title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 7 February, Sarkozy decided in favour of a projected second, non-nuclear, aircraft carrier for the national Navy (adding to the nuclear "Charles de Gaulle"), during an official visit in Toulon with Defence Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie. "This would allow permanently having an operational ship, taking into account the constraints of maintenance", he explained.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 21 March, President Jacques Chirac announced his support for Sarkozy. Chirac pointed out that Sarkozy had been chosen as presidential candidate for the ruling UMP party, and said: "So it is totally natural that I give him my vote and my support." To focus on his campaign, Sarkozy stepped down as Minister of the Interior on 26 March.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: During the campaign, rival candidates had accused Sarkozy of being a "candidate for brutality" and of presenting hard-line views about France's future. Opponents also accused him of courting conservative voters in policy-making in a bid to capitalise on right-wing sentiments among some communities. However, his popularity was sufficient to see him polling as the frontrunner throughout the later campaign period, consistently ahead of rival Socialist candidate, Ségolène Royal.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: The first round of the presidential election was held on 22 April 2007. Sarkozy came in first with 31.18 percent of the votes, ahead of Ségolène Royal of the Socialists with 25.87 percent. In the second round, Sarkozy came out on top to win the election with 53.06 percent of the votes ahead of Ségolène Royal with 46.94 percent. In his speech immediately following the announcement of the election results, Sarkozy stressed the need for France's modernisation, but also called for national unity, mentioning that Royal was in his thoughts. In that speech, he claimed "The French have chosen to break with the ideas, habits and behaviour of the past. I will restore the value of work, authority, merit and respect for the nation."


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 6 May 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy became the sixth person to be elected President of the Fifth Republic (which was established in 1958), and the 23rd President in French history.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: The official transfer of power from Chirac to Sarkozy took place on 16 May at 11:00 am (9:00 UTC) at the Élysée Palace, where he was given the authorization codes of the French nuclear arsenal. In the afternoon, the new president flew to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Under Sarkozy's government, François Fillon replaced Dominique de Villepin as Prime Minister. Sarkozy appointed Bernard Kouchner, the left-wing founder of Médecins Sans Frontières, as his Foreign Minister, leading to Kouchner's expulsion from the Socialist Party. In addition to Kouchner, three more Sarkozy ministers are from the left, including Éric Besson, who served as Ségolène Royal's economic adviser at the beginning of her campaign. Sarkozy also appointed seven women to form a total cabinet of 15; one, Justice Minister Rachida Dati, is the first woman of Northern African origin to serve in a French cabinet. Of the 15, two attended the elite École nationale d'administration (ENA). The ministers were reorganised, with the controversial creation of a 'Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development'—given to his right-hand man Brice Hortefeux—and of a 'Ministry of Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Administration'—handed out to Éric Wœrth, supposed to prepare the replacement of only a third of all civil servants who retire. However, after 17 June parliamentary elections, the Cabinet was adjusted to 15 ministers and 16 deputy ministers, totalling 31 officials.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Sarkozy broke with the custom of amnestying traffic tickets and of releasing thousands of prisoners from overcrowded jails on Bastille Day, a tradition that Napoleon had started in 1802 to commemorate the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: In 2007 and 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Quebec Premier Jean Charest all spoke in favour of a Canada – EU free trade agreement. In October 2008, Sarkozy became the first French President to address the National Assembly of Quebec. In his speech he spoke out against Quebec separatism, but recognized Quebec as a nation within Canada. He said that, to France, Canada was a friend, and Quebec was family.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Shortly after taking office, Sarkozy began negotiations with Colombian president Álvaro Uribe and the left-wing guerrilla FARC, regarding the release of hostages held by the rebel group, especially Franco-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. According to some sources, Sarkozy himself asked for Uribe to release FARC's "chancellor" Rodrigo Granda.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Furthermore, he announced on 24 July 2007, that French and European representatives had obtained the extradition of the Bulgarian nurses detained in Libya to their country. In exchange, he signed with Muammar Gaddafi security, health care and immigration pacts—and a $230 million (168 million euros) MILAN antitank missile sale. The contract was the first made by Libya since 2004, and was negotiated with MBDA, a subsidiary of EADS. Another 128 million euro contract would have been signed, according to Tripoli, with EADS for a TETRA radio system. The Socialist Party (PS) and the Communist Party (PCF) criticised a "state affair" and a "barter" with a "Rogue state". The leader of the PS, François Hollande, requested the opening of a parliamentary investigation.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 8 June 2007, during the 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Sarkozy set a goal of reducing French CO emissions by 50 percent by 2050 in order to prevent global warming. He then pushed forward Socialist Dominique Strauss-Kahn as European nominee to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Critics alleged that Sarkozy proposed to nominate Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the IMF to deprive the Socialist Party of one of its more popular figures.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: In 2010, a study of :Yale and Columbia universities ranked France the most respectful country of the G20 concerning the environment.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: The Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), Sarkozy's party, won a majority at the June 2007 legislative election, although by less than expected. In July, the UMP majority, seconded by the "Nouveau Centre", ratified one of Sarkozy's electoral promises, which was to partially revoke the inheritance tax. The inheritance tax formerly provided €8 billion in revenue.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Sarkozy's UMP majority prepared a budget that reduced taxes, in particular for upper middle-class people, allegedly in an effort to boost GDP growth, but did not reduce state expenditures. He was criticised by the European Commission for doing so.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 23 July 2008, parliament voted the "loi de modernisation de l'économie" (Modernization of the Economy Law) which loosened restrictions on retail prices and reduced limitations on the creation of businesses. The Government has also made changes to long-standing French work-hour regulations, allowing employers to negotiate overtime with employees and making all hours worked past the traditional French 35-hour week tax-free.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: However, as a result of the global financial crisis that came to a head in September 2008, Sarkozy has returned to the state interventionism of his predecessors, declaring that "laissez-faire capitalism is over" and denouncing the "dictatorship of the market". Confronted with the suggestion that he had become a socialist, he responded: "Have I become socialist? Perhaps." He has also pledged to create 100,000 state-subsidised jobs.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Sarkozy's government issued a decree on 7 August 2007 to generalise a voluntary biometric profiling program of travellers in airports. The program, called 'Parafes', was to use fingerprints. The new database would be interconnected with the Schengen Information System (SIS) as well as with a national database of wanted persons (FPR). The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) protested against this new decree, opposing itself to the recording of fingerprints and to the interconnection between the SIS and the FPR.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 21 July 2008, the French parliament passed constitutional reforms which Sarkozy had made one of the key pledges of his presidential campaign. The vote was 539 to 357, one vote over the three-fifths majority required; the changes are not yet finalized. They would introduce a two-term limit for the presidency, and end the president's right of collective pardon. They would allow the president to address parliament in-session, and parliament to set its own agenda. They would give parliament a veto over some presidential appointments, while ending government control over parliament's committee system. He has claimed that these reforms strengthen parliament, while some opposition socialist lawmakers have described it as a "consolidation of a monocracy".


