title: Operation Blue Star

text: The accounts of survivors inside of the temple complex were consistent with the military commencing its assault in the early morning of June 4. Duggal states that the army attack started at 4:00 am with a 25-pounder that fell in the ramparts of the Deori to the left of the Akal Takht Sahib. Duggal further states that during the assault he saw a number of dead bodies of children and women in the Parikrama. The army's assault had prevented Duggal from leaving the room in which he had taken shelter as he believed it would have resulted in his death. Another eyewitness, Bhan Singh the Secretary of the SGPC, states that the army provided no warning of the start of the attack which prevented pilgrims and those who came as a part of the Dharam Yudh Morcha from exiting. A female survivor recalled that it was not until the army began using explosives on the temple that they were aware that it had commenced its assault. She further stated that within the Harmandir Sahib, there were some garanthis (priests), ragis (singers), sevadars (employees) and yatris (pilgrims) but no armed terrorists. Prithpal Singh, the sevadar on duty at the Akal rest house which housed pilgrims, stated that it was shelled by the military. As of May 1985 during the recording of Prithpal's account, the Akal Rest house still bore the bullet marks caused by the Indian Army.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: On 5 June the blind head Ragi of the Harmandir Sahib Amrik Singh and Ragi Avtar Singh, were struck by bullets inside of the Harmandir Sahib by the Indian army. The army's targeting of the Harmandir Sahib with bullets was in contrast to the alleged restraint stated in the army issued White Paper on 10 July 1984. As of 5 June pilgrims who had reached the temple on 3 June were still present hiding in rooms. In one room 40-50 persons were huddled together including a six-month-old child during the army's assault. A female survivor of the assault stated that the army asked people to leave their hiding spots and guaranteed safe passage and water; she recalled seeing the dead bodies of pilgrims who answered the announcements lying in the Parikrama the next morning.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: In the morning, shelling started on the building inside the Harmandir Sahib complex. The 9th division launched a frontal attack on the Akal Takht, although it was unable to secure the building. The Golden Temple complex had honeycombed tunnel structures.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The BSF and CRPF attacked Hotel Temple View and Brahm Boota Akhara, respectively, on the southwest fringes of the complex. By 10:00 pm both the structures were under their control. The army simultaneously attacked various other gurdwaras. Sources mention either 42 or 74 locations.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Late in the evening, the generals decided to launch a simultaneous attack from three sides. Ten Guards, 1 Para Commandos and Special Frontier Force (SFF) would attack from the main entrance of the complex, and 26 Madras and 9 Kumaon battalions from the hostel complex side entrance from the south. The objective of the 10 Guards was to secure the northern wing of the Temple complex and draw attention away from SFF who were to secure the western wing of the complex and 1 Para Commandos who were to gain a foothold in Akal Takht and in Harmandir Sahab, with the help of divers. Twenty-six Madras was tasked with securing the southern and the eastern complexes, and the 9 Kumaon regiment with SGPC building and Guru Ramdas Serai. Twelve Bihar was charged with providing a cordon and fire support to the other regiments by neutralising enemy positions under their observance.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: An initial attempt by the commandos to gain a foothold at Darshani Deori failed as they came under devastating fire, after which several further attempts were made with varying degrees of success. Eventually, other teams managed to reach Darshani Deori, a building north of the Nishan Sahib, and started to fire at the Akal Takth and a red building towards its left, so that the SFF troops could get closer to the Darshani Deori and fire gas canisters at Akal Takth. The canisters bounced off the building and affected the troops instead.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Meanwhile, 26 Madras and 9 Garhwal Rifles (reserve troops) had come under heavy fire from the Langar rooftop, Guru Ramdas Serai and the buildings in the vicinity. Moreover, they took a lot of time in forcing open the heavy Southern Gate, which had to be shot open with tank fire. This delay caused a lot of casualties among the Indian troops fighting inside the complex. Three tanks and an APC had entered the complex.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Crawling was impossible as Shabeg Singh had placed light machine guns nine or ten inches above the ground. The attempt caused many casualties among the Indian troops. A third attempt to gain the Pool was made by a squad of 200 commandos. On the southern side, the Madras and Garhwal battalions were not able to make it to the pavement around the pool because they were engaged by positions on the southern side.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Despite the mounting casualties, General Sunderji ordered a fourth assault by the commandos. This time, the Madras battalion was reinforced with two more companies of the 7th Garhwal Rifles under the command of General Kuldip Singh Brar. However, the Madras and Garhwal troops under Brigadier A. K. Dewan once again failed to move towards the parikarma (the pavement around the pool).


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Brigadier Dewan reported heavy casualties and requested more reinforcements. General Brar sent two companies of 15 Kumaon Regiment. This resulted in yet more heavy casualties, forcing Brigadier Dewan to request tank support. As one APC inched closer to the Akal Takth it was hit with an anti-tank RPG, which immediately immobilized it. Brar also requested tank support. The tanks received the clearance to fire their main guns (105 mm high-explosive squash head shells) only at around 7:30 am.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Vijayanta tanks shelled the Akal Takht. It suffered some damage but the structure was still standing. The Special Group, a confidential special forces unit of the R&AW, began its planned raid on this day.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The army entered the Akal Takht. Dead bodies of Bhindranwale, Shabeg Singh and Amrik Singh were discovered in the building. The army gained effective control of the Harmandir Sahib complex.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The army fought about four Sikhs holed up in basement of a tower. A colonel of the commandos was shot dead by an LMG burst while trying to force his way into the basement. By the afternoon of 10 June, the operation was over.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The Indian army initially placed total casualties at 554 Sikh militants and civilians dead, and 83 killed (4 officers, 79 soldiers) and 236 wounded among government forces. Kuldip Nayar cites Rajiv Gandhi as admitting that nearly 700 soldiers were killed. This number was disclosed by Gandhi in September 1984 as he was addressing the National student Union of India session in Nagpur.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Independent casualty figures were much higher. Bhindranwale and large number of his militants were killed. There were high civilian casualties as well, which the Indian government argued were due to Sikhs in the Golden Temple using pilgrims trapped inside the temple as human shields, though the operation was conducted at a time when the Golden Temple was packed to capacity with pilgrims who were there to celebrate the annual martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs. The pilgrims were not allowed by the militants to escape from the temple premises in spite of relaxation in the curfew hours by the security forces. According to Indian army generals, "it is possible" that militants were "depending upon the Sikh masses to form a human shield to prevent action by the army," as well as the presence of a "whole lot of moderate Akali leadership."


