 2001 India census, Khambhat had a population of 80,439. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Khambhat has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 67%. In Khambhat, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Khambhat was well known for Muslim gravestones carved in marble which were exported to various locations along the Indian Ocean rim, including Southeast Asia.  Many here are in the agate business, diamond cutting-polishing & colored stone business (mainly ruby), and have shops which sell eatables and household products. Kite making is another important business in the town among few particular communities. Fishing and salt harvesting are other businesses some particular communities are occupied with.

Transport.

Railway.

Khambhat is connected with Anand(district headquarters) by Railway Line. Total 8 trains depart per day for Anand.

Road.

Khambhat is connected with Tarapur, Dharmaj, Vataman, Petlad, Nadiad, Anand, and Dali by Regional roads.

Additional information.

In May 2001, India's Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Science and Technology division, Murli Manohar Joshi, announced that the ruins of an ancient civilization had been discovered off the coast of Gujarat, in the Gulf of Khambhat. The site was discovered by NIOT while they performed routine pollution studies using SONAR, and was described as an area of regularly spaced geometric structures. It is located 20 km from the Gujarat coast, spans 9 km, and can be found at a depth of 30–40 meters. In his announcement, Joshi represented the site as an urban settlement that pre-dates the Indus Valley Civilization. However, these claims were made without the backing of any experts and have since been debunked by prominent archaeologists.

Khambhat (, ) (Gujarati: ખંભાત), also known as Khambat and Cambay, is a town and the surrounding urban agglomeration in Khambhat Taluka, Anand district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was once an important trading center, but its harbour gradually silted up, and the maritime trade moved to Surat. Khambat lies on an alluvial plain at the north end of the Gulf of Khambhat, noted for the extreme rise and fall of its tides, which can vary as much as thirty feet in the vicinity of Khambat. Khambat is known for its halvasan, sutarfeni and kites (patang), and for sources of oil and gas.

-{zh-cn:肯帕德(Khambhat),旧作康贝(Cambay); zh-tw:肯帕德(Khambhat),旧作康贝(Cambay)}-,是印度西部古吉拉特邦阿嫩德县的一个城镇,曾经是古代西印度的贸易中心。位于肯帕德湾的极北端。公元915年,著名的阿拉伯旅行家马苏第说该市是“一个非常成功的港口”。1293年,马可波罗提到该市是一个繁忙的港口,并且说它有一个自己的国王。此后,意大利人Marino Sanudo、尼科洛·达·康提,葡萄牙人Duarte Barbosa等等都来过这座城市,并且描述了它。《明史》卷326作奇剌泥,泥又作尼:“剌泥而外,有数国,......,曰奇剌泥......,永乐中遣使朝贡”。


艾尔弗雷德·E·史密斯纪念基金会晚宴

History.

Since 1960, when John F. Kennedy (he would become the first Roman Catholic president) and Richard Nixon were speakers, it has been a stop for the two main presidential candidates during several U.S. election years. In 1976, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford spoke; in 1980, Carter and Ronald Reagan; in 1988, George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis; in 2000, Al Gore and George W. Bush; in 2008, Barack Obama and John McCain; in 2012, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney and in 2016, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Since 1945, only two presidents have not spoken at the dinner: Harry Truman and Bill Clinton. Candidates have traditionally given humorous speeches poking fun at themselves and their opponents, making the event similar to a roast. The 2018 dinner raised $3.9 million.  Since 1980, this custom has been affected by friction between the Democratic Party and the Catholic Church over abortion. During the 1980 dinner, Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter was booed. In 1984, Ronald Reagan spoke, but his opponent, Walter Mondale, opted out, saying he needed time to prepare for an upcoming presidential debate. Amy Sullivan suggests that Mondale's decision was motivated by "tensions between the Catholic Church and the Democratic Party." In 1996 and 2004, the Archdiocese of New York chose not to invite the presidential candidates. In 1996, this was reportedly because Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor was angry at Democratic nominee Bill Clinton for vetoing a bill outlawing some late-term abortions. The organizers' explanation was that the candidates had been unable to commit to attending the dinner. The vice-presidential candidates spoke instead. In 2004, Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling explained that the candidates were not invited because "the issues in this year's campaign could provoke division and disagreement," but some speculated that the decision was due to Democratic nominee (and Roman Catholic) John Kerry's pro-choice stance on abortion.  On October 20, 2016, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump spoke at the dinner which was hosted by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan who was seated between the two presidential candidates during the event. The 2016 dinner drew 10.3 million viewers and raised a record-breaking $6 million for Catholic charities.

In media.

During the 2000 dinner, George W. Bush joked, "This is an impressive crowd. The haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base." The quote was used in "Fahrenheit 9/11" and subsequently in one of John Kerry's 2004 campaign speeches.  The dinner was the subject of an episode of "The West Wing" titled "The Al Smith Dinner".

The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, commonly known as the Al Smith Dinner, is an annual white tie dinner in New York City, United States, to raise funds for Catholic charities supporting children of various needs in the Archdiocese of New York. Held at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on the third Thursday of October, it is hosted by the Archbishop of New York while organized by the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation in honor of Al Smith who grew up in poverty and later became the Governor of New York four times and the first Catholic nominated as the Democratic candidate for the 1928 United States presidential election.

艾尔弗雷德·E·史密斯纪念基金会晚宴(英语:Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner),通常称为阿尔·史密斯晚宴(英语:Al Smith Dinner),是为帮助儿童的天主教慈善机构筹款的年度白领结晚宴,于每年十月的第三个星期四在纽约华道夫-阿斯多里亚酒店举行。晚宴由艾尔弗雷德·E·史密斯纪念基金会主办,以纪念原纽约州州长、美国首位天主教总统候选人阿尔·史密斯。主持人为天主教纽约总教区总主教(现任总主教为蒂莫西·麦可·多兰枢机)。


Sizes.

The ruan comes in a family of five sizes:  The "ruan" is now most commonly used in Chinese opera and the Chinese orchestra, where it belongs to the plucked string (弹拨乐 or chordophone) section.

Playing techniques and usage.