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: During his 2007 presidential campaign, Sarkozy promised a strengthening of the entente cordiale with the United Kingdom and closer cooperation with the United States.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Sarkozy wielded special international power when France held the rotating EU Council Presidency from July 2008 through December 2008. Sarkozy has publicly stated his intention to attain EU approval of a progressive energy package before the end of his EU Presidency. This energy package would clearly define climate change objectives for the EU and hold members to specific reductions in emissions. In further support of his collaborative outlook on climate change, Sarkozy has led the EU into a partnership with China. On 6 December 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy, as part of France's then presidency of the Council of the EU, met the Dalai Lama in Poland and outraged China, which has announced that it would postpone the China-EU summit indefinitely.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 3 April 2009, at the NATO Summit in Strasbourg, Sarkozy announced that France would offer asylum to a former Guantanamo captive.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: "We are on the path to failure if we continue to act as we have", French President Nicolas Sarkozy cautioned at the U.N. Climate Summit on 22 September 2009.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 5 January 2009, Sarkozy called for a ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip Conflict. The plan, which was jointly proposed by Sarkozy and Egyptian ex-President Hosni Mubarak envisions the continuation of the delivery of aid to Gaza and talks with Israel on border security, a key issue for Israel as it says Hamas smuggles its rockets into Gaza through the Egyptian border. Welcoming the proposal, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for a "ceasefire that can endure and that can bring real security".


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Muammar Gaddafi's official visit to Nicolas Sarkozy in December 2007 triggered a strong wave of protests against the President in France.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: In March 2011, after having been criticized for his unwillingness to support the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, and persuaded by the philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy to have France actively engage against the forces of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, Nicolas Sarkozy was amongst the first Heads of State to demand the resignation of Gaddafi and his government, which was then fighting a civil war in Libya. On 10 March 2011, Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed to the Elysee Palace, three emissaries from the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC), brought to him by Bernard-Henri Levy who mediated at the meeting. Nicolas Sarkozy promised them a no-fly zone would be imposed on Gaddafi's aeroplanes. He also promised them French military assistance. On 17 March 2011, at the behest of France, resolution 1973 was adopted by the Security Council of the United Nations, permitting the creation of a "no fly" zone over Libya, and for the undertaking of "necessary measures" for the protection of the country's civilian population. On 19 March 2011, Nicolas Sarkozy officially announced the beginning of a military intervention in Libya, with France's participation. These actions of Nicolas Sarkozy were favorably received by the majority of the French political class and public opinion.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: In 2016, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament published a report stating that the military intervention "was based on erroneous assumptions" that the threat of a massacre of civilian populations has been "overvalued" and that the coalition "Has not verified the real threat to civilians"; He also believes that the true motivations of Nicolas Sarkozy were to serve French interests and to "improve his political situation in France".