title: Operation Blue Star

text: U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague attributed high civilian casualties to the Indian Government's attempt at a full frontal assault on the militants, diverging from the recommendations provided by the U.K. Military. The Indian military had created a situation where civilians were allowed to collect inside of the temple complex. On 3 June the Indian military allowed pilgrims to enter the temple complex. The Indian military also allowed thousands of protestors whom were a part of the Dharam Yudh Morcha to enter the temple complex. These protestors included women and children. There was no warning provided to the pilgrims who entered on 3 June that a curfew was put in place by the military. These pilgrims were prevented from leaving after the curfew had been placed by the army at approximately 10:00 pm.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: On 4 June no warning was provided to the pilgrims to evacuate and the pilgrims were deterred of leaving as the Indian army would arrest anyone who left the temple complex. Although officially the army stated that it made announcements, the eyewitness testimony of pilgrims who were arrested after the assault was used as the basis of a decision in the Amritsar district court in April 2017 which held that the army made no such announcements. The eyewitness testimony of survivors of the army's assault on the temple complex were consistent with stating that they were unaware of the start of the attack by the army until it took place without notice on the morning of 4 June.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: On 6 June the Indian military detained surviving pilgrims on the grounds that they were affiliated with the militants and subjected them to interrogations, beatings and executions.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: President Zail Singh visited the temple premises after the operation, while making the round, he was shot at by a sniper from one of the buildings that the army had not yet cleared. The bullet hit the arm of an army colonel accompanying the president. The operation also led to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards as an act of vengeance, triggering the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The widespread killing of Sikhs, principally in the national capital Delhi but also in other major cities in North India, led to major divisions between the Sikh community and the Indian Government. The army withdrew from Harmandir Sahib later in 1984 under pressure from Sikh demands. The 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 is thought to have been a revenge action.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: General Arun Shridhar Vaidya, the Chief of Army Staff at the time of Operation Blue Star, was assassinated in 1986 in Pune by two Sikhs, Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha. Both were sentenced to death, and hanged on 7 October 1992.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: In March 1986, Sikh militants again occupied and continued to use the temple compound which necessitated another police action known as Operation Black Thunder on 1 May 1986, Indian paramilitary police entered the temple and arrested 200 militants that had occupied Harmandir Sahib for more than three months. On 2 May 1986 the paramilitary police undertook a 12-hour operation to take control of Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar from several hundred militants, but almost all the major radical leaders managed to escape. In June 1990, the Indian government ordered the area surrounding the temple to be vacated by local residents in order to prevent militants activity around the temple.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: As the aftermath of the Operation Blue Star, cases of mutinies by Sikh soldiers, mostly raw recruits, were reported from different places. On 7 June, six hundred soldiers of the 9th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment, almost the entire other ranks' strength, mutinied in Sri Ganganagar. While some managed to escape to Pakistan, most were rounded up by men of Rajputana Rifles. The largest mutiny took place in Sikh Regimental Centre at Ramgarh in Bihar where recruits for the Sikh Regiment are trained. There, 1,461 soldiers—1,050 of them raw recruits, stormed the armoury, killing one officer and injuring two before they set out for Amritsar. The leaders of the mutiny divided the troops into two groups just outside of Banaras to avoid a rumoured roadblock. One half was engaged by army artillery at Shakteshgarh railway station; those who managed to escape were rounded up by 21st Mechanised Infantry Regiment. The other half engaged with the artillery and troops of 20th Infantry Brigade, during which 35 soldiers (both sides) were killed. There were five more smaller mutinies in different parts of India. In total 55 mutineers were killed and 2,606 were captured alive.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The captured mutineers were court-martialed, despite efforts by various groups including retired Sikh officers to get them reinstated. In August 1985, 900 of the 2,606 mutineers were rehabilitated by the Central government as part of the Rajiv-Longowal accord.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The operation has been criticized on several grounds including: the government's choice of timing for the attack, the heavy casualties, the loss of property, and human rights violations.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Operation Blue Star was planned on a Sikh religious day—the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev, the founder of the Harmandir Sahib. Sikhs from all over the world visit the temple on this day. Many Sikhs view the timing and attack by the army as an attempt to inflict maximum casualties on Sikhs and demoralize them, and the government is in turn blamed for the inflated number of civilian casualties by choosing to attack on that day. Additionally, Longowal had announced a statewide civil disobedience movement that would launch on 3 June 1984. Participants planned to block the flow of grain out of Punjab and refuse to pay land revenue, water and electricity bills.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: When asked about why the army entered the temple premises just after Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom day (when the number of devotees is much higher), General Brar said that it was just a coincidence and that while he could not "comment on the inside of politics," he "assume[d] that after taking everything into consideration, the prime minister and the government decided this was the only course of action left," with "perhaps" the army having only had three to four days to complete the operation. Based on "some sort of information," Bhindranwale was planning to declare Khalistan an independent country any moment with "a strong possibility" of support from Pakistan, and "Khalistani currency had already been distributed." This declaration "might" have increased chances of "large sections" of Punjab Police and security personnel siding with Bhindranwale; as "if there could be desertions in the army, then the police, who were in Punjab, who were privy to Bhindranwale's speeches, might have [also deserted]," as "they were also emotionally charged by what was happening." The army waited for the surrender of militants on the night of 5 June but the surrender did not happen. The operation had to be completed before dawn. Otherwise, exaggerated messages of army besieging the temple would have attracted mobs from nearby villages to the temple premises. The army could not have fired upon these civilians. More importantly, Pakistan would have come in the picture, declaring its support for Khalistan. He described the operation as traumatic and painful, but necessary.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Before the attack by the army, a media blackout was imposed in Punjab. "The Times" reporter Michael Hamlyn reported that journalists were picked up from their hotels at 5 a.m. in a military bus, taken to the adjoining border of the state of Haryana and "were abandoned there." The main towns in Punjab were put under curfew, transportation was banned, a news blackout was imposed, and Punjab was "cut off from the outside world." A group of journalists who later tried to drive into Punjab were stopped at the road block at Punjab border and were threatened with being shot if they proceeded. Indian nationals who worked with the foreign media also were banned from the area. The press criticized these actions by government as an "obvious attempt to attack the temple without the eyes of the foreign press on them." The media blackout throughout Punjab resulted in spread of rumours. The only available source of information during the period was All India Radio and the Doordarshan channel.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The government issued White Paper alleged that on June 6, a group of some 350 people, including Longowal and Tohra surrendered to the army near the Guru Nanak Niwas. The White Paper further alleged that to prevent the surrender, the militants opened fire and threw grenades at the group resulting in the deaths of 70 people, including 30 women and 5 children. However, neither Bhan Singh nor Longowal during their recounting of the events that took place on June 6 made any reference to either surrendering to the military or an attack on civilians by the militants.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The government issued White Paper alleged that on 8 June 1984, an unarmed army doctor was abducted by the militants and was hacked to death. However, Giani Puran Singh who was called by the military to act as a mediator to facilitate the surrender of four militants in the basement of the Bunga Jassa Singh Ramgharia, stated that the "so called doctor" had been killed along with two other army personnel when they ventured close to the militant's hiding place.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Former Indian Service Officer Ramesh Inder Singh, the then Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Amritsar in one of his interview with BBC said that even the Governor of (Indian) Punjab did not know that there would be military action and he indicated that the Operation was badly carried out and panic among foot soldiers was so evident that they were formalizing their plans on the bonnets of their vehicles.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Brahma Chellaney, the Associated Press's South Asia correspondent, was the only foreign reporter who managed to stay on in Amritsar despite the media blackout. His dispatches, filed by telex, provided the first non-governmental news reports on the bloody operation in Amritsar. His first dispatch, front-paged by "The New York Times", "The Times of London" and "The Guardian", reported a death toll about twice of what authorities had admitted. According to the dispatch, about 780 militants and civilians and 400 troops had perished in fierce gun-battles. Chellaney reported that about "eight to ten" men suspected Sikh militants had been shot with their hands tied. In that dispatch, Mr. Chellaney interviewed a doctor who said he had been picked up by the army and forced to conduct postmortems despite the fact he had never done any postmortem examination before. In reaction to the dispatch, the Indian government charged Chellaney with violating Punjab press censorship, two counts of fanning sectarian hatred and trouble, and later with sedition, calling his report baseless and disputing his casualty figures. The Supreme Court of India ordered Chellaney to cooperate with Amritsar police, who interrogated him concerning his report and sources. Chellaney declined to reveal his source, citing journalistic ethics and the constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press. In September 1985 charges against Chellaney were dropped. The Associated Press stood by the accuracy of the reports and figures, which were "supported by Indian and other press accounts".


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Similar accusations of highhandedness by the army and allegations of human rights violations by security forces in Operation Blue Star and subsequent military operations in Punjab have been leveled by Justice V. M. Tarkunde, Mary Anne Weaver, human rights lawyer Ram Narayan Kumar, and anthropologists Cynthia Mahmood and Joyce Pettigrew.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The Indian Army responded to this criticism by stating that they "answered the call of duty as disciplined, loyal and dedicated members of the Armed Forces of India. ... our loyalties are to the nation, the armed forces to which we belong, the uniforms we wear and to the troops we command".


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Blue Star encompassed 41 other gurdwaras all over Punjab in which more than 3 army divisions were deployed. As later events conclusively proved, the operations was not only flawed in its very concept but marred by poor planning and execution. According to Khushwant Singh,


title: Operation Blue Star

text: As reported by Indian Army Major General Afsir Karim, among the main factors of planning and conduct which aggravated the impact of this operation, the foremost decision was to launch the assault on the day of the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan, the builder of the temple, described as "sheer perversity," as a large number of pilgrims were bound to be injured and killed. The date being chosen for its surprise factor, or the presence of pilgrims potentially preventing the militants from responding, showed "cynical disregard" for innocent lives, with "neither good soldiering nor honourable combat" on the part of the senior generals in charge of planning the operation. They would later "make various statements, invent excuses, and shade the truth to hide inconvenient facts." The incompetence resulting in the burning of the Sikh Reference Library was taken as "vengeful vandalism" by the Sikh masses. The additional Army action of Operation Woodrose, where 37 other gurdwaras were subjected to a combing operation, also put the Sikhs on notice and created an atmosphere of terror, widening the scope of the conflict.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: There was "little doubt," according to Karim, that it was the operation, because of its lasting adverse effects on the Sikh masses, which put a majority of unemployed Sikh youth, disadvantaged by the economic results of the Green Revolution that the Dharam Yudh Morcha had been launched to ameliorate through the implementation of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, on the road to insurgency. After the operation a large number crossed the border for training and weaponry, as an operation where "thousands of Sikh youth were humiliated, harassed, and physically hurt was bound to intensify the conflict." Previously the conflict had been limited to a few radical groups and scattered, small-scale incidents; after, it affected all of Punjab, with "organized insurgency not taking root in Punjab until after the operation."


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The military operation was a disastrous political decision and severely bungled; Lt. Gen. S. K. Sinha would later characterize the operation as both a political and military blunder, and would cite Sundarji as flouting standard operating procedure laid out by Sinha, seeking army promotion, and impressing Indira Gandhi, who wanted to appear politically strong to her electorate after frustrations in Kashmir. He would also ascribe his dismissal by Gandhi to his attempts to put up his views of the Akali problem, and his long personal friendships with Akalis, which he believed irritated Gandhi.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: According to retired Lt. Gen. Shankar Prasad, “It was because of the disasters called Vaidya [who superseded Sinha] and Sundarji—who did not have the brains to pick on the plans left behind by Lt Gen. S.K. Sinha—that we had both a political folly compounded by a military botch-up.” He would blame Sundarji more for the operation than Vaidya, who he says "“was taken in by Sundarji's swagger,” and that both “were being politically subservient to the Prime Minister... maybe they wanted governorships or ambassadorships after serving their time." Prasad also believed that the military high command should have refused to implement the order, and craft a more suitable operation in its place, instead of being pressured by deadlines from the political leadership.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: In the UK cabinet secretary's report, contrary to the advice of a British military advisor in February 1984 of surgical strike involving a helicopter-borne commando operation had advised in February 1984, the Indian Army went into the temple "sledgehammer-style," with massive casualties of civilians. The assault on the Golden Temple would be later recognized as a major blunder on the part of the central government even by Congress leaders.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: Five years later, the army's strategy was criticised by comparing it with the blockade approach taken by KPS Gill in Operation Black Thunder, when Sikh militants had again taken over the temple complex. It was said that Operation Blue Star could have been averted by using similar blockade tactics. The army responded by stating that "no comparison is possible between the two situations", as "there was no cult figure like Bhindranwale to idolise, and no professional military general like Shahbeg Singh to provide military leadership" and "the confidence of militants having been shattered by Operation Blue Star." Furthermore, it was pointed out that the separatists in the temple were armed with machine guns, anti-tank missiles and Chinese-made armour-piercing rocket launchers, and that they strongly resisted the army's attempts to dislodge them from the shrine, appearing to have planned for a long standoff, having arranged for water to be supplied from wells within the temple compound and had stocked food provisions that could have lasted months.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The soldiers and generals involved in the Operation were presented with gallantry awards, honours, decoration strips and promotions by the Indian president Zail Singh, a Sikh, in a ceremony conducted on 10 July 1985. The act was criticized by authors and activists such as Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, who accused the troops of human rights violations during the operation.


title: Operation Blue Star

text: The accidental release of secret documents in the United Kingdom in 2014 revealed that the Thatcher government was aware of the Indian government's intention to storm the temple and that a SAS officer was tasked to advise the Indian authorities on removing the armed Sikh militants from the Golden Temple. According to a report by the Sikh Federation of UK, India was one of the biggest purchasers of military equipment for UK between 1981 and 1990. Most of the Foreign Office's documents on India from 1984 are classified in whole or in part.