The instrument can be played using a plectrum similar to a guitar pick (formerly made of animal horn, but today often plastic), or using a set of two or five acrylic nails that are affixed to the fingers with adhesive tape. Mainstream "ruan" players use plectrums, though there are some schools which teach the fingernail technique, similar to that of the "pipa". "Pipa" players who play "ruan" as a second instrument also often use their fingernails. Plectrums produce a louder and more clear tone, while fingernails allow the performance of polyphonic solo music. The instrument produces a mellow tone.  In Chinese orchestras, only the "zhongruan" and "daruan" are commonly used, to fill in the tenor and bass section of the plucked string section. Occasionally the "gaoyinruan" is used to substitute the high-pitched "liuqin".  "Daruan" soloists generally use the D-A-D-A tuning, as it allows for the easy performance of diatonic chords. Some orchestral players tune to C-G-D-A, which is exactly the same as cello tuning. The advantage of using C-G-D-A in orchestras is so that the "daruan" can easily double the cello part.  A "ruan" ensemble (重奏) consists of two or more members of the "ruan" family, for instance, an ensemble of the "xiaoruan", "zhongruan" and "daruan". The wide range covered by the "ruan", its easily blended tone quality, and the variety of soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass instruments all make "ruan" ensembles very effective in playing polyphonic music.

History.

"Ruan" may have a history of over 2,000 years, the earliest form may be the "qin pipa" (秦琵琶), which was then developed into "ruanxian" (named after Ruan Xian, 阮咸), shortened to "ruan" (阮). In old Chinese texts from the Han to the Tang dynasty, the term "pipa" was used as a generic term for a number plucked chordophones, including "ruan", therefore does not necessarily mean the same as the modern usage of "pipa" which refers only to the pear-shaped instrument. According to the "Pipa Annals" 《琵琶赋》 by Fu Xuan (傅玄) of the Western Jin Dynasty, the "pipa" was designed after revision of other Chinese plucked string instruments of the day such as the Chinese zither, "zheng" (筝) and "zhu" (筑), or "konghou" (<unk>篌), the Chinese harp. However, it is believed that "ruan" may have been descended from an instrument called "xiantao" (弦鼗) which was constructed by labourers on the Great Wall of China during the late Qin Dynasty (hence the name "Qin pipa") using strings stretched over a pellet drum.  The antecedent of "ruan" in the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC), i.e. the "Qin pipa", had a long, straight neck with a round sound box in contrast to the pear-shape of "pipa" of later dynasties. The name of "pipa" is associated with "tantiao" (彈挑), a right hand techniques of playing a plucked string instrument. "Pi" (琵), which means "tan" (彈), is the downward movement of plucking the string. "Pa" (琶), which means "tiao" (挑), is the upward movement of plucking the string.  The present name of the "Qin pipa", which is ""ruan"", was not given until the Tang Dynasty (8th century). During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian (武則天) (about 684-704 AD), a copper instrument that looked like the "Qin pipa" was discovered in an ancient tomb in Sichuan (四川). It had 13 frets and a round sound box. It was believed that it was the instrument which the Eastern Jin (東晉) musician Ruan Xian (阮咸) loved to play. Ruan Xian was a scholar in the Three Kingdoms Eastern Jin (三國東晉) Dynasty period (3rd century). He and other six scholars disliked the corruption government, so they gathered in a bamboo grove in Shanyang (山陽, now in Henan [河南] province). They drank, wrote poems, played music and enjoyed the simple life. The group was known as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (竹林七賢). Since Ruan Xian was an expert and famous in playing an instrument that looked like the "Qin pipa", the instrument was named after him when the copper "Qin pipa" was found in a tomb during the Tang Dynasty. The "ruan" was used to be called "ruanxian" (阮咸), but today it is shortened to "ruan" (阮).  Also during the Tang Dynasty, a "ruanxian" was brought to Japan from China. Now this "ruanxian" is still stored in Shosoin of the Nara National Museum in Japan. The "ruanxian" was made of red sandalwood and decorated with mother of pearl inlay. The ancient "ruanxian" shows that the look of today's "ruan" has not changed much since the 8th century.  Nowadays, although the "ruan" was never as popular as the "pipa", the "ruan" has been divided into several smaller and better-known instruments within the recent few centuries, such as "yueqin" ("moon" lute, 月琴) and "qinqin" (Qin [Dynasty] lute, 秦琴). The short-necked "yueqin", with no sound holes, is now used primarily in Beijing opera accompaniment. The long-necked "qinqin" is a member of both Cantonese (廣東) and Chaozhou (潮州) ensembles.  The famed Tang poet Bai Juyi (白居易) once penned a poem about the "ruan", entitled 和令狐撲射小欽聽阮咸:

Ruan and Pipa.

A small "pipa" was found in murals of tombs in Liaoning (遼寧) province in northeastern China. The date of these tombs is about late Eastern Han (東漢) or Wei (魏) period (220-265 AD). However, the pear-shaped "pipa" was not brought to China from Dunhuang (敦煌, now in northwestern China) until the Northern Wei period (386-524 AD) when ancient China traded with the western countries through the Silk Road (絲綢之路). Evidence was shown on the Dunhuang Caves frescoes that the frescoes contain a large number of pipa, and they date to 4th to 5th century.  During the Han period (206 BC-220 AD), Lady Wang Zhaojun (王昭君, known as one of the Four Beauties [四大美人] in ancient China) departed mainland to the west and married the Grand Khan of the Huns. The marriage was meant to maintain peace between the two ancient countries. On her way to the west, she carried a "pipa" on the horse. Looking back today, her "pipa" must have been a ruan-type instrument with a round sound box, since the pear-shaped "pipa" was not brought to China until the Northern Wei Dynasty after the Han Dynasty. However, in almost all the portraits and dramas, Lady Zhaojun's "pipa" is displayed inaccurately. The "pipa" is usually shown with a pear-shaped sound box (as in today's "pipa"), rather than a round sound box.  Note that the frets on all Chinese lutes are high so that the fingers never touch the actual body—distinctively different from western fretted instruments. This allows for a greater control over timbre and intonation than their western counterparts, but makes chordal playing more difficult.

"Laruan" (bowed "ruan").

In addition to the plucked "ruan" instruments mentioned above, there also exist a family of bowed string instruments called "lāruǎn" and "dalaruan" (literally "bowed "ruan"" and "large bowed "ruan""). Both are bowed bass register instruments designed as alternatives to the "gehu" and "diyingehu" in large orchestras of Chinese traditional instruments. These instruments correspond to the cello and double bass in range. Chinese orchestras currently using the "laruan" and "dalaruan" include the China National Traditional Orchestra and Central Broadcasting National Orchestra, the latter formerly conducted by the late maestro Peng Xiuwen (彭修文).

Repertoire.