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Sarkozy was one of ten candidates who qualified for the first round of voting. François Hollande, the Socialist Party candidate, received the most votes in the first round held on 22 April election, with Sarkozy coming second, meaning that both progressed to the second round of voting on 5–6 May 2012. Sarkozy lost in the runoff and conceded to Hollande. He received an estimated 48.38% compared to Hollande's 51.62%.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: After his defeat at the 2012 election, Nicolas Sarkozy asked his supporters to respect Hollande's victory. He invited his successor to attend his last 8 May Victory in Europe Day commemoration in office. His last day as President of the French Republic was 15 May.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Shortly after, Sarkozy briefly considered a career in private equity and secured a €250 million commitment from the Qatar Investment Authority to back his planned buyout firm. He abandoned his private equity plans when he decided to make a political comeback in 2014.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 19 September 2014, Sarkozy announced that he was returning to politics and would run for chairman of the UMP party. and was elected to the post on 29 November 2014. Led by Sarkozy, UMP won over two-thirds of the 102 local "departements" in the nationwide elections on 29 March 2015. On 13 December, the Republicans won the majority of regional office races, another set of national elections. (On 30 May the UMP's name was changed to the Republicans.)


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: In January 2016, Sarkozy published the book "La France pour la vie". In August 2016, he announced his candidacy for 2016 Republican presidential primary in November 2016, but only came in third place behind François Fillon and Alain Juppé. He decided to endorse Fillon and signaled that he was retiring from politics.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Being defeated at the Republican presidential primary in 2016, he retired from public life. He was charged with corruption by French prosecutors in two cases, notably concerning the alleged Libyan interference in the 2007 French elections. At issue for Sarkozy were campaign costs exceeding the maximum allowed, and how they were paid. In 2021, Sarkozy was convicted of corruption in two separate trials. His first conviction resulted in him receiving a sentence of three years, two of them suspended and one in prison; he has appealed against the ruling. For his second conviction in September 2021, he received a one-year sentence, which he is allowed to serve under home confinement; his lawyer said he would appeal this decision.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: He is still a force in conservative politics in France. “Sarkozy retired from active politics in 2017, but is still playing a role behind the scenes. French media have reported that he is involved in the process of choosing a conservative candidate ahead of France's presidential election next year.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: But the pair of convictions could force Sarkozy to play a more discreet role in 2022’s presidential race.”