title: Virginia Madsen

text: Virginia Gayle Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress and film producer. She made her film debut in "Class" (1983), which was filmed in her native Chicago. After she moved to Los Angeles, director David Lynch cast her as Princess Irulan in the science fiction film "Dune" (1984). Madsen then starred in a series of successful teen movies, including "Electric Dreams" (1984), "Modern Girls" (1986), and "Fire with Fire" (1986).


title: Virginia Madsen

text: Madsen received further recognition for her starring role as Helen Lyle in the horror film "Candyman" (1992). For her performance in Alexander Payne's comedy-drama "Sideways" (2004), Madsen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.


title: Virginia Madsen

text: On television, Madsen has appeared in the comedy-drama series "Moonlighting" (1989), the comedy series "Frasier" (1998), the period drama series "American Dreams" (2002–2003), the murder mystery series "Monk" (2002–2009), the science fiction series "The Event" (2011), the supernatural drama series "Witches of East End" (2013–2014), the political thriller series "Designated Survivor" (2016–2017), and the DC Universe superhero horror series "Swamp Thing" (2019).


title: Virginia Madsen

text: Virginia Gayle Madsen was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Elaine (née Melson), who became an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and author, and Calvin Christian Madsen, a firefighter. After Madsen's parents divorced in the late 1960s, when the children were young, her mother left a career in finance to pursue a career in arts, encouraged by film critic Roger Ebert. Madsen's siblings are Michael Madsen, an actor, and Cheryl Madsen, an entrepreneur. Her paternal grandparents were Danish, and her mother has English, Irish, Scottish, German and distant Native American ancestry. Madsen is a graduate of New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois.


title: Virginia Madsen

text: Madsen later attended the Ted Liss Acting Studio in Chicago, and Harand Camp Adult Theater Seminar in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Of her experience with Liss, she said: "I had wanted to join his class since I was 12. It was well worth the wait because I don't think I could have got that sort of training anywhere else especially in the United States... I always wanted to make a real career out of acting."


title: Virginia Madsen

text: Madsen made her acting debut at age 22, in a bit part where she landed her role as Lisa in the comedy film "Class" (1983). She next appeared in Kenny Loggins' music video for "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)" from the "Footloose" soundtrack.


title: Virginia Madsen

text: She portrayed a cellist named Madeline in "Electric Dreams" (1984). She was cast as Princess Irulan in David Lynch's science fiction epic "Dune" (1984). In 1986, she starred as Boris (Vincent Spano)'s romantic interest Barbara in the film "Creator", which also starred Peter O'Toole.


title: Virginia Madsen

text: Madsen first became popular with audiences in 1986 with her portrayal of a Catholic school girl who fell in love with a boy from a prison camp in Duncan Gibbons' "Fire with Fire". As beauty queen Dixie Lee Boxx, she was the love interest of minor league baseball manager Cecil "Stud" Cantrell (William Petersen) in the HBO original film "Long Gone" (1987). That same year she also appeared in the music video for "I Found Someone" by Cher. She played a secretary named Allison Rowe in the comedy film "Hot to Trot" (1988). She also starred as Helen Lyle in the horror film "Candyman" (1992).


title: Virginia Madsen

text: She appeared in a small role in the Francis Ford Coppola drama "The Rainmaker" (1997) alongside Matt Damon and Claire Danes. Film critic Roger Ebert said that Madsen had a "strong scene", while reviewer James Berardinelli noted that "the supporting cast is solid, with turns from . . . Virginia Madsen as a witness for the plaintiff".


title: Virginia Madsen

text: Madsen delivered a critically acclaimed performance in "Sideways" (2004), directed by Alexander Payne. Her role catapulted her onto the Hollywood A-list.


title: Virginia Madsen

text: Her first major role after "Sideways" was opposite Harrison Ford in "Firewall". She later appeared in Robert Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion", in a key role as the angel. She co-starred alongside Jim Carrey in "The Number 23" and Billy Bob Thornton in "The Astronaut Farmer"; both films were released in North America on February 23, 2007. She voiced Queen Hippolyta, mother of Wonder Woman, in the animated film "Wonder Woman" (2009).


title: Virginia Madsen

text: In 1988, Madsen appeared as Maddie Hayes' cousin in the fifth and final season of the ABC drama series "Moonlighting". She has since made various television appearances, including "", "", "Dawson's Creek", "The Practice", "Frasier", and other television series. She was also co-host of the long-running television series "Unsolved Mysteries" in 1999, during the show's eleventh season (which was also the second and final season on CBS). She starred alongside Ray Liotta in the short-lived CBS crime drama series "Smith". She also had a recurring role in the eighth and final season in the USA Network comedy-drama series "Monk".


title: Virginia Madsen

text: In 2010, she landed the starring role of Cheryl West in the ABC comedy-drama series "Scoundrels". In December 2010, it was announced that she would be joining the cast in the NBC science fiction series "The Event". In 2012, she joined the cast of the AMC western drama series "Hell on Wheels" as Mrs. Hannah Durant, first appearing in episode eight of season 2, "The Lord's Day". In 2013, Madsen began appearing on Lifetime's "Witches of East End" as Penelope Gardiner, the main villainess of the first season.


title: Virginia Madsen

text: She starred as Speaker Kimble Hookstraten in the first season of the ABC political drama series "Designated Survivor".


title: Virginia Madsen

text: In 2008, she formed her own film production company called Title IX Productions. Her first project was a film made with her mother titled "I Know a Woman Like That". The film is a documentary about the lives of older women. On the creation of the film, she said her mother's active lifestyle was an inspiration to start filming.


title: Virginia Madsen

text: My mother's level of activity, of productivity, was exactly why I thought a project like this would work. Originally, when we put the idea together, she had said, "I'm far too busy. I'm going to Holland, and then I'm going here and there and I'm writing my book." But that's really what it's about.


title: Virginia Madsen

text: Madsen was married to actor and director Danny Huston after meeting on the set of "Mr. North" (1988). They married in 1989 and divorced in 1992. Madsen was in a long-term relationship with Antonio Sabàto Jr. from 1993 to 1998, with whom she has one son.


title: Maya Jama

text: Maya Indea Jama (, ; born 14 August 1994) is an English television, radio presenter, and DJ. She co-presented BBC One's "" alongside Peter Crouch and Alex Horne and is presenter of the BBC Three competition "" from the third series (2021) onwards.


title: Maya Jama

text: Jama co-presented "Trending Live!" on 4Music from 2015 until 2017, "Cannonball" on ITV in 2017, the MTV show "True Love or True Lies" in 2018, and the first series of "The Circle" with Alice Levine on Channel 4. In radio, Jama hosted "#DriveWithMaya" on Rinse FM from 2014 to 2017, and co-presented "Radio 1's Greatest Hits" and presented her eponymous show, "Maya Jama" on BBC Radio 1 from 2018 to 2020. In 2022 she was announced as the new host of the ITV2 dating reality series "Love Island".


title: Maya Jama

text: Jama was born and raised in Bristol, where she attended Cotham School. She is of Somali descent on her father's side and Swedish descent on her mother's side. Her mother, Sadie, was 19 when she gave birth to Jama, and she named her after the US author and poet Maya Angelou. She also has a brother, Omar.


title: Maya Jama

text: Jama's father was in prison for most of her childhood, for violence-related crimes such as pub brawls and fights. Aged 12, she decided to stop visiting her father in prison and for a decade blocked him from her thoughts. She said in a 2017 interview with "The Guardian" that she didn't really notice it being a problem: "It was normal for me. My dad's side of my family was super-supportive and they did everything in their power to make me and my brother not feel like we were missing out on anything". While working on the documentary "When Dads Kill" in 2017, which dealt with young people's experiences similar to her own childhood, she relented and examined her relationship with her own father, by then released from prison, meeting with him in an attempt to elicit answers directly from him; "nothing he said, and nothing his family told her, gave her any real insights" into why he had ended up in prison.


title: Maya Jama

text: Jama remains close to her mother and occasionally the two appear on talk shows together and attend private celebrity events.


title: Maya Jama

text: In 2012, Jama moved to London to pursue a media career, first as an actress, then as a TV presenter and fashion model. Acting had been Jama's first ambition, but realised that becoming a presenter might suit her better. Her early role models included Davina McCall and June Sarpong. Jama began her presenting debut as a teenager, presenting the weekly music video countdown on JumpOff.TV, and later worked for Sky UK on TRACE Sports.


title: Maya Jama

text: In 2014, she hosted "Maya's FIFA World Cup Cities" for Copa90, a travelogue covering the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. She also co-hosted the Copa90 nine-part "World Cup Taxi" series dedicated to the event. In August 2014, Jama joined MTV as a presenter for "The Wrap Up".


title: Maya Jama

text: In February 2017, she worked closely with Brit Awards, hosting their 2017 Pre-Brit Awards Party and hosting a Facebook live stream from the red carpet. In September 2017, she co-presented the Saturday night game show "Cannonball" on ITV with Andrew Flintoff, Frankie Bridge, Radzi Chinyanganya and Ryan Hand. In September 2017 and February 2018, Jama was a guest panellist on ITV's "Loose Women". In November 2017, she became the youngest person (then 23) to co-host the "MOBO Awards" on Channel 5 with fellow presenter Marvin Humes.


title: Maya Jama

text: In September 2018, Jama co-presented the first series of "The Circle" on Channel 4 with Alice Levine. In October 2018, she co-presented "Stand Up to Cancer" with long-standers Alan Carr and Adam Hills, and became the team captain on ITV2 rap panel show "Don't Hate the Playaz" presented by Jordan Stephens. In 2019, she appeared on "A League of Their Own Road Trip" alongside actor and comedian Tom Davis. She appeared on Channel 4's "The Big Fat Quiz of the Year" in 2019 and 2020.


title: Maya Jama

text: In early June 2020, she presented the Saturday evening BBC One TV programme "". Later that year she co-presented BBC One's New Year's Eve programme "The Big New Year's In". In January 2021, the BBC announced that Jama would be the new presenter of "", replacing former presenter Stacey Dooley, who presented the first two series of the programme. In February 2021, Jama appeared as a celebrity guest judge during the second series of "RuPaul's Drag Race UK". In September 2021, it was announced that Jama would be the host of Simon Cowell’s new music competition gameshow "Walk The Line".