A famous work in the zhongruan repertoire is the "zhongruan" concerto "Reminiscences of Yunnan" 《云南回忆》 by Liu Xing (刘星, b. China, 1962), the first full-scale concerto for the "zhongruan" and the Chinese orchestra. This work finally established the "zhongruan" as an instrument capable of playing solo with the Chinese orchestra.  Some works for the "ruan":  Some of Lin Jiliang's compositions for the ruan:  Some of Liu Xing's compositions for the ruan:  Some of Ning Yong's compositions for the ruan:

The ruan () is a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute with a fretted neck, a circular body, and four strings. Its four strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th century they have been made of steel (flatwound for the lower strings). The modern "ruan" has 24 frets with 12 semitones on each string, which has greatly expanded its range from a previous 13 frets. The frets are commonly made of ivory or in recent times of metal mounted on wood. The metal frets produce a brighter tone as compared to the ivory frets. It is sometimes called "ruanqin", particularly in Taiwan.

阮,又名阮咸、阮琴,中国的拨弦乐器,得名于西晋“竹林七贤”中的阮咸。古代,此种乐器被称为秦琵琶,后因曲项琵琶传入,占用了“琵琶”这一名称,才以擅长演奏这种乐器的阮咸为名。近代,阮咸得到了许多改革,现代阮音色中正浑厚,依其形制不同而有高音阮、小阮、中阮、大阮、低音阮,甚至拉阮(倍低音阮) 的出现,广泛使用于独奏及合奏。如同笙在国乐团吹管乐器中扮演的角色,阮以其出色的音响融合性和便于演奏和声的长处,在国乐团弹拨乐器中占有一席之地。


History.

During the Second World War, Japanese soldiers relied on bolt-action type rifles. However, guns were getting scarce and their main military opponent, the United States, had replaced their bolt weapons with modern semi-automatic rifles. At the same time, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were also developing their own semi-automatic weapons, such as the SVT-40 and Gewehr 43 which would give them great advantage on the battlefield. This pressured Japan to find a quick way to cope with their military disadvantage. Instead of designing and investing in a new weapon from scratch, they opted to copy the American M1 Garand. Initially, the Japanese experimented with re-chambering captured American M1 rifles, since the 7.7 Japanese cartridge is dimensionally similar to the.30-06. They found that while the Garand could chamber, fire, and cycle with the 7.7 ammunition, the en-bloc clip system was incompatible with the cartridge and would not feed reliably. Instead the Japanese designers reverse engineered the M1 and discarded the en-bloc clip, replacing it with a fixed internal 10 round magazine charged by two 5 round Arisaka Type 99 stripper clips.  Japan had previously developed semi-automatic service rifles, but none of them had been viewed as successful or of trustworthy quality. The design work for the Type 4 began in 1944. The rifle was meant to be mass-produced in 1945. However, the Japanese defeat in the war in August halted its manufacturing. At the time, only 100 guns were completed out of the 250 in the workshop. Twenty of them were taken by the Allies at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on Honshu after the end of the war.  Today, the Japanese Garand is a rarity. An example of this rifle can be found in the US National Firearms Museum, in the World War II section.

Variants.

According to the Japanese version of this article there was a Navy variant and an Army variant, the differences are not listed.

The Type 4 Rifle, often referred to as the Type 5 Rifle, (Japanese: 四式自動小銃 "Yon-shiki Jidōshōju") was a Japanese experimental semi-automatic rifle. It was based on the American M1 Garand with an integral 10-round magazine and chambered for the Japanese 7.7×58mm Arisaka cartridge. Where the Garand used an en-bloc clip, the Type 4's integral magazine was charged with two 5-round stripper clips and the rifle also used Japanese-style tangent sights. The Type 4 had been developed alongside several other experimental semi-automatic rifles. However, none of the rifles entered into service before the end of World War II, with only 250 being made, and many others were never assembled. There were several problems with jamming and feed systems, which also delayed its testing.

为一种日本制实验型半自动步枪。其为美国M1加兰德步枪的复制品,但使用内建的10发弹匣,并发射日式7.7×58毫米有坂子弹。两者间的差异还包括四式的内建弹仓是以两个5发装弹夹条装填,而且它还使用日式切线瞄准器;而加兰德步枪则使用8发块状漏夹,在子弹打光后会“呯”一声自动弹出。四式是与其他实验型半自动步枪一同开发的。不过,没有任何一把四式步枪在第二次世界大战结束前能够投入战场,到战争结束前只有250把制作完成,以及其他尚未组装完的步枪。四式亦有卡弹及给弹系统的缺陷,这些问题也延迟了它的测试。


Hartvig Nissen School.

The series focuses on the daily life of teenagers at the Hartvig Nissen School ("Hartvig Nissens skole"), a prestigious gymnasium (preparatory high school) located in the Frogner borough in Oslo's West End, with the address Niels Juels gate (Niels Juel Street) 56. The school is informally and widely known simply as "Nissen." Originally named Nissen's Girls' School, it was founded by Hartvig Nissen in 1849 as a private girls' school which was owned by its headmasters and which served the higher bourgeoisie. It is the second oldest gymnasium in Oslo and is widely considered one of the country's most prestigious; its alumni include many famous individuals and two members of the Norwegian royal family. The school was the first higher school in Norway which admitted women.

Concept.

At the start of a week, a clip, conversation or social media post is posted on the "Skam" website. New material is posted on a daily basis, with the content unified and combined into one full episode on Fridays. The main character differs from season to season, and the fictional characters have social media profiles where viewers can follow their activities. The show allows public interaction over the duration of the episode. The format has since been used in other NRK P3 series, and.

Characters.

The following are characters in "Skam". In season one, David Alexander Sjøholt was credited as playing a character called David, though his name was never spoken in the show. This could be the character Magnus or Sjøholt was playing a different student. Sjøholt also makes an uncredited appearance in the last episode of season two.  In season three, Mikael appears uncredited in a video Isak finds on the Internet of Even.

Episodes.

Season 1.

The first clip from season 1 was made available on Tuesday, 22 September 2015, with the combined clips during the week premiering as a full episode on Friday, 25 September 2015. The season consists of 11 episodes; the main character is Eva Mohn. The storyline deals with Eva's difficult relationship with her boyfriend Jonas and the themes of loneliness, identity, belonging and friendship.

Season 2.

The first clip from season 2 was made available on Monday, 29 February 2016, with the combined clips during the week premiering as a full episode on Friday, 4 March 2016. The season consists of 12 episodes; the main character is Noora Amalie Sætre. The season is about her relationship with William and deals with issues of friendship, feminism, eating disorder, self-image, violence, sexual violence and the contemporaneous refugee crisis in relation to Norwegian democracy.

Season 3.