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Sarkozy was named the 68th best-dressed person in the world by "Vanity Fair", alongside David Beckham and Brad Pitt. However, Sarkozy has also been named as the third worst-dressed person in the world by "GQ". Beside publicising, at times, and at others, refusing to publicise his ex-wife Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz's image, Sarkozy takes care of his own personal image, sometimes to the point of censorship—such as in the "Paris Match" affair, when he allegedly forced its director to resign following an article on his ex-wife and her affair with Publicis executive Richard Attias, or pressures exercised on the "Journal du dimanche", which was preparing to publish an article concerning Ciganer-Albéniz's decision not to vote in the second round of the 2007 presidential election. In its edition of 9 August 2007, "Paris Match" retouched a photo of Sarkozy in order to erase a love handle. His official portrait destined for all French town halls was done by Sipa Press photographer Philippe Warrin, better known for his paparazzi work.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Former "Daily Telegraph" journalist Colin Randall has highlighted Sarkozy's tighter control of his image and frequent interventions in the media: "he censors a book, or fires the chief editor of a weekly." Sarkozy is reported by Reuters to be sensitive about his height (believed to be ). The French media have pointed out that Carla Bruni frequently wears flats when in public with him. In 2009, a worker at a factory where Sarkozy gave a speech said she was asked to stand next to him because she was of a similar height to Sarkozy. (This story was corroborated by some trade union officials.) This was the subject of a political row: the president's office called the accusation "completely absurd and grotesque", while the Socialist Party mocked his fastidious preparation.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Sarkozy lost a suit against a manufacturer of Sarkozy voodoo dolls, in which he claimed that he had a right to his own image.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Sarkozy was nicknamed as "Hyper-president" or "hyperpresident" by some French media after his 2007 election as president, to describe his desire to control everything. Whereas in the history of the Fifth Republic, the successive presidents were traditionally focused on the foreign policy of the country and on international relations, leaving the Prime Minister and the government to determine the domestic policy, as the Constitution states it, Nicolas Sarkozy appeared to determine both the foreign and domestic policy. Some compared Nicolas Sarkozy to Napoléon Bonaparte and Louis XIV. Indeed, he appointed a very close friend of his, François Fillon, as a Prime Minister. Fillon was accused of being an instrument of the President's power.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: The biopic "The Conquest" is a 2011 film that dramatizes Sarkozy's rise to power, with candid portrayals of Nicolas Sarkozy himself, Chirac and Villepin. It was shown at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Sarkozy is generally disliked by the left and has been criticised by some on the right, most vocally by moderate Gaullist supporters of Jacques Chirac and Dominique de Villepin. The communist-leaning magazine "L'Humanité" accused Sarkozy of populism.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: In 2004 Sarkozy co-authored a book, "La République, les religions, l'espérance" ("The Republic, Religions, and Hope"), in which he argued that the young should not be brought up solely on secular or republican values. He advocated reducing the separation of church and state, arguing for the government subsidies for mosques to encourage Islamic integration into French society. He has opposed financing of religious institutions with funds from outside France. After meeting with Tom Cruise, Sarkozy was criticized by some for meeting with a member of the Church of Scientology, which has been seen by some as a cult. Sarkozy was criticized by some after he claimed "the roots of France are essentially Christian" at a December 2007 speech in Rome. Similarly, he drew criticism after he called Islam "one of the greatest and most beautiful civilizations the world has known" at a speech in Riyadh in January 2008.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: In the midst of a tense period and following the death of an 11-year-old boy, caught in the crossfire of a gang brawl in the Paris suburb of La Courneuve in June 2005, Sarkozy went to the scene and said: ""on va nettoyer au Kärcher la cité""" ("we will clean the area with a pressure washer"). Two days before the 2005 Paris riots, he referred to young criminals of nearby housing projects as ""voyous"" ("thugs") and ""racaille"", a slang term which can be translated into English as "rabble", "scum" or "riff-raff", in answer to resident who addressed Sarkozy with ""Quand nous débarrassez-vous de cette racaille?"" (""When will you rid us of these dregs?""). The French Communist Party publication, "L'Humanité", branded this language as inappropriate. Following Sarkozy's use of the word "racaille" many people in the "banlieues" identified him as a politician of the far right. His period as Minister of the Interior saw the use of police as shock troops in the "banlieues", and a police "raid" on the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois in October 2005 led to two boys being electrocuted in a power sub-station. The riots began that night.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: In September 2005 Sarkozy was accused of pushing for a hasty inquiry into an arson attack on a police station in Pau, of which the alleged perpetrators were acquitted for lack of proof. On 22 June 2005 Sarkozy told law enforcement officials that he had questioned the Minister of Justice about the future of "the judge" who had freed a man on parole who had later committed a murder.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: A few weeks before the first round of the 2007 presidential elections, Sarkozy had an interview with philosopher Michel Onfray. Sarkozy stated that disorders such as paedophilia and depression have a genetic as well as social basis, saying "... I'd be inclined to think that one is born a paedophile, and it is actually a problem that we do not know how to cure this disease"; he claimed that suicides among youth were linked to genetic predispositions by stating, "I don't want to give parents a complex. It's not exclusively the parents' fault every time a youngster commits suicide." These statements were criticised by some scientists, including geneticist Axel Kahn. Sarkozy later added, "What part is innate and what part is acquired? At least let's debate it, let's not close the door to all debate."


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 27 July 2007, Sarkozy delivered a speech in Dakar, Senegal, written by Henri Guaino, in which he claimed that "the African has never really entered into history". The controversial remarks were widely condemned by Africans, with some viewing them as racist. South African president Thabo Mbeki praised Sarkozy's speech, which raised criticism by some in the South African media.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 30 July 2010, Sarkozy suggested a new policy of security, and he proposed "stripping foreign-born French citizens who opted to acquire their nationality at their majority of their citizenship if they are convicted of threatening the life of a police officer or other serious crimes". This policy has been criticized for example by the US newspaper "The New York Times", by Sarkozy's political opponents, including the Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry, and by experts of French law, including the ex-member of the Constitutional Council of France, Robert Badinter, who said that such action would be unconstitutional.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: He called for coercive methods to promote "métissage," cultural mixing (which can sometimes include genetic mixing), which he called an "obligation" during a press conference on 17 December 2008.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 23 February 2008, Sarkozy was filmed by a reporter for French newspaper "Le Parisien" having the following exchange while visiting the Paris International Agricultural Show:While quickly crossing the hall Saturday morning, in the middle of the crowd, Sarkozy encounters a recalcitrant visitor who refuses to shake his hand. "Ah no, don't touch me!", said the man. The president retorted immediately: "Get lost, then." "You're making me dirty", yelled the man. With a frozen smile, Sarkozy says, his teeth glistening, a refined "Get lost, then, poor dumb-ass, go." A precise translation into English has many possible variations.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 28 August 2008, Hervé Eon, from Laval came to an anti-Sarkozy demonstration with a sign bearing the words "Casse-toi pov' con", the exact words Sarkozy had uttered. Eon was arrested for causing offence to the presidential function and the prosecutor, who in France indirectly reports to the president, requested a fine of €1000. The court eventually imposed a symbolic €30 suspended fine, which has generally been interpreted as a defeat for the prosecution side. This incident was widely reported on, in particular as Sarkozy, as president of the Republic, is immune from prosecution, notably restricting Eon's rights to sue Sarkozy for defamation.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Sarkozy opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. However, he was critical of the way Chirac and his foreign minister Dominique de Villepin expressed France's opposition to the war. Talking at the French-American Foundation in Washington, D.C. on 12 September 2006, he denounced what he called the "French arrogance" and said: "It is bad manners to embarrass one's allies or sound like one is taking delight in their troubles." He added: "We must never again turn our disagreements into a crisis." Chirac reportedly said in private that Sarkozy's speech was "appalling" and "a shameful act".


