Cast.

The following actors played starring roles in multiple episodes and are split by the principal character they appear in relation to. Characters from the different plot strands do occasionally interact, while Sidney Phillips both serves with Leckie and is the best friend of Sledge.

Production.

"The Pacific" was produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman in association with HBO Miniseries, Playtone, DreamWorks, Seven Network and Sky Movies. Seven and Sky both invested in the project for the right to broadcast it in Australia and the United Kingdom respectively. Nine Network has previously broadcast the HBO productions of "Band of Brothers". Nine had a broadcast deal with HBO's parent Warner Bros., but then HBO started to distribute its own productions separately. In April 2007, the producers set up a production office in Melbourne and began casting.  Originally the project was estimated at $100 million to produce, but ended up costing over $200 million, making "The Pacific" the most expensive television miniseries ever created by any network. According to "The Sydney Morning Herald" the series cost $270 million, with an estimated A$134 million of that spent in Australia. The Australian newspaper "Herald Sun" estimates that it brought 4,000 jobs and generated A$180 million for the Australian economy.  Filming of the miniseries in Australia started on August 10, 2007, and finished in late May 2008. From August until November 2007 filming took place at locations in and around Port Douglas, Queensland including Mossman, Queensland; Drumsara Plantation, Mowbray National Park and beaches at Rocky Point, Queensland. Production then moved to rural Victoria, in the You Yangs near Lara (from November–December 2007), then at a sand quarry on Sandy Creek Road near Geelong, Victoria until February 2008. Melbourne city locations were used in late 2007 and through 2008 including Central City Studios at Melbourne Docklands (March 2008); Flinders Street (between Swanston and Elizabeth streets, 1–4 February 2008); the intersection of Swanston and Flinders streets (February 2008); Flinders Street station (2–3 February 2008). Other suburban locations included Mornington Railway, Bundoora, Victoria, specifically the Ernest Jones Hall at the La Trobe University campus, Bundoora (late May 2008); the Railway Hotel, South Melbourne (December 2007); Scotch College, Melbourne (December 2007); Melbourne High School (December 2007).  The series's score was written by Hans Zimmer, Geoff Zanelli and Blake Neely and was released on March 9, 2010.  Historian Hugh Ambrose, son of "Band of Brothers" author Stephen E. Ambrose, wrote the official tie-in book to the miniseries, which follows the stories of two of the featured men from the miniseries, Basilone and Sledge, as well as stories of Sledge's close friend Sidney Phillips and two men not featured in the series, marine officer Austin Shofner and US Navy pilot Vernon Micheel. The different cast provides a wider view of the Pacific theatre, allowing the book to include the fall of the Philippines, Midway, Philippine Sea and Luzon and expand the narrative to include depictions of life as experienced by prisoners of war, senior officers and the development of naval aviation. It was published in the UK and the US in March 2010 and Ambrose gave a webcast interview about the book at the Pritzker Military Library on April 15, 2010.

Broadcast.

The series premiered in the US and Canada on March 14, 2010, on HBO. HBO Asia premiered "The Pacific" at 9 pm on April 3, 2010, with the first two episodes being consecutively broadcast in the first week. Singapore, Hong Kong, and Indonesia had dual language available. Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Philippines broadcasts were available in high-definition on the HBO Asia HD Channel. "The Pacific" began broadcast on April 5, 2010 on Sky Movies in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In Portugal, the series was broadcast on April 5, 2010 on AXN and in HD on AXN HD two days after the original broadcast in the US. The series broadcast commenced in Australia on Channel 7 on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, at 8:30 pm. In Denmark, Norway, Finland, France and Sweden, the series began broadcasting on Canal+; in Turkey, CNBC-e on 18 April 2010; in the Netherlands, on April 7, 2010 on Veronica; and in Greece, on Nova Cinema on April 10, 2010. In New Zealand, the series began broadcasting on April 12, 2010 on TV One. In Italy, the miniseries began broadcast on May 9, 2010 on Sky Cinema 1; in Germany, on July 15, 2010 on Kabel eins. In Japan, the miniseries started July 18, 2010 on WOWOW. In South Africa, the miniseries started broadcasting on May 5, 2010 on the Mnet channel. In the US, the rights to the series were picked up by Ovation and it started airing sometime in 2019.

Marketing.

The first official US trailer for "The Pacific" aired on HBO prior to the season 2 premiere of "True Blood" on June 14, 2009. It showed footage of the three main characters, including a conversation between Leckie and Sledge, Basilone's marriage and numerous combat scenes. The trailer concluded with "2010" displayed on-screen -alluding to and confirming the series release date. A second trailer was released on the HBO website after which the date "March 2010" is displayed, giving a more specific series release date. On January 14, 2010, Comcast added on-demand content from the series, including a scene from "The Pacific", interviews with the producers and character profiles. Another trailer was shown in February 2010 during Super Bowl XLIV, depicting several combat scenes. An extended trailer (3:47) to the miniseries can be viewed on the series' official website.

Reception.

Critical reception.

"The Pacific" received widespread critical acclaim. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 91% with an average rating of 8.32 out of 10, based on 43 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "An honest, albeit horrifying, exploration of World War II, "The Pacific" is a visually stunning miniseries not for the faint of heart." On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".  "Time" magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 TV Series of 2010. IGN reviewer Ramsey Isler gave the entire miniseries an 8.5 out of 10, saying "Although I don't think "The Pacific" overtakes "Band of Brothers" in terms of technical execution and overall entertainment value, many of the comparisons will be moot as "The Pacific" is a different kind of series with different goals. This series sought to look beyond the combat and it paints a full, vivid picture of the war and the people that fought it through focused, individual stories. That's a tall order for any series to fulfill, and although "The Pacific" doesn't always come through with shining colors, it does make an admirable effort." IGN also reviewed each individual episode, with Episode 9 receiving a perfect 10 out of 10 score.

Accolades.

"The Pacific" won a Peabody Award in 2010 for "reminding us of the necessities—and the costs—of service." It also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film.

The Pacific is a 2010 American war drama miniseries produced by HBO, Playtone, and DreamWorks that premiered in the United States on March 14, 2010.

《太平洋战争》(英语:The Pacific),是一部主要描写了美国海军陆战队在-{zh-hant:太平洋战争;zh-hans:太平洋战争;}-中的一系列军事行动为背景的10集迷你影集。


Signs and symptoms.

Most individuals with HSE show a decrease in their level of consciousness and an altered mental state presenting as confusion, and changes in personality. Increased numbers of white blood cells can be found in patient's cerebrospinal fluid, without the presence of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Patients typically have a fever and may have seizures. The electrical activity of the brain changes as the disease progresses, first showing abnormalities in one temporal lobe of the brain, which spread to the other temporal lobe 7–10 days later. Imaging by CT or MRI shows characteristic changes in the temporal lobes (see Figure).  Definite diagnosis requires testing of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) for presence of the virus. The testing takes several days to perform, and patients with suspected Herpes encephalitis should be treated with acyclovir immediately while waiting for test results. Atypical stroke-like presentation of HSV encephalitis has been described as well and the clinicians should be aware that HSV encephalitis can mimic a stroke.

Associated conditions.

Herpesviral encephalitis can serve as a trigger of Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.

Pathophysiology.

HSE is thought to be caused by the transmission of virus from a peripheral site on the face following HSV-1 reactivation, along a nerve axon, to the brain. The virus lies dormant in the ganglion of the trigeminal cranial nerve, but the reason for reactivation, and its pathway to gain access to the brain, remains unclear, though changes in the immune system caused by stress clearly play a role in animal models of the disease. The olfactory nerve may also be involved in HSE, which may explain its predilection for the temporal lobes of the brain, as the olfactory nerve sends branches there. In horses, a single-nucleotide polymorphism is sufficient to allow the virus to cause neurological disease; but no similar mechanism has been found in humans.

Diagnosis.

Brain CT scan (with/without contrast). Complete prior to lumbar puncture to exclude significantly increased ICP, obstructive hydrocephalus, mass effect  Brain MRI—Increased T2 signal intensity in frontotemporal region → viral (HSV) encephalitis

Treatment.

Herpesviral encephalitis can be treated with high-dose intravenous acyclovir, which should be infused 10 mg/kg(adult) over 1 hour to avoid kidney failure. Without treatment, HSE results in rapid death in approximately 70% of cases; survivors suffer severe neurological damage. When treated, HSE is still fatal in one-third of cases, and causes serious long-term neurological damage in over half of survivors. Twenty percent of treated patients recover with minor damage. Only a small population of untreated survivors (2.5%) regain completely normal brain function. Many amnesic cases in the scientific literature have etiologies involving HSE.  Earlier treatment (within 48 hours of symptom onset) improves the chances of a good recovery. Rarely, treated individuals can have relapse of infection weeks to months later. There is evidence that aberrant inflammation triggered by herpes simplex can result in granulomatous inflammation in the brain, which responds to steroids. While the herpes virus can be spread, encephalitis itself is not infectious. Other viruses can cause similar symptoms of encephalitis, though usually milder (Herpesvirus 6, varicella zoster virus, Epstein-Barr, cytomegalovirus, coxsackievirus, etc.).

Herpesviral encephalitis, or herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE), is encephalitis due to herpes simplex virus. It is estimated to affect at least 1 in 500,000 individuals per year, and some studies suggest an incidence rate of 5.9 cases per 100,000 live births.

单纯疱疹病毒脑炎(英文:herpesviral encephalitis、herpes simplex encephalitis、HSE)是由单纯疱疹病毒造成的脑炎。


History.

1980–2000.

Al-Gharafa Sports Club was founded on 6 June 1979 and was formally created on 23 September 1979 as Al-Ittihad by the first president of the board of directors, Khalifa Bin Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Thani (1979–1982) under resolution no. 9. Al-Gharafa was founded with the intent of creating sports facilities for the youth in the Al Gharrafa region. It did not occur to the leaders that Al-Gharafa would become as tremendously successful as it is today. The name ""Al-Ittihad"", which when translated into English, means "United", was chosen in the spirit of the brotherhood and solidarity that characterized the club and its leaders. Yellow and blue were selected as the club colors due to the founders' endearment towards the Brazilian national team. Al-Gharafa owes much of its success in the early years to the financial and material support of its Sheikh leaders.  As Al-Gharafa was established relatively late compared to other Qatari clubs at the time, it was sent to the Qatari 2nd Division. It dominated the league and won the title on its debut in the 1979/80 season with Egyptian coach Mahmoud Abu Rujaila, as well three more times, the second by defending the championship in the 1980/81 season, and the third in the 1983/84 season, which, subsequently, was the year that their youth team had also won the league. Their first foreign player was Faisal Hannan, a Sudanese footballer who agreed to a contract one year prior to the club's establishment. Additionally, they won the 1986/87 season of the 2nd Division, allowing them to play in the 1987–88 season of the Qatar Stars League. The club ended up winning its first Stars League title in 1991–92, breaking the 16-year deadlock between the three dominant Qatari clubs Al-Arabi, Al Sadd, and Al-Rayyan. Al-Gharafa's youth team also won the league a year later in the 1992/93 season. The club were runners-up in 1994 to Al-Arabi, before winning the Emir of Qatar Cup 4 times in a row, from 1995 to 1998, under coach Jamal Haji.  The club won the league for the second time in the 1997/98 season with 32 points after they edged Al-Rayyan by a margin of 3 points. Al-Rayyan finished runners-up, with Al Sadd in third place. The very next year they finished runners-up to Al-Wakrah, however, Al-Gharafa had the best goal difference.