title: Maya Jama

text: In October 2022, it was announced that Jama would take over from Laura Whitmore as the presenter of ITV2 dating reality series "Love Island".


title: Maya Jama

text: In 2018, she joined BBC Radio 1, presenting "Radio 1's Greatest Hits" on Saturdays and co-presenting every Friday with Scott Mills and Chris Stark. From 2018 to 2020, she presented her own show, "Maya Jama" on Fridays and Saturdays on BBC Radio 1.


title: Maya Jama

text: On 15 May 2020, the BBC confirmed in a statement that Jama had left Radio 1 after two years. It said she'd made "the difficult decision not to continue her Radio 1 contract" and her final show was already broadcast on 3 May 2020. In an Instagram post, Jama said she had "a lot of exciting commitments" planned for the future, which meant she couldn't continue with her broadcasting segment at Radio 1. She added: "I would like to thank the team for their hard work and friendship during the last two years."


title: Maya Jama

text: In 2018, Jama hosted "When Life Gives You Melons", a podcast available to streaming platforms in partnership with Freya Lingerie. The podcast featured Jama interviewing all-female guests about work, life and relationships. Guests included Cherry Healey, Vick Hope, Anna Richardson, Vanessa White, Katie Piper, Gemma Cairney and Laura Whitmore.


title: Maya Jama

text: That same year, Jama became an ambassador for Savera UK which operates across the United Kingdom to provide services to individuals from black ethnic minority communities who are at risk of domestic abuse. In 2019, she donated blood for an NHS campaign and was found to have the rare and in demand Ro blood subtype.


title: Maya Jama

text: She also launched a successful clothing collection with PrettyLittleThing in June 2018, followed by a second collection in February 2019.


title: Maya Jama

text: She is an ambassador for Adidas, and appeared in the European JD Sports Christmas campaign, and is also an ambassador for the Australian hair care brand Aussie. She also appeared in a global GAP campaign and in a Spring/Summer 2019 campaign for Kurt Geiger.


title: Maya Jama

text: In December 2020, Jama launched her own face and eye masks range, MIJ Masks, with the first release selling out within 24 hours.


title: Maya Jama

text: Jama lives in West London. She is a keen football fan and supports both Bristol Rovers and West Ham United.


title: Maya Jama

text: In 2018, a tweet that Jama made when she was 17 surfaced, which detailed her laughing at a tweet that mocked dark-skinned black women. After being accused of colourism, she apologised, stating that she was "an ignorant, stupid child" when the social media post was made in 2012.


title: Maya Jama

text: Between 2015 and 2019, Jama was in a relationship with British rapper Stormzy; their break-up inspired his 2019 song "Lessons".


title: Maya Jama

text: In 2021, it was reported Jama was dating NBA player Ben Simmons. In August 2022, the couple reportedly ended their engagement.


title: Maya Jama

text: In November 2019, she won the People's Choice Award for best dressed star. Jama later opened and hosted the 2020 EE BAFTA red carpet in a 5G powered AR dress.


title: Rick Ross

text: William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper.


title: Rick Ross

text: Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment and Irv Gotti's Murder Inc., until signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Jay-Z on Def Jam Recordings. Ross released his debut album "Port of Miami" through the label later that year, debuting at the top spot on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 album chart, with sales of 187,000 units during the first week. Ross released his second studio album, "Trilla", in 2008, once again debuting atop the "Billboard" 200.


title: Rick Ross

text: Outside of his solo career, Ross was a lead member of the hip hop group Triple C's, alongside fellow Florida rappers Gunplay and Torch, in 2005. Ross founded the record label Maybach Music Group in 2009, on which he released his studio albums "Deeper Than Rap" (2009), "Teflon Don" (2010), "God Forgives, I Don't" (2012), "Mastermind and" "Hood Billionaire" (2014), "Black Market" (2015), "Rather You Than Me" (2017), "Port of Miami 2" (2019), and his eleventh studio album "Richer Than I Ever Been", released in December 2021. It features acts such as American rappers Future, Wale, and DreamDoll; singer Jazmine Sullivan; and even ex-con Willie Falcon, serving as the narrator for the album’s introductory track.


title: Rick Ross

text: Prominent industry acts have also been signed to Rick Ross through the Maybach Music label, including Meek Mill, Wale, and French Montana, among others.


title: Rick Ross

text: William Leonard Roberts II was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and raised in Carol City, Florida. After graduating from Miami Carol City Senior High School, he attended the historically black college Albany State University on a football scholarship. Roberts worked as a correctional officer for 18 months from December 1995, until his resignation in June 1997.


title: Rick Ross

text: In his early years at Suave House Records, Roberts initially made his debut under the pseudonym Teflon Da Don. He made his recording debut on the song "Ain't Shhh to Discuss" on Erick Sermon's lone album for DreamWorks, "Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis". In the mid-2000s, he changed his name to Rick Ross. He derived his stage name from the former drug kingpin "Freeway" Rick Ross, to whom he has no connection.


title: Rick Ross

text: After being signed to Suave House Records, former label for rap duo 8Ball & MJG, he eventually signed a deal with Slip-n-Slide Records, which has been under the Def Jam label since 2006. While signed to Slip-n-Slide, Roberts toured with fellow rapper Trick Daddy and made guest performances on other Slip-n-Slide albums.


title: Rick Ross

text: His debut album "Port of Miami" was released in August 2006 and debuted at the top spot on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 album chart, with sales at 187,000 units during the first week. Christian Hoard of "Rolling Stone" magazine predicted that it would be "the summer's biggest rap record". The second single was "Push It", which samples "Scarface (Push It to the Limit)", the theme song from the gangster film "Scarface". The music video for "Push It" was modeled after the film. During that time, Ross made guest performances on two singles from DJ Khaled's debut "Listennn... the Album": "Born-N-Raised" and "Holla at Me". "Port of Miami" received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on November 8, 2006.


title: Rick Ross

text: In March 2008, his second album "Trilla" was released and, as its predecessor "Port of Miami" had, debuted at the top of the "Billboard" 200. Its lead single "Speedin'" featuring R. Kelly peaked at number 21 on the U.S. "Billboard" Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles; the next one, "The Boss" featuring T-Pain peaked at number 17 on the Hot 100. The third single "Here I Am" featured Nelly and Avery Storm. MTV News ranked Ross on the fourth spot in its 2008 "Hottest MCs in the Game" list among ten rappers. The fourth single "This Is The Life" featured Trey Songz and was released in July.


title: Rick Ross

text: I look at the game and the business and all different aspects, it's a lot of great lyricists on the corner that will never properly understand the business and know how to market themselves and get in a position where they can gain capital. I look at all the strategies people use and what made them successful. What made Birdman just as relevant today after selling 50 million records? That intrigues me. To see the class of Jay-Z, his accomplishments and see how he sits backs and accurately makes his moves.


title: Rick Ross

text: A track from the album called "Valley of Death" was what stood out to MTV reporters. In the song, Ross speaks briefly on his controversial stint as a prison guard. "Keep it trilla, nigga, never had a gun and badge," which he stresses, leaving the word that he was indeed an officer of the law. "Kept a nice watch, smoking on a hundred sack/ Back in the day I sold crack for some nice kicks/ Skippin' school, I saw my friend stabbed with an ice pick/ Can't criticize niggas trying to get jobs/ Better get smart, young brother, live yours." Later, he implies that while he was working as a corrections officer, he was on the streets. "Only lived once and I got two kids/ And for me to feed them, I'll get two gigs," he raps. "I'll shovel shit, I'll C.O./ So we can bow our heads and pray over the meatloaf." He still provided no explanation for lying about being a C.O. to begin with, nor did he explain why he failed to pay child support for his children.


title: Rick Ross

text: The cover of the May 2009 issue of "XXL" magazine, titled "Rick Ross Up in Smoke", featured Ross wearing a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses. After publication, a spokesperson for the luxury-goods maker contacted "XXL" to inform them that Ross was sporting fake sunglasses in the cover image. It was later revealed that the rapper was wearing authentic Louis Vuitton sunglasses which were altered by Jacob Bernstein, known as "The Sunglass Pimp". Bernstein defended his customizations despite Louis Vuitton's insistence that such modification and resale of trademarked property is not legal.


title: Rick Ross

text: Ross had a number of accomplishments in 2010. In May, he released the critically acclaimed "Albert Anastasia EP". In addition to that, he released his fourth studio album entitled "Teflon Don", on July 20, 2010. The lead single was "Super High" featuring Ne-Yo. Actress Stacey Dash made an appearance in the music video. A second official single was released titled "Live Fast, Die Young" which features and is produced by Kanye West. The album debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200 selling 176,000 copies in its first week.


title: Rick Ross

text: In November 2010, rapper and frequent collaborator, Diddy, who in 2009 signed Ross to a management deal with his Ciroc Entertainment, announced from his YouTube account, that he and Ross are working on an EP together. A single was released for the project, called "Another One". Ross ended 2010 by releasing another mixtape, "Ashes To Ashes" on Christmas Eve 2010.


title: Rick Ross

text: In early 2011, Rick Ross signed Wale and Meek Mill to his Maybach Music Group imprint. The group released their debut compilation album, "Self Made Vol. 1" in May. Rick Ross performed at BET Awards 2011, which aired on June 26, 2011. He also received a nomination for Best Male Hip Hop Artist. In early 2012, Ross was named the Hottest MC in the Game.


title: Rick Ross

text: Big things were happening for Ross's successful career in 2012 as well. He started the year by premiering his "Rich Forever" mixtape to universal acclaim. Ross's MMG camp released their second compilation, Self Made Vol. 2 in June 2012. Less than a month later, Ross's fifth studio album, "God Forgives, I Don't", was released on July 31, 2012, after a few delays. Upon its release, the album charted at number eight on the UK Albums Chart and number two on the UK R&B Albums Chart, making it Ross's highest-charting album and first top 10 album in the United Kingdom. The album debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200, with first-week sales of 218,000 copies. Ross premiered four songs: "So Sophisticated" featuring Meek Mill, "Touch'N You" featuring Usher, "Hold Me Back", and "3 Kings" featuring Dr. Dre and Jay-Z. The album was certified gold in less than two months. To celebrate his accomplishment and promote his upcoming MMG Tour, Ross released a mixtape, "The Black Bar Mitzvah" in October. Rick Ross was nominated by "The Source" as its "Man of the Year".