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: In October 2009, Sarkozy was accused of nepotism for helping his son, Jean, try to become head of the public body running France's biggest business district EPAD. On 3 July 2012, French police raided Sarkozy's residence and office as part of a probe into claims that Sarkozy was involved in illegal political campaign financing.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 5 July 2010, following its investigations on the Bettencourt affair, online anarchist newspaper Mediapart ran an article in which Claire Thibout, a former accountant of billionairess Liliane Bettencourt, accused Sarkozy and Eric Woerth of receiving illegal campaign donations in 2007, in cash.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 1 July 2014 Sarkozy was detained for questioning by police over claims he had promised a prestigious role in Monaco to a high-ranking judge, Gilbert Azibert, in exchange for information about the investigation into alleged illegal campaign funding. Mr Azibert, one of the most senior judges at the Court of Appeal, was called in for questioning on 30 June 2014. It is believed to be the first time a former French president has been held in police custody, although his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was found guilty of embezzlement and breach of trust while he was mayor of Paris and given a suspended prison sentence in 2011. After 15 hours in police custody, Sarkozy was put under official investigation for "active corruption", "misuse of influence" and "obtained through a breach of professional secrecy" on 2 July 2014. Mr Azibert and Sarkozy's lawyer, Thierry Herzog, are also now under official investigation. The two accusations carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison. The developments were seen as a blow to Sarkozy's attempts to challenge for the presidency in 2017. Nevertheless, he later stood as a candidate for the Republican party nomination, but was eliminated from the contest in November 2016. A trial on this case, Sarkozy's first, started on 23 November 2020.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 16 February 2016, Sarkozy was indicted on "illegal financing of political campaign" charges related to overspending in his 2012 presidential campaign and retained as witness in connection with the Bygmalion scandal.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 23 November 2020, the trial of Nicolas Sarkozy started who is accused of corruption and influence peddling, for an attempted bribery of a judge. The trial was postponed until November 26, following a request from one of his co-defendants for health reasons.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 1 March 2021, a court in Paris found former French President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption, trading in influence in a wiretapping and illegal data exchange case involving a number of individuals like magistrate Gilbert Azibert and Sarkozy's former lawyer Thierry Herzog. Both men were tried with him and convicted as well. Sarkozy and his two co-defendants were sentenced to three years, two of them suspended, and one in prison. Sarkozy appealed the ruling, which suspends its application.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: On 20 May 2021, a second criminal trial, this time pertaining to the Bygmalion Scandal related to illegal campaign funding, began for Sarkozy, as well as 13 other defendants who were said to have been involved in the Bygmalion scandal. Sarkozy's second corruption trial involved allegations of diverting tens of millions of euros which was intended to be spent on the his failed 2012 re-election campaign and then hiring a PR firm to cover it up. The illicit campaign finance money was instead used to overspend on lavish campaign rallies and events. On 30 September 2021, Sarkozy, as well as his co-defendants, was convicted. For this conviction, Sarkozy was given a 1-year prison sentence, though he was also given the option to serve this sentence at home with an electronic bracelet.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Shortly after his inauguration as President of France in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy invited Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to France over the objections of both the political opposition, and members of his own government. The visit marked the first time Gaddafi had been to France in more than 35 years and, during it, France agreed to sell Libya 21 Airbus aircraft and signed a nuclear cooperation agreement. Negotiations for the purchase of more than a dozen Dassault Rafale fighter jets, plus military helicopters, were also initiated during the trip.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: During the 2011 Libyan Civil War – a conflict in which France intervened – Saif-al-Islam Gaddafi said in an interview with euronews that the Libyan state had donated €50 million to Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign in exchange for access and favors by Sarkozy.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: Investigative website Mediapart subsequently published several documents appearing to prove a payment of €50 million, and also published a claim by Ziad Takieddine (disclaimer by the same person in another video) that he had personally handed three briefcases stuffed with cash to Sarkozy. French magistrates later acquired diaries of former Libyan oil minister Shukri Ghanem in which payments to Sarkozy were mentioned. Shortly thereafter, however, Ghanem was found dead, floating in the Danube in Austria and thereby preventing his corroboration of the diaries.


title: Nicolas Sarkozy

text: In January 2018, British police arrested Alexandre Djouhri on a European Arrest Warrant. Djouhri was an associate of Sarkozy and had refused to respond to a French judicial summons for questioning over allegations he had helped launder Libyan funds on behalf of Sarkozy.


title: Matt Groening

text: Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip "Life in Hell" (1977–2012) and the television series "The Simpsons" (1989–present), "Futurama" (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–onwards), and "Disenchantment" (2018–present). "The Simpsons" is the longest-running U.S. primetime-television series in history and the longest-running U.S. animated series and sitcom.