2000–2005.

On Friday, 28 April 2000, at Khalifa International Stadium, Al-Gharafa won their first Qatar Crown Prince Cup. The match had ended goalless before they beat Al-Rayyan 9–8 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. They were led by Adel Khamis, the long-time captain of the team. Al-Gharafa also won the Crown Prince Cup in 2010 and 2011.  They won the league championship in the 2000–01 season by defeating Al Sadd in their last game on 1 May 2001 by a scoreline of 1–0. After the match, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, then chairman of the olympic committee, delivered an award to Adel Khamis, as well as gold medals to the whole team and a sum of 500,000 Qatari riyals to the club. Rachid Amrane also won the league top goalscorer with a tally of 16 goals.

2005–present.

The Qatar Stars League was revamped in the 2004/05 season, with many clubs changing their names (including Al-Gharafa), as well as changing the number of games played each season from 18 to 27. The club won the league this year, with only 1 loss from 27 games, bringing their point tally to 66, which was 14 more than the runners-up, Al-Rayyan. They also won their first Sheikh Jassem Cup that year, on 12/9/2005, after defeating Al Ahli 2–1, courtesy of goals from Rodrigo and Fahad Al Shammari.  The next year they were unsuccessful in retaining the league championship, only finishing runners-up to Al Sadd. Although the next season, they won the league once more, besides scoring the highest number of goals in a season with 72 goals, mainly thanks to the efforts of Araújo, who scored 27 goals that season, shattering Gabriel Batistuta's record of 25.

Stadium.

Al Gharafa plays its home games at Thani bin Jassim Stadium which is situated in the Al Gharafa suburb of Al Rayyan. The stadium holds 27,000 people and was built in 2003. The stadium hosted 2011 AFC Asian Cup and other international competitions. It is planned to expand the existing 27,000 capacity to 44,740 for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Youth development.

Al Gharafa has one of the largest youth development programmes in the country. It recruits youth players for every age bracket available, and has produced national team players from its academy. They regularly visit local schools, as well as hold school tournaments, and offer students trials. Currently there are approximately 350 players in the club's youth ranks, with 100 players in its academy, and 240 players in grass roots. Break-up is as follows (as of 2013):

Current squad.

"As of Qatar Stars League:"

Al-Gharafa Sports Club () is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Al Rayyan. It is best known for its football team, although it also has teams for other sports. It was established on 6 June 1979 as Al-Ittihad and later officially incorporated into the Qatar Football Association on 23 September of that same year. The club was officially renamed to its current form in 2004 to better represent the district of Al-Gharafa, of which the club belongs to. The club was founded by many young Qataris in 1979. Most notably, people like Sheikh Mohammed bin Jassim Al-Thani, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, Sheikh Hamad bin Faisal Al-Thani, Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al-Thani and Saad Mohammed Al-Rumaihi. In a documentary produced by Al Kass sports channel about the history of the club, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim mentioned that the idea was suggested by Saad Al-Rumaihi initially who was working as a sports journalist at the Al Raya Newspaper.

加拉法体育俱乐部(英语:Al-Gharafa Sports Club;阿拉伯语:نادي الغرافة الرياضي)是卡塔尔赖扬市加拉法区的一个足球俱乐部,这个俱乐部虽然有其他体育的所属队伍,但尤其是足球队是第一出名的俱乐部。该俱乐部在1979年6月成立,是在1979年9月23日由沙特阿拉伯足球俱乐部——伊蒂哈德和以后公开组成的一个卡塔尔足球联赛的体育俱乐部。2004年,为了更好代表该市的加拉法区的荣誉,该俱乐部公开改名为加拉法体育俱乐部。该俱乐部所包含的体育运动项目主要有足球和手球两项。


History.

Messaging with pagers became popular with teenage girls in Japan in the 1990s, and the popularity of mobile communication devices eventually gave way to the development of literary genres based on these new media forms. The use of compact and highly contextual writing is a well-established part of Japanese literary tradition, and cell phone novels have been compared to classic Japanese literature such as the 11th Century "Tale of Genji". The first cell phone novel was "published" in Japan in 2003 by a Tokyo man in his mid-thirties who calls himself Yoshi. His first cell phone novel was called "", the story of a teenager engaged in "subsidized dating" (enjō kosai) in Tokyo and contracting AIDS. It became so popular that it was published as an actual book, with 2.6 million copies sold in Japan, then spun off into a television series, a manga, and a movie. The cell phone novel became a hit mainly through word of mouth and gradually started to gain traction in Taiwan, China, and South Korea among young adults. In Japan, several sites offer large prizes to authors (up to $100,000 US) and purchase the publishing rights to the novels.  Kiki, the pseudonymous author of "I, Girlfriend" won the Japan Keitai Novel Award in 2008.  The movement also became popular in Europe, Africa and North America. In 2005, Random House purchased a share in Vocel, a San Diego-based company which mobile studyguides. In Europe it started in about 2007, promoted by people like Oliver Bendel and Wolfgang Hohlbein, and publishers such as Cosmoblonde or Blackbetty Mobilmedia. Teenagers in South Africa have been downloading an m-novel called "Kontax" – a novel specifically written for mobile phones. The pioneer cell phone novel in North America, a novel called "Secondhand Memories" by Takatsu – that can be viewed on Textnovel, the first English language cell phone novel site founded in the United States – has been viewed more than 60,000 times and published in print in 2015 as a paperback.

Reason for popularity.

Although Japan was the original birthplace of the cell phone novel, the phenomenon soon moved to other parts of East Asia, and many of the online writers are university students. These writers understand what narratives will attract young readers, incorporating emergent events or trendy elements from teen culture into their stories.  Cell phone novels create a virtual world for teenagers via the mobile phone, or, more precisely, via text messages. As in virtual online video games, readers can put themselves into first person in the story. Cell phone novels create a personal space for each individual reader. As Paul Levinson wrote in "Cellphone", "nowadays, a writer can write just about as easily, anywhere, as a reader can read" (p 20).  The cell phone novel is changing reading habits; readers no longer need to physically go to a bookshop and purchase a book. They can go online using their cell phone, download a novel, and read it on their personal mobile phone anywhere, any time they wish. Similar to the e-book, its mobility and convenience saves time.

Characteristics and literary style.

Because of the short chapter format consisting of around 70–100 words (usually fewer than 200), the phenomenon has brought a new approach to literature, allowing a new vision to potentially redefine traditional writing and the publishing world. Despite the use of cell phones, most of these novels are not written with SMS slang and language. Instead, it has brought out a new era of minimalism and art. In each chapter, readers will be able to experience narration, poetry and even visual arts in the use of carefully chosen line breaks, punctuation, rhythm and white space.  Often, cell phone novels features the use of fragments, conversational, simple and delicate language; cliffhangers and dramatic dialogue emphasized by the unseen or omitted becomes a vital part of the reading experience, allowing deeper meanings and interpretations to unfold. Because of the use of poetic language, mood, emotions and internal thoughts are stimulated in the reader easily. Dramatic and drastic plots takes readers through twists and turns, cliffhanger after cliffhanger, always keeping the reader waiting for the next chapter installment.  The nature of writing and reading on the go, creates a unique experience, allowing the writer and reader to approach literature in a different way, opening interactivity between the readers and the writer as the story develops in "real time".

A cell phone novel, or, is a literary work originally written on a cellular phone via text messaging. This type of literature originated in Japan, where it has become a popular literary genre. However, its popularity has also spread to other countries internationally, especially to China, United States, Germany, and South Africa. Chapters usually consist of about 70–100 words each due to character limitations on cell phones.

手机小说(,keitai shousetsu;英语:cell phone novel)是以手机为载体的一种文学体裁,最初源于日本手机中传播的娱乐短信,但后也流行到中国、美国、德国、南非等地。首部小说《深爱》是呈现在手机短信中的电子书。手机小说的作者多数为短信写手,或公布在手机小说网站上。语言风格幽默诙谐,短小精悍,以使读者达到消遣、放松的目的。该类小说为付费形式即时阅读,受手机每屏显示的文字数量限制,此类小说标点符号小,多为具有冲击力的短句,内容多以奇幻文学、情爱小说为主。


2008年夏季奥林匹克运动会伊拉克代表团

IOC ban.

On July 24, the International Olympic Committee announced that it was banning Iraq from the Olympics due to political influence within Iraq's national Olympic committee. The decision follows the Iraqi government's suspension of the National Olympic Committee of Iraq in May 2008, citing the lack of sufficient members for quorum and the consequent risk of corruption as concerns. The government appointed an acting panel led by Jasem Muhammad Jaafar, the Minister of Sports, in its place. The former chairman, Ahmad al-Samarra'i, the secretary-general and several other members of the committee have been missing after being kidnapped when attending a public meeting in July 2006.  Seven members of Iraq's team had qualified for the Olympics, and received sympathy from the United States after the ban was upheld. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said, "I'm sure that the Iraqi athletes -- who have trained so hard, and were finally going to represent a country that is free, and sovereign, and working to establish its democracy -- they have to be terribly disappointed and I'm disappointed for the athletes as well." However, if the original committee were to be reinstated, Iraq's track and field team might still be able to compete. Iraq missed the July 23 entry deadlines for archery, judo, rowing and weightlifting, but the deadline for athletics is at the end of July.  On July 29, the IOC reversed their previous decision, ruling that Iraq could now participate in the Olympics, but only the two track and field athletes would be allowed to compete, as the others missed the deadlines for their respective sports. However, the International Rowing Federation allowed the qualified rowers to compete at the Games

Athletics.

Iraq planned to send Dana Hussain, a sprinter who had qualified for the 100 and 200 metres. In the wake of the initial ban, despite being consoled by her coach, Abdul Rahman, who assured her that she could compete in the 2012 Olympics, Hussain noted "In this horrible situation, who can say I'll even be alive in 2012?" Dana Hussain is the only athlete on the 2008 Olympic team to train within the war-torn country. In the end she only ran the 100m. Haidar Nasir represented Iraq in the discus throw.

Rowing.

Haider Nawzad and Hamza Hussein participated in the men's double sculls and finished last of all competitors.

Competitors unable to compete due to the missed deadline.