title: Rick Ross

text: On January 7, 2013, Ross revealed the title of his sixth album to be "Mastermind". The album was set to be released in 2013. The first promotional single from the album would come in the form of "Box Chevy" which was released to iTunes on February 15, 2013. The music video was filmed on April 1, 2013, and features cameos from MMG members Gunplay, Stalley and Rockie Fresh.


title: Rick Ross

text: During 2008, it was announced that Ross was set to release a collaboration album with his longtime friend Birdman titled "The H", but after that, no information on the album was released. On May 16, 2013, Birdman and Rick Ross announced that "The H" would be released as a mixtape hosted by DJ Khaled on May 23, 2013. The project was recorded during a couple of days in 2008.


title: Rick Ross

text: On September 5, 2013, Ross premiered the first official single from "Mastermind", "No Games" featuring Future produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. The following day, it was released to Urban contemporary radio. It was followed by the singles "The Devil Is A Lie" with Jay-Z and "War Ready" with Jeezy.


title: Rick Ross

text: Rick Ross released his sixth studio album, "Mastermind", in March 2014, the album received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200 chart with first week sales of 179,000 copies. As of April 8, 2014, the album has sold over 290,000 copies in the United States. In June 2014, it was announced that Ross would make a guest appearance on the docu-series "Sisterhood of Hip Hop".


title: Rick Ross

text: In October 2014, Ross announced he would be releasing another album, "Hood Billionaire", in order to make up for Meek Mill's "Dreams Worth More Than Money" album being shelved due to his incarceration. Rick Ross revealed cover art for "Hood Billionaire" in October 2014 and announced the release date to be set for November 24, 2014. The album received mixed reviews, from fans and critics alike.


title: Rick Ross

text: Ross had a mix of both adversity and accomplishments in 2015. Ross was arrested for kidnapping and assault charges and was sentenced to house arrest in his Georgia home. Ross joined the Snapchat platform and began referring to himself as "Renzel", a play on the name of famous actor Denzel Washington. In September, Ross released a mixtape, "Black Dollar", his third full-length release since March 2014. He soon announced his eighth studio album, "Black Market", for a December 2015 release. To promote his upcoming release, Ross released a remix tape, "Renzel Remixes" on Thanksgiving 2015. "Black Market" was released on December 4, 2015, and it served as Ross's final album for his original contract with Def Jam. The album's song "Free Enterprise" stirred up controversy because the lyrics included the line "Assassinate Trump like I'm Zimmerman" referring to Donald Trump.


title: Rick Ross

text: In January 2016 after much speculation, Rick Ross signed a solo deal with Epic Records, reuniting him with L.A. Reid, who originally played a major role in signing Ross to Def Jam.


title: Rick Ross

text: On February 21, 2016, Rick Ross remixed Kanye West's "Famous". Ross was active in 2016, releasing many songs including "Make It Work" off of Self Made Vol. 4, "Purple Lamborghini" of "", "Supa Cindy", and "Freaky Hoe".


title: Rick Ross

text: He announced that his ninth studio album, "Rather You Than Me", was slated for a March 2017 release. The album debuted and peaked number three on the " Billboard" 200. On February 2, 2018, Rick Ross released "Florida Boy" with T-Pain and Kodak Black as the first single from the album, which was slated for a 2018 release. On June 22, 2018, Ross released "Green Gucci Suit" with Future as the second single from his tenth studio album "Port of Miami 2", released on August 9, 2019. The album debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200. The album also included the single "Gold Roses" with Drake, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.


title: Rick Ross

text: On July 19, 2020, Ross teamed up with singer August Alsina for a track titled "Entanglements", a diss track towards Alsina's ex-lover Jada Pinkett Smith.


title: Rick Ross

text: On August 7, 2020, Ross released the single "Pinned to the Cross", featuring Finn Matthews, following his "Verzuz" battle with 2 Chainz.


title: Rick Ross

text: On August 26, 2020, during an interview with Hot 97, Rick Ross announced his eleventh album, "Richer Than I Ever Been", which was released on December 10, 2021.


title: Rick Ross

text: On September 7, 2021, Ross' book "The Perfect Day to Boss Up" debuted at number 5 on "The New York Times" weekly bestsellers list.


title: Rick Ross

text: Rick Ross is a Christian, and in an interview with Corey "Coco Brother" Condrey on "Lift Every Voice", he indicated that "I had told myself at one point no matter what I go through, I never question God." In addition, Ross indicated that he prays every time he goes on stage to perform.


title: Rick Ross

text: In July 2008, "The Smoking Gun" produced details linking Ross's social security number to an 18-month stint as a correctional officer at the South Florida Reception Center, along with a photograph first publicized by Media Take Out purporting to be Ross in his correctional officer uniform. Ross initially denied that the photograph was of him, but after overwhelming evidence of his past came into the public's eye, Ross later admitted that he did work as a correctional officer in Florida for 18 months between 1995 and 1997. In a 2008 interview with AllHipHop.com, "Freeway" Ricky Ross claimed offense that Roberts used his name and identity when he learned that "The Smoking Gun" posted documents revealing Roberts' previous employment as a Florida correctional officer.


title: Rick Ross

text: On October 14, 2011, Ross suffered two seizures in the same day, once in the morning and again in the early evening. Following the morning seizure, he was unconscious and CPR was performed. After suffering the second seizure, Ross was admitted to a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, where doctors ran a battery of tests. They declared him healthy. Ross attributes the episodes to a lack of sleep in the previous week.


title: Rick Ross

text: Ross later noted the incident in the remix of Meek Mill's song "Ima Boss", with the line "Had a couple seizures, call it minor setbacks / Everybody praying for me, I respect that / Woke up in the hospital, where my checks at? / Then I put 8 chains where my neck's at".


title: Rick Ross

text: On January 27, 2013, while celebrating his 37th birthday, Ross and his girlfriend were the targets of a drive-by shooting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Neither Ross nor his girlfriend were hurt, but they ended up crashing their car into an apartment in an attempt to escape the shooting.


title: Rick Ross

text: On March 2, 2018, Ross was hospitalized after being found unresponsive in his Miami, Florida, home from a possible heart attack. Ross was on life support. He was released from hospital just a few days later.


title: Rick Ross

text: Ross has four children: Toie Roberts, William Roberts III, Berkeley Hermes Roberts, and Billion Leonard Roberts.


title: Rick Ross

text: In January 2008, Ross was arrested on gun and marijuana charges. During a deposition of Officer Rey Hernandez, a Miami Beach police officer who arrested Ross, Ross's lawyer, Allan Zamren, asked Hernandez why Ross's case was assigned to the gang task force. The officer stated that it was because Ross claimed affiliation with Triple C's (aka Carol City Cartel), and other known gang members. Zamren pressed Hernandez for a personal link between Ross and the gang members, but the officer did not provide proof.


title: Rick Ross

text: In August 2008, YouTube entertainer DJ Vlad filed a lawsuit against Ross for assault and battery. Vlad claimed Ross organized an ambush on him at the 2008 Ozone Awards in Houston, Texas for asking questions about his past as a correctional officer.


title: Rick Ross

text: In June 2010 "Freeway" Ricky Ross sued Ross for using his name, filing a copyright infringement lawsuit in a California federal court. Jay-Z had been called to testify in the lawsuit, as he was CEO of Def Jam when Ross/Roberts was signed. "Freeway" Ricky Ross, a reformed drug kingpin, sought $10 million in damages in his lawsuit. Also, Freeway Ricky Ross threatened to block the release of Ross's album, "Teflon Don."


title: Rick Ross

text: A week after the lawsuit was filed, Rick Ross responded to the charges: "It's like owning a restaurant, you're gonna have a few slip and falls. You get lawsuits, you deal with them, and get them out your way ... sometimes you lose." He denied rumors that he would change his name to "Ricky Rozay" as a consequence of the lawsuit. The lawsuit was thrown out of court on July 3, 2010. The album "Teflon Don" was released as scheduled on July 20, 2010.


title: Rick Ross

text: A federal judge ruled that the case should be refiled in California state court because it fell under California state law. "Freeway" Ricky Ross refiled the case with the State of California and the federal case is on appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The state case was filed in 2011 in California.


title: Rick Ross

text: "Freeway" Ricky Ross refiled in Los Angeles Superior Court with publicity rights claims. Trial was set for early May 2012. The case was dismissed by a judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court.


title: Rick Ross

text: The California State case was updated with a motion in Freeway Rick Ross's favor as to Warner Bros. Records and their use of the name and image Rick Ross in July 2012.


title: Rick Ross

text: The "New York Post" reported that a trial was set for August 27, 2013, in Freeway Rick Ross versus Rick Ross and Warner Music Group.


title: Rick Ross

text: On December 30, 2013, the court ruled in favor of the rapper Rick Ross, allowing him to keep the name based on a First Amendment ruling.


title: Rick Ross

text: In 2011, the rapper Teflon Don filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Ross for the use of the name as an album title.


title: Rick Ross

text: On March 26, 2011, Ross was arrested in Shreveport for possession of marijuana. According to the police records, a strong odor of marijuana was detected from his room at the Hilton in Downtown Shreveport. Ross was arrested on June 27, 2014, in Greensboro, N.C., following his performance at the 2014 SuperJam at the Greensboro Coliseum. The arrest stemmed from a year-old warrant for another North Carolina arrest related to marijuana possession; Ross reportedly failed to appear in court for that violation in 2013.


title: Rick Ross

text: On June 24, 2015, Rick Ross and his bodyguard were arrested in Fayette County, Georgia on kidnapping and assault charges. Both were accused for forcing a landskeeper into a guesthouse and beating him in the head with a handgun, allegedly over money he owed Ross. On April 4, 2017, Ross pled no contest to a felony count of aggravated assault. The other felony charges were dropped. Ross was sentenced to time served in jail, having already been incarcerated for a week and was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.


