Gameplay.

In "X-Men: Destiny", players are put in the roles of new mutants who choose to join either the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Mutants; from there, they make decisions for the ultimate destiny of their character. "X-Men: Destiny" places an emphasis on the players' freedom of choice, as opposed to a more traditional linear type of gameplay. This was supported by quotes in the official press release: "the all-new original video game casts players as new mutant recruits in a rich, branching storyline that features a deep element of choice and gives players ultimate control of their destiny."  Throughout the game, players collect power enhancements called X-Genes. Every X-Gene can unlock three types of abilities: offensive, defensive and utility. X-Genes can be mixed and matched as the player sees fit for a unique experience.  Some retailers packaged the game with exclusive pre-order bonuses. Those who pre-ordered on Amazon.com received an early unlock code for Emma Frost's outfit and X-Genes; Best Buy offered an early unlock code of Juggernaut's costume and X-Genes; and GameStop's pre-ordering customers received Havok's suit and X-Genes.

Plot.

In "X-Men Destiny" San Francisco has been divided into human and mutant areas due to conflict. The player chooses from one of three mutant characters who have been created for the game. Player choices affect which mutants become their allies and enemies through decisions made in the course of the story.  The game begins at a peace rally in memory of the deceased Professor X, seen through the Mutant Response Division's Chief Luis Reyes. Things quickly turn when the rally is attacked by an anti-mutant extremist group called the Purifiers, who are kidnapping mutants, not killing them as they usually do. The latent mutant powers of the player character are awakened, and they are forced to defend civilians from the Purifiers. The player character then meets with mutants from both the X-Men and Brotherhood of Mutants and chooses to join a group as they go after Cameron Hodge, leader of the Purifiers. Hodge is wearing a suit of power armor and personally joins the hunt for mutants. The player eventually corners Hodge on top of a building but is interrupted by Magneto, accused by Reyes of attacking the rally, who drops the Golden Gate Bridge on top of the combat zone.  The player character is saved by Nightcrawler at the last second and is teleported to Chinatown, where they are tasked with finding Gambit, who is currently operating a nightclub nearby. After meeting Gambit, he asks the player to help him raid a Purifier warehouse which contains technology used against mutants. After the raid, Gambit gives the player character the location of the secret underground lab where Purifiers hold captured mutants. At the lab, the player character meets several captured mutants such as Quicksilver, Surge and Colossus. With their help John Sublime and the U-Men are defeated, and the captured mutants are rescued. Acting on information gained by the X-Men, the player character goes to a secret underground base used by Hodge and the Purifiers. They find Hodge, who is now wearing a more powerful power armor containing drained mutant powers. Hodge boasts that the powers drained from Pixie and Caliban will allow him to find any mutant, and that he is being helped by some other group or person. After the fight, Hodge falls from a generator tower to his apparent death.  Depending on the player's choice between the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Mutants, they goes to either Cyclops or Mystique with the new-found information and are tasked with finding Pixie and Caliban. With the aid of Forge, the player character finds Caliban and realizes that Hodge's ally is Bastion, the robot who killed Professor X before being destroyed by Magneto. Bastion somehow survived and uploaded himself to the MRD satellite, and even Reyes is working for him. With Caliban's help, the player character finds Pixie. Still, the helicopter carrying her is shot down by a laser beam and crashes, killing her. Immediately after, regardless of the player's choices so far, Magneto accuses Cyclops of shooting down the helicopter and, alongside Juggernaut, attacks both Cyclops and the player. After the fight, Magneto grudgingly gives the player character a chance to join the Brotherhood, and they are forced to make an important decision.  Regardless of which side the player chooses, they are tasked to take down Reyes, who seems to have mind control powers. Reyes plans to amplify his power with Bastion's satellite so he can control all humans and mutants on Earth. After fighting several allied mutants and saving them from Reyes' mind control, the player finds the broadcasting tower used by Reyes and shuts down the signal with the aid of Cyclops and Magneto. Bastion downloads himself into Reyes, now wearing an enormous version of Hodge's armor, and takes control of his mind. Bastion also sends several Sentinels to join the fight. After the player defeats Reyes and his Sentinels, Reyes surrenders himself to the authorities, to which the player character responds that they are the authorities now.  The ending depends on which side the player chose to join at the end of Chapter 7.

Development.

Silicon Knights developed the game in collaboration with Activision after being green-lighted in 2009. Anonymous sources claiming to be former employees have claimed that the development team was split between "'XMD" and "Eternal Darkness 2", with management indifferent toward "X-Men".  Denis Dyack, the founder of Silicon Knights, has responded, stating that the project budget was drastically reduced due to Marvel's acquisition by Disney. He has asserted that the perception of indifference had to do with resources at the developer being re-allocated in response to the shift in budget; the developers were not informed of the reduced budget so as to maintain morale. He also admitted in 2019 that he was not heavily involved with the game development as he was busy handling the lawsuit against Epic Games.

Reception.

"X-Men: Destiny" received generally negative reviews, with most pointing out the button mashing combat, lack of consequences to choices, and overall lack of polish. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 32.50% and 33 out of 100 for the DS version; 50.90% and 50 out of 100 for the PlayStation 3 version; 48.47% and 47 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version; and 40.44% and 36 out of 100 for the Wii version.  Joystiq (now a part of Engadget) criticized the sluggish gameplay and short story, stating the game feels unfinished and gave the Xbox 360 version 1.5 stars out of 5, ending the review with, "...at least you can quickly move onto something more pleasurable, like...burying a beloved family pet." GamesRadar, although praising the fan service of the game, echoed the sentiment of the game feeling unfinished, calling it mediocre and citing the graphics being similar to "an HD remake of a last-gen game" and although the boss battles received some praise, the majority of the fighting was considered dull and repetitive, awarding the game 2.5 stars out of 5. However, "Game Informer" gave the game a 7 out of 10. They praised the fulfillment of fantasy for mutant lovers that this game provides, as well as replay value, despite the questionable graphics.

X-Men: Destiny is an action role-playing video game based on the "X-Men" comic book series. It was developed by Silicon Knights. Written by Mike Carey, the writer of the "" comic book series, it was published and released by Activision for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles.

X-Men: Destiny est un jeu vidéo de rôle sur les "X-Men" sorti le en Amérique du Nord et le en Europe sur les consoles Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii et Nintendo DS. Le jeu a été développé par Silicon Knights et édité par Activision. Le scénario du jeu a été écrit par Mike Carey, un scénariste de comics habitué à l'univers des "X-Men".


Pioneering experiments.

Although Ascott was the first person to name this phenomenon, the first use of telecommunications as an artistic medium has occurred in 1922 when the Hungarian constructivist artist László Moholy-Nagy made the work "Telephone Pictures". This work questioned the idea of the isolated individual artist and the unique art object. In 1932 Bertold Brecht emphasized the idea of telecommunications as an artistic medium in his essay 'The Radio as an Apparatus of Communication'. In this essay Brecht advocated the two-way communication for radio to give the public the power of representation and to pull it away from the control of corporate media. Art historian Edward A. Shanken has authored several historical accounts of telematic art, including "From Cybernetics to Telematics: The Art, Pedagogy, and Theory of Roy Ascott."  In 1977 'Satellite Arts Project' by Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz used satellites to connect artists on the east and west coast of the United States. This was the first time that artists were connected in a telematic way. With the support of NASA the artists produced composite images of participants, enabling an interactive dance concert amongst geographically disparate performers. An estimated audience of 25,000 saw bi-coastal discussions on the impact of new technologies on art, and improvised, interactive dance and music performances that were mixed in real time and shown on a split screen. These first satellite works emphasized the primacy of process that remained central to the theory and practice of telematic art.  Ascott used telematics for the first time in 1978 when he organized a computer-conferencing project between the United States and the United Kingdom called "Terminal Art". For this project he used Jacques Vallée's Infomedia Notepad System, which made it possible for the users to retrieve and add information stored in the computer’s memory. This made it possible to interact with a group of people to make "aesthetic encounters more participatory, culturally diverse, and richly layered with meaning". Ascott did more similar projects like "Ten Wings" which was part of Robert Adrian’s "The World in 24 Hours" in 1982. The most important telematic artwork of Ascott is "La Plissure du Texte" from 1983. This project allowed Ascott and other artists to participate in collectively creating texts to an emerging story by using computer networking. This participation has been termed as ‘distributed authorship’. But the most significant matter of this project is the interactivity of the artwork and the way it breaks the barriers of time and space. In the late 1980s the interest in this kind of project using computer networking expanded, especially with the release of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s.

French side story.

Thanks to the Minitel, France had a public telematic infrastructure more than a decade before the emergence of the World Wide Web in 1994. This enabled a different style of telematic art than the point-to-point technologies to which other locations were limited in the 1970s and 1980s. As reported by Don Foresta, Karen O'Rourke, and Gilbertto Prado, several French artists made some collective art experiments using the Minitel, among them Jean-Claude Anglade, Jacques-Elie Chabert, Frédéric Develay, Jean-Marc Philippe, Fred Forest, Marc Denjean and Olivier Auber. These mostly-forgotten experiments (with notable exceptions like the still-active Poietic Generator) foreshadowed later web applications, especially the social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, even as they offered theoretical critiques of them.

Pop culture and mass media.

Telematic art is now being used more frequently by televised performers. Shows such as "American Idol" that are based highly form viewer polls incorporate telematic art. This type of consumer applications is now grouped under the term "transmedia".

Telematic art is a descriptive of art projects using computer-mediated telecommunications networks as their medium. Telematic art challenges the traditional relationship between active viewing subjects and passive art objects by creating interactive, behavioural contexts for remote aesthetic encounters. "Telematics" was first coined by Simon Nora and Alain Minc in "The Computerization of Society". Roy Ascott sees the telematic art form as the transformation of the viewer into an active participator of creating the artwork which remains in process throughout its duration. Ascott has been at the forefront of the theory and practice of telematic art since 1978 when he went online for the first time, organizing different collaborative online projects.