Several athletes had qualified either regularly or as wildcards, but did not compete, due to Iraq having missed the entry deadlines for their events.  The country had planned to send an archer to the Olympics for the first time. The nation was awarded a spot in the men's individual competition via Tripartite Commission invitation; Ali Adnan would have become Iraq's first Olympic archer, whereas Ali Mohamed Fakher was to participate as a wild card in the judo competition.  In addition to the NOC's suspension, weightlifter Mohammed Jassim was faced with a potential suspension from Olympic participation after news of his failure of a drug test at the Asian Weightlifting Championship were received.

Iraq competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. As of late July, seven Iraqis—two rowers, a weightlifter, a sprinter, a discus thrower, a judoka and an archer—had qualified to compete in seven events in five sports at the Beijing Olympics, and twenty have qualified to take part in the Beijing Paralympics (see Iraq at the 2008 Summer Paralympics).

2008年夏季奥林匹克运动会伊拉克代表团会参加2008年8月8日至24日在中国北京主办的第29届夏季奥运。代表团本有7位运动员。由于国际奥委会于2008年7月24日因该国政府干预其体育发展而被禁赛,至7月30日恢复参赛资格,却错失了多个项项目的报名时间,以至如柔道、举重选手无法出席奥运,只有4名运动员分别会参加赛艇、铁饼和赛跑项目。


History.

On June 18, 2019, China Railway Corporation is reorganized as China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. under China's Corporate Law, instead of Industrial Enterprises Owned by the Whole People Law. It means the Ministry of Finance would act as an investor on behalf of the state and the company would be led by a board and managed by board-chosen executives.

Logo.

The China Railway logo was designed by Chen Yuchang () (1912-1969), officially adopted on 22 January 1950. The whole logo represents the front of a locomotive. The upper part of the logo represents the Chinese character 人 (people), while the lower part represents the transversal surface of a rail. The logo means that China's railway belongs to the people.  The "CR" logo is used on the Fuxing (train) along with the China Railway logo.

Companies.

There are 21 primary subsidiary companies under China Railway. As of 2008, approximately 2 million people work in China Railway.

International operations.

International passenger trains.

China Railway operates the passenger trains from China to Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Vietnam.

Services to Europe (New Silk Route).

China Railway ran goods services to 15 European cities, including routes to Madrid and Hamburg and the experimental East Wind service to London to test demand. The Chinese government refers to the two-week route, starting at Yiwu and with trains to London traversing Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France, as the Belt and Road Initiative. Containers must be transferred several times, as different, incompatible, rail gauges are used in different regions, and the same rolling stock cannot be used throughout.

Africa.

China has been investing in and helping to rebuild railways in Africa. Below is an incomplete list of rail projects.

China State Railway Group Company, Ltd., doing business as China Railway or CR, is a state-owned sole proprietorship enterprise that undertakes railway passenger and cargo transportation services in the People's Republic of China and is a state-owned industrial enterprise established under the "Law of the People's Republic of China on All-Ownership Industrial Enterprises." The Ministry of Finance acts on behalf of the State Council to perform the duties of shareholders. It used to be part of the now defunct Ministry of Railways. China Railway operates passenger and freight transport via 21 subsidiaries.

中国国家铁路集团有限公司(英语:China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.),简称中国铁路(英语:China Railway),亦简称国铁集团,是承担中华人民共和国铁路客货运输服务的中央管理国有企业,是依《中华人民共和国公司法》设立的国有独资企业,由财政部代表国务院履行出资人职责。


History.

A police force has been in existence in Malaysia since the days of the Malacca Sultanate. Malacca's canonical law created what was essentially a police force in Malaysia in the fifteenth century, through the institution of the "Temenggung" and "Hulubalang", or royal warriors. During the Sultan of Malacca's absence, the "Bendahara", or Prime Minister, held absolute authority, with the power to hand out sentences, but it was the "Temenggung" who acted as the Police Chief or Inspector General of Police. His tasks were to arrest criminals, build jails and implement sentences. Apart from the "Temenggung", there were a number of "Penghulu" or village chiefs who had the duty of policing their respective villages. Their main tasks included tax collection, law enforcement and preserving village security. These Malacca police systems ended when, on 10 August 1511, a Portuguese fleet led by Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Malacca for the Portuguese crown. Police duties were then largely performed by the Portuguese soldiers.  During the sixteenth century, Malaysia became a cosmopolitan society and the Portuguese government introduced the Kapitan administration. On 14 January 1641, however, the Portuguese lost Malacca to the Dutch Empire, when the Dutch invaded with the help of soldiers from Johor state, at a time when the Portuguese were at

Insignia.

The flag and insignia of the Royal Malaysia Police has a blue coloured background which symbolises the Malaysian masses. In the centre of the flag is the PDRM symbol coloured silver or white. The police symbol is made up of an intersected Kris and Ilang / Klewang machete. Above the PDRM symbol, there is a tiger head in a garland of Paddy flowers, with a scroll underneath bearing the name Polis Diraja Malaysia. Arabic lettering in the Crown includes the words Allah on the right and Muhammad on the left.

Moon and star.

The Moon and Star symbolise

Crown.

The crown, depicted on the Royal Malaysia Police insignia, is a panegyric reference to the King of Malaysia, bestowing the "Royal" title to its name. The words

Kris and the Ilang sword.

The Kris is an important symbol of the Malay Peninsular. This particular weapon was used by Malay warriors in the past. According to Frey (2003), who concluded from Sir Stamford Raffles' (1817) study of the Candi Sukuh, the kris came into existence around AD 1361. Others believe

Tiger head.

The tiger head symbolises courage, strength and spirits of RMP. Previously, RMP used a lion head as the symbol of courage from 16 September 1963,

Paddy flower.

Paddy flower is a reference to paddy and

Motto.

The RMP motto

Sang Saka Biru.

The PDRM flag is called the Blue Perennial or "Sang Saka

Police pledge.

Section 20 (3) Police Act 1967 stipulates that

Police rank.

Lower ranks of police officers apart from Sub-Inspectors wear their rank insignia on

RMP organisational structure.

Apart from the two departments involved in the administration: Management Department and Logistics Department, the RMP have six departments involved in crime prevention: Criminal Investigation Division, Narcotics Criminal Investigation Division, Internal Security and Public Order Department, Special Branch, Commercial Crime Investigation Department and Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department. All departments are led by the directors with the rank of Commissioner of Police (Army Equivalent rank of Three Stars General or Lieutenant-General).

Staff departments.

Management Department.

The Management Department is tasked with the routine of management and administration affairs of the RMP.

Logistics and Technology Department.

The Logistics and Technology

Criminal Investigation Division (CID).

This department deals with the investigation, arrest and prosecution of both violent crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, etc., and less serious crimes such as theft and

Narcotics Criminal Investigation Division.

This department's function is to fight against dangerous drugs by enforcing the law to

Internal Security and Public Order Department (KDN / KA).

This department is tasked with the maintenance of public security and order. It is responsible for traffic control and search & rescue (SAR) operations. In this role, this department cooperates with other agencies, such as the Malaysian Armed Forces and Army / Navy Maritime Patrol to prevent piracy and to secure the national borders.  The Internal Security and Public Order Department is led by a Commissioner of Police, CP Dato' Salleh.  The main branches under this department are:

Special Branch.

This department is responsible for collecting intelligence for national security. Its role is to collect security intelligence related to both domestic and external threats, intercept subversive activities by extremist groups and individuals which could threaten the nation's

Commercial Crimes Investigation Department.

This department's main function is to investigate, arrest, and prosecute offenders committing white-collar crimes such as fraud, breach of trust, cyber-crimes, forgery, counterfeiting etc.  The Commercial Crimes Investigation Department is headed by a Commissioner of Police (CP).

Police uniform and equipment.

The new Police Constable uniform was introduced in 2008. The headgear is a dark navy blue beret with a silver police force emblem on top of the left eye. Dark navy blue long sleeve shirts are worn along with dark navy blue cargo pants tucked into military boots. Before this, the police used to wear a khaki/brown uniform.  A personal name tag is worn on the right side together with the police shield above it while the word "Polis" ("police" in Malay) is emblazoned in the other

Firearms.

"M4 Carbine; replacing M16 rifles, the future standard issue rifles supplied by SME Ordnance"  2 "Royal Malaysia Police has been acquired with new sub machine

Major cases and incidents.

Sulu militants intrusion in Sabah.

Following the Sulu militants intrusion, a military standoff commenced on 11 February 2013 and ended after conflict about 24 March 2013. 235 militants, most of whom were armed, arrived by boat in Lahad Datu district from Philippines territory and occupied the village of Tanduo. They were sent by Jamalul Kiram III, a claimant to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu. His stated goal

Shooting of Aminulrasyid Amzah.

A schoolboy, Aminulrasyid Amzah, was shot dead by police after allegedly trying to escape from a car accident which he was involved in. Aminulrasyid was driving his sister's car without a valid driver's licence after midnight on 3 May 2010, together with his friend, Azamuddin, who was the passenger. He had been trying to flee a number of motorcyclists who were chasing both boys after their vehicle had sideswiped a car earlier that night. After Aminulrasyid was shot, his friend Azamuddin was assaulted and beaten by the police but managed to escape. The IGP and the police have made many statements to the press saying that Aminulrasyid was trying to

Recapture of Mas Selamat Kastari.

The escaped terrorist, Mas Selamat Kastari, who escaped detention in Singapore in 2008, was nabbed by Bukit Aman and Johore Police while he was asleep in a secluded village house in Skudai, northwest of Johor Bahru, Johore. He found a traditional kampung house on stilts in Kampung Tawakal, a tiny village with a population of less than 100. Located about 10 km away from the North-South Expressway near the Kempas exit, it is almost impossible to locate for those not familiar with the area. The Singaporean terrorist, who captured world attention when he escaped from the republic's maximum security Whitley Detention Centre in February last year, could barely put up a fight in his shorts and T-shirt when caught during a dawn raid in April. At 6 am, about 30 armed policemen

Arrest of Nur Misuari.

Nur Misuari who is the main leader and founder of one of the breakaway faction in the Philippines was arrested on 23 November 2001 together with six of his followers in Jampiras Island off

Al-Mau'nah Arms Heist.

In the early morning on 2 July 2000, 21 members of the militant group visited the outpost and camp of Bn 304 Rejimen Askar Wataniah under the guise of a surprise inspection and confiscated the soldiers' weapons and carted the weapons away from the armoury. They took away a huge cache of firearms and ammunition, including 97 M16 assault rifles, four GPMGs, five grenade launchers, 9,095 rounds of 5.56 mm and 60 rounds of 40 mm ammunition. The group was later cornered in the village of Sauk, Perak and involved in a stand-off with the Malaysian Army and Royal Malaysian Police forces.

Memali Incident.

The Memali Incident occurred in the remote village of Memali, Baling in the state of Kedah on 19 November 1985. A task force of 200 policemen

Bukit Kepong Incident.

The Bukit Kepong Incident was an armed encounter which took place on 23 February 1950 between the police and the Malayan Communists during pre-independence

Complaints Commission.