title: Rick Ross

text: Ross was sentenced as a first-time felony offender; and, upon payment of the fine, the conviction was erased from his record. Ross pled no contest to 5 misdemeanours: assault, battery, two counts of pointing a pistol at someone, and possession of less than 1 oz of cannabis. For the five misdemeanours, he was given a total of 60 months probation.


title: Rick Ross

text: As of 2017, Ross owned several different Wingstop restaurant locations. Wingstop is a fast-food chain specializing in chicken wings.


title: Rick Ross

text: In January 2009, Ross started a feud with rapper 50 Cent because he supposedly looked at him the wrong way at the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2008. 50 Cent told news sources that he did not remember seeing Ross there. In late January, "Mafia Music", by Ross, leaked onto the Internet. There were several lines that seemed to diss 50 Cent. Days later, 50 Cent released "Officer Ricky (Go Head, Try Me)" in response to Ross's disparaging remarks on his "Mafia Music" song.


title: Rick Ross

text: Before going to Venezuela, 50 Cent uploaded a video entitled "Warning Shot", wherein he stated: "Rick Ross, I'mma fuck your life up for fun." In addition, 50 Cent released the first of a series of "Officer Ricky" cartoons. Early in February, 50 Cent once again made a video which he uploaded to YouTube in which he interviewed "Tia", the mother of one of Ross's children. She verifies that he was a correctional officer and claims his whole persona is fake and fraudulent. On February 5, 2009, The Game, who 50 Cent has a long-standing "beef" with, called up Seattle R&B station KUBE. When asked about the beef between 50 Cent and Ross, Game sided with 50 Cent and said that things are not looking good for Ross. He offered to help, stating, "Rick Ross, holla at your boy, man," and, "50 eating you, boy."


title: Rick Ross

text: On his album "Deeper Than Rap", Ross references 50 Cent in the song "In Cold Blood". A video for the song was released that portrayed 50 Cent's mock funeral. Upon release, Ross stated that he has ended 50 Cent's career. That same day Ross released a new diss track called "Push 'Em Over The Edge". The next day 50 Cent released the controversial video "A Psychic Told Me", dissing DJ Khaled. On February 12, 50 Cent responded with "Tia Told Me", along with Lloyd Banks' response "Officer Down" and Tony Yayo's "Somebody Snitched".


title: Rick Ross

text: In an interview, 50 Cent said Ross is "Albert From "CB4". You ever seen the movie? He's Albert," he added. "It never gets worse than this. You get a guy that was a correctional officer come out and base his entire career on writing material from a drug dealer's perspective."


title: Rick Ross

text: On January 30, 2013, 50 Cent claimed via Twitter that the drive-by shooting that Ross experienced on his birthday two days ago was "staged", reigniting the feud.


title: Rick Ross

text: A year later, on March 28, 2014, Rick Ross was asked about his feud with 50 Cent. He stated that he does not wish to speak on him anymore, and that he is done with the feud.


title: Rick Ross

text: His feud with 50 Cent has been resurfacing. The reason of the second reignition would be because of Ross's MMG record-label artist Meek Mill, who defended his mentor and criticised 50 on his "4/4" EP.


title: Rick Ross

text: In a line on rapper Rocko's 2013 song "U.O.E.N.O.", Rick Ross raps the line, "Put molly all in her champagne / She ain't even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that / She ain't even know it." A petition containing 72,000 signatures was presented to Reebok, demanding they drop Ross as a spokesman for the lyrics which appeared to condone date rape. Ross has apologized for the lyrics, claiming they weren't about rape.


title: Rick Ross

text: On April 11, 2013, one month after the song's release, Ross was dropped by Reebok. Reebok stated, "while we do not believe that Rick Ross condones sexual assault, we are very disappointed he has yet to display an understanding of the seriousness of this issue or an appropriate level of remorse." They continued on to say, "at this time, it is in everyone's best interest for Reebok to end its partnership with Mr. Ross."


title: Rick Ross

text: Though Ross apologized for the lyrics, he also argued that his lyrics were misinterpreted because he did not directly use the word "rape." He says, "You know I would never use the term rape in my records ... in reality some people do these things, and shouldn't it be brought to light so young women can protect themselves?!" He continued on Twitter, "I would never use the term 'rape' in my records and as far as my camp. Hip-Hop don't condone that, the streets don't condone that, nobody condones that."


title: Rick Ross

text: A 2013 Ross concert organized by the student association of Carleton University was cancelled after protests that his lyrics promote rape culture. Rocko later dropped the Rick Ross verse in order to get radio play.


title: Rick Ross

text: In 2017, Ross was criticized for stating in an interview that he never signed a female rapper because "I would end up fucking [her] and fucking the business up." Ross quickly apologized through a Facebook post where he called his comments "insensitive" and a "mistake [he regrets]."


title: Rick Ross

text: The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States. Rick Ross has nine nominations


title: Eli Wallach

text: Eli Herschel Wallach (; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. From his 1945 Broadway debut to his last film appearance, Wallach's entertainment career spanned 65 years. Originally trained in stage acting, he became "one of the greatest character actors ever to appear on stage and screen" and ultimately garnered over 90 film credits. He and his wife Anne Jackson often appeared together on stage, eventually becoming a notable acting couple in American theater.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Wallach initially studied method acting under Sanford Meisner, and later became a founding member of the Actors Studio, where he studied under Lee Strasberg. He played a wide variety of roles throughout his career, primarily as a supporting actor.


title: Eli Wallach

text: For his debut screen performance in "Baby Doll" (1956), he won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe Award nomination. Among his other most famous roles are Calvera in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960), Guido in "The Misfits" (1961), and Tuco ("The Ugly") in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966). Other notable portrayals include outlaw Charlie Gant in "How the West Was Won" (1962), Hitman Leon B. Little in "Tough Guys" (1986), Don Altobello in "The Godfather Part III", Cotton Weinberger in "The Two Jakes" (both 1990), Donald Fallon in "The Associate" (1996), and Arthur Abbott in "The Holiday" (2006). One of America's most prolific screen actors, Wallach remained active well into his nineties, with roles as late as 2010 in "" and "The Ghost Writer".


title: Eli Wallach

text: In 1988, Wallach was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. He received BAFTA Awards, Tony Awards and Emmy Awards, and an Academy Honorary Award at the second annual Governors Awards on November 13, 2010.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Eli Herschel Wallach was born on December 7, 1915, at 156 Union Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn, a son of Polish immigrants Abraham and Bertha (Schorr) Wallach from Przemyśl. He had a brother and two sisters. He and his family were one of a few of Jewish faith in an otherwise Italian American neighborhood. His parents owned Bertha's Candy Store. Wallach graduated in 1936 from the University of Texas with a degree in history. While there, he performed in a play with fellow students Ann Sheridan and Walter Cronkite. In a later interview, Wallach said that he learned to ride horses while in Texas, explaining that he liked Texas because "It opened my eyes to the word "friendship..." You could rely on people. If they gave you their word, that was it ... It was an education."


title: Eli Wallach

text: Two years later he received a master of arts degree in education from the City College of New York. He gained his first method acting experience at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City, where he studied under Sanford Meisner. There, according to Wallach, actors were forced to "unlearn" all their physical and vocal mannerisms, while traditional stage etiquette and "singsong" deliveries were "utterly excised" from his classroom.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Wallach's education was cut short when he was drafted into the United States Army in 1940. He served as a staff sergeant and medic in a military hospital in Hawaii and later was sent to Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Abilene, Texas, to train as a medical administrative officer. Commissioned as a second lieutenant, he was ordered to Casablanca. Later, when he was serving in France, a senior officer noticed his acting career and asked him to create a show for the patients. He and his unit wrote a play called "Is This the Army?", which was inspired by Irving Berlin's "This Is the Army". In the comedy, Wallach and the other actors mocked Axis dictators, with Wallach portraying Adolf Hitler. Wallach was discharged as a captain following the war's end in 1945. He was awarded the Army Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal, the European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Wallach took classes in acting at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School in New York City with the influential German director Erwin Piscator. He later became a founding member of the Actors Studio, taught by Lee Strasberg. There, he studied more method acting technique with founding member Robert Lewis, and with other students including Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Herbert Berghof, Sidney Lumet, and his soon-to-be wife, Anne Jackson. Wallach became Marilyn Monroe's first new friend when she became a student at the Actors Studio, once insisting on watching him perform in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" from the backstage wings, simply to see up close how experienced actors perform a two-hour play. She also became friends with his wife, Anne Jackson, also studying at the Studio, and would visit the couple at their home and sometimes babysit their new child.


title: Eli Wallach

text: In 1945 Wallach made his Broadway debut and he won a Tony Award in 1951 for his performance alongside Maureen Stapleton in the Tennessee Williams play "The Rose Tattoo". His other theater credits include "Mister Roberts", "The Teahouse of the August Moon", "Camino Real", "Major Barbara" (in which director Charles Laughton discouraged Wallach's established method acting style), "Luv", and "Staircase", co-starring Milo O'Shea, which was a serious depiction of an aging homosexual couple. He also played a role in a tour of "Antony and Cleopatra," produced by the actress Katharine Cornell in 1946. He exposed Americans to the work of playwright Eugène Ionesco in plays like "The Chairs" and "The Lesson" in 1958, and in 1961 "Rhinoceros" opposite Zero Mostel. He last starred on stage as the title character in "Visiting Mr. Green".


title: Eli Wallach

text: The stage was where Wallach focused his early career. From 1945 to 1950 he and his wife, Anne Jackson, worked together acting in various plays by Tennessee Williams. The five years following, he continued only working on stage, not becoming involved in film work until 1956. During those years, however, they were generally having a hard time making ends meet. He recalls they were getting along on unemployment insurance and living in a one-room, $35 a month apartment on lower Fifth Avenue in the Village. When he did get offered early movie parts, he turned them down with no regrets, and very early in his career he explained his reasoning:


title: Eli Wallach

text: He said that the stage was what attracted him most and what he "needed" to do. "Acting is the most alive thing I can do, and the most joyous," he stated.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Wallach and Jackson became one of the best-known acting couples in the American theater, as iconic as Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, and Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, and they looked for opportunities to work together. During an interview, he said of Jackson, "I have tremendous respect and admiration for her as an actress. . . we have a terrific working compatibility when we're in the same play, especially when the play means something important to us." When he did gravitate toward accepting parts in films, he did so to "help pay the bills," he said, adding, "for actors, movies are a means to an end."