The first clip from season 3 was made available on Sunday, 2 October 2016, with the combined clips during the week premiering as a full episode on Friday, 7 October 2016. The season consists of 10 episodes; the main character is Isak Valtersen. The season deals with Isak's burgeoning relationship with Even Bech Næsheim and is principally a coming out story that deals with issues of love, sexual identity, authenticity, mental illness, religion and friendship.

Season 4.

The first clip from season 4 was made available on Monday, 10 April 2017, with the combined clips during the week premiering as a full episode on Friday, 14 April 2017. The season consisted of 10 episodes, and the main character is Sana Bakkoush. The season deals with the Islamic religion, forbidden love, cyberbullying, friendship, and the Norwegian russ celebratory period.  The series finale episode switches character clip-to-clip, focusing on short stories by characters not given their own, full season. The episode deals with parental depression, love rejection, jealousy, friendship, mutual relationship support, and fear of abandonment.

Production.

Julie Andem created "Skam". In an interview with "Rushprint" in April 2016, Andem discussed production of the series. Originally developed for 16-year-old girls, Andem made use of the "NABC" production model ("Needs/Approach/Benefit/Competition"), and instead of collecting information from a vast amount of sources, she had extensive, hours-long interviews with a single representative to uncover what needs that specific target audience had in order to cover that story. In contrast to American shows, which were the primary competition for shows attracting attention from teenagers, Andem stated that she had one advantage; knowing who the audience were and what culture they grew up in. One major area of exploration Andem found through research was pressure; she stated that "the pressure to perform is very high for this target audience. They strive to perform in so many ways. That's fine, and it doesn't necessarily have to be dangerous or unhealthy. But what is unhealthy is that many feel like they can't live up to the demands, and therefore feel that they failed. They are comparing themselves to each other, not themselves. And then a thought occurred: How to get them to let go of the pressure through a series like "Skam"". Andem wanted the show to be a combination of social realism, soap opera, and sitcom, transitioning between the genres as the scenes switch, for example from the comical scenes of a doctor's office to the make-out scenes on the stairs. She admitted it didn't always work, saying that one particular scene change in episode 5 of season 1 from the stairs to the doctor's office was "a dramatic jump", and elaborated that "in a later scene, I told the photographer that we maybe should try to go a little closer. But we didn't get the humor, so: fuckit, we'll shoot sitcom-ish and blend the genres."  Andem created nine characters, without any backstory. Everyone was supposed to be able to lead a season, and the show was going to switch character season-to-season. 1,200 people auditioned for the roles in the first round of casting. As production started, Andem wrote scripts for the shows, and there was no improvisation. "A lot of people think much of the show is improvised. It's not. A lot is written for the actors. And before and after a scene, I'll wait for a while before I say thank you and let them play a little in the scene. If a scene doesn't work, we'll fix it and see what in the script doesn't work." Production had a short deadline, with scripts written in three days, one-and-a-half days to shoot, and four-to-five days to edit. "The plan must be there, and we just have to finish through". The series' use of real-time was planned from early on, and Andem wrote the series in episodic format, although the content also had to work for daily releases, including a cliffhanger ending in each scene. Andem read the comments for each day, and looked for feedback from the audience on how to end each season while still keeping her original plans in some way.  As the series premiered, there was little or no promotion for the show, due to the production's and NRK's wish for teenagers to find it on their own, spread the news through social media, and avoid the older generation even noticing the series. There were no launch interviews, no reviews, and the actors were shielded from the media, with NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet saying that "We want most of the focus to be on the show. These actors are very young, I think it's good they're being shielded a little. They do also notice the popularity of the series".  The Norwegian newspaper "Dagbladet" reported in December 2016 that the production of seasons 2 and 3 of "Skam" had cost a combined sum of NOK10 million. NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet stated: "For being a drama of high quality, "Skam" is a very cost-efficient production."  In December 2016, the series was renewed for a fourth season. In early April 2017, it was announced that the first clip from the fourth season would premiere on 10 April, and that it would be the last season of the series. NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet stated that the making of "Skam" had been "an extreme sport", and in an Instagram post, creator, writer and director Julie Andem wrote that ""Skam" has been a 24/7 job. It has also been amazingly fun to work on, and I really believe that has given the series a unique energy, and ensured that "Skam" continues to surprise and entertain. We recently decided that we won't be making a new season this fall. I know many of you out there will be upset and disappointed to hear this, but I'm confident this is the right decision."  On 23 June 2017, one day before the series finale, the entire cast officially met the press before the series' wrap party, answering questions from fans around the world and describing their experiences and memories from production. It was notably the first time all the actors were allowed to break their silence and speak to the public.  On 9 December 2018, NRK published the first of four official blooper reels from the series. The 9 December release featured never-before-seen content from the first season, with the remaining three blooper videos released throughout the following week.

Other media.

Adaptations.

In December 2016, Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment production company signed a deal with NRK to produce an American version of the series, then-titled "Shame". Development of the series continued in the following months, with a title change to "SKAM Austin", casting calls taking place, and the announcement that "Austin" would air on Facebook's "Facebook Watch" original video platform, the series also airs on the original's series network, NRK. It premiered in April 2018, and has been renewed for a second season.  In April 2017, the Danish theatre Aveny-T was reported to have acquired exclusive rights to produce a stage version of "Skam". Four different performances will be made, one for each season, with the first show having taken place in Copenhagen on 15 September 2017, and the remaining three performances produced once a year through the year 2020.  In September 2017, French entertainment website "AlloCiné" reported on the imminent production of a French remake of the series.  In October 2017, "Variety" and "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that local adaptations of "Skam" would be produced in five European countries; Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. NRK CEO Thor Gjermund Eriksen said in a statement that "We are very excited about the tremendous interest that "Skam/Shame" has generated outside of Norway. The creators of "Skam" aimed to help 16-year-old-girls strengthen their self-esteem through dismantling taboos, making them aware of interpersonal mechanisms and showing them the benefits of confronting their fears. This is a vision we are proud to bring to other countries". "Variety" notes that each local production will be required to do its own local research into the dilemmas and dreams of its teenagers, rather than copying the original Norwegian production. In October 2018, Belgium began airing its own adaptation. On April 3, 2019, the educational Swedish broadcasting channel, began broadcasting the first seasons of Druck (as Skam Deutschland), Skam España, and Skam France.  Having achieved success, multiple remakes have been renewed for additional seasons, progressing in development at different speeds.

Counterparts.

"Skam Italia" switch the order of the season main characters compared to other productions, such that Martino (Isak's counterpart) is the main character of season 2 and Eleonora (Noora's counterpart) is the main character of season 3. "Druck" is set to introduce a new generation of characters.

Books.