Non-governmental organisations continued to press the government to create an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). In 2005 a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the police had recommended a wide range of reforms, including the establishment of an IPCMC by May 2006. Draft legislation to establish an IPCMC remained under consideration by the Attorney General at the end of the year. A range of other reform recommendations, including repeal or review of laws allowing for detention without trial or requiring police permits for public assemblies, were not implemented.

The Royal Malaysia Police (often abbreviated RMP) (), is a (primarily) uniformed federal police force in Malaysia. The force is a centralised organisation. Its headquarters are located at Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur. The police force is led by an Inspector-General of Police (IGP) who,, is Abdul Hamid Bador.

马来西亚皇家警察(;英语:Royal Malaysian Police)是马来西亚的执法及治安单位,工作覆盖范围包括交通管制、犯罪调查以及镇暴等,一般的调查工作由警长指挥。皇家警察总部位于吉隆坡武吉阿曼警察总部,全国警察总长为拿督斯里阿都哈密。


Early life.

Dudeney was born in the village of Mayfield, East Sussex, England, one of six children of Gilbert and Lucy Dudeney. His grandfather, John Dudeney, was well known as a self-taught mathematician and shepherd; his initiative was much admired by his grandson. Dudeney learned to play chess at an early age, and continued to play frequently throughout his life. This led to a marked interest in mathematics and the composition of puzzles. Chess problems in particular fascinated him during his early years.

Career.

Although Dudeney spent his career in the Civil Service, he continued to devise various problems and puzzles. Dudeney's first puzzle contributions were submissions to newspapers and magazines, often under the pseudonym of "Sphinx." Much of this earlier work was a collaboration with American puzzlist Sam Loyd; in 1890, they published a series of articles in the English penny weekly "Tit-Bits".  Dudeney later contributed puzzles under his real name to publications such as "The Weekly Dispatch", "The Queen", "Blighty", and "Cassell's Magazine". For twenty years, he had a successful column, "Perplexities", in "The Strand Magazine", edited by the former editor of "Tit-Bits", George Newnes. Dudeney continued to exchange puzzles with fellow recreational mathematician Sam Loyd for a while, but broke off the correspondence and accused Loyd of stealing his puzzles and publishing them under his own name.  Some of Dudeney's most famous innovations were his 1903 success at solving the Haberdasher's Puzzle (Cut an equilateral triangle into four pieces that can be rearranged to make a square) and publishing the first known crossnumber puzzle, in 1926. He has also been credited with discovering new applications of digital roots. Dudeney was a leading exponent of verbal arithmetic puzzles; his were always alphametic, where the letters constitute meaningful phrases or associated words.  Previously, it had been claimed (though not by Dudeney himself) that he was the inventor of verbal arithmetic. This was later refuted by the counter example of a verbal arithmetic puzzle published in the US in 1864.  Omission of detailed puzzle rules in the cited farm journal suggests they were already popular in America by 1864, when Dudeney was 7 years old. The popularity of these puzzles guarantees they'd be well known by then to Sam Loyd, an American puzzler and early Dudeney puzzle collaborator. Loyd has gained notoriety (at the expense of credibility) for his own claims of invention now exposed as false. He claimed to have invented the verbal arithmetic puzzle. For another example of Loyd's pervasive deceit, see 15 puzzle. Dudeney experienced Loyd's duplicity and intellectual theft first hand, eventually publicly equating Loyd with the Devil.  Both Dudeney and Loyd were featured by Martin Gardner in his Mathematical Games column in "Scientific American"—Loyd in August 1957 and Dudeney in June 1958.

Personal life.

In 1884 Dudeney married Alice Whiffin (1864–1945). She later became a very well known writer who published many novels as well as a number of short stories in "Harper's Magazine" under the name "Mrs. Henry Dudeney". In her day, she was compared to Thomas Hardy for her portrayals of regional life. The income generated by her books was important to the Dudeney household, and her fame gained them entry to both literary and court circles.  After losing their first child at the age of four months in 1887, the Dudeneys had one daughter, Margery Janet (1890–1977). She married (John) Christopher Fulleylove, son of John Fulleylove and one of an esteemed family of English artists. The Fulleyloves emigrated to North America, first living in Canada and eventually settling first in Oakland, Michigan, and later New York. They had three sons: John Gabriel (died in infancy), James Shirley, and Julian John ("Barney"); and two daughters: Catherine and Elizabeth Ann ("Nancy").  Alice's personal diaries were edited by Diana Crook and published in 1998 under the title "A Lewes Diary: 1916–1944". They give a lively picture of her attempts to balance her literary career with her marriage to her brilliant but volatile husband.

Death.

In April 1930, Dudeney died of throat cancer in Lewes, where he and his wife had moved in 1914 after a period of separation to rekindle their marriage. Alice Dudeney survived him by fourteen years and died on 21 November 1945, after a stroke.  Both are buried in the Lewes town cemetery. Their grave is marked by a copy of an 18th-century Sussex sandstone obelisk, which Alice had copied after Ernest's death to serve as their mutual tombstone.

Henry Ernest Dudeney (10 April 1857 – 23 April 1930) was an English author and mathematician who specialised in logic puzzles and mathematical games. He is known as one of the country's foremost creators of mathematical puzzles.

亨利·恩斯特·杜登尼(Henry Ernest Dudeney,1857年-4月10日-1930年-4月24日),英国人,正职公务员,但被后人视为业余数学家,擅于创作逻辑谜题和数学游戏。


Life and career.

Ahmad Fanākatī came from Fanākat (or Banākat), a town on the upper Syr Darya in Central Asia, under the rule of the Qara Khitai until they were conquered by the Mongol Empire.  Ahmad obtained employment under Kublai through Empress Jamui Khatun, who had known him before her marriage. To her court he was originally attached but we find him already in high financial office in 1264.  Trusted by Chabi Khatun, Kublai's favorite wife, Ahmad was entrusted with state finances in 1262. He was successful in managing the financial affairs of Northern China and brought huge tax revenues to Kublai's new government.  In 1270, he assumed the full power of the new financial department known as the Department of State Affairs (Shangshu Sheng), which had equal status with the administrative department known as the Central Secretariat (Zhongshu Sheng).  After the conquest of the Song dynasty in 1276, he entered the financial matters of Southern China. He prepared a state monopoly in salt, which came to account for a large portion of state income. In his 20-year term of office, he created his strong faction with his clan and Muslims from Central Asia.  Ahmad's tax system gained a bad reputation from the Chinese because it was ruthlessly operated and considerably differed from traditional Chinese systems. Ahmad was reputed for his rapaciousness. He abused his position to gather riches for himself.  Marco Polo recorded his name as "Bailo Acmat (Achmac)". He mentions that Ahmad had 25 sons and accumulated great wealth.  In 1271, the Department of State Affairs was absorbed into the Central Secretariat. While holding the financial affairs, he started intervening in state administration. It heightened tension with the rival faction that included Crown Prince Zhenjin, Antong, the head of the Central Secretariat and other Mongol aristocrats, and Chinese bureaucrats. The death of his political patron Chabi Khatun in 1281 made the situation critical; Ahmad was assassinated by Wang Zhu and Gao Heshang (Kao Ho-chang) in the next year and his faction fell from power.  Although Ahmad's assassins were executed, after Kublai Khan heard all the complaints about Ahmad's corruption from his enemies, Kublai then ordered Ahmad's body to be taken from his tomb and desecrated by being eaten by dogs, and then using chariot wheels to smash the bones to pieces.  Kublai also ordered Ahmad's sons to be put to death.

Influence.

Ahmad is usually portrayed as an evil bureaucrat in traditional Chinese records: his corruption and tyranny are emphasized. In contrast, the "Jami al-Tawarikh" positively evaluates his assistance to Kublai's administration. The recent Mongolian studies also tend to make positive reference to his role in establishing the dynasty's unique financial system.

In popular culture.

Ahmad Fanakati was fictionalized by Mahesh Jadu in the Netflix series "Marco Polo" and by Leonard Nimoy in the RAI mini-series "Marco Polo" during the 1980s. In the Netflix series Marco Polo, Ahmad declares that he is not Persian but rather that he hails from Upper Asia. Specifically, he mentions a village near Bukhara that was destroyed as he was taken into the Mongol court. However the influence from Jami al-Tawarikh, Ahmad is positive character in series "Marco Polo".

Ahmad Fanākatī or Banākatī (; before 1242 — 10 April 1282) was a Mongol Muslim from Qara Khitai who was finance minister of Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty. He became known as a chief minister under Kublai and is credited with successfully establishing the financial system of the Mongols. He was considered to be a "villainous minister" in dynastic histories because of his perceived corruption.

阿合马(阿拉伯语:、"Ahmad Fanākatī",?-1282年),元朝色目人,元世祖忽必烈时的近臣之一,出生于费纳喀忒(今乌兹别克斯坦境内),官至宰相。


Plot.