L'art télématique rassemble un ensemble de projets artistiques utilisant l'ordinateur et les réseaux de télécommunication comme moyens essentiels. Cet art conteste la relation traditionnelle entre sujets actifs et objets d'art passifs en créant des contextes interactifs, pour des comportements et des rencontres esthétiques à distance.


History.

2010–2011: Formation and "Exmilitary".

Death Grips were formed in Sacramento, California, on December 21, 2010. On the same day, they recorded their first song, "Full Moon (Death Classic)". It was released on March 8, 2011, with a video and a free self-titled EP which featured the song alongside five other songs. On April 25, 2011, Death Grips released a free mixtape entitled "Exmilitary", containing three tracks from the EP along with new songs. Throughout the spring and early summer in 2011, they played small shows while "Exmilitary" was spreading steadily throughout the Internet and receiving favorable reviews from music critics. The band members were largely elusive during this time, with the only confirmed member being Hill.

2012: "The Money Store" and "No Love Deep Web".

Death Grips signed with Epic Records in February 2012, under the recommendation of Epic's then-executive vice president of marketing, Angelica Cob-Baehler. They announced the release of two albums in 2012. Their first studio album, "The Money Store", was released in April and debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 130. Termed as "avant-rap", "Pitchfork" called "The Money Store" "confrontational, abrasive, and chaotic". The "Los Angeles Times" called it "punk rock with a hip-hop face-lift".  October saw the release of "No Love Deep Web". It was described as a darker album by "NPR", saying that the group creates a "soundtrack to modern urban living" with lyrics that describe "constant paranoia". The album contains heavily edited vocal performances from Ride. Its cover art drew attention and controversy for consisting of a picture of Hill's erect penis with the album title written across it. The album was recorded within four months in Sacramento. Prior to that, an international tour was scheduled to support "The Money Store", but was immediately cancelled in order to complete "No Love Deep Web." This caused conflict between the group and their fans, as well as their label Epic Records. In particular, the album was self-released for legal download via BitTorrent as an effort to bypass their label's original intent to release the album in 2013. Death Grips was cut from their recording contract as a result, and would launch their new label Third Worlds in the following year from "a unique relationship with Harvest/Capitol”. Material would then be distributed by Caroline Records.  The band remixed two Björk songs from her album "Biophilia", "Sacrifice" and "Thunderbolt", after receiving an artist-to-artist note of support. The re-workings were featured in her 2012 remix album "Bastards". A non-album track titled "True Vulture Bare" was issued in October 2012 and was accompanied with an animated video by Galen Pehrson. This project was created for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

2013–2015: "Government Plates" and "The Powers That B".

In March 2013, the band released a series of videos to their YouTube account, collectively called "No Hands". On March 20, 2013, a music video for "Lock Your Doors", which was recorded at a live show in SXSW, was released. Hill did not attend the show physically, but played the drums via Skype. Hill wrote and directed an original feature film in May, with the involvement of Death Grips in the soundtrack. During this period, Hill was also working on the group's album.  Death Grips were scheduled to perform at Lollapalooza in August, but their performance was cancelled after the band failed to show up for an after-party show the previous night at the Bottom Lounge, instead putting on a playlist of pre-recorded tracks. Draped over the back of the stage was a huge printout of a fan's suicide note, written to the band in the form of an email. Fans at the show destroyed and stole pieces of the band's equipment after being informed of the cancellation. Their subsequent performance scheduled for Montreal's Osheaga Music and Arts Festival on the next day was cancelled, as well as performances in Boston and New York. The group however, never planned to actually appear at Lollapalooza; they later stated that the drum kit, suicide note, and pre-recorded music "was the show". The drum kit that was destroyed was revealed to be a children's learning kit and not Hill's actual kit.  "Government Plates" (2013) was released for free download on their official website. An "NME" review called the record "a challenging listen" but dubbed the album along, with "Slant Magazine", as "transgressive". The album “[pushes] further away from typical hip-hop" and "[toys] with electronic dance music of various eras", according to "The New York Times". In January 2014, Warp Music Publishing signed an exclusive worldwide publishing agreement with the group, covering previous and future releases. In June, Death Grips announced a double album titled "The Powers That B", along with a download of the first disc, subtitled "Niggas on the Moon". The second disc, "Jenny Death", was announced to be released later in the year. "Niggas on the Moon" features chopped up samples of Björk's vocals. The double album's first half received mixed to positive reviews. "Pitchfork" called it the group's least intense effort in their entire discography. A review by MusicOMH stated that it had less of Hill's percussion and claimed that Morin lacked direction in producing the album. Death Grips were scheduled as a supporting act to tour with Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden in July but the group announced an abrupt disbandment, thus cancelling their appearances. An image of the following message, posted on their Facebook page, was written on a napkin:  In January 2015, without any prior notification, Death Grips released a free instrumental album entitled "Fashion Week". The song titles, each beginning with the word "Runway" followed by a letter of the alphabet, spelled out the phrase "JENNY DEATH WHEN" in reference to the then-unreleased second disc of "The Powers That B". The album was released in its complete form in March and reached the Billboard 200 chart at No. 72. In the same year, Hill and Morin formed a side project called the I.L.Y's and issued their debut album "I've Always Been Good at True Love" through Death Grips' official website; it was initially released with little information about the project.

2015–present: "Bottomless Pit" and "Year of the Snitch".

In October 2015, the group uploaded a video to their YouTube page titled "Bottomless Pit". It features footage from 2013 of American actress Karen Black reciting lines from a film script Hill wrote months before her death. They also posted on their website and Facebook that this would be the title for their fifth studio album. In March, the band published a 32-minute video to their YouTube page titled "Interview 2016", which shares its name with their second EP; the video shows the band being interviewed by Matthew Hoffman of "Tuesdays With Matthew", an online volunteer project that aims to combat loneliness in elderly people by recruiting them to act in recreations of famous movie scenes. However, all of the interview's audio is replaced by the album's songs, while the EP's cover art consists solely of a picture of Hoffman looking into the camera. Death Grips uploaded their third EP, "Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix)", to their YouTube channel in May 2017; the EP consists of a single 22-minute song of the same name. Following this, the group co-headlined an autumn U.S. tour with industrial metal band Ministry.  In March 2018, Death Grips posted images on social media outlining that they were "working on the new album" titled "Year of the Snitch" with Australian noise artist Lucas Abela, New Zealand film director Andrew Adamson, and American musician Justin Chancellor (best known as the bassist for Tool). In April, Death Grips uploaded a video to their YouTube channel writing the track listing for the new album with text messages.  In May 2018, Death Grips uploaded the singles "Streaky", "Black Paint", and "Flies". In June, they uploaded a single titled "Hahaha", as well as an accompanying tweet announcing the release date for "Year of the Snitch" as June 22. A week later, the band released another two singles: "Dilemma", featuring Andrew Adamson, and "Shitshow". On June 21, "Year of the Snitch" was systematically made available on streaming services after the time reached midnight on June 22 in New Zealand, subsequently leading to listeners spreading differing versions of the album hours before its full scheduled rollout. The band also tweeted the album being "leaked". The following day, "Year of the Snitch" was officially released.  On June 21, 2019, Death Grips released a 30-minute mix titled "Gmail and the Restraining Orders" as part of Warp Records' 30th anniversary celebrations.

Style.

Death Grips' music combines a variety of styles including hip hop, punk, electronic, noise, and industrial. Their style has been categorized as experimental hip hop, rap rock, electropunk, industrial hip hop, and punk-rap. The group is known for Ride's aggressive rapping style and bleak and cryptic lyrics, alongside their noisy and often chaotic production. They have also received attention for their wild physical performances and stage presence. Their live performances are notable for antics such as the destruction of instruments, their complete absence at one of their scheduled shows, Hill drumming to the point of severe injury or performing in handcuffs, Ride's intense and chaotic stage persona, and Morin's use of live sampling alongside his improvised synthesizer flourishes and violent dancing.  They are also notable for engaging in extended periods of live musical improvisation interwoven into their set as bridges between songs, typically performed on the fly by Morin and Hill. Ride has been known to adopt many different vocal styles on record and during live performances, such as shouting, screaming, spoken word-style talking, and even whispering. Morin's unorthodox style of production and sampling and Hill's noisy, fast, and unconventional drumming styles and patterns are also distinct features of Death Grips' sound. The band is also notable for their distinctive and lo-fi visual style made clear in their music videos, performances, and releases.

In popular culture.

Björk is one of the most notable fans of the band. They remixed two tracks for "Bastards", a collection of remixes from her album "Biophilia". Björk allegedly recorded original vocal samples for the band, which they used on every track of "Niggas on the Moon". Actor Robert Pattinson is another notable fan, friend and collaborator of the band; he played guitar on the song "Birds" from "Government Plates", which was achieved by Hill recording Pattinson's playing on his phone in a jam session and later sampling the part into the song itself. Pattinson also appeared in a 2013 photo with the band and Beyoncé backstage at the latter's concert, which received viral attention due to its unlikely combination of people. Kasabian guitarist Sergio Pizzorno cited them as an influence on the band's album "". According to David Bowie collaborator Donny McCaslin, Bowie was inspired by Death Grips whilst creating his final album "Blackstar". Other notable fans include rapper Killer Mike, actor William Shatner, rock band Pearl Jam, filmmaker Edgar Wright, rapper Skepta, guitarist Tom Morello, rapper Danny Brown, actor Lakeith Stanfield, singer Corey Taylor, and musician Mike Shinoda.  The group's song "Hacker" is featured in the video game "Battlefield Hardline". The song "I've Seen Footage" was used multiple times in the 2019 comedy film "Booksmart". Their songs have also been used on commercials and TV shows as varied as "Animals", "Atlanta", "BoJack Horseman", "Top Boy", "Westworld" and "Waterloo Road". The song "No Love" was used in "BoJack Horseman" during the title character's drug trips and the show included visual references to the band, such as stickers on dumpsters bearing their lyrics in the background of shots, during its final season. The song "You Might Think He Loves You for Your Money but I Know What He Really Loves You for It's Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat" was used on an Adidas Predator advertisement. The song "Hot Head" was used on the season 2 teaser trailer for "Animals", as well as in the season 2 premiere of "Atlanta", in which the song is being played in a car by the character of aforementioned actor Lakeith Stanfield. The instrumental for "Inanimate Sensation" was used in the season 3 finale of "Top Boy".  The band's songs, mostly the vocals, have been featured in many SoundClown mash-ups. The band is notoriously popular on 4chan's music board /mu/, which helped "signal-boost the group into public consciousness". On the board, the group has been referenced more than 300,000 times since 2012.