In September 2018, Julie Andem announced on her Instagram account that, in coordination with Norwegian book publishing company Armada Forlag, four "Skam" books, one for each season of the series, would be released to the public, including original, unedited manuscripts, featuring scenes that were never filmed, lines that were later cut, as well as Andem's personal comments and thoughts. The first book, focusing on season one, was made available for purchase on the day of the announcement, on Monday, 3 September 2018. In the press release from Armada Forlag, Andem said that "Releasing these unedited scripts, including typos and nerd comments, is right at the edge of my comfort zone", while adding that "I hope people think it's fun to read the scripts, and that maybe someone gets inspired to write themselves". Jonas Forsang, chairman of Armada Forlag, said that "This is not just TV-history, this is major literature". Norwegian press company "Aftenposten" noted at the time that the timeline for the release of the three remaining books was unclear.  A few days later, Andem signed a book contract with Swedish publishing company Salomonsson Agency, which included rights for the agency to distribute the "Skam" books outside of Norway. CEO Julia Angelin told "Verdens Gang" that "We are incredibly proud to be working with the genius Julie Andem. She has changed the entire Scandinavian culture", and added that "It will be incredibly fun to build her career as an author with this unique project. We have only seen the beginning". The report from "Verdens Gang" also stated that the first book had been sold "at record tempo" since its release just three days earlier, and that all four "Skam" books will be released before the 2018 Christmas holiday period. Andem told the publication that "The "Skam" fans are, as I've expressed before, "the coolest fanbase on earth". And they are always very enthusiastic and thankful. That is nice and moving". A later update to the same article clarified that the book had "already" been distributed to Finland and Sweden, without details of further distribution. Website "Books From Norway", which provides English-language information on Norwegian literature, states that rights for international book release have also been sold to Denmark through the Høst & Søn agency, Italy through the Giunti agency, Poland through the Rebis agency, and Russia through the Popcorn Books agency, though the website doesn't specify release dates.

Distribution.

In Norway, the series is available on the radio channel NRK P3's website, and on the web television solution NRK TV. The weekly episodes are also aired on Fridays on TV channel NRK3. The series has been licensed to air as a Nordvision co-production by public service broadcasters in other Nordic countries, specifically:

Reception.

Norway and Nordic countries.

In Norway, on average, about 192,000 viewers watched the first season, with the first episode being one of the most viewed of all time on NRK TV online. In the first week of June 2016, streaming of "Skam" was responsible for over half of the traffic on NRK TV. Following the release of the third-season finale, NRK stated that the second season had an average audience of 531,000, while the third season broke all streaming records on its NRK TV service with an average audience of 789,000 people. The trailer for the fourth season, released on 7 April 2017, was watched by 900,000 people within four days. During the start of the fourth season, 1.2 million unique users had visited "Skam"s website, and the first episode had been watched by 317,000 people. NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet told "Verdens Gang" that "We see that there is high traffic and high interest for season 4. Since the end of the season we have seen a pattern around viewer interest. We lie high in the first week and towards the end of the season when the drama kicks in." In May 2017, NRK published a report on 2016 viewing statistics, writing that the third season broke both the streaming record for a series on NRK TV and for streaming of any series in Norway.  An October 2016 "Aftenposten" report detailed that "Skam" had become popular in Sweden, with "well over 5000" viewers with Swedish IP addresses watching the episodes, not counting the individual clips. A later report from "Verdens Gang" in January 2017 stated that "Skam" had "broken all records" in Sweden, with over 25 million plays on SVT Play. Following the series' licensing deal for broadcasting in Denmark, the series broke records in January 2017, with the show's first episode scoring 560,000 viewers on DR TV. In Finland, the first episode had more than 130,000 views by the end of February 2017, two and half months after its release, described by Yle audience researcher Anne Hyvärilä as "quite exceptional".  "Skam" has received critical acclaim. The newspaper "NATT&DAG" selected it as the best TV series of 2015. In its second season, Kripos, Norway's National Criminal Investigation Service, praised the series' handling of sexual abuse, including the girls' encouraging the victim, Noora, to go to the emergency room to explain the situation and gather evidence of the abuse, and Noora confronting her abuser with relevant laws he has broken to prevent the sharing of photographs showing her naked. The National Center for Prevention of Sexual Assault also praised the portrayal, adding that they wish for the series to become a syllabus in schools. In the third season, Martine Lunder Brenne of "Verdens Gang" praised the theme of homosexuality and wrote that "I praise it first and foremost because young homosexual people, both in and outside the closet, finally get some long-awaited and modern role models. It doesn't matter if it's a character in a fictional drama - right now, "Skam" is Norway's coolest show". In the fourth season, Christopher Pahle of "Dagbladet" praised a conversation about religion, writing: "two young people, with Muslim backgrounds, have a reflected, respectful and enlightening conversation about religion without arguing or taking it to the trenches. Think about that. They pick flowers and dribble a ball, and even if they don't necessarily convince each other, that's not the purpose either. The point is that they understand each other".  "Skam" has been recognised for its contributions to promote Norwegian language and culture, and to foster affinity between Nordic countries. In December 2016, the Nordic Association awarded "Skam" the annual Nordic Language Prize for its ability to engage a young Nordic audience, connecting with young people across the Nordic region and fostering positive attitudes about the region's neighbouring languages. In April 2017, "Skam" and its creator Julie Andem were awarded the Peer Gynt Prize, an award given to a person or institution that has had a positive impact on society and made Norway famous abroad.  In June 2017, just prior to the show's ending, "Aftenposten" published a report featuring interviews with many well-known Norwegian television creators, writers and directors, all praising "Skam" showrunner Julie Andem for her creative work on the show. Praise was directed at the series' "unpolished" nature, her ability to maintain "such a high level of quality over a long period of time", the series' blend of different sexualities and ethnicities and use of dialogue to resolve issues, and the show's compassion, thereby its ability to truly capture its generational audience.  The show's series finale received positive reviews. Vilde Sagstad Imeland of "Verdens Gang" praised the final clip for being a "worthy and emotional ending". Cecilie Asker of "Aftenposten" wrote that "The very last episode of "Skam" leaves us with a big sorrow, a sore loss, and a craving for more. It couldn't have been better."  On 1 July 2017, during the celebration of Oslo Pride, "Skam", its creator Julie Andem, and actors Tarjei Sandvik Moe, Henrik Holm and Carl Martin Eggesbø were awarded the "Fryd" award, an award given to persons or organizations that break the norms in gender and sexuality in a positive manner.  In February 2018, Prince William and his wife Catherine, members of the British royal family, visited the Hartvig Nissen school to meet with the cast and learn more about "Skam", its impact on the actors' lives and to discuss youth and mental health.