Michael Waits has always dreamed of being a farmer, and arranges a home exchange vacation in which he and his family will move into a house in the rural farming community of Nilbog ("goblin" spelled backwards) for a month. The night before the family is scheduled to leave, Michael's son Joshua is contacted by the ghost of his dead grandfather, Seth, warning him that vegetarian goblins want to mutate him and his family into plants so that they can eat them. Seth tells Joshua that goblins can mutate people into plants by feeding them poisoned food or drink.  Meanwhile, Joshua's sister, Holly, receives a visit from her boyfriend Elliot Cooper. Holly accuses Elliot of being a homosexual since he seems to prefer spending time with his friends. Elliot promises to show his devotion by accompanying the family on vacation.  The next morning, Elliot fails to arrive and the family leaves without him; they encounter him en route to Nilbog, riding in an RV with his friends Arnold, Drew, and Brent. Outside of Nilbog, Seth appears as a hitchhiker, who warns Joshua that Nilbog is the kingdom of the goblins, and that if his family eats anything while they are there, they will be mutated into plants. The family disbelieves Joshua's warnings and continue on to Nilbog, where they meet their strange and aloof exchange family, the Presents. There, Joshua sets about destroying all of the food the family finds or acquires, such as by urinating over a feast prepared for them, with the help of Seth's ghost.  Arnold goes for a walk outside of Nilbog and encounters a girl being chased by goblins. When Arnold approaches them and insults them, they respond by throwing a spear into his chest. They flee to a chapel in the woods, where they encounter the goblins' queen, Druid Witch Creedence Leonore Gielgud, who uses the "Stonehenge Magic Stone" to give the goblins power. Creedence tricks them into drinking a magic potion that dissolves the girl into vegetable matter, a horrifying scene witnessed by Arnold which prompt him to scream helplessly only to be mutated into a tree right later.  The following morning, Michael and Joshua venture into town to buy some food, as there is none in their holiday home. When in town, they find the general store closed, and Michael falls asleep on a bench. Joshua enters the local Church and eavesdrops on a goblin church sermon, which bewails the "evils" of eating meat. The parishioners capture him after seeing his skateboard roll into the church and attempt to force feed him poisonous ice cream; Michael walks in on the scene and becomes suspicious, taking Joshua home.  Later, Drew goes to the town because there are no food or drinks in the RV. The sheriff Gene Freak takes him in his car and gives him a green hamburger. When he arrives in the town, Drew goes to the store and the owner offers him poisonous Nilbog milk. Feeling dizzy, he goes to a chapel and finds Arnold, who has mutated into a tree. Drew drags him out, but Creedence appears. She knocks him out and chainsaws Arnold into pieces. Drew is then killed off-screen.  At the house, the family discover that the townspeople have prepared them a surprise party to apologize for the events at the church. Joshua attempts to make contact with Seth, only for Creedence to appear in goblin form through the mirror, and attacks Joshua. Seth's ghost appears and chops her hand off with an axe. Creedence returns to her chapel, where she mutates herself into a beautiful woman in revealing clothes; she then travels to Elliot's RV, where she seduces Brent and drowns him in popcorn.  During the party, Seth and Joshua try to cause a distraction using a Molotov cocktail, however the Priest captures them, takes the cocktail, and recites a spell which banishes Seth's soul to Hell. However, before he vanishes, Seth summons a bolt of lightning from the sky, which ignites the cocktail and kills the Priest in a fiery explosion. When Michael extinguishes his burning corpse, his true Goblin form is revealed, and the villagers turn on the Waits, revealing themselves all as Goblins. The Waits and Elliot then retreat to the house, where the villagers surround them and hold them hostage.  Joshua, Elliot, Holly, Michael and Diana hold a séance to communicate with Seth, who returns from the dead and tells them that he can retain a physical form for exactly ten minutes before he has to return to the afterlife. Seth gives Joshua a paper bag containing a "secret weapon" to use against the goblins. The goblins break into the house and transport Joshua to Creedence's chapel, where Joshua opens the bag, revealing a "double-decker Bologna sandwich". He eats the sandwich, making his body poisonous to the goblins; he then touches the Stonehenge Stone, along with his family and Elliot, which destroys Creedence and all of the Goblins present.  The family returns home, where Joshua's mother is seen eating food from the refrigerator. The food, unknown to the family, has been poisoned by the family of goblins who took over their home during their exchange in the country. The film ends with Joshua walking in on a group of goblins eating his mother's green, bloated torso off of the kitchen counter and offering him a bite. Joshua screams in horror.

Production.

The script—originally titled "Goblins"—began as a way for director Claudio Fragasso's wife, Rosella Drudi, to express her frustration with several of her friends becoming vegetarians, which she claimed "pissed [her] off." The film was produced by Eduard Sarlui and Joe D'Amato, an Italian exploitation film director notorious for his stated view that the profitability of films was more important than their entertainment value. D'Amato worked under the pseudonym "David Hills". In keeping with D'Amato's production philosophy, many components of the film were created for little to no money, such as the costumes that were designed by D'Amato's longtime friend and frequent collaborator Laura Gemser.  The film was shot on location in Morgan and Porterville, Utah in the summer of 1989; a large "M" erected in the mountains outlying Morgan is visible in some shots. The production crew was made up almost entirely of non-English-speaking Italians brought to America by Fragasso; the only fluent English speaker on set was Gemser. Fragasso and his crew largely relied on a broken pidgin English to communicate with the cast, who recalled not being able to understand much of what went on.  The cast had few experienced actors, and was primarily assembled from residents of nearby towns who responded to an open casting call, hoping to win roles as extras. George Hardy was a dentist with no acting experience who showed up for fun, only to be given one of the film's largest speaking roles. Don Packard, who played the store owner, was actually a patient at a nearby mental hospital, and was cast for — and subsequently filmed — his role while on a day trip. He later recalled that he had smoked an enormous amount of marijuana prior to filming, had no idea what was happening around him, and that his disturbed "performance" in the film was not acting.  Drudi and Fragasso have stated that their intentions have been misunderstood, as the strongly criticized aspects of the movie are intentionally comic and exaggerated, such as Creedence's theatrical acting or the preacher's monologue on eating meat.  As neither Fragasso nor Drudi spoke fluent English, the shooting script was written in the same broken dialect in which they both spoke; the cast would later recall that the script was only given to them scene-by-scene, and that they had difficulty understanding their dialogue as written. Some of the cast members offered to correct their lines to sound more grammatically and syntactically correct, but said that Fragasso demanded they deliver their lines verbatim. Despite the majority of the cast ascribing to the same story, Fragasso has vehemently denied their version of events, and once reacted angrily to a panel discussion being conducted by the cast, calling the actors "dogs" (Italian for "bad actors") and accusing them of lying about their experiences.

Soundtrack.

The film's soundtrack was composed by Carlo Maria Cordio and was played entirely on a Korg M1 synthesizer, consisting of a few brief themes repeated over and over, including a sped-up M1 demo track. In 2017, the complete score was released on CD, LP and cassette by Lunaris Records.

Reception.

"Troll 2" is widely considered to be of exceptionally poor quality, and has come to be regarded by the public as one of the worst films ever made. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 6% based on, with a weighted average rating of 2.3 out of 10. The acting and dialogue have become notorious for their camp value. The scene in which Darren Ewing's character states that he will be eaten next has become an Internet meme, often appearing in videos alongside the "Garbage Day" meme from "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2". In terms of audience participation, "Troll 2" has been compared to the film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", and the two films have been screened together.  In 2007, a major "Troll 2" event took place in Morgan called "Nilbog Invasion".

Home media.

In 2003, the film was released on DVD by MGM in a Dual Layer version, packaged with the first 1986 "Troll" film, under the title "Troll/Troll2". MGM rereleased "Troll 2" on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on October 5, 2010 in honor of the 20th anniversary of the film's release. Scream Factory released a double feature Blu-ray of "Troll" and "Troll 2" on November 17, 2015. The first 5,000 copies included a DVD of "Best Worst Movie", the documentary about the production and legacy of "Troll 2".

Documentary.

The child star of "Troll 2", Michael Stephenson, directed "Best Worst Movie," a documentary about the film and its cult status. The film debuted on March 14, 2009, at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas, as part of the South By Southwest film festival. Several cast members from "Troll 2" attended the premiere. The screening was followed by a showing of "Troll 2". The documentary also screened at major film festivals across the world including the AFI Fest and Sheffield Doc/Fest. A screening at the Tower Theater in Salt Lake City included appearances from much of the cast.  The film won Best Feature Documentary (as voted by the official jury), as well as the Audience Choice for Best Documentary Feature at the 11th annual Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in September 2009. It was released in spring 2010 and distributed by Area 23 A.  ABC's "Nightline" ran a segment on "Troll 2" and "Best Worst Movie" in May 2010, including interviews with Hardy and Stephenson.

Sequel.

After "Troll 2" was released on home video, some regional distributors continued to build on the success of the previous "Troll", distributing two other films as sequels: "The Crawlers" (also known as "Troll 3" or "Contamination.7") and "Quest for the Mighty Sword". The latter film, featuring a hobgoblin using the same goblin suit from "Troll 2", was also known as "Troll 3" (in Germany, it was released as "Troll - Das Schwert der Macht" and "Troll - Teil 3").  At the Nilbog Invasion, Fragasso and writer Drudi announced plans for a sequel to "Troll 2", and the audience was polled for their opinion on what the film should be called. The winning title was "Troll 2: Part 2". Fragasso later asked Stephenson to appear in the sequel. However, in 2009, Fragasso said he was no longer interested in directing the film.

"Goblin 2" crossover.

A German film, "Goblin 2", reprised Hardy's role as Michael Waits, establishing it as a crossover film.

Troll 2 is a 1990 comedy horror film directed by Claudio Fragasso (under the pseudonym Drake Floyd) and starring Michael Stephenson, George Hardy, Margo Prey, Connie McFarland, Deborah Reed and Jason Wright. The plot concerns a family pursued by vegetarian goblins who seek to mutate them into plants so that they can eat them.

《魔界屋2》(英语:Troll 2,前称作英语:Goblins)是一部1990年美国恐怖喜剧片,由克劳迪·弗瑞迦索执导和编剧。美国于1990年10月12日以录像带首映发行。


Professional career.

Iran.

Before officially playing for a professional Iranian team, Haddadi started his basketball stint with a hometown team of his known as Shahin Ahvaz. His stint there would ultimately allow Haddadi played in the Iranian Basketball Super League with Paykan Tehran and Saba Battery. During 2004, Haddadi would also play for Sanam Tehran for a bit as well. In August 2007, while still playing in Iran, he rejected a contract offer from the Serbian League team Partizan Belgrade in order to play for Saba Battery. In 2008, he won the Asian Club Championship with Saba Battery.  During the 2011 NBA lockout, Haddadi signed a short-term contract with his hometown team, Melli Haffari Ahvaz. During this period Haddadi received no salary from the team.  During the 2013 offseason, Haddadi signed a short-term contract with Foolad Mahan Isfahan. During this time, he helped lead the team to win the 2013 FIBA Asia Champions Cup over the Al Rayyan basketball team in Qatar. After his first stint with the Chinese Basketball Association, Haddadi would return to Iran once again to play for Mahram Tehran to play out the rest of their season.  On March 9, 2016, Haddadi signed with Petrochimi Bandar Imam of the Iranian Super League. However, he wouldn't make his debut until later on in March due to his CBA Finals duties with the Sichuan Blue Whales at the time. He would return to that same team once again after the 2016-17 CBA season concluded for Sichuan. This time around, however, he would play for them for the entirety of the 2017–18 season.

United Arab Emirates.

In 2003, Haddadi was assigned by Paykan Tehran to play for Al-Nasr from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for a short period of time. He would ultimately return with Paykan after his stint with Al-Nasr.

NBA career.

Memphis Grizzlies.

Before the 2004 NBA draft, Haddadi declared himself eligible for the draft as an early entrant. However, he went undrafted in the draft and therefore became a free agent who is free to sign with any NBA team.  Haddadi received offers from NBA teams prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics and stated he would sign with a team after the games. Complications existed because of legal restrictions regarding business dealings between U.S. companies and Iranian citizens.  On August 28, 2008, Haddadi signed with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies as a free-agent. Haddadi scored four points in 17 minutes of action in his first NBA preseason game, an October 7, 2008 loss at the Houston Rockets.  Haddadi averaged 1.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 9.7 minutes in six preseason games with the Grizzlies, and made his regular season debut on December 30, when he played 4 minutes in a loss against the Phoenix Suns, hitting both of his free throws and grabbing one rebound.  On November 25, 2008, Memphis assigned Haddadi to the Dakota Wizards of the NBA D-League. On Tuesday, December 23, 2008, Haddadi was recalled by the Grizzlies. Haddadi scored a then career-high 10 points, with 8 rebounds and a block in less than 10 minutes to key a 12–0 run in the 4th quarter, sparking the Grizzlies to a come-from-behind victory at the Golden State Warriors on March 30, 2009.  On December 31, 2011, he re-signed with the Memphis Grizzlies a one-year $1.3 million contract. On April 17, 2012, Hamed came off the bench to score 8 points in 12 minutes and give the Grizzlies a boost to lead them to a victory over the rival Minnesota Timberwolves. On July 28, 2012, Haddadi re-signed with the Memphis Grizzlies.  On January 30, 2013, Haddadi was traded to the Toronto Raptors along with Rudy Gay as part of a three-way deal that sent José Calderón to the Detroit Pistons and Ed Davis, Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye, and a second round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies. However, Haddadi could not immediately report to the Raptors due to immigration issues. He would never play a single game for the Raptors.