Death Grips is an American experimental hip hop band formed in 2010 in Sacramento, California. The group consists of MC Ride (vocals, lyrics), Zach Hill (drums, production), and Andy Morin (keyboards, production). Though he is not the band's frontman, Hill has been credited with being the driving creative force behind the project. Their sound, paired with Ride's aggressive performing style, draws on punk rock, electronic, noise, and industrial styles.

Death Grips est un groupe de hip-hop américain, originaire de Sacramento en Californie. La musique du groupe est considérée comme un mélange de punk rock, de hip-hop et musique bruitiste. Il commercialise sa mixtape, ', en avril 2011, suivi de deux albums studio en 2012,'en avril, et'en octobre, ainsi qu'un troisième album en novembre 2013, intitulé '. Leurs enregistrements sont positivement accueillis ; "" est classé à la du classement "Best 50 Albums" de Pitchfork en 2012.


Club career.

Early career.

Agayev began playing football during his school years under his father for local club named "Bərəkət". At the young age of just 15, he debuted for Azerbaijani U-17, after he was spotted by one of national coaches. After his impressive performances for youth team, he joined Shafa Baku and won his first big trophy under Vagif Sadygov in 2001.

Professional career.

In 2004, he was signed by PFC Turan Tovuz, serving two years in the club, then purchased by Khazar Lankaran. During the 2006–07 season, his performances proved to be instrumental, where club won Azerbaijan Premier League and Azerbaijan Cup. In his first season in the Azerbaijan Premier League, Agayev confirmed his performances, firmly ensuring a place in the starting lineup, his performances being praised by many football pundits. During 6 seasons spent at Khazar Lankaran, Agayev became national champion, two time national league runner-up, three time Azerbaijani Cup winner and CIS Cup champion. He was also the captain of Khazar Lankaran.  On 31 January 2014, Agayev signed an 18-month contract with Gabala FC. A year later, on 1 February 2015, Agayev was released by Gabala. He later played for Kayserispor and Karşıyaka in Turkey and Inter Baku in Azerbaijani championship.  On 12 September 2016, Aghayev signed with Primeira Liga side Boavista, until June 2017, making his debut on against Porto on 25 September 2016. His early days at the club were marked by some inconsistency, with both good and bad performances. He took some unfortunate goals, but did manage to pull off a few impressive exhibitions, securing important results for the team. He also quickly bonded with the Boavista fans, often staying in the pitch after the end of the match and taking time to thank the fans for their support.  On 28 July 2017 Aghayev signed a one-year contract with Czech First League side Mladá Boleslav. He made his Czech First League debut for Mladá Boleslav against Slavia Prague in Eden Arena on 27 August 2017.  On 17 January 2018, Keşla FK announced the signing of Aghayev on a six-month contract.

International career.

Agayev has saved ten of the thirteen penalties he faced in matches for Azerbaijan, furthering his reputation as an excellent penalty stopper.

Career statistics.

International.

"Statistics accurate as of match played 10 September 2018"

Kamran Aghayev (; born on 9 February 1986) is an Azerbaijani goalkeeper who plays for Keşla FK in Azerbaijan Premier League and the Azerbaijan national football team.

Kamran Agayev (en azéri : Kamran Ağayev), né le à Shabran en Azerbaïdjan, est un footballeur international azerbaïdjanais, qui évolue au poste de gardien de but.


Disappearance.

Emanuela was the fourth of five children of Ercole and Maria Orlandi (née Pezzano). Her father was an employee of the Vatican Bank according to some reports, or an employee of the papal household according to others. In any event, the family lived inside Vatican City and the children had the free run of the Vatican gardens, according to Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela's older brother. Orlandi was in her second year at a liceo scientifico (high school) in Rome. Although the school year had concluded, she continued to take flute lessons three times per week at the Tommaso Ludovico Da Victoria School, connected with the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music. She was also part of the choir of the church of Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri in the Vatican.  Orlandi usually travelled by bus to the music school. She would get off the bus after a few stops and then walk. On Wednesday 22 June 1983, Orlandi was late to class. She had asked Pietro to ride on the bus to the class, but he had other commitments. "I’ve gone over it so many times, telling myself if only I had accompanied her maybe it wouldn’t have happened," he recalled decades later. Later that day, Emanuela called home, speaking to one of her sisters. Since then, there has been no trace of the teenager, and Italian investigators have been unable to reach a conclusion about what happened to her.  She had explained her tardiness in a telephone conversation with her sister, stating that she said she had received a job offer from a representative of Avon Cosmetics. Her sister suggested she talk it over with their parents before making any decisions. According to some reports, Orlandi allegedly met with the Avon rep shortly before her music lesson. At the end of the lesson, Orlandi spoke of the job offer with a girlfriend, who then left the girl at a bus stop in the company of another girl. Orlandi was allegedly last seen getting into a large, dark-coloured BMW.

Chronology.

At 15:00 on Thursday 23 June, Orlandi's parents called the director of the music school to ask if any of their daughter's classmates had information. The police had suggested waiting because "perhaps the girl was with friends". She was officially declared a missing person that day. Over the next two days, announcements of the disappearance were published with the telephone number of the Orlandi house in the newspapers "Il Tempo", "Paese Sera" and "Il Messaggero".  At 18:00 on Saturday 25 June, a phone call was received from a youth who claimed to be a 16-year-old boy named "Pierluigi". He reported that he and his fiancée had met the missing girl in Piazza Navona that afternoon. The young man mentioned Orlandi's flute, her hair, and the glasses that the girl did not like to wear, along with other details that fit the missing girl. According to "Pierluigi", Orlandi had just had a haircut and had introduced herself as "Barbarella". He claimed she stated that she had just run away from home and was selling Avon products.  On 28 June, a man calling himself "Mario" called the family and claimed to own a bar near Ponte Vittorio, between the Vatican and the music school. The man said that a girl called "Barbara", a new customer, had confided to him about being a fugitive from home but said that she would return home for her sister's wedding. On 30 June, Rome was plastered with 3,000 posters displaying Orlandi's photograph.  On Sunday 3 July, Pope John Paul II, during the Angelus, appealed to those responsible for Orlandi's disappearance, making the hypothesis of kidnapping official for the first time. Two days later, the Orlandi family received the first of a number of anonymous phone calls. Emanuela was supposedly the prisoner of a terrorist group demanding the release of Mehmet Ali Ağca, the Turkish man who shot the Pope in May 1981. No other information was given. In the following days, other calls were received, including one from a man identified as "The American", due to his apparent accent, who played a recording of Orlandi's voice over the phone. A few hours later, in another phone call to the Vatican, the same man suggested an exchange, of Orlandi for Ağca. The anonymous interlocutor mentioned the "Mario" and "Pierluigi" of the earlier telephone calls, defining them as "members of the organisation".  On 6 July, a man with a young voice and an American accent informed the ANSA news agency of the demand for an Orlandi-Ağca exchange, asking for the Pope's participation within 20 days and indicating that a basket in the public square near the Parliament would contain proof that Orlandi was indeed in his hands. These were to have been photocopies of her music school ID, a receipt, and a note handwritten by the kidnapped girl. However, the magistrate who was overseeing Orlandi's case did not believe that there was a credible connection between Orlandi's abduction and the Pope's assailant.  On 8 July, a man with an alleged Middle Eastern accent phoned one of Orlandi's classmates saying Orlandi was in his hands and that they had 20 days to make the exchange with Ağca. The man also asked for a direct telephone line with then-Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli. The line was installed on 18 July. A total of 16 telephone calls were made by "The American" from different public telephone booths.  On the morning of 14 May 2001, the parish priest of the Gregory VII Church near the Vatican discovered a human skull of small dimensions and lacking a jaw in a bag with an image of Padre Pio in a confessional. It has not been officially identified as Orlandi's skull. Emanuela's father, Ercole, died in 2004, a month after giving his last interview.

Theories.

Over the years a number of theories regarding the motives for the crime have been broached in the Italian press.

Orlandi-Ağca connection theory.

Ağca, who once declared that Orlandi had been kidnapped by Bulgarian agents of the Grey Wolves, a Turkish ultra-nationalist, neo-fascist youth organization of which Ağca was a member, spoke about Orlandi during a prison interview with Italy's RAI state television, telling the interviewer that the girl was alive, not in danger, and living in a cloistered convent. He denied any direct knowledge of the girl's fate, though, saying that he had made "some logical deductions". With no evidence to support these claims, the case was closed in July 1997.  In mid-2000, Judge Ferdinando Imposimato, based on what he had learned about the Grey Wolves, declared that Orlandi, by then an adult, was living a perfectly integrated life in the Muslim community and that she had probably lived for a long time in Paris. He remains the only supporter of this idea and of the Orlandi-Ağca connection.  In a letter published in 2006, Ağca claimed that Emanuela Orlandi and another girl, Mirella Gregori, both of whom vanished in 1983, were abducted as part of a plan to secure his release from prison. He claimed that the girls were whisked away to a royal palace in Liechtenstein. Ağca was temporarily released from an Istanbul prison after serving 25 years in Italy and Turkey for the murder of Abdi İpekçi, a prominent Turkish journalist. However, he was quickly imprisoned again, the release seemingly a "mistake". Ağca was permanently released from a Turkish prison in January 2010.  On 9 November 2010, Ağca was interviewed by state television in Turkey-TRT's "Kozmik Oda Program" for the first time since his release the preceding January. In that interview, as well as declaring that the Vatican organized the assassination attempt, he claimed that Orlandi was kept as a prisoner by the Vatican (for Ağca) and was then living in a Central European country as a nun in a Catholic monastery. He added that Orlandi's family could see their daughter whenever they liked, but that she was not allowed to leave the monastery.