International success.

Starting with season three, the show attracted an international audience, and NRK was therefore heavily asked to add English subtitles to the "Skam" episodes online. The requests were declined due to the license for the music presented throughout the series being restricted to a Norwegian audience, and that easy availability outside Norway would violate the terms of NRK's license agreements. An attorney for NRK elaborated that YouTube videos featuring more than 50% original Skam content would be automatically removed. When denied official subtitling, fans started making their own translations of the episodes into several world languages, greatly expanding the online fanbase. Norwegian viewers were quick to share translated clips quickly after availability through Google Drive, and also started blogs to cover additional material and language courses to explain Norwegian slang.  By the end of 2016, "Skam" had been trending globally several times on Twitter and Tumblr, and its Facebook, Instagram and Vine presence grew rapidly. On social media, fandoms developed creative paintings, screensavers, phone covers, and fan videos. Filming locations, including Sagene Church, and the Hartvig Nissen school, were visited by fans, and the actors were receiving worldwide attention. After being featured in an episode in the third season, Gabrielle's song "5 fine frøkner" saw a 3,018 percent increase in listening on Spotify, with over 13 million streams and, at one point, rising to eighth place on the Swedish top music rankings. Its social media popularity continued into its fourth season in April 2017, with over 20,000 tweets containing #skamseason4 registered in 24 hours at the time of season four's first clip, a substantial portion of which originated from the United States.  In January 2017, "Skam" was geoblocked for foreign viewers. NRK attorney Kari Anne Lang-Ree stated that "NRK has a right to publish content to the Norwegian audience and foreign countries. The music industry is reacting to the fact that many international viewers are listening to music despite NRK not having international licensing deals. NRK takes the concerns from the music industry seriously. We are in dialogue with [the music industry] to find a solution". NRK stated that "We want to thank our international fans and followers who have embraced "SKAM". We are blown away by your dedication – it is something we never expected. That is why it hurts to tell you guys that due to a necessary clarification with the music right holders, "SKAM" will until further notice not be available outside Norway. We are working hard to figure out how to solve this issue so that the fans can continue to enjoy "SKAM" from where they are". When the fourth season premiered in April, the geoblock was removed for Nordic countries.  The series has received significant attention from international media publications for its unique distribution model of real-time snippet-based information.  Anna Leszkiewicz of "New Statesman" posted in March 2017 that she considered "Skam" "the best show on TV", highlighting the second season's handling of sexual assault. She praised the series for avoiding "shocking, gratuitous rape scenes", instead focusing on a single hand gesture by abuser Nico as a sign of predatory behavior. However, Leszkiewicz criticized the show for taking the "escape route", in which Noora finds the courage to speak to another girl who was at the party, who insists that, while Noora and Nico were in bed together, no sexual intercourse took place. Leszkiewicz commented that "So many women go through what Noora went through in "Skam". Most of them don’t get offered the same escape route. Instead, they have to live with the shame and confusion of an "ambiguous" assault." The same month, "Elite Daily"s Dylan Kickham wrote that the international fanbase for "Skam" on social media was "much larger than I ever would have predicted", with major fangroups on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. He credited the third season's storyline of homosexuality, calling it "incredibly intimate and profound", particularly praising a scene featuring a conversation about flamboyant attitudes between main character Isak and supporting character Eskild. While acknowledging highlights of the past two seasons, Kickham explained that "season three stands above the rest by shining a light on aspects of sexuality that are very rarely depicted in mainstream media", praising Eskild's "magnificent and timely take on the toxic "masc-for-masc" discrimination within the gay community" in response to Isak's homophobic comments. "It’s these small, incisive moments that show just how much "Skam" understands and cares about the issues it portrays", explained Kickham.  In March 2017, voters of E! Online's poll regarding "Top Couple 2017" declared characters Isak and Even, main stars of the show's third season, the winners. "Verdens Gang" wrote in April that "Skam" had become popular in China, where publicly discussing homosexuality is illegal. It reported that almost four million Chinese people had watched the third season through piracy and a total of six million had watched all episodes so far translated to Chinese. The report also stated that NRK has no plans to stop piracy in China, and NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet told "Verdens Gang" that "It was Isak and Even that captured a young Chinese audience. There's a lot of censorship in China, and they are role models and have a relationship that Chinese people have a need to see."  Anna Leszkiewicz wrote three more articles on "Skam" and its impact between April and December 2017. In the first report, she credited the series for having tackled multiple difficult topics with the use of universal emotions like loneliness rather than issue-based strategies. In the second, she specifically focused on the series' ending, noting that it originally had nine characters designed to each lead a season, and quoted fans with the sentiment that "It seems like such an abrupt decision. It doesn’t serve the storyline at all." Acknowledging the pressure of the show's global popularity as potentially a key element to end "Skam", Leszkiewicz highlighted some fans' disapproval of the storylines presented towards the ending; season four's main character Sana, a member of the Muslim religion who had been under-represented in the series, had a shorter amount of focus in her season than other main characters had at their respective times; the final moments of the series focused on short stories by characters not given their own season, one of which told the story of a minor character without significant relevancy to the series; and a lackluster conversation about Islamophobia between Sana and her white, non-Muslim friend Isak. Leszkiewicz quoted disgruntled fans, one of which said that "Sana has been disrespected and disregarded and erased and sidelined and that is fucking gross. She deserved better". Finally, in her last report, she focused on "Skam"s legacy as an American adaption was in production. NRK P3 editorial chief Håkon Moslet told her that "There was a lot of piracy", acknowledging that the show's global popularity was the result of fans illegally distributing content through Google Drive, though adding "But we didn’t mind". Producer and project manager Marianne Furevold explained that "We were given a lot of time to do so much research, and I think that’s a huge part of the success that we see today with "Skam"", referencing extensive in-depth interviews, attending schools and youth clubs, and immersing into teenagers' online lives, something that she did not think would have been possible with a commercial network. In regards to ending the series after its fourth season, while its popularity peaked, Moslet told Leszkiewicz that writer Julie Andem spent an enormous amount of time developing the series; "It was kind of an extreme sport to make, this series, especially for her. It was her life, 24/7, for two and a half years. It was enough, I think. And she wanted to end on a high. So that’s the reason. I think it was the right thing". Andem had posted on Instagram that she "wouldn’t have been able to make a season five as good as it deserved to be", though she had also written that she didn't want to give away the producing job of the American version, opting to take on the responsibility of that adaptation. That decision itself disgruntled fans, who "found her decision to leave the Norwegian series just to take on another huge commitment with the American show disappointing". Moslet praised the series' diverse set of characters, concluding with the statement that "At a time of confusion and intolerance, it seems more important than ever" for content creators to embrace diversity and reject intolerant attitudes.  In December 2017, Tumblr released its list of the most talked-about shows of the year on its platform, with "Skam" topping the chart as number one, outranking hugely successful American series, such as "Game of Thrones", "Stranger Things", and "The Walking Dead".