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening made his first professional cartoon sale of "Life in Hell" to the avant-garde magazine "Wet" in 1978. At its peak, the cartoon was carried in 250 weekly newspapers. "Life in Hell" caught the attention of American producer James L. Brooks. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening about adapting "Life in Hell" for animated sequences for the Fox variety show "The Tracey Ullman Show". Fearing the loss of ownership rights, Groening created a new set of characters, the Simpson family. The shorts were spun off into their own series, "The Simpsons", which has since aired episodes.


title: Matt Groening

text: In 1997, Groening and former "Simpsons" writer David X. Cohen developed "Futurama", an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999, running for four years on Fox, then picked up by Comedy Central for additional seasons. In 2016, Groening developed a new series for Netflix, "Disenchantment", which premiered in August 2018.


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening has won 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 for "The Simpsons" and 2 for "Futurama," and a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2002, he won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on "Life in Hell". He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening was born on February 15, 1954, in Portland, Oregon, the middle of five children (older brother Mark and sister Patty were born in 1950 and 1952, while the younger sisters Lisa and Maggie in 1956 and 1958, respectively). His Norwegian American mother, Margaret Ruth ("née" Wiggum; March 23, 1919 – April 22, 2013), was once a teacher, and his Russian Mennonite father, Homer Philip Groening (December 30, 1919 – March 15, 1996), was a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist. Homer, born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada, grew up in a Plautdietsch-speaking family.


title: Matt Groening

text: Matt's grandfather, Abraham Groening, was a professor at Tabor College, a Mennonite Brethren liberal arts college in Hillsboro, Kansas, before moving to Albany College (now known as Lewis and Clark College) in Oregon in 1930.


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening grew up in Portland, and attended Ainsworth Elementary School and Lincoln High School. Following his high school graduation in 1972, Groening attended the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. A liberal arts school that he described as "a hippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest". He served as the editor of the campus newspaper, "The Cooper Point Journal", for which he also wrote articles and drew cartoons. He befriended fellow cartoonist Lynda Barry after discovering that she had written a fan letter to Joseph Heller, one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply. Groening has credited Barry with being "probably [his] biggest inspiration." He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated film "One Hundred and One Dalmatians", and he has also cited Robert Crumb, Ernie Bushmiller, Ronald Searle, Monty Python, and Charles M. Schulz as inspirations. Groening graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism in 1977.


title: Matt Groening

text: In 1977, at the age of 23, Groening moved to Los Angeles to become a writer. He went through what he described as "a series of lousy jobs," including being an extra in the television movie "When Every Day Was the Fourth of July", busing tables, washing dishes at a nursing home, clerking at the Hollywood Licorice Pizza record store, landscaping in a sewage treatment plant, and chauffeuring and ghostwriting for a retired Western director.


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of the self-published comic book "Life in Hell", which was loosely inspired by the chapter "How to Go to Hell" in Walter Kaufmann's book "Critique of Religion and Philosophy". Groening distributed the comic book in the book corner of Licorice Pizza, a record store in which he worked. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde "Wet" magazine in 1978. The strip, titled "Forbidden Words," appeared in the September/October issue of that year.


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening had gained employment at the "Los Angeles Reader", a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones. He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper. "Life in Hell" made its official debut as a comic strip in the "Reader" on April 25, 1980. Vowell also gave Groening his own weekly music column, "Sound Mix," in 1982. However, the column would rarely actually be about music, as he would often write about his "various enthusiasms, obsessions, pet peeves and problems" instead. In an effort to add more music to the column, he "just made stuff up," concocting and reviewing fictional bands and nonexistent records. In the following week's column, he would confess to fabricating everything in the previous column and swear that everything in the new column was true. Eventually, he was finally asked to give up the "music" column. Among the fans of the column was Harry Shearer, who would later become a voice on "The Simpsons".


title: Matt Groening

text: "Life in Hell" became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend and co-worker at the "Reader", offered to publish "Love is Hell", a series of relationship-themed "Life in Hell" strips, in book form. Released a month later, the book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. "Work is Hell" soon followed, also published by Caplan. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled merchandising for "Life in Hell". Groening also started Acme Features Syndicate, which initially syndicated "Life in Hell" as well as work by Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but would eventually only syndicate "Life in Hell". At the end of its run, "Life in Hell" was carried in 250 weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, including "School is Hell", "Childhood is Hell", "The Big Book of Hell", and "The Huge Book of Hell". Although Groening previously stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," the June 16, 2012 strip marked "Life in Hell"s conclusion. After Groening ended the strip, the Center for Cartoon Studies commissioned a poster that was presented to Groening in honor of his work. The poster contained tribute cartoons by 22 of Groening's cartoonist friends who were influenced by "Life in Hell".