Organised crime theory.

In 2011, the former Banda della Magliana member Antonio Mancini implied that Orlandi's kidnapping was one of a number of strikes that the gang was making against the Vatican in order to force the restitution of large amounts of money they had lent to the Vatican Bank through Roberto Calvi's Banco Ambrosiano. On 14 May 2012, Italian police opened the tomb of gangster Enrico De Pedis (1954-1990) and took DNA samples, according to some reports at that time. An anonymous call to an Italian television programme in 2005 said it contained evidence that would help the police explain Orlandi's disappearance, and in 2008 a former girlfriend of De Pedis said that De Pedis had once confessed to her that he had kidnapped Orlandi. No clues were found in the tomb linking De Pedis to Emanuela.

Vatican sex scandal theory.

In May 2012, when interest in the case was renewed, leading police to search the De Pedis tomb, 85-year-old exorcist Gabriele Amorth (1925-2016) claimed that Orlandi was kidnapped by a member of the Vatican police for sex parties and then murdered. Amorth claimed that officials of an unnamed foreign embassy were involved as well.

Other public activity.

On 6 April 2007, in a Good Friday sermon in St. Peter's Basilica, Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa advised the congregation to make amends for sins before dying. He said: "Don't carry your secret to the grave with you!" This provoked speculation that he was suggesting someone at the Vatican held information about Orlandi's disappearance. Vatican spokesperson Rev. Federico Lombardi issued a statement that detailed Vatican cooperation with civil investigators over the years and said the Church had no objection to the opening of the De Pedis tomb, which was then being discussed. It said: ""As far as we know, there is nothing hidden, nor are there'secrets' in the Vatican to reveal on the subject. To continue to assert it is completely unjustified; also, we reiterate, yet again, all the material from the Vatican was handed over, in its time, to the investigating magistrates and to police authorities."  In October 2018, remains found during renovation work on the Holy See's Embassy to Italy in Rome were the subject of speculation related to the Orlandi affair. An attorney for the Orlandi family objected to the media attention. She said: "We have no idea why the association with Emanuela was made... We’re still asking ourselves why you’d find some bones and immediately assume they were Emanuela’s." Test results released on 1 February 2019 showed they were the remains of a Roman man who died between 190 and 230 AD.  On 10 July 2019, It was announced that the Vatican would be opening two tombs inside Vatican City which would then be examined by forensic anthropologist Giovanni Arcudi. The tombs were the "Tomb of the Angel" meant to contain the remains of Princess Sophie of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein and the adjacent one which was meant to contain the remains of Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The exhumations took place on 11 July 2019. Neither Emanuela's body nor the bodies of the two princesses said to be buried there were found. The Vatican is currently conducting an investigation into the whereabouts of the princesses' remains.  According to a report on 13 July 2019, the Vatican announced that two sets of bones had been found near the tombs of the two princesses, raising speculation that one might be the remains of Orlandi. The bones were discovered as staff probed other locations to which the princesses’ remains may have been moved within the cemetery of the Pontifical Teutonic College. Further inspection of the site revealed two ossuaries placed beneath the floor of an area inside the college, closed by a trap door.  Reports by numerous news media outlets stated on 20 July 2019 that the tombs had actually found to be empty. According to the BBC for example, that first July 2019 search "only deepened the mystery as even the bones of two princesses thought to be there were missing." The same finding was reported by other news outlets too, including The Guardian.  Thousands of human bones belonging to dozens of bodies were, however, found on 20 July, in the underground ossuaries at the Teutonic College. Forensic investigators were to analyse the remains and were expected to use carbon-14 methods to obtain a rough estimate of their age.

Emanuela Orlandi (born 14 January 1968) was a citizen of Vatican City who mysteriously disappeared on 22 June 1983. Sightings of Orlandi in various places have been reported over the years, even inside Vatican City, but all have been unreliable.

Emanuela Orlandi (née le ) est une citoyenne de la Cité du Vatican, fille d'un employé de la préfecture de la Maison pontificale, Ercole Orlandi, qui a disparu mystérieusement le. Cette disparition est l'une des affaires les plus obscures de l'histoire criminelle italienne. Considérée comme une fugue à ses débuts, elle impliquera l'État du Vatican, l'État Italien, l'Institut pour les œuvres de religion (c'est-à-dire la Banque du Vatican) (IOR), la Banda della Magliana, la Banco Ambrosiano et les services secrets de différents pays. Elle n'est pas encore résolue à ce jour. La disparition d'Emanuela est parfois liée à celle d'une autre adolescente, romaine, Mirella Gregori, qui n'a jamais été retrouvée non plus.


Life.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, David Lykken was the youngest of seven children born to Henry G. Lykken and his wife Frances. He joined the United States Navy at 17 and then attended University of Minnesota on the G.I. Bill, earning his bachelor of arts (psychology, philosophy and mathematics) 1949, his master's degree in psychology and statistics in 1952, and his doctorate in clinical psychology and neuropsychiatry in 1955. He remained on Minnesota’s permanent faculty for his entire career and taught as a visiting professor at Deep Springs College. He was an emeritus professor from 1998 until his death. Lykken's wife, wildlife advocate Harriet (Betts) Lykken, died in 2005. Lykken was survived by three sons: attorney Matthew Lykken, physicist Joseph Lykken, and criminologist Jesse Lykken, as well as ten grandchildren.

Work.

Lykken was also known for his work on twins, which he began in 1970. He was a principal investigator on the Minnesota Twin Family Study, which examines heritability of certain psychological traits based on evidence found in identical and fraternal twins. He was a signatory of a collective statement in response to "The Bell Curve" titled "Mainstream Science on Intelligence", written by "Intelligence" editor Linda Gottfredson and published in the "Wall Street Journal" in 1994 and in "Intelligence" in 1997.  Lykken was the proponent of a set-point theory of happiness, which argues that variation in sense of well-being is half determined by genetics and half determined by circumstances, and has been the subject of international media attention. His research findings suggest that variation in baseline levels of cheerfulness, contentment, and psychological satisfaction is largely a matter of heredity.  He was also a proponent of introducing a scheme whereby every parent or prospective parent would have to obtain a license in order to have a legal baby, which would depend on the parents being married, financially independent, having no criminal record or debilitating illness, and not being assessed as high in psychopathy or sociopathy.  He was elected a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 1), a Charter Fellow of the American Psychological Society and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also a member of the Behavior Genetics Association and the International Society for Twin Research. Throughout his career, he consulted with government and industry. He frequently testified as an expert witness on polygraph testing and personality assessment in the wake of Daubert standard requirements.

Funding.

Some of Lykken's work was funded by the Pioneer fund, an organization often criticized as promoting scientific racism. Lykken defended his acceptance of money from the fund, writing "If you can find me some rich villains that want to contribute to my research—Qaddafi, the Mafia, whoever—the worse they are, the better I'll like it. I'm doing a social good by taking their money... Any money of theirs that I spend in a legitimate and honorable way, they can't spend in a dishonorable way". Nevertheless, he has praised the theories of eugenic academics associated with or on the board of the pioneer fund, such as Richard Lynn.

David Thoreson Lykken (June 18, 1928 – September 15, 2006) was a behavioral geneticist and Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota. He is best known for his work on twin studies and lie detection.

David Thoreson Lykken ( – ) est généticien comportementaliste. Il est connu pour ses recherches sur ses études sur les jumeaux et la.


Etymology.

The name Kawit is derived from the Tagalog word "kawit" (hook) which is suggestive of its location at the base of a hookshaped shoreline along Manila Bay extending to the tip of Cavite City.  Legend, however, gives another version on how the town got its name. One day a Spanish visitor asked a native blacksmith about the name of the village. The latter was busy at the time pounding on the anvil a piece of hot metal that looked like a hook. He hesitated to speak, not understanding what the stranger was asking, but when pressed for an answer, and thinking that he wanted to know what he was doing, he merely said kawit (hook). The Spaniards left muttering the word kawit. In the course of the time the word kawit evolved into "cauite," and finally "cavite".

History.

Kawit was the most thriving settlement prior to the coming of the Spaniards. In fact, the town provided the first anchorage of the Spaniards in the province, whence colonization and proselytization of the Christian religion began, spreading to all corners of the province.  For a long time, the place was called by the Spaniards "Cavite el Viejo" or Old Cavite to distinguish it from "Cavite la Punta" or "Cavite el Puerto," the commercial port and naval base (now Cavite City) whence came many Spanish marines on shore leave who made frequent visits to Cavite el Viejo, eventually turning it into a red-light district. This seedy reputation of the town was erased when Saint Mary Magdalene was made patroness, under the spiritual supervision of the Jesuits as ordered by Miguel García Serrano, O.S.A. (1618–1629), the fifth Archbishop of Manila.  With the establishment in the wake of the Philippine Revolution, the Philippine Independent Church built a shrine to Saint Michael, the Archangel in the barrio of Binakayan in 1902.  Cavite el Viejo was then a big town, comprising the municipality of Kawit today, Cavite la Punta (now Cavite City), Noveleta (called Tierra Alta by the Spaniards), and Imus. Eventually, these three barrios' populations grew and they eventually seceded to become independent municipalities.  Aside from its role as the birthplace of independence, Kawit was also the site of the Battle of Binakayan-Dalahican, one of several Filipino victories during the Revolution.