Skam (; ) is a Norwegian teen drama web series about the daily life of teenagers at the Hartvig Nissen School, a gymnasium in the wealthy borough of Frogner in West End Oslo. It was produced by NRK P3, which is part of the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.

羞耻(; 英语:Shame)是一部由挪威广播公司旗下NRK P3推出的青少年题材电视剧。该系列最初只有在NRK网站上播放,于2015年9月22日公布了第一个片段,并于同年9月25日正式推出该剧。


Biography.

Early life.

Yan Song was born in Fenyi, modern-day Jiangxi province. His father, a scholar who had repeatedly failed the imperial examination, put great effort into educating his son from childhood. A talented scholar, he passed the village examinations at the age of 10, and acquired the "jinshi" degree at the age of 25, being inducted into the imperial secretariat as an editor.  His early career was quickly cut short by a severe illness which forced Yan Song to return to his hometown, though this proved to be a blessing in disguise, since it kept him away from the imperial court just as it was under the domination of Liu Jin.  Yan Song returned to Beijing not long after the fall of Liu Jin, returning to work in the Hanlin Academy in both Beijing and Nanjing.

Senior Grand Secretary.

Yan Song was the Senior Grand Secretary under the Jiajing Emperor from 1544 to 1545 and from 1548 to 1562. Yan was a close ally of Zhao Wenhua. During his second term as Senior Grand Secretary, he and his son dominated court politics with the tacit consent of the fatuous monarch who shirked his responsibilities as emperor and devoted much of his time to sensual pleasures and Taoist practices. Yan Song's wealth is said to have been so great as to have been comparable to that of the emperor. He is also well known for his corruption and had been known to openly sell government positions for cash during the Jiajing Emperor's reign, but his corruption and treachery created many political opponents. In order to suppress dissent, he had prominent critics such as Yang Jisheng imprisoned and executed. Yan Song was finally disgraced in his later years and died in poverty not long after that, while his son, Yan Shifan, was executed for collaborating with the wokou pirates who invaded Chinese coastal provinces at the time.  He was the subject of the Chinese opera called "Beating Yan Song" (打嚴嵩 Dǎ Yán Sōng).

Yan Song (; 1480–1567), courtesy name Weizhong (惟中), pseudonym Jiexi (介溪), was a Chinese politician of the Ming dynasty. He was notorious for being corrupt and for dominating the Ming government for two decades as Grand Secretary during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor.

严嵩(1480年-3月3日-1567年-5月29日),字惟中,号介溪,又号勉庵,江西分宜人,祖籍福建邵武,明代嘉靖年间权臣,官至内阁首辅、吏部尚书、谨身殿大学士。


Biography.

Radev was born on June 18, 1963 in Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria. His family is from Slavyanovo in the Haskovo region. In 1982 he graduated from the Mathematical School in Haskovo with a gold medal. He graduated from the Georgi Benkovski Bulgarian Air Force University in 1987 as the top graduate. In 1992, he graduated from the US Air Force Squadron Officer School at Maxwell AFB. From 1994 to 1996, he studied at the Rakovski Defence and Staff College, where he was also the top graduate. He holds a Doctor of Military Sciences degree in the field of improvement of tactical training of flight crews and simulation of air combat.  In 2003 he graduated from Air War College at Maxwell AFB in the United States with a Master of Strategic Studies with honors.

Presidency.

In August 2016, the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABR) officially nominated Radev as a candidate for the November 2016 presidential election. In the same month, ABR withdrew its presidential nomination of General Radev in favour of Ivaylo Kalfin.  On the first round of the election, conducted on November 6, 2016, Radev came first with 25.44% of the vote. He faced GERB candidate Tsetska Tsacheva in the runoff the following Sunday, November 13. He defeated her, winning 59.37% of the popular vote.

Rivalry with Prime Minister Borisov.

Since his election into office, Radev has frequently criticised Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, whom Radev views as permitting corruption through a'reckless leadership style', as well as attempting to strangle his political opposition. This led Radev to frequently veto legislative proposals submitted by Borisov's GERB party to Bulgarian Parliament, issuing a total of 19 vetoes in this first two and a half years of his presidency. Borisov, on the other hand, often accused Radev of'sabotaging the government's work', as well as supporting the opposition Socialist Party during campaign periods.  In his 2019 New Year's address to the Bulgarian People, broadcast on almost all Bulgarian TV channels, Radev stated that he believed that Borisov's Government had failed in addressing corruption, placed the country in economic stagnation with price increases and low wages, undermined the fairness of elections, as well as'retreated' from law and justice.

F-16 deal veto.

In June 2019, Radev vetoed a major government contract for the acquisition of several F-16 Fighting Falcons from the United States at a cost of around 2bln lev. Radev strongly criticised the deal, accusing the government of authoritarianism and stated that he believed it had agreed to downgrades in the jets' avionics and armament, in order to get a lower purchasing price, which he also deemed too high for what they are worth. He added, that as a former pilot and airforce commander, he didn't believe that the deal was in Bulgaria's best interests. The pro-government majority in Bulgaria's national assembly overruled Radev's veto and the deal was nonetheless concluded.

Rejection of Geshev as General Prosecutor.

In November 2019, Radev refused to sign the decree appointing Ivan Geshev to the post of Chief Public Prosecutor of Bulgaria, following the latter's election to the post by Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council. He did not officially declare the motive for his refusal in written form, instead deciding to explain it personally to the media. Radev remarked that Geshev was the only candidate for the post and opined that the single-candidate nature of his election was supported by Borisov's government. He expressed the opinion that Geshev's candidacy had been supported only by government-controlled institutions and not by civic ones, which in his eyes led to a lack of public confidence in the institution. The Supreme Judicial Council refused to revise their decision and voted in favour of Geshev a second time, which triggred a constitutional requirement for Radev as President to sign the decree. Stating that he would refuse to violate the constitution, Radev did so following a meeting with Geshev, but called for changes to Bulgaria's constitution.

Wiretapping scandal.