Phoenix Suns.

On February 21, 2013, the Raptors traded Haddadi and a second-round draft pick to the Phoenix Suns for Sebastian Telfair. During his tenure with the Suns, Haddadi decided to wear the number 98 as a tribute of sorts to his home nation's national telephone code.  Haddadi did not play for the Suns until March 6, 2013, in a game against the Raptors, the team that Haddadi was first traded to. On March 9, 2013, Haddadi recorded 6 points, 3 blocks and a career-high 11 rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench, contributing to the Suns 107-105 win over the Houston Rockets.  Despite gaining professional career highs in his short stint with the team, Haddadi was waived by the Suns on June 29, 2013.

China.

In September 2013, Haddadi signed with the Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association as the bonus foreign Asian player that's allowed to be on the expansion CBA team.  On September 15, 2014, Haddadi agreed to terms with Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles. With Haddadi's help, the Eagles were one of the top teams during the 2014–15 season. During his time in Qingdao, Haddadi would average 20.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.3 blocks for the team's surprise rise. However, due to Qingdao's success that season, they could not re-sign him afterwards.  In September 2015, Haddadi returned to the Sichuan Blue Whales as their bonus foreign Asian player due to them having one of the worst records that season. During his second stint in Sichuan, Haddadi would help the team reach their first playoff stint in CBA history. He would help the Blue Whales sweep the Zhejiang Lions in the first round and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the second round before playing in the championship series against the Liaoning Flying Leopards. Before Haddadi would return to his home nation with Petrochimi Bandar Imam in Iran, he would help finish the job that was needed with the Blue Whales, as he would help lead Sichuan to a 4-1 Finals series win over the Liaoning Flying Leopards, and thus becoming the CBA Finals MVP in the process. After finishing his most recent stint in his home nation, he'd return to Sichuan as an exception player for the two international players allowed on their roster. During a good portion of his third season there, he'd also play with former NBA player Josh Smith.  After taking a year off from Chinese basketball, Haddadi returned to the CBA once again, this time playing as a starting center for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.

National team career.

Haddadi won a silver medal at the 2002 Asian Under-18 Championship and a gold medal at the 2004 Asian U20 Championship while playing on Iran's junior national teams. He won gold medals at the 2004 and 2005 West Asian Championships with the senior Iranian national basketball team.  Haddadi also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Games and gold medals at the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship, 2009 FIBA Asia Championship, and the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship. He was also named the MVP of the latter three tournaments.  At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he led the tournament with the highest average blocked shots per game and rebounds per game, the latter by a wide margin.  Haddadi was involved in a brawl in the 2009 William Jones cup against team Jordan, which was a vital game in the cup. It later led to the outcome of the championship where Iran won despite having a 6–2 standing while Jordan had a 7–1 record.  Haddadi led team Iran to back-to-back FIBA Asia championships, where they beat Jordan in the semifinals 77–75, and defeated tournament favorite and host China, 70–52.

Off the court.

In September 2009, Haddadi hosted a weekend basketball camp for children on the campus of California State University, Northridge. The camp catered mainly to the Iranian American community, and coaches included Haddadi himself, his manager, Mayar Zokaei, Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest (now known as Metta World Peace), and Iranian professional basketball players Behdad Sami and Benny Koochoie, amongst others. The camp attracted over 100 children and was the first sports camp ever by an Iranian athlete in the United States.  Haddadi also spearheaded the "Hamed Haddadi Javanan Foundation", a charity organization formed with the intention of awarding college scholarships to student athletes across the nation.

Actor.

Hamed Haddadi played the role of Yahya in the "Mokhtarnameh" series.

Hamed Haddadi (,, born May 19, 1985) is an Iranian professional basketball player for Nanjing Monkey King of the Chinese Basketball Association. He plays at the center position and is 7'2" (2.18 meters) tall and weighs 280 lbs (127 kilograms). Haddadi was the first Iranian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) when he debuted with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2008. He'd also continue playing with the Grizzlies there until 2013, where he'd get traded to first the Toronto Raptors and then the Phoenix Suns before returning to Iran and then play in China soon afterwards in the next months.

哈米德·埃哈达迪(,英语:Hamed E. Haddadi,1985年-5月19日),出生于伊朗胡齐斯坦省阿瓦士,伊朗职业篮球运动员,曾效力于美国NBA的孟菲斯灰熊、凤凰城太阳,中国CBA的青岛双星、四川金强等队。场上司职中锋,身高2.18米,体重120公斤。


Historical background.

With the introduction of a semi-final at the 2004 contest, and due to Denmark's absence from the 2003 contest, Denmark's 2004 representative, Thomas Thordarsson, had to take part in the semi-final. His song, "Shame on You" did not reach the final, finishing 13th in a field of 22 contestants.  In 2005, DR made a bold step for Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Artists were allowed, for the first time ever, to sing in a language other than Danish. Many of the entries that year were sung in English; however, against the odds, the winning song was sung in Danish. Jakob Sveistrup won Dansk Melodi Grand Prix with his song "Tænder på dig". It was later re-written for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 to English as "Talking to You". Unlike the year before, Denmark secured a place in the final, finishing third in the semifinal. In the final he came 9th, guaranteeing Denmark a place in the final of the 2006 contest. A year later, Sidsel Ben Semmane sang "Twist of Love" in the final, but managed to finish 18th of 24 songs.  In 2007, after many poor results, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix adopted a semi-final format that had served well for the Swedish preselection, Melodifestivalen. Two semi-finals with 8 songs each were introduced, with the top 4 songs qualifying for the final. The 4 losing songs of each semi-final then took part in one of two wildcard rounds where the listeners of Danish radio stations P3 and P4 chose another two finalists. The winner under this new format, DQ with the song "Drama Queen" (a wildcard entrant), finished 18th in the semifinal, relegating Denmark again.  DR continued to use this format in the 2008 edition which was won by Simon Mathew and the song "All Night Long". At the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia, Denmark as in 2005, finished 3rd in the semifinals, qualifying for the grand final. In the final, Mathew got 60 points, finishing 15th in a field of 25 songs.  For the 2009 of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, DR reverted to their one-night final, that was held on 31 January 2009. The final of 10 songs consisted of 6 songs from an open call of songs from the public, with 4 songs being invited by DR to compete.

Winners.

Almost all winners of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix have gone on to represent Denmark at Eurovision. Only two entries did not represent Denmark at Eurovision: the 1996 winner ("Kun med dig" by and ), which failed to qualify for the final from the pre-selection, and the 2020 winner ("Yes" by Ben & Tan), which was slated to be the country's entry before the 2020 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Denmark has won Eurovision three times: in 1963, 2000 and 2013.  The following table lists those entries which finished fifth or higher at Eurovision:

Discography.

Albums.

Others De vindere series Others

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix is an annual music competition organised by Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR), which determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest.

丹麦一级音乐大赛()是由丹麦广播公司丹麦电台(DR)主办的年度音乐比赛。比赛的获胜者将代表丹麦参加欧洲歌唱大赛。


History.

Frustrated by the limited extent of existing air service, Ralph Atkin, a St. George, Utah lawyer, purchased Dixie Airlines to shuttle businessmen to Salt Lake City in 1972. After early struggles, SkyWest began a steady expansion across the western U.S. It became the eleventh largest regional carrier in 1984 when it acquired Sun Aire Lines of Palm Springs, California, and had its initial public offering in 1986.  In 1985, SkyWest began codesharing as Western Express, a feeder service for Western Airlines at its Salt Lake City hub and other mainline Western destinations utilizing Embraer EMB-120 and Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprop aircraft. Following the acquisition and merger of Western by Delta Air Lines in 1986, SkyWest then became a Delta Connection air carrier with code share service being flown on behalf of Delta to destinations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. In 1995, SkyWest began operating flights for Continental Airlines out of LAX. The relationship was discontinued two years later when SkyWest began flying for United Airlines. SkyWest's United Express flights out of SFO, LAX and DEN became its largest operation by the late 1990s. A partnership with Continental was revived in 2003 out of George Bush Intercontinental Airport, but was discontinued in June 2005. On August 15, 2005, Delta sold Atlantic Southeast Airlines to the newly incorporated SkyWest, Inc. for $425 million in cash. The acquisition was completed on September 8, 2005.  On August 4, 2010, SkyWest, Inc. announced that it planned to acquire ExpressJet Airlines and merge it with SkyWest subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines in a deal reported to have a value of $133 million. The purchase aligned the largest commuter operations of United Airlines and Continental Airlines, who were in a merger process, and was approved on September 13, 2010, by the Federal Trade Commission.  In May 2011, SkyWest replaced six Horizon Air flights on the West Coast being operated for Alaska Airlines. The flights were based out of Seattle and Portland, and fly to several California cities including Fresno, Burbank, Santa Barbara and Ontario. Alaska Airlines has similar agreements with PenAir for Alaskan flights and Horizon Air for flights in the lower 48.  On September 6, 2011, AirTran Airways ended its codesharing and partnership with SkyWest. Shortly after, SkyWest began a codesharing agreement with US Airways to operate CRJ200 aircraft from US Airways' hub in Phoenix, Arizona.  On November 15, 2012, SkyWest began a capacity purchase agreement with American Airlines for 12 CRJ200 aircraft from American's hub in Los Angeles, California.  On September 6, 2017, SkyWest Airlines reported that it has entered into aircraft purchase agreements and capacity purchase agreements to acquire and fly 15 new aircraft with Delta Air Lines and 10 new aircraft with Alaska Airlines. Of the 25 aircraft, 15 Embraer E175 SC aircraft will fly under an agreement with Delta in a 70-seat configuration. The E175 SC aircraft has an E175 airframe and can be retrofitted to 76 seats in the future. The agreement with Alaska includes 10 Embraer E175s, which will be configured with 76 seats, similar to aircraft SkyWest has previously placed into service with Alaska. Expected delivery dates of the 25 aircraft run from March 2018 through the end of 2018.  On December 18, 2018, SkyWest, Inc. announced that it would sell ExpressJet Airlines to another airline holding company with ties to United Airlines, ExpressJet's sole client. The $70 million sale closed on January 23, 2019.

Corporate affairs.

Ownership and structure.