Barangays.

Kawit is politically subdivided into 23 barangays.

Demographics.

In the, the population of Kawit was people, with a density of.

Culture.

Maytinis Festival.

An original Kawit tradition that takes place every Christmas Eve, a dramatic retelling of the Virgin Mary and Joseph's search in bethlehem for a place to stay called "Panunuluyan". This reenactment happens on the streets of Kawit with different floats depicting different biblical scenes from Adam and Eve up to Mary and Joseph. The "Panunuluyan" takes place in several houses and is done in singing until it reaches the 400-year-old St. Mary Magdalene Church of Kawit where the Virgin Mary and Joseph are welcomed by angels in a giant "belen" (Nativity Scene) which covers the whole main Retablo or altarpiece of the church. The songs performed by the angels acted by little girls are mostly in Spanish and Tagalog.

Government.

Like any other Philippine municipality, Kawit is headed by a municipal mayor, vice mayor, and ten councilors, eight of them elected at large by the voting populace and two of them being sectoral representatives (one for the barangays and one for the youth, elected respectively through their federations).  The current Mayor of the historical town is Angelo Emilio G. Aguinaldo who succeeded his father, Reynaldo "Tik" Aguinaldo, after winning over former Vice Mayor Paul Plaridel A. Abaya Jr. by a historic margin of 5, 039 votes in the last May 2016 elections.  Mayor Angelo Aguinaldo served as a Sangguniang Bayan member from 2013–2016.  Then Mayor Reynaldo "Tik" Aguinaldo was elevated to the mayorship after three terms as vice mayor. The scion of the first Philippine president has twice (2007 and 2010) beaten Federico "Hit" Poblete, another descendant of Emilio Aguinaldo (youngest son of Maria Aguinaldo y Poblete: one of General Emilio Aguinaldo's daughters), Poblete served a total of five terms as its chief executive. [Poblete used to be an undersecretary for the Department of Agrarian Reform under the Estrada administration after his first three terms as mayor (1988–1998).]

', officially the ', (), is a in the province of,. According to the, it has a population of. It is one of the notable places that had a major role in the country's history during the 1800s and 1900s.

Kawit est une municipalité de la province de Cavite, aux Philippines. C'est là que l'indépendance des Philippines fut déclarée par Emilio Aguinaldo le.


History.

Ediciones B was established in 1986, when Grupo Zeta purchased Editorial Bruguera, and renamed it "Ediciones B".  From its inception, Ediciones B's focus has published magazines such as TBO. It included stories from fictional characters such as Mortadelo & Filemon, SuperLopez, the naughty twins Zipi and Zape, and Capitán Trueno. Later, Ediciones B published comics and other stories that originated in foreign countries.  In the late 1990s, Ediciones B launched magazines geared toward children and teen audiences. As time passed, Ediciones B's publishing focus grew to include books from other genres. Some of these included adult content.  In April, 2017, Grupo Zeta sold Ediciones B to Penguin Random House for €40 million ($46,658,000). The transaction was completed in July 2017.

Genres.

Ediciones B publishes multiple literary genres, including:

Imprints.

After merging with Penguin Random House's web, the publisher changed its distribution. Significant sections include:

Literary events.

Ediciones B takes part in literary events.  Historical Novel award "Ciudad de Úbeda": After organizing this contest together with other entities, Ediciones B published the winning historical novel. The contest is called once a year.  "La Trama" award: Beginning in the year 2014, this Ediciones B's annual contest looks for new writing talent in the categories of thrillers and whodunits. The first winner was Laura Balagué with her "Las Pequeñas Mentiras" (lit. "The Little Lies").  Boolino awards: These annual awards began in 2015 and award accolades to the best illustrated youth and children's books. Ediciones B awards the winner with publication under "B de Blok". The first winning book was "Entre Todas las Estrellas" (Lit. "Among All the Stars"), by Cristina Alfonso Ibáñez.  Ediciones B can be found in some book fairs, such as those of the World Book Day/International Day of the Book. Others are held in cities such as Madrid or Barcelona.

Internet.

Ediciones B offers two weekly contests so their readers can interact and try to complete their own books. They are "Los Martes nos vemos en B" ("We see at B on Tuesdays") and "Viernes con B" ("On Fridays with B"). The contests are not held in August due to the holiday period.  Los martes nos vemos en B: It consists of uploading a picture of a book cover together with a question. Answering it allows readers to participate in a drawing for the book.  Viernes con B: To become a participant, readers must retweet a message B has published. After the weekend, the person having retweeted the already mentioned message can win the book that has been tweeted that Friday.

Ediciones B is a Spanish publisher, which currently operates as a division of Penguin Random House. Ediciones B is headquartered in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; with branches throughout Latin America.

Ediciones B est une maison d'édition espagnole fondée en 1987 à partir de la fusion de Bruguera et TBO. Cet éditeur appartient au groupe de communication Grupo Zeta. Son siège est situé à Barcelone.


Early life.

Graynor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Joani Geltman, a parenting expert, and Greg Graynor, a contractor.  Her mother is from a Jewish family; her father is from a Polish and Roman Catholic background, and converted to Judaism. Graynor was raised Jewish. Her paternal grandfather's surname was changed from "Gryzna".  She attended Buckingham Browne & Nichols, a private school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut.

Career.

Graynor first came to prominence as Caitlin Rucker on HBO's "The Sopranos". Her film credits include "An American Crime" (2007), which premiered in January 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. She also appeared early in the second season of UPN's "Veronica Mars" as the daughter of a bus driver. She made her Broadway debut as 'Alison' in 2005's "Brooklyn Boy" after appearing in the world premiere at South Coast Repertory. She also appeared in "The Little Dog Laughed". Graynor played Elvina, a pop star, in "", and was a recurring guest star on the Fox series "Fringe", playing Agent Olivia Dunham's younger sister, Rachel. In 2008, Graynor appeared in the film "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist", and in October 2009, she also was in "Whip It", a comedy film directed by Drew Barrymore and written by Shauna Cross, based on Cross' young adult novel "Derby Girl".  In 2010, she appeared in the play "Trust" at the off-Broadway Second Stage theatre company with Sutton Foster, Zach Braff, and Bobby Cannavale. In the fall of 2011, she appeared on Broadway in the Woody Allen-written segment of three one-act comedies collectively called "Relatively Speaking". She played Nina Roth in Allen’s “Honeymoon Motel” segment. In 2012, Graynor starred in the comedy "For a Good Time, Call...", and is also credited as the film's executive producer. Graynor starred on Broadway opposite Cheyenne Jackson, Henry Winkler, and Alicia Silverstone in David West Read's play "The Performers", which opened November 2012 at the Longacre Theatre.  She appears in "Yen", a play by Anna Jordan. "Yen" opened off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on January 31, 2017, directed by Trip Cullman.  During a June 29, 2017, CBS late-night interview with Stephen Colbert, promoting "I'm Dying Up Here", she mentioned she went to a prom with future congressman Joseph Kennedy III.

Ariel Geltman "Ari" Graynor (born April 27, 1983) is an American actress, known for her roles in TV series such as "The Sopranos" and "Fringe", in stage productions such as "Brooklyn Boy" and "The Little Dog Laughed", and in films such as "Whip It" and "For a Good Time, Call...". She also starred as Meredith Davis on the short-lived CBS television sitcom "Bad Teacher", which was cancelled on May 10, 2014.

Ari Graynor, née Ariel Geltman Graynor le, à Boston, dans l'État du Massachusetts, est une actrice américaine. Elle commence sa carrière très jeune, avec une première apparition à la télévision dans quatre épisodes de la troisième saison de la série "Les Soprano", en 2001, suivi de ses débuts au cinéma deux ans plus tard dans "Mystic River", de Clint Eastwood dans un rôle secondaire. Elle attendra 2008 pour obtenir son premier rôle important dans le film "Une nuit à New York", dans lequel elle incarne Caroline, la meilleure amie de Nora, interprétée par Kat Dennings. Au même moment, elle tient le rôle récurrent de Rachel Dunham, sœur de l'agent Olivia Dunham dans la série télévisée "Fringe".


Early life in al-Andalus.

According to different sources, al-Mandri comes from a noble family. Historian Gozalbes Busto believes that his family comes from Bedmar y Garcíez in the region of Jaen.  During the Spanish Reconquista, al-Mandri belonged to the side of Boabdil, the last king of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. When the Granada War started in 1482, he was holding the mayoralty of the fortress of Piñar, north east of Granada. According to 16th century Spanish chronicler Luis del Mármol Carvajal, al-Mandri was a captain of the troops loyal to Boabdil, a firm defender of the castle of Piñar until 1485 when it succumbed, either abandoned or surrendered, after the siege and conquest of the fortresses of Cambil and Alhabar. Portuguese historian says of him that in Spain, "...it seems, [he] had played an important role in the struggles with the Christians of the Iberian Peninsula." Portuguese chronicles, those of Bernardo Rodriguez, Damião de Góis and Rui de Pina, situate him as a historical figure although the name of "Almendarim" refers both to him and to his grandson (or nephew), Sidi al-Mandri II.  Al-Mandri was married to Fatima, a noblewoman, niece of Aben Comixa and a relative of King Boabdil. When she was sent to celebrate her wedding with him in Tetouan, she was captured by Alonso de Cárdenas while trying to cross the river Genil. Conducted to Pinos Puente, where the Count of Tendilla awaited her arrest. She was kept in captivity in Alcalá la Real until she got released by mediation.  After the fall of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, he took refuge in the North of Morocco with an objective of avenging the loss of his native city Granada in al-Andalus and waiting for a quick return to the lost kingdom; something that would never happen.