The relations between Radev and the newly appointed General Prosecutor quickly soured, as Geshev released what he stated was a wiretap of Radev discussing his involvement in alleged criminal activities. Geshev further appealed to the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria to have Radev's legal immunity revoked. The general prosecutor's actions backfired in the eyes of the Bulgarian people and were widely viewed as an attempt to suppress and censor the president - either as'revenge' for the President's initial veto of Geshev's appointment, or as a preparation for a move to remove Radev from his post as President. In response, Radev accused Geshev's prosecution of being controlled by Borisov's government, whom he accused of using both the prosecution, the secret services and the National Police Service to crush dissent.  Borisov swore that he hadn't ordered Radev to be wiretapped, but Radev doubled down - noting that the agency responsible for wiretapping in Bulgaria, the State Agency for National Security, was directly responsible to the government and the prime minister. He further questioned the motives as to why it appeared to him as though the general prosecutor "saw crime and corruption in everything, except for the council of ministers".

Declaration of no confidence.

On 4 February 2020, Radev announced that he had formally withdrawn confidence in Borisov's government. He pointed out that there was, in his opinion, a strong crisis in governance of all levels, a lack of will to reform and fight corruption and a state of morally-questionable lawlessness in the country. Borisov accused Radev of trying to "take over" the country and stated that his government did not depend on Radev for confidence, adding that he believed the Presidency to be a useless post, holding only'symbolic councils', which he asserted never decided anything.

Coronavirus response conflict.

After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria, Radev and Borisov's government initially appeared to thaw their relations for the sake of national unity during a time of crisis. This détente, however, was not to last - the two entered into another conflict shortly thereafter, with Radev partially vetoing a law passed by the Bulgarian government imposing additional measures in relation to the coronavirus pandemic. Radev objected to a paragraph criminalizing the spread of "fake news" with a fine of up to 5,000 euros. Surprisingly, Radev also vetoed a paragraph added on the insistence of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which was supposed to impose price controls on essential goods. The veto sparked anger in Borisov, who accused Radev of populism and political opportunism. Despite this, Borisov ordered his parliamentary group to accept the veto on the two paragraphs - removing both the fake news fine and the socialist-added price control paragraphs from the final version of the law. The amended bill, however, still featured a paragraph which obligated telecom providers to track and store their user's data for up to 6 months and provide it upon request of the authorities, with the stated goal of tracking the movements quarantined citizens.  The two continued to clash over the coming days, with Radev frequently criticising the government for its handling of the state of emergency and accusing it of quote mining the World Health Organization for political gains. In reply, Borisov accused Radev of sabotaging the state of emergency and compared Radev to a "dirty old hag of a mother-in-law, the nasty kind", expressing bewilderment at "how Radev was able to make [political] inflammatory statements on the day, in which his own [Radev's] father had passed away". Radev concluded, however, that the conflict was "only in Borisov's head", stating that he had never called for the state of the emergency to be lifted and merely disagreed with the government's handling of it.

Foreign Policy.

In February 2017, Radev condemned and called for an end to the EU sanctions against Russia, while at the same time describing the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation as a "violation of international law".  On 17 March 2017, Radev condemned as 'absolutely unacceptable' what he described as a Turkish intervention in Bulgaria's 2017 parliamentary election after the Turkish ambassador to Bulgaria was found to have appeared in a campaign clip for one of Bulgaria's political parties and after Turkish Social Affairs minister was found to have agitated and offer incentives for Bulgarian Turks in Turkey to cross the border in an organized voting campaign and vote for the same party. Radev stated that he had referred the matter to the European Union. He met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan several months later in July, following which he described Turkey as an "important neighbour, partner and ally", while at the same time stating that this status hinged on Turkey's respect for Bulgaria's "internal political process, regarding Bulgaria's political parties and electoral system". He also became the only EU head of state to attend Erdogan's inauguration, stating that his mandate was not given to him by either the European Commission or the Bulgarian Government, but by the Bulgarian people.  On 24 January 2018, Radev condemned the Turkish invasion of northern Syria aimed at ousting U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds from the enclave of Afrin, and insisted that the European Union should intervene to stop it.  In April 2018, he criticised the 2018 missile strikes against Syria, instead calling for "less weapons and more dialogue".  In February 2019, Radev condemned the Bulgarian Government's recognition of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Interim President of Venezuela during the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, adding that he believed the government had overstepped its authority in recognizing the opposition leader as Interim President. Radev further criticised the EU's recognition of Guaido, urging both the country and the EU to remain neutral and refrain from recognizing Guaido, as he viewed such recognition as imposing an ultimatum, which he deemed would only aggravate the crisis in Venezuela.

Approval ratings.

Radev has enjoyed positive approval ratings for the vast majority of his presidency. Having been elected with around 60% of the vote in the Fall 2016 Election, he managed to keep that figure as his approval rating through to 2018.  His approval then rose to 67% by May 2018, before falling to around 56% by Fall 2019. It is noteworthy, however, that even after this fall in his popularity, he was still considered the most popular and approved of Bulgarian politician, as well as one of the only two Bulgarian politicians (the other being Maya Manolova) with a higher percentage of approval than disapproval.  By April 2020, Radev's approval ratings stood at about 49%.

Family and personal life.

Radev joined the Bulgarian Communist Party in the 1980s. He later stated that his primary reason for joining the party had been so that he would be deployed to fly in a supersonic jet, but also added that he was not ashamed of his past and was proud of the things he did. He left the party in 1990, when a newly enacted law forbade members of the country's armed forces from being members of political parties. He has not been a member of any political parties since and his candidacy in the 2016 elections was supported by an independent initiative committee affiliated with the country's Socialist Party, rather than by a formal nomination by any party.  Radev has two children from his first marriage to Ginka Radeva, which ended in a divorce in 2014: a daughter Darina, born in 2001 and a son Georgi, born in 2003.  He later married Desislava Gencheva, who was previously married to the BSP MP Georgi Svilenski.  Apart from Bulgarian, Radev is also fluent in Russian, German and English. Radev's father died on 6 April 2020.

Military career.

Awards.

Rumen Radev was awarded numerous medals and prizes, including the sign "For loyal service under the flags" – III degree, and Honorary sign of the Ministry of Defence "Saint George" – II degree.

Rumen Georgiev Radev (; born 18 June 1963) is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who is the current President of Bulgaria since January 22, 2017. Radev previously served as Commander of the Bulgarian Air Force. He won the 2016 presidential election, as an independent candidate supported by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, defeating GERB candidate Tsetska Tsacheva in the second round.

鲁门·乔治耶夫·拉德夫(;1963年-6月18日),是一名保加利亚军人及政治人物,曾出任保加利亚空军司令。