title: Matt Groening

text: "Life in Hell" caught the attention of Hollywood writer-director-producer and Gracie Films founder James L. Brooks, who had been shown the strip by fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation on an undefined future project, which would turn out to be developing a series of short animated skits, called "bumpers," for the Fox variety show "The Tracey Ullman Show". Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his "Life in Hell" characters for the show. Groening feared that he would have to give up his ownership rights, and that the show would fail and take down his comic strip with it. Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family: Homer, the overweight father; Marge, the slim mother; Bart, the bratty oldest child; Lisa, the intelligent middle child; and Maggie, the baby. Groening famously named the main Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Marge (Margaret or Marjorie in full), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Margaret (Maggie). Claiming that it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself, he chose the name "Bart," an anagram of brat. However, he stresses that aside from some of the sibling rivalry, his family is nothing like the Simpsons. Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, and in a 1995 interview Groening divulged that Mark "is the actual inspiration for Bart."


title: Matt Groening

text: The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings. The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette. When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his own initials into the character's hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an 'M', and the right ear resembled a 'G'. Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. He still draws the ear as a 'G' when he draws pictures of Homer for fans. Marge's distinct beehive hairstyle was inspired by "Bride of Frankenstein" and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue. Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. The number was later limited to nine spikes, all of the same size. At the time Groening was primarily drawing in black and "not thinking that [Bart] would eventually be drawn in color" gave him spikes that appear to be an extension of his head. Lisa's physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no character other than Maggie shares her hairline. While designing Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hair styles". When designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color". Groening storyboarded and scripted every short (now known as "The Simpsons shorts"), which were then animated by a team including David Silverman and Wes Archer, both of whom would later become directors on the series.


title: Matt Groening

text: The Simpsons shorts first appeared in "The Tracey Ullman Show" on April 19, 1987. Another family member, Grampa Simpson, was introduced in the later shorts. Years later, during the early seasons of "The Simpsons", when it came time to give Grampa a first name, Groening says he refused to name him after his own grandfather, Abraham Groening, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. By coincidence, they chose "Abraham", unaware that it was the name of Groening's grandfather.


title: Matt Groening

text: Although "The Tracey Ullman Show" was not a big hit, the popularity of the shorts led to a half-hour spin-off in 1989. A team of production companies adapted "The Simpsons" into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. James L. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching. The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special. "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.


title: Matt Groening

text: The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Groening said: "Nobody thought "The Simpsons" was going to be a big hit. It sneaked up on everybody." "The Simpsons" was co-developed by Groening, Brooks, and Sam Simon, a writer-producer with whom Brooks had worked on previous projects. Groening and Simon, however, did not get along and were often in conflict over the show; Groening once described their relationship as "very contentious." Simon eventually left the show in 1993 over creative differences.


title: Matt Groening

text: Like the main family members, several characters from the show have names that were inspired by people, locations or films. The name "Wiggum" for police chief Chief Wiggum is Groening's mother's maiden name. The names of a few other characters were taken from major street names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, including Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby and Kearney. Despite common fan belief that Sideshow Bob Terwilliger was named after SW Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland, he was actually named after the character Dr. Terwilliker from the film "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T".


title: Matt Groening

text: Although Groening has pitched a number of spin-offs from "The Simpsons", those attempts have been unsuccessful. In 1994, Groening and other "Simpsons" producers pitched a live-action spin-off about Krusty the Clown (with Dan Castellaneta playing the lead role), but were unsuccessful in getting it off the ground. Groening has also pitched "Young Homer" and a spin-off about the non-Simpsons citizens of Springfield.


title: Matt Groening

text: In 1995, Groening got into a major disagreement with Brooks and other "Simpsons" producers over "A Star Is Burns", a crossover episode with "The Critic", an animated show also produced by Brooks and staffed with many former "Simpsons" crew members. Groening claimed that he feared viewers would "see it as nothing but a pathetic attempt to advertise "The Critic" at the expense of "The Simpsons"," and was concerned about the possible implication that he had created or produced "The Critic". He requested his name be taken off the episode.