As re-founder of Tetouan.

The city of Tetouan had just suffered major destructions in separate occasions during the 15th century. In 1399, Castilians burned down the city and enslaved its population in retaliation for piracy activities. An attack by the Portuguese, who had already captured Ceuta to the north, followed in 1436.  He is considered as the refounder of the city of Tetouan, a city already in ruins after its destruction. It is there where he took refuge with his troops and 400 members of the 32 noble Granadine families in the 1491 fleeing the Christian advance in the south of the Iberian Peninsula.  He later wrote to the founder and governor of the neighboring newly founded city of Chefchaouen, Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami asking him to send competent people to build a wall of protection for Tetouan. In exchange he put himself at the service of Ali Ibn Rashid, then lord of northern Morocco, who was in constant struggle with the Portuguese garrisons based in Ceuta. He later found himself facing the tribe of Beni Hozmar who wanted to impede the continuation of the works.  To further strengthen and foment unity against the Iberians, al-Mandri married Ali Ibn Rashid's daughter, known as Sayyida al-Hurra. She soon became a de facto vice-governor with her husband entrusting her the reins of power each trip he made outside the city. When the latter died in 1515, the population, who had become accustomed to seeing her exercise power, accepted her as a governor of Tétouan, giving her the title of "al-Hurra".

Abu al-Hassan Ali al-Mandari al-Garnati (Arabic: أبو الحسن علي المنظري, Portuguese: Alí Almenderim, Almendarim), also known as Almandari, Almandali, Al-Mandri I and Sidi al-Mandri, was the re-founder of the city of Tetouan in Morocco. He was born in Granada, Spain in the 15th century A.D. and died in Tétouan on an unknown date between 1515 and 1541.

Abu Hassan Ali Al-Mandri (), dit Sidi Al-Mandri, né à Grenade au et mort à Tétouan à une date inconnue entre 1505 et 1540, est un chef militaire grenadin et alcalde de Píñar, réfugié au Maroc avec ses troupes et une partie de la noblesse grenadine dans les années 1480 fuyant l'avancée chrétienne dans le sud de la Péninsule Ibérique.


Early life.

He was born in Finthen, a borough of Mainz, then in West Germany. After graduating from Willigis Episcopal High School in Mainz, he studied philosophy and theology in Mainz, Munich and Freiburg, Germany. In 1977, he received his Doctorate of Divinity under Cardinal Karl Lehmann for his thesis on the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Priestly ministry.

Müller was ordained as a priest of the Diocese of Mainz, Germany, on 11 February 1978 by Cardinal Hermann Volk. He then served as a pastor of three parishes. In 1986, Müller was appointed to the chair of dogmatic theology of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he remains an honorary professor.

Episcopate.

Pope John Paul II appointed him as Bishop of Regensburg, Germany on 1 October 2002. He was ordained to the episcopacy on 24 November 2002, with Friedrich Wetter serving as the principal consecrator; his principal co-consecrators included Karl Lehmann, Vinzenz Guggenberger, and Manfred Müller. Gerhard Ludwig Müller elected """" ("Jesus is Lord") as his episcopal motto, which is derived from.  On 20 December 2007, Pope Benedict XVI reappointed Müller for another five years as a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). On 17 January 2009, he was also appointed as a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture. On 12 June 2012, Müller was appointed as a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education for a renewable term of five years and was also appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.  In the Conference of German Bishops, Müller was Chairman of the Ecumenical Commission, Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Doctrine of the Faith, and a member of the World Church Commission. He was also Vice Chairman of the Association of Christian Churches in Germany (ACK) and the first President of the Society for the Promotion of Eastern Church Institute in Regensburg, Germany.  As a personal friend of Pope Benedict XVI, he was mandated to prepare the publication of the "Opera Omnia", i.e., a series of books that will collect in a single edition all of Pope Benedict's writings. Müller has written more than 400 works on dogmatic theology, ecumenism, revelation, hermeneutics, the presbyteracy, and the diaconate.

Curial service.

On 2 July 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Müller to a five-year term as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and made him an archbishop as well. He became "ex officio" the President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, the International Theological Commission, and the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei".  Müller said he hoped to halt the "growing polarization between traditionalists and progressives [which] is threatening the unity of the Church and generating strong tensions among its members". He continued by commenting on "traditionalists against progressives or whatever you would call them. This must be overcome[;] we need to find a new and fundamental unity in the Church and individual countries. Unity in Christ, not a unity produced according to a program and later invoked by a partisan speaker. We are not a community of people aligned to a party program, or a community of scientific research[;] our unity is gifted to us. We believe in the one Church united in Christ."  In interview published on 1 February 2015, Müller objected to the criticism of the Church for its mishandling of clerical sexual abuse cases and its continued condemnation of contraception, same-sex marriage, and declared incapacity to ordain women. He said "Targeted discreditation campaigns against the Catholic Church in North America and also here in Europe have led to clerics in some areas being insulted in public. An artificially created fury is growing here which sometimes reminds one of a pogrom sentiment." His remarks were denounced by a veriety of German politicians.  On 24 November 2012 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. In November 2012, Müller said that traditionalist and progressive camps that see the Second Vatican Council as breaking with the truth both espouse a "heretical interpretation" of the Council and its objectives. What Pope Benedict XVI had described as "the hermeneutic of reform, of renewal in continuity" is, for Müller, the "only possible interpretation according to the principles of Catholic theology."  On 19 February 2014, Müller was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.  In 2015, Müller described how he viewed the role of the CDF when the pope was not a theologian as Pope Benedict XVI had been. He said: "The arrival of a theologian like Benedict XVI in the chair of St. Peter was no doubt an exception... Pope Francis is also more pastoral and our mission at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to provide the theological structure of a pontificate." Andrea Tornielli of "Vatican Insider" criticized Muller for inventing a new role not found in the statutes defining the CDF's role, adding that Muller was making far more public pronouncements than his predecessors were accustomed to.  On 1 July 2017, Pope Francis named Luis Ladaria Ferrer to succeed Müller as Prefect of the CDF. Müller chose to retire rather than accept another Curial position.  Müller criticised the way Pope Francis dismissed him as head of the CDF, calling it "unacceptable". He said that on the last working day of his five-year term, Pope Francis informed him "within a minute" that he would not be reappointed to another term. "He did not give a reason. Just as he gave no reason for dismissing three highly competent members of the CDF a few months earlier." Later that month a report commissioned by the Diocese of Regensburg sharply criticized Müller's handling while bishop there of cases of sexual abuse by priests.  Speaking at a book launch in Mannheim, Müller criticised Latin American approach to theology, “In Europe, theologians immediately have to have the exact council text ready when words like ‘faith’ or ‘mercy’ are used. This kind of theology with which we are familiar doesn’t exist in Latin America. They are more intuitive there,” Cardinal Müller said during a presentation of his new book 'The Pope - Mission and Task' at the Reiss-Engelholm-Museum at Mannheim. “They look at a text without considering it as part of a whole. We must somehow respect and accept this style. But I nevertheless wish that as far as teaching documents are concerned clear theological preparation must take place.”

Cardinalate.

On 22 February 2014, Pope Francis made him Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Agnese in Agone.  Before the public criticism of his handling while bishop of cases of sexual abuse by priests, Müller was mentioned as "papabile", that is, a possible candidate for the papacy.

Views.

Protestant churches.

In a speech in October 2011, while quoting "Unitatis Redintegratio" of the Second Vatican Council regarding ecumenism, Müller stated that "the Catholic Magisterium is far from denying an ecclesial character or an ecclesial existence to 'the separated Churches and ecclesial Communities of the West'."

US Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

In 2012, Müller and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith initiated an investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The investigation was controversial, and was terminated by the Apostolic See in April 2015. The investigation embittered many American Catholics "against what they perceive[d] as heavy-handed tactics by Rome against U.S. sisters who provide critical health care, education and other services for the poor." As a result of the investigation, the member congregations of the Conference were ordered to review their statutes and reassess their plans and programs.

Liberation theology.

In an interview by the German daily "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAZ), Müller said that Pope Francis "is not so much a liberation theologian in the academic sense, but as far as pastoral work is concerned, he has close ties with liberation theology's concerns. What we can learn from him is the insight that there is no pastoral work without profound theology and vice versa." In the 1980s, the CDF under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger attacked liberation theology as borrowing "from various currents of Marxist thought." But during a visit to Peru in 1988, then-professor Müller discussed it with his friend and teacher Gustavo Gutiérrez, regarded as the "father" of Latin American liberation theology, who convinced him of its orthodoxy. "Liberation theology wants to make God's liberating actions visible in the Church's religious and social practice.... It would stop being genuine theology if it were to confuse the Christian message with Marxist or other social analysis", he explained. Müller further stated that "the theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez, independently of how you look at it, is orthodox because it is orthopractic and it teaches us the correct way of acting in a Christian fashion since it comes from true faith." While the Apostolic See did not censor Gustavo Gutiérrez, he was asked to modify some of his writings. In response to the inquiry of FAZ whether liberation theology was meanwhile recognized as a theory of equal standing with traditional forms of theology, Müller explained that liberation theology's primary concern was congruent with the Gospel for the Poor, i. e., "for those on the periphery", to borrow the terminology that Pope Francis has repeatedly used.  Müller said that:

Secularism.

In November 2014, Müller stated that bishops have been "blinded by secularized society" and are being pulled away from the doctrine of the church. He said that "unfortunately, representatives of the Church, including bishops", have been so influenced by secular society that they have been "pulled far from the central question of the faith and the teachings of the Church." He blamed the media, international organizations, and various governments for the growing crisis in the church, claiming that they had been "sowing confusion in people's minds." Müller said that "in many countries, relationships are destroyed, and this also applies to the Christian model of marriage and family. The truth of marriage and the family is relativized."