SkyWest is owned by SkyWest, Inc., an airline holding company. SkyWest also provides contract ground handling services at airports across the United States.

Business trends.

Performance figures for SkyWest Airlines are fully incorporated into the accounts of its parent company, SkyWest, Inc.  Figures that are available for SkyWest Airlines alone (referred to as 'SkyWest Airlines segment' data in the Group accounts), are shown below (as at year ending December 31):

Destinations.

SkyWest flies to 255 destinations throughout North America including Denver International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Portland International Airport.

Fleet.

Current fleet.

SkyWest has the largest fleet of any regional airline in the United States.  Like most regional airlines in the United States, SkyWest is subject to scope clause requirements of its mainline carrier partners and their pilot unions; those requirements limit the size of the aircraft flown by a regional airline, measured in seat capacity. This has created three subgroups of aircraft flown by SkyWest: aircraft with no more than 50 seats, no more than 70 seats and no more than 76 seats.  As of May 2020, the SkyWest Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft, categorized by seating capacity:  As of the same date, the allocation of SkyWest Airlines aircraft in service to mainline carrier operations and to its own fleet was:

Fleet development.

Since 2015, the airline has exclusively operated jet aircraft.  In mid-2019 SkyWest signed a firm order for 7 Embraer E175 aircraft, in a 70-seat layout, to be operated for DeltaConnection and with deliveries starting in the last quarter of 2019.

Historical fleet.

SkyWest previously operated Embraer EMB-120 turboprop aircraft until 2015. The airline also operated Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprops (Metro II and Metro III models). In 1984, SkyWest was operating the largest Metro propjet fleet in the world with 26 aircraft, and by 1991 the Metro fleet had grown to 35 aircraft with 15 Brasilia propjets also being operated. By 1994, the first jet, a Bombardier CRJ-100, was added to the fleet and by 1996 all of the Metro propjets had been retired as they were progressively replaced with Brasilia aircraft..  According to the airline's website, at its inception SkyWest was operating all flights in the early 1970s with small propeller-driven, piston engine aircraft, including:

Accidents and incidents.

SkyWest Airlines has never been cited or found at fault in a fatal accident or incident. Incidents include:

SkyWest Airlines is a North American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah, United States. It primarily serves major air carriers via contracts with Alaska Airlines (as Alaska SkyWest), American Airlines (as American Eagle), Delta Air Lines (as Delta Connection), and United Airlines (as United Express). SkyWest is primarily paid to operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed, and priced by a partner mainline airline. In all, it is the largest regional airline in North America when measured by fleet size, number of passengers carried, and number of destinations served between all the airlines it contracts with.

天西航空()是北美洲的一家支线航空公司,其总部位于犹他州圣乔治市。其被分类为美国的主要航空公司之一。然而,作为一家支线航空公司,其主要为与其签订了班号共享协议的干线航空公司运营航班,如:美国航空(以美鹰航空名义运营)、阿拉斯加航空(以阿拉斯加名义运营)、达美航空(以达美连接航空名义运营)和联合航空(以联航快运名义运营)。天西航空主要通过运营和维护干线航空公司合作伙伴的航班所使用的飞机来盈利。就机队数量、客运量与通航城市数量而言,天西航空是北美洲最大的支线航空公司。


Club career.

Audax Italiano.

Born in Mendoza, Mendoza Province, Di Santo began his club career in the Chilean team Audax Italiano. In the 2006–07 season, he scored 26 goals in 76 matches, including one goal in six matches in the Copa Libertadores. Then, in 2007 he scored 12 in 17 matches for the club, including one goal in four matches in the Copa Sudamericana. Dubbed the "new Maradona" due to his precocious and prolific performances, on 25 January 2008, Di Santo signed for English Premier League side Chelsea on a four-and-a-half-year contract for a fee of £3.4 million.

Chelsea.

2007–08 season.

Di Santo scored on his debut for Chelsea reserves on 11 February 2008, getting a late goal in a 2–2 draw with Fulham reserves and scored his second goal in as many appearances, against Reading reserves on 3 March. On 14 April, he scored his first hat-trick for Chelsea's reserve team against Tottenham Reserves; the most spectacular of the three goals being a volley from a Branislav Ivanović cross that found the top right corner. In the last reserve match of the season, Di Santo scored his seventh goal in eight reserve games against Aston Villa. He finished the 2007–08 reserve season with 12 reserve goals in eight games.

2008–09 season.

Di Santo trained with the first team in 2008–09 pre-season and flew out with the squad on their tour of China. Ahead of their first game on tour, he was handed the number 36 jersey and came off the bench in that game against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, to score the third goal during a 4–0 victory. He scored his second goal of the pre-season campaign in the 65th minute against the Chengdu Blades in a 7–0 victory after he had replaced Nicolas Anelka five minutes before.  On 31 August, Di Santo made his first-team debut in the 1–1 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur, coming on in place of Nicolas Anelka in the 88th minute of the game. His UEFA Champions League debut came against CFR Cluj, replacing Florent Malouda in the 70th minute of a 0–0 draw on 2 October. On 3 January 2009, Di Santo made his FA Cup debut in the third round, replacing Joe Cole for the last six minutes against Southend United in a 1–1 draw at Stamford Bridge.  Di Santo came on as a substitute for Florent Malouda with half an hour remaining and Chelsea a goal down against Stoke City on 17 January 2009. He assisted a goal in the 88th minute for Juliano Belletti to make it 1–1, and Frank Lampard then scored a 94th-minute winner. On 30 May, Di Santo was an unused substitute as Chelsea won the 2009 FA Cup Final against Everton. He made 8 substitute appearances during Chelsea's 2008–09 Premier League campaign and was afterwards linked with a loan move to Blackburn Rovers.  Di Santo scored his first goal of the 2009 pre-season against Club América; he also provided an assist to teammate Florent Malouda a minute later. Chelsea won the game 2–0 to win the World Football Challenge.

Loan to Blackburn Rovers.

On 3 August 2009, Di Santo joined Blackburn Rovers on loan until February 2010, with the option of extending the loan by six months to June 2010.  He made his debut for Rovers on the opening day of the season, 15 August, replacing Jason Roberts in the 65th minute of a 2–0 home defeat to Manchester City. He made his first start in the next match, away to Sunderland a week later, but was substituted for Nikola Kalinić due to injury after 14 minutes; Blackburn lost 2–1. He recovered from injury after a month, starting a 2–1 home win over Aston Villa on 26 September in which he won David Dunn's winning late penalty after his shot was handled by Richard Dunne. On 18 October he scored the only goal of his loan in a 3–2 home win over local rivals Burnley, also assisting David Dunn with a flick.  As a result of his good performances, Rovers extended his loan deal by a further six months until June 2010. However, after his extended loan, Di Santo saw less time on the pitch due to his poor goals-to-games ratio and was often used more as a late substitute. He was not selected for Rovers' final squad of the 2009–10 season, against Aston Villa.

Wigan Athletic.

On 31 August 2010, Di Santo signed a three-year contract with Wigan Athletic for a transfer fee of £2 million. He made his debut on 11 September, appearing as a 54th-minute substitute for Hendry Thomas in a 1–1 draw against Sunderland, in support of his compatriot Mauro Boselli. In the following game, against Manchester City, he started for the first time as Wigan lost 2–0 at home. On 23 April 2011, Di Santo replaced Charles N'Zogbia for the last seven minutes of a 4–2 defeat at Sunderland and scored the last goal of the game in added time. It was his first goal since 18 October 2009.  On the opening day of the following Premier League season, Di Santo won a penalty from Ritchie De Laet, which teammate Ben Watson converted in the 1–1 draw against Norwich City. On 27 August 2011, the third game of the season, he scored two deflected goals in a 2–0 win against Queens Park Rangers and left to a standing ovation from the home crowd when substituted for Conor Sammon. On 17 September, he scored again at Goodison Park against Everton, a deflected effort off Tony Hibbert to take the lead, but eventually Wigan lost 3–1.  Di Santo scored his first goal of the 2012–13 season in a 2–0 away win at newly promoted Southampton on 25 August, opening the scoring in the 51st minute with a finish high into the net from inside the area. He was an unused substitute as Wigan defeated Manchester City in the 2013 FA Cup Final, manager Roberto Martínez instead playing Arouna Koné and Callum McManaman in attack. On 30 June 2013, Di Santo was released by Wigan.

Werder Bremen.

On 14 August 2013, Di Santo signed a three-year contract with Bundesliga club Werder Bremen. He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund nine days later, replacing Marko Arnautović in the 67th minute. On 14 September, he was sent off in a 0–3 home defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt for a tackle which resulted in Bastian Oczipka needing facial stitches. Two months later, in the last five minutes of a home game against Mainz, Di Santo assisted Eljero Elia and then scored his own first Bundesliga goal, but Bremen still lost 2–3. He finished his first season at the club with 4 goals from 23 league appearances.  On 1 November 2014, away to Mainz, Di Santo scored two goals (the first a rebounded penalty), as Bremen came from behind to register their first win of the season after 10 games. This brace put him joint top of the Bundesliga scorers, with 6 goals. He scored another two goals on 1 February 2015 to defeat Hertha Berlin.

Schalke 04.

On 25 July 2015, Di Santo joined Bremen's rival Schalke 04 signing a four-year contract, after triggering his release clause, believed to be €6 million. Two days later, Di Santo publicly apologized to Bremen fans for the controversial switch, and Bremen director Thomas Eichin said he was "anything but impressed" by the swiftness of Di Santo's departure.  On 8 August, he marked his competitive debut by scoring in a 5–0 win at MSV Duisburg in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. He scored a hat-trick on 1 October, the last of the three being a penalty, in a win by the same score against Asteras Tripoli in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.

Rayo Vallecano.

On 31 January 2019, Di Santo signed for Rayo Vallecano on a free transfer. He made six appearances for the club in the 2018–19 La Liga season.

Atlético Mineiro.

On 6 August 2019, Di Santo joined Brazilian club Atlético Mineiro on a contract that runs until December 2020.

International career.

Di Santo made his debut for the Argentina under-20 team in 2006 and scored his first goal in a game against the French under-20s. He was part of the under-20 squad that participated in the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay, which Brazil won by a two-point advantage over Argentina.  He was also called up to the 2009 South American Youth Championship in Venezuela, but was not allowed to take part due to Chelsea's injury crisis. From 2006 to 2009 Di Santo earned 25 Under-20 caps and five goals.  On 31 October 2012, Di Santo was handed a call-up to the Argentina national team squad by manager Alejandro Sabella for their upcoming friendly against Saudi Arabia on 14 November 2012.  In May 2014, Di Santo was re-called to the Argentina national team, in the 30-man provisional squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. BBC Sport called him a "surprise inclusion". However, later that month, he was one of four players cut from a second provisional 26-man squad.

Career statistics.

International.

"Ref."

Honours.

Chelsea  Wigan Athletic

Franco Matías Di Santo (; born 7 April 1989) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Brazilian club Atlético Mineiro.