title: Eli Wallach

text: Despite the fact that he eventually acted in over 90 films and almost as many television dramas, he continued to accept stage parts throughout his career, often with Jackson. They played in comedies like "The Typists" and "The Tiger" in 1963, and acted together in "Waltz of the Toreadors" in 1973. In 1978 they played in a revival of "The Diary of Anne Frank", along with their daughters, and in 1984 they acted in "Nest of the Wood Grouse," directed by Joseph Papp. Four years later, in 1988, they acted in a revival of "Cafe Crown", a portrait of the Yiddish theatre scene during its prime. They continued acting together as late as 2000, while he also took on roles alone throughout all those years.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Wallach's film debut was in Elia Kazan's controversial 1956 "Baby Doll", for which he won the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) as "Most Promising Newcomer." "Baby Doll" was controversial because of its underlying sexual theme. Director Elia Kazan however, set explicit limits on Wallach's scenes, telling him not to actually seduce Carroll Baker, but instead to create an unfulfilled erotic tension. Kazan later explained his reasoning:


title: Eli Wallach

text: Wallach went on to a prolific career as "one of the greatest 'character actors' ever to appear on stage and screen," notes Turner Classic Movies, acting in over 90 films. Having grown up on the "mean streets" of an Italian American neighborhood, and his versatility as a method actor, Wallach developed the ability to play a wide variety of different roles, although he tried to not get pinned down to any single type of character. "Right now I'm playing an old man," he said at age 84. But "I've been through all the ethnic groups, from Mexican bandits to Italian Mafia heads to Okinawans to half-breeds, and now I'm playing old Jews. Who knows?"


title: Eli Wallach

text: Noting this versatility as a character actor, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences called him "the quintessential chameleon," with the ability to play different characters "effortlessly," and "L.A. Times" theater critic Charles McNulty saw Wallach's "power to illuminate" his various screen or stage personas as being "radioactive." "The Guardian" newspaper has written that "Wallach was made for character acting," and includes movie clips from some of his most memorable roles in a tribute to him.


title: Eli Wallach

text: In 1961, Wallach co-starred with Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift and Clark Gable in "The Misfits", Monroe's and Gable's last film before their deaths. Wallach never learned why he was cast in the film, although he suspected that Monroe had something to do with it. Its screenwriter, Arthur Miller, who was married to Monroe at the time, said that "Eli Wallach is the happiest good actor I've ever known. He really enjoys the work."


title: Eli Wallach

text: Some of his other films included "The Lineup" (1958); "Lord Jim" (1965) with Peter O'Toole; a comic role in "How to Steal a Million" (1966), again with O'Toole, and Audrey Hepburn; and as Tuco (the "Ugly") in Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966) with Clint Eastwood, followed by other Spaghetti Westerns, such as "Ace High". At one point, Henry Fonda had asked Wallach whether he himself should accept a part offered to him to act in a similar Western, "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968), which would also be directed by Leone. Wallach said "Yes, you'll enjoy the challenge," and Fonda later thanked Wallach for that advice.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Wallach and Eastwood became friends during the filming of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and he recalled their off-work time together: "Clint was the tall, silent type. He's the kind where you open up and do all the talking. He smiles and nods and stores it all away in that wonderful calculator of a brain." In 2003 Wallach acted in "Mystic River", produced and directed by Eastwood, who once said "working with Eli Wallach has been one of the great pleasures of my life."


title: Eli Wallach

text: A pivotal moment in Wallach's career came in 1953, when he, along with Frank Sinatra and Harvey Lembeck, tried out for the role of Maggio in the film "From Here to Eternity". Sinatra biographer Kitty Kelly notes that while Sinatra's test was good, it had none of the "consummate acting ability" of Wallach. Producer Harry Cohn and director Fred Zinnemann were "dazzled" by Wallach's screen test and wanted him to play the part. However, Wallach had previously been offered an important role in another Tennessee Williams play, "Camino Real", to be directed by Elia Kazan, and turned down the movie role. Wallach said that when he learned that the play had finally received financing, he "grabbed" the opportunity: "It was a remarkable piece of writing by the leading playwright in America and it was going to be directed by the country's best. There really wasn't much of a choice for me." The film, however, went on to win eight Academy Awards, including one for Sinatra, which revived his career. Wallach recalled afterwards, "Whenever Sinatra saw me, he’d say, 'Hello, you crazy actor!'" Wallach, however, claimed to have no regrets.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Film historian James Welsh states that during Wallach's career, he appeared in most of the "prestige" television dramas during the "Golden Age" of the 1950s, including "Studio One, The Philco Television Playhouse, The Armstrong Circle Theatre, Playhouse 90," and "The Hallmark Hall of Fame," among others. He won the 1966–1967 Emmy Award for his role in the telefilm "The Poppy is Also a Flower." In 2006 Wallach appeared on NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", playing a former writer who was blacklisted in the 1950s. His character was a writer on "The Philco Comedy Hour", a show that aired on a fictional NBS network. This is a reference to "The Philco Television Playhouse", in several episodes of which Wallach actually appeared in 1955. Wallach earned a 2007 Emmy nomination for his work on the show.


title: Eli Wallach

text: During the filming of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", Wallach nearly died three times. Once, he accidentally drank a bottle of acid which was placed next to his pop bottle; another time was in a scene where he was about to be hanged, someone fired a pistol which caused the horse underneath him to bolt and run a mile while Wallach's hands were still tied behind his back; in a different scene with him lying on a railroad track, he was close to being decapitated by steps jutting out from the train.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Wallach appeared as DC Comics' supervillain Mr. Freeze in the 1960s "Batman" television series. He said that he received more fan mail about his role as Mr. Freeze than about all of his other roles combined. He played Gus Farber in the television miniseries "Seventh Avenue" in 1977, and 10 years later, at the age of 71, he starred alongside Michael Landon in "Highway to Heaven" episode "A Father's Faith". Three years later, he played aging mob boss Don Altobello in the Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather Part III".


title: Eli Wallach

text: On November 13, 2010, at the age of 94, Wallach received an Academy Honorary Award for his contribution to the film industry from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A few years prior to that event, Kate Winslet told another audience that Wallach, with whom she acted in "The Holiday" in 2006, was one of the "most charismatic men" she'd met, and her "very own sexiest man alive."


title: Eli Wallach

text: Wallach's final performance was in the short film "The Train" (2015). Wallach plays a Holocaust survivor who, in a meeting, teaches a self-consumed and preoccupied young man that life can change in a moment. The short was shot in early 2014 and premiered on August 6, 2015, at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Between 1984 and 1997, he also performed voiceovers in a series of television commercials for the Toyota Pickup.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Eli Wallach was married to stage actress Anne Jackson for 66 years from March 5, 1948, until his death. They had three children: Peter, Roberta, and Katherine. Roberta played an epileptic teenager in Paul Zindel's "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" and appeared in several other movies.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Wallach was a strict teetotaler and once asked the director John Huston for advice on how to play a "drunk" scene during the filming of "The Misfits".


title: Eli Wallach

text: His niece is the historian Joan Wallach Scott (the daughter of his brother, Sam Wallach). A. O. Scott, a film critic for "The New York Times", is his great-nephew.


title: Eli Wallach

text: Katherine Wallach told "The New York Times" that Anne Jackson died on April 12, 2016, aged 90, at her home in Manhattan.


title: Okra

text: Okra or Okro (, ), "Abelmoschus esculentus", known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It has edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of West African, Ethiopian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian origins. Cultivated in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions around the world, okra is used in the cuisines of many countries.


title: Okra

text: "Abelmoschus" is New Latin from Arabic أَبُو المِسْك (ʾabū l-misk, “father of musk”), while "esculentus" is Latin for being fit for human consumption.


title: Okra

text: The first use of the word "okra" (alternatively; "okro" or "ochro") appeared in 1679 in the Colony of Virginia, deriving from the Igbo word . The word "gumbo" was first used in American vernacular around 1805, deriving from Louisiana Creole, but originates from either the Umbundu word "ochinggômbo" or the Kimbundu word "ki-ngombo." Despite the fact that in most of the United States the word "gumbo" often refers to the dish, gumbo, many places in the Deep South may have used it to refer to the pods and plant as well as many other variants of the word found across the African diaspora in the Americas.


title: Okra

text: Okra is an allopolyploid of uncertain parentage. However, proposed parents include "Abelmoschus ficulneus", "A. tuberculatus" and a reported "diploid" form of okra. Truly wild (as opposed to naturalised) populations are not known with certainty, and the West African variety has been described as a cultigen.


title: Okra

text: The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of Southeast Asian, South Asian, Ethiopian and West African origins. The Egyptians and Moors of the 12th and 13th centuries used the Arabic word for the plant, "bamya", suggesting it had come into Egypt from Arabia, but earlier it was probably taken from Ethiopia to Arabia. The plant may have entered southwest Asia across the Red Sea or the Bab-el-Mandeb strait to the Arabian Peninsula, rather than north across the Sahara, or from India. One of the earliest European accounts is by a Spanish Moor who visited Egypt in 1216 and described the plant under cultivation by the locals who ate the tender, young pods with meal. From Arabia, the plant spread around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and eastward.


title: Okra

text: The species is a perennial, often cultivated as an annual in temperate climates, often growing to around tall. As a member of the Malvaceae, it is related to such species as cotton, cocoa, and hibiscus. The leaves are long and broad, palmately lobed with 5–7 lobes. The flowers are in diameter, with five white to yellow petals, often with a red or purple spot at the base of each petal. The pollens are spherical and approximately 188 microns in diameter. The fruit is a capsule up to long with pentagonal cross-section, containing numerous seeds.