Doctrinal immutability.

Müller has defended the immutability of Catholic doctrine from the attempt to adapt it to contemporary lifestyles, which attempt might be described as "aggiornamento". He stated that such an approach introduces subjectivism and arbitrariness. In an interview with "Die Tagespost", he claimed that placing "lived realities" on the same level as scripture and tradition is "nothing more than the introduction of subjectivism and arbitrariness, wrapped up in sentimental and smug religious terminology." His comments have been interpreted as criticism of the "shadow council" when bishops and experts from Germany, France, and Switzerland met in Rome to discuss how the church could adapt its pastoral approach to contemporary culture, especially contemporary opinions of human sexuality.

"Amoris laetitia".

Following the publication of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation "Amoris laetitia" of Pope Francis, Müller stated that the Pope did not need to be corrected for false doctrine. Interviewed on 9 January 2017, Müller said that "Amoris laetitia" was "very clear" in its teaching. Müller said that Pope Francis asks priests He said that in "Amoris laetitia" he "do[es] not see any opposition: On one side we have the clear doctrine on matrimony, and on the other the obligation of the church to care for these people in difficulty." However, in a second interview, Müller was asked whether the teaching reaffirmed in "Familiaris consortio" of Pope John Paul II, which linked the Eucharist to marriage, remains valid. Pope John Paul II stated that the divorced and civilly remarried were proscribed from the reception of Holy Communion, except possibly when they determine to live "in complete continence". Müller said of this condition that, "Of course, it is not dispensable, because it is not only a positive law of John Paul II, but he expressed an essential element of Christian moral theology and the theology of the sacraments." Müller also stated that ""Amoris Laetitia" must clearly be interpreted in the light of the whole doctrine of the Church." He has further stated that "I don’t like it[;] it is not right that so many bishops are interpreting "Amoris Laetitia" according to their way of understanding the Pope's teaching. This does not keep to the line of Catholic doctrine."

Manifesto of Faith.

In February 2019 issued a "Manifesto of Faith" to conservative Catholic media outlets. It is viewed as an attack on Pope Francis, who removed Mueller from his role in a senior Vatican post. For the most part the manifesto represents a re-stating of the Church teachings, such as celibacy for priests and the ban on women's ordination. One section appeared to be a repudiation of Pope Francis and his effort to reach out to divorced and remarried Catholics, an effort deplored by more conservative Catholics.

Clerical sexual abuse.

In 2012, Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests criticized Müller's appointment to the CDF because he had reinstated Peter Kramer in parish ministry after Kramer was convicted in 2000 of sexually abusing children. Kramer had completed court-ordered therapy. Müller did not inform those in Kramer's new parish of his past history. Müller had apologized in 2007 for mishandling the case.  In 2016, Fritz Wallner, a former chair of the lay diocesan council in Regensburg, Germany, alleged that Müller as Bishop of Regensburg had "systematically" thwarted the investigation of abuse in the "Regensburger Domspatzen" boys' choir. Georg Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI's brother, led the choir from 1964 to 1994. Müller insisted that neither the church nor its bishops were responsible for abusers. In February 2012, he said that "if a schoolteacher abuses a child, it is not the school nor the Ministry of Education that are to blame." He maintained that only the perpetrator is guilty. In 2016, a commission of 12 members was instituted to address the history of abuse and its cover-up in the boys' choir, a move critics viewed as long overdue. Wallner called for the church to purge any person associated with Müller, who had overseen the church's response to the allegations. In July 2017, a comprehensive report commissioned by the Diocese of Regensburg on abuse at the boys choirs said that Müller had "clear responsibility for the strategic, organizational and communicative weaknesses" of the church's response when the abuses were first reported.  Müller is being sued in France along with Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, for failure to act in a case of sexual abuse of minors by a priest.

Gerhard Ludwig Müller (; born 31 December 1947) is a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) from his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 until 2017. He was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2014.

Gerhard Ludwig Müller, né le à Mayence, alors en RFA, est un archevêque et cardinal catholique allemand, qui fut préfet de la Congrégation pour la doctrine de la foi du au.


Prototypes.

9 produced

Aero 8 Series 1.

(2000-2004) - estimated number produced 214  Morgan's first supercar, the first run of Aero models was unveiled at the Geneva motorshow in 2000 by Charles Morgan, it was in his words "the result of the biggest development project ever undertaken by the Morgan Motor Company". The result of many years of hard work, a development programme that included racing in the FIA GT series and a partnership with BMW.  Whilst the car structure comes as pre-formed bonded aluminium elements significant work goes into hand making the overall vehicle continuing the handmade history of the company. The method of building the car was ahead of most companies in the marketplace and represented a dramatic shift for the company.  The bonded aluminium chassis has elements of an ash frame to provide a link to the more traditional cars. It was designed by Chris Lawrence who had a long standing relationship with Morgan and included many features of racing cars of the time. Items such as in-board shock absorbers, double wishbones all round, a flat floor, centre lock magnesium wheels, rose-jointed suspension and other elements were included providing significant handling improvements over previous models.  Complete with a bespoke aluminium chassis, all independent suspension and powered by a 4.4 litre BMW V8 engine (M62TUB44) producing 286 bhp (210kW) at 5500 rpm and 322 lbs-ft (430Nm) at 3750 rpm this was a radical departure from the traditionally built Morgans. Performance was 0 to 62 mph in 4.8 seconds with a top speed of 160 mph.  The interior had a turned aluminium dashboard, unusual asymmetric design and a custom made Burberry case for use as a removable glovebox, along with nods to modern services such as cruise control, air-conditioning and a heated windscreen.  With many elements from BMW including the engine, gearbox and axle to push 1100kgs the performance was on a par with Ferraris, Porsches, TVRs and other supercars of the day. Whilst the car did include an LSD the absence of other stability and traction aids mean the driver had total control over the car.  Famous for its cross-eyed squint courtesy of the reversed VW Beetle headlamps, this was a culmination of both aerodynamic requirements and availability of light units at the time. Initially Porsche lights had been trialled along with the yet to be released new Mini units, the Mini lights were a favourite but BMW didn't want the first model to launch their new headlights to be the Aero so these were not an option. Aerodynamically (extensive wind tunnel testing was carried out at MIRA - another Morgan first) Morgan needed a way to allow the leading edge of the front wings to be forward of the radiator, thus providing space to incorporate a front splitter. The VW Beetle headlamps were spotted by Chris Lawrence who invisaged reversing them to give the perfect angle to meet the aerodynamic requirements, and thus the cross-eyed look was born.  Around 210 Series 1 cars were made with many smaller changes being made to the car over this period internally and externally.

Aero 8 GTN.

(2004) - 11 produced  This limited edition run-out model of the Series 1 was a nod to the successful Aero GT racing car and included the 4.6L Alpina BMW engine used on Alpina B10 and on BMW X5 4.6iS - 4619cc, 330bhp (246kW) and a top speed of 165mph (266 km/h). This version had slightly different and stiffened suspension plus semi-slick AO48's fitted as standard.  Eleven were produced, all of them in a two tone color scheme of blue/grey.  It was the first model to be offered with an optional hardtop alongside the soft top roof. Along with a carbon fibre dashboard, unique gloss black wooden trim, a custom Mota-Lita steering wheel and side exhausts the car had blistering performance as demonstrated on" Top Gear" by Richard Hammond (Season 5 Episodes 5) who later went on to own several Morgans.

Aero 8 Series 2.

(2004–2005) - estimated number produced 60  Series 2 of the Aero 8 was launched at the 2004 Los Angeles Motor Show. This was the first Aero that was made for sale in North America. It was called the Aero Series 2 or Aero America as a result.  The back of the car was changed in a number of ways. The petrol tank was repositioned to comply with US rear impact regulations. The boot lid was raised to improve aero-dynamics and storage. The previous folding roof was changed for a pram style changing the shape from the previous low “gangster” style roof of the Series 1.  Now using the BMW V8 4.4L engine N62B44 333 bhp (248kW) at 6,100 rpm and 331 lb-ft (450Nm) at 3,600 rpm using VarioCam on the inlet manifold. The factory offered single side exit exhausts as an option with the exit just in front of the rear wheels on each side. The new V8 provided a top speed of 160 mph with 0 to 62 mph acceleration in 4.8 seconds.  Further revisions included a conversion to standard 5 stud wheels, uprated gearbox, brakes and other elements of the running gear. The car retained the same overall dimensions but internal space was increased by moving the doors further out and making the wings/running boards narrower over the Series 1.  The unusual asymmetric dashboard of the Series 1 was replaced with a more conventionally styled dashboard however the fly-off handbrake was retained.  Something in the region of 60 cars (both LHD and RHD) were produced.

Aero 8 Series 3.

(2005-2007) - estimated number produced 208  The third iteration of the Aero was largely around adding the new style Mini headlamps with changes to the wings and front panels resolving the famous squint of the earlier cars. It retained the interior and mechanical platform of the Series 2. This new front design went on to be used on the new AeroMax and subsequent Aero models.  Approximately 200 Series 3 models were produced.

Aero GT3.

2009 was the centenary year of Morgan and the company took part in FIA GT3 using the Aero Supersports which was claimed to be more aerodynamic. The Aero Supersports had been released at the prestigious 2009 Villa d’Este event.  The AutoGT team sponsored by Banque Baring Sturdza with former Renault F1 drivers Jean Pierre Jabouille and Jacques Laffite made a great impression at the start of the year. At the Silverstone race car 100 got pole and won the first race then car 101 secured pole and won the second race.  The car was among Audi R8, Aston Martin, Ferrari and other supercars which made the styling contrast all the more remarkable. With a custom gearbox and slight enlargement of the engine the car was instantly competitive. The lower revving V8 and side exhaust layout resulted in a very distinctive NASCAR style off-beat sound which was deep and very loud. After one year of racing the rules were amended making it difficult for the car to run in 2010.  One of the cars in racing colours remains with the factory and can be seen on the very popular factory tours.