法兰高·迪山度(,1989年-4月7日),阿根廷足球运动员,司职前锋,现时效力西甲球会华历简奴。


Background.

Tam Fu Wing (Ti Lung) was born on 19 August in 1946 in Guangdong Province, China into a family with 4 members including himself, his parents and a younger sister. When he was 4 years old, the whole family moved to live in Hong Kong. He was educated at the Eton school in Hong Kong. However, after his father's death, he had to terminate his studies at the age of 11 in order to support his family. Initially, he worked as a delivery boy at a grocery store where he often delivered milk, newspapers and groceries. At 17, he trained as a tailor and studied Wing Chun with the master Jiu Wan in order to protect himself against street gangs.

Career.

In 1968, after he graduated year 2 college, Ti Lung responded to an advertisement placed by the Shaw Brothers and applied to the Shaw Acting Course. Upon graduation from the class, he was able to secure a minor role in Chang Cheh's "Return of the One-Armed Swordsman" starring Jimmy Wang Yu. Chang Cheh immediately recognized his potential and offered him the lead role in his next production "Dead End" opposite Golden Chan Hung-lit, a role which would launch his career as one of the best known faces in classic Wuxia films. At that time, he continued to study Wing Chun under the martial arts master Jiu Wan who described him as having the advantages of a strong body, intelligence, speed, good footwork, and a diligent work ethic. Jiu Wan granted Ti Lung a certificate upon completion of his martial arts training in Wing Chun, and Ti Lung subsequently learned other martial arts (and performance art skills) such as Judo, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Wushu and horseback riding. Later on in his career, Ti Lung became a common face associated with David Chiang, Alexander Fu Sheng, Ku Feng, Chen Kuan-Tai, the Venom Mob, and other major Shaw Bros stars at the time, often cast as a dashing, noble hero as well as a capable martial artist.  Ti Lung is also perhaps more known for his collaborations with the most revered of Shaw Studio directors - Chang Cheh - who turned him into a star along with fellow actor and frequent co-star David Chiang in over 20 films: Dead End (1969), Have Sword, Will Travel (1969), Vengeance (1970), The Heroic Ones (1970), The Duel (1971), Duel of Fists (1971), The Deadly Duo (1971), Angry Guest (1972), Four Riders (1972), The Blood Brothers (1973), and The Pirate (1973). Due to their successes, the trio eventually became known as "The Iron Triangle." During the early 1970s, one of Ti Lung's most notable feature films was "The Blood Brothers" (1973) which netted him The Special Award for Outstanding Performance at the 11th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan and the Special Jury Award at the Asian Film Awards in 1973. Soon after, Ti Lung moved forward ins his career by teaming up with Lar Kar-Leung, Chu Yuan, Sun Chung, and Tong Gai to produce movies still loved today such as: The Magic Blade (1976), Clans of Intrigue (1977), The Sentimental Swordsman (1977), The Avenging Eagle (1978), and Shaolin Prince (1983).  The famous standard formula of wusia movies produced by the Shaw Brothers took Chu Yuan as the director, Gu Long as the original playwright and Ti Lung as the hero. Chu Yuan directed more Gu Long movies than any other director did, and Ti Lung appeared in Chu Yuan's movies more than other actor did, such as in 'Clans of Intrigue, Chu Liusiang' in 1977, 'Legend of the Bat, Bianfu Chuanci' in 1978, 'The Magic Blade, Tianya Mingyue Dao' in 1976 and 'The Sentimental Swordsman, Duocing Jianke Wucing Jian' in 1977. In 1979, he won a Best Actor Award at the 25th Asian Film Awards as Black Eagle Chik Ming-Sing in The Avenging Eagle in 1978.  After he left Shaw Brothers Studios in the 1980s, Ti Lung's career took a turn for the worse until 1986, when John Woo cast him opposite Chow Yun-fat in "A Better Tomorrow" for the role of a Triad member, Sung-Tse Ho. The movie was a massive box office success and placed Ti Lung squarely back in the public consciousness, although it changed his image from the handsome young martial artist to the tortured, would-be hero gangster. His role in the film also won him a Best Actor Award at the 23rd Golden Horse Awards in 1986. After that role, Ti Lung's next most recognizable appearance would be with Jackie Chan in "Drunken Master II", in which he co-starred as Wong Kei-Ying, father of Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung. In 1994-95, Ti Lung lead-starred as Bao Zheng in a Hong Kong version of the "Justice Pao" TV series for TVB. At the time this series was playing on Hong Kong television, many fans in Mainland China and Hong Kong favorably compared Ti Lung/TVB's Bao Zheng with Jin Chao-chun/Mainland China's Bao Zheng. Ti Lung also worked with Andy Lau in "" as the legendary Guan Yu. From there, he has continued to steadily work in television in a variety of roles.  In 1999, Ti Lung experienced a comeback in movies by playing the role of Sir Lung in The Kid (1999), which enabled him to achieve a Best Supporting Actor award at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2000. In 2007, he received a Life Achievement Award at the Golden Bauhinia Awards. Until 2015, he played Master Lam in a Hong Kong and Malaysia feature film co-production, "The Kid from the Big Apple". The role won him a Best Actor Award at the 7th Macau International Movie Festival. The sequel to the film is slated to premiere in Malaysia in November 2017.

The origin of the stage name "Ti Lung".

When he was a child, Ti Lung greatly admired the French actor Alain Delon. In 1968, at Shaw Brothers Studio, he asked production to choose a name for him which would sound like Alain Delon's in the hope of being as good an actor as he was. One day a secretary from the production (Mona Fong) found the name of "Ti Lung" for him and it stuck, 'Ti' being a lucky name and 'Lung' meaning dragon.

Personal life.

Ti Lung married beauty queen and actress Tao Man Ming in 1975. In 1980, Tao gave birth to a son, Shaun Tam Chun-yin (谭俊彦). He is also the uncle of Jerry Lamb and Jan Lamb.

Tommy Tam Fu-Wing (born 19 August 1946), better known by his stage name Ti Lung, is a Hong Kong actor, known for his numerous starring roles in a string of Shaw Brothers Studio's films, particularly "The Blood Brothers","The Avenging Eagle", " Clans of Intrigue", "The Duel", "The Sentimental Swordsman" and its sequel, as well as the classic John Woo film "A Better Tomorrow".

狄龙(英语:Tik Lung / Tommy Tam,1946年-8月19日),原名谭富荣,香港男演员,曾获得香港电影金像奖最佳男配角以及金马奖最佳男主角奖。


Playing career.

Fong began playing "Doom" at the age of 16 in 1993. He first chose the pseudonym Threshold of Pain, which referred to the ability to withstand enemy fire and suffering. However, as many games had an eight-character ID limit, he went with "Thresh" and liked the word's meaning of "to strike repeatedly".  Fong attended the Microsoft-sponsored "Doom" tournament Judgment Day 1995 in Seattle. Thresh defeated Ted "Merlock" Peterson to finish first among 24 competitors from across the US and United Kingdom.  The highlight of his gaming career was at the Red Annihilation tournament in 1997. He and Tom "Entropy" Kimzey emerged from a crowded field to face off in the Quake level E1M2 "Castle of the Damned", where Thresh defeated Entropy 14 to -1.  At the peak of his gaming career in the middle to late 1990s, he earned approximately $100,000 a year from prize money and endorsements. He retired in 1997 to focus on his business ventures.  On July 27, 2016 Thresh was the second person to be inducted into the ESL Hall of Fame. Fong has also been featured in "Rolling Stone" for his gaming prowess.

Business ventures.

Fong and his brother Lyle started GX Media, the parent company of Gamers.com, FiringSquad, and Lithium Technologies. Fong was the CEO of the company and Lyle was the chief technical officer. The company grew to 100 employees.  In 1999, GX Media raised over US$11 million from CMGI and built gamers.com, a popular web portal. Fong's Ferrari was parked in the lobby of the GX Media offices. In 2001, gamers.com was acquired by Ziff-Davis.  While running GX Media, Fong was also editor-in-chief at the video gaming site FiringSquad, wrote a monthly column in the popular PC Gamer magazine and co-authored the official Quake II strategy guide with Jonathan Mendoza and Kenn Spear Hwang.  GX Media spun off Lithium Technologies, a leading Social CRM platform provider that counts AT&T, PlayStation, Verizon, Comcast and Best Buy as some of its customers. The company has raised over $40 million from Benchmark Capital, Emergence Capital, Shasta Ventures, DAG Ventures and Tenaya Capital.  Fong went on to co-found Xfire, an Instant messaging client designed for online gaming, that was acquired by Viacom in 2006. In 2007, Fong founded Raptr, a social network and related software client for gamers. The company has raised over $12 million in financing from Accel Partners.  Fong serves as an adviser for WeGame.com Inc and also served in the same capacity to the now-defunct Booyah, Inc..

Playing style.

In games, Fong is known for his reflexes, intuition and tactics. People coined the term "Thresh ESP" to describe his unnatural knack for knowing exactly what his opponents were doing. In 1 on 1 deathmatch, he made it a priority to understand the level and "control" vital items using timed runs to repeatedly hoard them from opponents, such as the rocket launcher and armor in Quake.  Fong has been credited with popularizing the WASD key configuration now commonly used in PC gaming.

Personal life.

Fong was born in Hong Kong on March 11, 1977. He also lived in Beijing for a while. His parents, David and Lena Fong, were educated in America and are US citizens. He and his family immigrated to the United States when he was 11 years old, and he grew up in Los Altos, California. His interests include playing roller hockey. Fong has two younger brothers, Lyle and Bryant. Lyle helped him co-found GX Media. Thresh attended De Anza College in Cupertino, California for a year in 1996–1997 before dropping out to focus on gaming. He currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dennis Fong (), better known by his online alias Thresh, is an American businessman and retired professional player of the first-person shooter video games "Quake" and "Doom". He is a co-founder of Xfire, an instant messenger and social networking site for gamers, which was acquired by Viacom for 102 million in April 2006. He also co-founded Lithium Technologies, a social customer relationship management (CRM) company. In his playing career his highest profile victory came in 1997 at the Red Annihilation "Quake" tournament, where he placed first and won id Software CEO John D. Carmack's Ferrari 328. Fong is recognized by the "Guinness World Records" as the first professional gamer.

方镛钦(英文名:Dennis Fong,亦以游戏ID名“Thresh”为人所知,1977年-3月11日),香港出生的美籍华人及企业家,前职业玩家。作为一个职业玩家,他于1997年的雷神之锤锦标赛中赢得了约翰·卡马克的法拉利328轿车,被称为“电子游戏的迈克尔·乔丹”,且在的“史上最佳北美电子竞技偶像”排行榜上跻身榜首;作为一个企业家,他是、Lithium的创始人之一,并曾入围《红<unk>鱼》(Red Herring)杂志“35岁以下的前20名企业家”排行榜。