title: Okra

text: "Abelmoschus esculentus" is cultivated throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world for its fibrous fruits or pods containing round, white seeds. It is among the most heat- and drought-tolerant vegetable species in the world and will tolerate soils with heavy clay and intermittent moisture, but frost can damage the pods. In cultivation, the seeds are soaked overnight prior to planting to a depth of . It prefers a soil temperature of at least for germination, which occurs between six days (soaked seeds) and three weeks. As a tropical plant, it also requires a lot of sunlight, and it should also be cultivated in soil that has a pH between 5.8 and 7, ideally on the acidic side. Seedlings require ample water. The seed pods rapidly become fibrous and woody and, to be edible as a vegetable, must be harvested when immature, usually within a week after pollination. The first harvest will typically be ready about 2 months after planting, and it will be approximately long.


title: Okra

text: The most common disease afflicting the okra plant is verticillium wilt, often causing a yellowing and wilting of the leaves. Other diseases include powdery mildew in dry tropical regions, leaf spots, yellow mosaic and root-knot nematodes. Resistance to yellow mosaic virus in "A. esculentus" was transferred through a cross with "Abelmoschus manihot" and resulted in a new variety called "Parbhani kranti".


title: Okra

text: In the United States much of the supply is grown in Florida, especially around Dade in southern Florida. Okra is grown throughout the state to some degree, so okra is available ten months of the year. Yields range from less than to over . Wholesale prices can go as high as $18/bushel which is . The Regional IPM Centers provide integrated pest management plans for use in the state.


title: Okra

text: The pods of the plant are mucilaginous, resulting in the characteristic "goo" or slime when the seed pods are cooked; the mucilage contains soluble fiber. One possible way to de-slime okra is to cook it with an acidic food, such as tomatoes, to minimize the mucilage. Pods are cooked, pickled, eaten raw, or included in salads. Okra may be used in developing countries to mitigate malnutrition and alleviate food insecurity.


title: Okra

text: In Cuba and Puerto Rico, the vegetable is referred to as "quimbombó", and is used in dishes such as "quimbombó guisado" (stewed okra), a dish very similar to Southern gumbo. It is also used in traditional dishes in the Dominican Republic, where it is called "molondrón".


title: Okra

text: In the Brazilian state of Bahia, okra is known as "quiabo" and is used to prepare "caruru", a dish of cultural and religious importance - in addition to being a symbol of Afro-Brazilian cuisine.


title: Okra

text: In South Asia, the pods are used in many spicy vegetable preparations as well as cooked with beef, mutton, lamb and chicken.


title: Okra

text: Raw okra is 90% water, 2% protein, 7% carbohydrates and contains negligible fat. In a 100 gram reference amount, raw okra is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of dietary fiber, vitamin C, and vitamin K, with moderate contents of thiamin, folate and magnesium (table).


title: Okra

text: Young okra leaves may be cooked similarly to the greens of beets, dandelions, or used in salads. Okra seeds may be roasted and ground to form a caffeine-free substitute for coffee. When importation of coffee was disrupted by the American Civil War in 1861, the "Austin State Gazette" said, "An acre of okra will produce seed enough to furnish a plantation with coffee in every way equal to that imported from Rio."


title: Okra

text: Greenish-yellow edible okra oil is pressed from okra seeds; it has a pleasant taste and odor, and is high in unsaturated fats such as oleic acid and linoleic acid. The oil content of some varieties of the seed is about 40%. At , the yield was exceeded only by that of sunflower oil in one trial. A 1920 study found that a sample contained 15% oil.


title: Okra

text: Bast fibre from the stem of the plant has industrial uses such as the reinforcement of polymer composites. The mucilage produced by the okra plant can be used for the removal of turbidity from wastewater by virtue of its flocculant properties. Having composition similar to a thick polysaccharide film, okra mucilage is under development as a biodegradable food packaging, as of 2018. A 2009 study found okra oil suitable for use as a biofuel.


title: Daily Mail

text: The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news website published in London. Founded in 1896, it is the United Kingdom's highest-circulated daily newspaper. Its sister paper "The Mail on Sunday" was launched in 1982, while Scottish and Irish editions of the daily paper were launched in 1947 and 2006 respectively. Content from the paper appears on the MailOnline website, although the website is managed separately and has its own editor.


title: Daily Mail

text: The paper is owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, a great-grandson of one of the original co-founders, is the current chairman and controlling shareholder of the Daily Mail and General Trust, while day-to-day editorial decisions for the newspaper are usually made by a team led by the editor, Ted Verity, who succeeded Geordie Greig on 17 November 2021.


title: Daily Mail

text: A survey in 2014 found the average age of its readers was 58, and it had the lowest demographic for 15- to 44-year-olds among the major British dailies. Uniquely for a British daily newspaper, it has a majority female readership, with women making up 52–55% of its readers. It had an average daily circulation of 1,134,184 copies in February 2020. Between April 2019 and March 2020 it had an average daily readership of approximately 2.180 million, of whom approximately 1.407 million were in the ABC1 demographic and .773 million in the C2DE demographic. Its website has more than 218 million unique visitors per month.


title: Daily Mail

text: The "Daily Mail" has won several awards, including receiving the "National Newspaper of the Year" award from The Press Awards eight times since 1995, winning again in 2019. The Society of Editors selected it as the 'Daily Newspaper of the Year' for 2020. The "Daily Mail" has also been criticised for its unreliability, its printing of sensationalist and inaccurate scare stories of science and medical research, and for instances of plagiarism and copyright infringement. In February 2017, editors on the English Wikipedia banned the use of the "Daily Mail" as a source.


title: Daily Mail

text: The "Mail" was originally a broadsheet but switched to a compact format on 3 May 1971, the 75th anniversary of its founding. On this date it also absorbed the "Daily Sketch", which had been published as a tabloid by the same company. The publisher of the "Mail", the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), is listed on the London Stock Exchange.


title: Daily Mail

text: Circulation figures according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations in February 2020 show gross daily sales of 1,134,184 for the "Daily Mail". According to a December 2004 survey, 53% of "Daily Mail" readers voted for the Conservative Party, compared to 21% for Labour and 17% for the Liberal Democrats. The main concern of Viscount Rothermere, the current chairman and main shareholder, is that the circulation be maintained. He testified before a House of Lords select committee that "we need to allow editors the freedom to edit", and therefore the newspaper's editor was free to decide editorial policy, including its political allegiance. On 17 November 2021, Ted Verity began a new seven-day role as editor of "Mail" newspapers, with responsibility for the "Daily Mail", "The Mail on Sunday" and "You" magazine.


title: Daily Mail

text: The "Daily Mail", devised by Alfred Harmsworth (later Viscount Northcliffe) and his brother Harold (later Viscount Rothermere), was first published on 4 May 1896. It was an immediate success. It cost a halfpenny at a time when other London dailies cost one penny, and was more populist in tone and more concise in its coverage than its rivals. The planned issue was 100,000 copies, but the print run on the first day was 397,215, and additional printing facilities had to be acquired to sustain a circulation that rose to 500,000 in 1899. Lord Salisbury, 19th-century Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, dismissed the "Daily Mail" as "a newspaper produced by office boys for office boys." By 1902, at the end of the Boer Wars, the circulation was over a million, making it the largest in the world.


title: Daily Mail

text: With Harold running the business side of the operation and Alfred as editor, the "Mail" from the start adopted an imperialist political stance, taking a patriotic line in the Second Boer War, leading to claims that it was not reporting the issues of the day objectively. The "Mail" also set out to entertain its readers with human interest stories, serials, features and competitions. It was the first newspaper to recognize the potential market of the female reader with a women's interest section and hired one of the first female war correspondents Sarah Wilson who reported during the Second Boer War.


title: Daily Mail

text: In 1900 the "Daily Mail" began printing simultaneously in both Manchester and London, the first national newspaper to do so (in 1899, the "Daily Mail" had organised special trains to bring the London-printed papers north). The same production method was adopted in 1909 by the "Daily Sketch", in 1927 by the "Daily Express" and eventually by virtually all the other national newspapers. Printing of the "Scottish Daily Mail" was switched from Edinburgh to the Deansgate plant in Manchester in 1968 and, for a while, "The People" was also printed on the "Mail" presses in Deansgate. In 1987, printing at Deansgate ended, and the northern editions were thereafter printed at other Associated Newspapers plants.


title: Daily Mail

text: For a time in the early 20th century, the paper championed vigorously against the "Yellow Peril", warning of the alleged dangers said to be posted by Chinese immigration to the United Kingdom. The "Yellow Peril" theme came to be abandoned because the Anglo-German naval race led to a more plausible threat to the British empire to be presented. In common with other Conservative papers, the "Daily Mail" used the Anglo-German naval race as a way of criticising the Liberal governments that were in power from 1906 onward, claiming that the Liberals were too pusillanimous in their response to the Tirpitz plan.


title: Daily Mail

text: In 1906 the paper offered £10,000 for the first flight from London to Manchester, followed by a £1,000 prize for the first flight across the English Channel. "Punch" magazine thought the idea preposterous and offered £10,000 for the first flight to Mars, but by 1910 both the "Mail"s prizes had been won. The paper continued to award prizes for aviation sporadically until 1930. Virginia Woolf criticised the "Daily Mail" as an unreliable newspaper, citing the statement published in the "Daily Mail" in July 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion that "every one of the Europeans was put to the sword in a most atrocious manner" as the "Daily Mail" maintained that the entire European community in Beijing had been massacred. A month later in August 1900 the "Daily Mail" published a story about the relief of the western Legations in Beijing, where the westerners in Beijing together with the thousands of Chinese Christians had been under siege by the Boxers.


title: Daily Mail

text: Before the outbreak of the First World War, the paper was accused of warmongering when it reported that Germany was planning to crush the British Empire. When war began, Northcliffe's call for conscription was seen by some as controversial, although he was vindicated when conscription was introduced in 1916. On 21 May 1915, Northcliffe criticised Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, regarding weapons and munitions. Kitchener was considered by some to be a national hero. The paper's circulation dropped from 1,386,000 to 238,000. Fifteen hundred members of the London Stock Exchange burned unsold copies and called for a boycott of the Harmsworth Press. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith accused the paper of being disloyal to the country.


title: Daily Mail

text: When Kitchener died, the "Mail" reported it as a great stroke of luck for the British Empire. The paper was critical of Asquith's conduct of the war, and he resigned on 5 December 1916. His successor David Lloyd George asked Northcliffe to be in his cabinet, hoping it would prevent him from criticising the government. Northcliffe declined.