Aero 8 Series 4.

(2007-2010) - estimated number produced 179  Version 4 of the Morgan Aero 8 has seen the 3rd new engine in the life of the vehicle; the BMW 4.4 V8 has been replaced with the BMW 4.8 V8 (N62B48) with 362 bhp (270kW) and 370 lb/ft of torque. This 13% power increase over the previous Aero gives the new Series 4 Aero 8 a power to weight ratio of 315bhp per tonne. While heavier BMW saloons were unable to meet emissions regulations with the 4.8l V8 the lighter Aero did meet the Euro 6 emissions standard. BMW produced a short run of engines on a prototype line for Morgan.  A first for the Aero 8 also comes in the form of an optional automatic transmission; Morgan state: - ZFs 6 HP26 six speed gives even better performance than a manual gearbox due to its special lock up clutch, low power loss design and instant change characteristic. The automatic is usable either as a full automatic for more relaxed driving or in sport manual mode when the bespoke gear lever will hold the engine revs up to the maximum in each gear, increase change speed and blip the throttle to smooth down changes.  In addition to these technical changes, a repositioned fuel tank (to improve the weight distribution), revised instrumentation (from cream dials with blue numerals to black with white), an increase in luggage space, revised air vents, a move to a conventional handbrake lever and air intakes and exits on the front wings distinguish the Series 4 Aero 8 from previous models.

AeroMax.

(2005, 2008-2009) - produced 1+103,  Initially seen at the 2005 Geneva motor show as a bespoke car built for a well respected Morgan customer Prince Eric Sturdza of Banque Baring Sturdza in Geneva, the AeroMax was the next development of the Aero chassis. It is said that the car is named after Charles Morgan’s son Max.  Due to the level of interest at the show and with the agreement of Prince Sturdza a limited production run of 100 in celebration of Morgan’s centenary was agreed, with final numbers ending slightly over this due to replacement of crashed cars. Production was initiated in 2008 and completed in 2009.  The iconic design was created by Matt Humphries a 21 year old Coventry University Graduate working at the factory. The Empire Line or Art Deco influenced styling has often been compared to cars such as classic Bugatti’s whilst retaining a clear family relationship with Morgan's other cars.  Many refinements were made to the overall shape including the use of the rear lights from the Lancia Thesis, flush fit of the doors and changes to the interior finish. The Rays alloy wheels introduced on this model became popular on other models following the AeroMax.  It was the first Morgan to have a retail price above £100,000 at £110,000 but sold out within a few months. Owners have included Richard Hammond, Rowan Atkinson and Paul O'Grady. Taillights used on AeroMax, Aero Supersports, Aero Coupe and Aero 8 Series 5 were borrowed from Lancia Thesis.

Aero Supersports.

(2009-2016) - estimated number produced 180  The Morgan Aero SuperSports is a targa-roofed development of the AeroMax platform.  Presented in 2009 at Villa d’Este Elegance Concours to celebrate the 100 years of Morgan, the Supersports shares the same chassis, engine and transmission of the Aero 8 Series 4. The Aero Supersports presented at Villa d'Este was based on AeroMax. Main differences with the production model are: different position of the fuel tank, the refill fuel cap on the rear wheel arch, smaller boot (targa roof panels could not fit into the boot) and two fancy champagne bottle and glass holders behind the seats. The rear of the car retained the Lancia Thesis rear lights and wing shape but had a boat tail style with a comparatively large practical boot.  Charles Morgan visited Jay Leno's Garage in a Supersports

Aero Coupe.

(2012-2016) estimated number produced 40  The Coupe was introduced a short time after the Supersports and remained in production alongside it. The cars are largely identical with the Coupe having a fixed roof in the same design as the targa panels on the Supersports.

Plus 8.

(2012-2019) - estimated number produced 300 The new Plus8 was introduced in 2012 using the Aero 8 platform, 4.8L engine and manual or automatic gearbox. The body is intended to match the style of the traditional model with the same shape wings and rear panels. It also has an interior more like the traditional model with central dials, removable side-screens and a traditional soft-top. Where the Aero cars have a boot the Plus 8 has a rear shelf behind the seats but no boot. In most cases the owners mount a luggage rack.  When the Aero 8 Series 5 was launched Morgan updated the rear suspension design of the Plus 8 to match that of the Aero, generally cars built in 2015 have Aero 8 Series 4 rear suspension, and cars build from 2016 have the Series 5 suspension.  When viewed from the front the additional width makes it look lower and broader than the traditional cars. With the lower weight due to the reduced bodywork the car is among the quickest using the Aero platform but can have a more lively handling balance.  The Plus8 is the lightest V8 passenger car in the world approved to European safety standards. The car also has one of the stiffest chassis of all the convertible roadsters available today.  As the limited supply of BMW 4.8L V8 engines ran out Morgan produced a final batch of 50 Plus 8 models labeled Plus 8 50th Anniversary to celebrate the models 50 years of production through the Rover based Traditional model onto the Aero platform.

Plus 8 Speedster.

(2014)- estimated number produced 60  This special edition of the Plus 8 is intended to look like a traditional cafe racer. The changes were simple bodywork and paint options however it did provide a very neat style. The minimal aero screens similar to those on Caterhams along with the broad stance of the car make it look very long and low on the road. In addition a new alloy wheel was added, this was made to look like a traditional plain steel wheel. Other options offered were bonnet straps and bright contrasting external trim colours.  It was possible to spec a Speedster with the normal Plus 8 windscreen and a few were converted however the small reduction in usability that the Speedster had over a Plus 8 were always going to be celebrated by the eccentric Morgan community and the car gained very positive reviews.

Aero 8 Series 5.

(2016-2018) - estimated number produced 130 At the Geneva Motor Show in March 2015 Morgan announced that the Morgan Aero 8 would be revived with a Series 5 model.  The Series 5 reintroduced a soft top to the Aero range but still using the same BMW 4.8L V8 engine and manual or automatic gearbox (with a paddle option for the auto). This was completed by the new design lead Jonathan Wells with the intention of bringing a fresh theme to the model with more modern materials. New interior finishes with a change to the dashboard and infotainment continue to update the experience.  The car retained the front design of the Aero models however the rear design was more akin to the boat tail of the Supersports with the Lancia Thesis lights and curves. The revised rear design permitted it to have a fabric roof that can be stored in the rear parcel slot, giving the car a flat rear deck profile. Morgan offered an optional, removable, carbon fibre hard top.  The Series 5 also has a completely new front and rear suspension, with anti roll bars and outboard conventional wishbones and coil over units. Additional structural elements replacing the inboard suspension units gave added chassis stiffness.  As the supply of BMW V8 engines came to an end a final run of 8 Aero GTs was released with a number of design changes including vents in the front wings, canards at the leading edges and an enhanced rear venturi. The standard carbon fibre hard top added a ventilation bulge at its rear. The GT has adjustable suspension, and is otherwise mechanically identical to the Series 5. At launch the GTs were said to be manual gearbox-only, but at least one of the eight has been seen with an autobox. This run out model sold out quickly despite having a quite substantial list price increase over the normal Series 5 at £145,000. Morgan MD Steve Morris was regularly seen in a metallic orange GT, which was a rebodied Series 5.  With the close of production of the Aero GT and Plus 8 50th Anniversary model the Aero chassis was retired to be replaced with the new CX aluminium platform. The CX name meaning 110 in roman numerals as it was introduced in the 110th year of Morgan's business.  The CX model represented another big step forward for the company as it introduced a new range of power trains again from BMW. Shortly after the development and release of the CX based PlusSix Morgan gained external investment from InvestIndustrial an Italian venture capital company which took a majority share in the business.

Specifications.

Powertrain.

The Aero 8's engine are all from BMW. Different engines have been used.  BMW 4.4L V8 - M62TUB44 - 210 kW (290 PS; 286 bhp) - Used on: Aero 8 Series 1  BMW 4.6L V8 - M62TUB46 - 246 kW (334 PS; 330 bhp) - Used on: Aero 8 GTN  BMW 4.4L V8 - N62B44 - 248 kW (338 PS; 333 bhp) - Used on: Aero 8 Series 2, Series 3 and AeroMax  BMW 4.8L V8 - N62B48 - 270 kW (367 PS; 362 hp) - Used on: Aero 8 Series 4, Series 5, Aero Supersports, Aero Coupe, Plus 8, Plus 8 speedster  The engine is paired with either a Getrag 6-speed manual or ZF 6HP 6-speed automatic transmission.

Chassis.

The chassis is an ultra-stiff aluminum alloy. Suspension is fully Independent, with double wishbones, Eibach coil springs, fully floating in the rear, over Koni shock absorbers. Brakes are cast iron discs, with AP Racing 6-pot calipers at the front and 2-pot calipers at the rear.

Performance.

For Version IV of the car, top speed is an estimated and 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) is done in 4.3 seconds for the manual transmission and 4.1 seconds for the automatic.

Motorsport.

The Aero 8 has competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 2002 and 2004. There have also been several entries in the FIA GT series from both works cars and privateers. It is also used in the British GT Series. It is currently racing in the FIA GT3 European championship and has proven competitive. The Aero 8 GT3 car is built by AUTO GT. The Aero 8 was also used in the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour scoring a DNF with a rare BMW engine failure and the 2004 12 Hours of Sebring finishing 20th outright and 10th in the GT class.

The Morgan Aero 8 is a sports car built by Morgan Motor Company at its factory in Malvern Link, England (an area of Malvern in Worcestershire).

La Morgan Aero 8 est une voiture de sport construite par Morgan Motor à Malvern dans le Worcestershire en Angleterre..