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening is credited with writing or co-writing the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Telltale Head", "Colonel Homer" and "22 Short Films About Springfield". He also co-wrote and produced "The Simpsons Movie", released in 2007. He has had several cameo appearances in the show, with a speaking role in the episode "My Big Fat Geek Wedding". He currently serves at "The Simpsons" as an executive producer and creative consultant.


title: Matt Groening

text: After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with "Simpsons" writer and producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed "Futurama", an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story).


title: Matt Groening

text: After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to "Family Guy", however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought "Futurama" back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air "Futurama" reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films – "" (2007), "" (2008), "" (2008) and "" (2009) – would be produced.


title: Matt Groening

text: Since no new "Futurama" projects were in production, the movie "Into the Wild Green Yonder" was designed to stand as the "Futurama" series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the "Futurama" franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013.


title: Matt Groening

text: On January 15, 2016, it was announced that Groening was in talks with Netflix to develop a new animated series. On July 25, 2017 the series, "Disenchantment", was ordered by Netflix. He described the fantasy-oriented series as originating in a sketchbook full of "fantastic creatures we couldn't do on "The Simpsons"". The cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, and Nat Faxon.


title: Matt Groening

text: In 1994, Groening formed Bongo Comics (named after the character Bongo from "Life in Hell") with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison, which publishes comic books based on "The Simpsons" and "Futurama" (including "Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis", a crossover between the two), as well as a few original titles. According to Groening, the goal with Bongo is to "[try] to bring humor into the fairly grim comic book market." He also formed Zongo Comics in 1995, an imprint of Bongo that published comics for more mature readers, which included three issues of Mary Fleener's "Fleener" and seven issues of his close friend Gary Panter's "Jimbo" comics.


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening is known for his eclectic taste in music. His favorite artist is Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and his favorite album is "Trout Mask Replica" by Captain Beefheart (which was produced by Zappa). He guest-edited Da Capo Press's "Best Music Writing 2003" and curated a US All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2003. He illustrated the cover of Frank Zappa's posthumous album "" (1996). In May 2010, he curated another edition of All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, England. He also plays the drums in the all-author rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders (although he is listed as the cowbell player), whose other members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry and Greg Iles. In July 2013, Groening co-authored "Hard Listening" (2013) with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders (published by Coliloquy, LLC).


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening and Deborah Caplan married in 1986 and had two sons together, Homer (who goes by Will) and Abe, both of whom Groening occasionally portrays as rabbits in "Life in Hell". The couple divorced in 1999.


title: Matt Groening

text: In 2011, Groening married Argentine artist Agustina Picasso after a four-year relationship, and became stepfather to her daughter Camila Costantini. In May 2013, Picasso gave birth to Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, named after writer Nathanael West. She joked that "his godfather is SpongeBob's creator Stephen Hillenburg". In 2015, Groening's daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia were born. On June 16, 2018, he became the father of twins for a second time when his wife gave birth to Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth, announced via Instagram. In 2020, their daughter Nirvana was born. In January 2022, Groening’s tenth child Satori was born.


title: Matt Groening

text: Matt was the brother-in-law of "Hey Arnold!", "Dinosaur Train" and "Ready Jet Go!" creator, Craig Bartlett, who was married to Groening's sister, Lisa, until they divorced in 2015. Bartlett used to appear in "Simpsons Illustrated".


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening was mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre over allegedly being forced by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to massage Groening's feet while on Epstein's jet in 2001.


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening has made a number of campaign contributions, all towards Democratic Party candidates and organizations. He has donated money to the unsuccessful presidential campaigns of Democratic candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, as well as previously donating to Kerry's Massachusetts senator campaign. Groening also collectively donated to the Democratic senatorial campaign committee and to the Senate campaigns of Barbara Boxer (California), Dianne Feinstein (California), Paul Simon (Illinois), Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts), Carl Levin (Michigan), Hillary Clinton (New York), Harvey Gantt (North Carolina), Horward Metzenbaum (Ohio), and Tom Bruggere (Oregon). He also donated to the now-defunct Hollywood Women's Political Committee, which supported and campaigned for the Democratic Party. His first cousin, Laurie Monnes Anderson, was a member of the Oregon State Senate, representing eastern Multnomah County.


title: Matt Groening

text: In an interview with "Wired" from 1999, he stated that if he was president, his first act would be "campaign finance reform", stating that it is "a real detriment to democracy".


title: Matt Groening

text: Groening has been nominated for 41 Emmy Awards and has won thirteen, eleven for "The Simpsons" and two for "Futurama" in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less)" category. Groening received the 2002 National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award, and had been nominated for the same award in 2000. He received a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2007, he was ranked fourth (and highest American by birth) in a list of the "top 100 living geniuses", published by British newspaper "The Daily Telegraph".


title: Tetris

text: Tetris () is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the appropriation of the rights in the late 1980s. After a significant period of publication by Nintendo, the rights reverted to Pajitnov in 1996, who co-founded the Tetris Company with Henk Rogers to manage licensing.


title: Tetris

text: In "Tetris", players complete lines by moving differently shaped pieces (tetrominoes), which descend onto the playing field. The completed lines disappear and grant the player points, and the player can proceed to fill the vacated spaces. The game ends when the uncleared lines reach the top of the playing field. The longer the player can delay this outcome, the higher their score will be. In multiplayer games, players must last longer than their opponents; in certain versions, players can inflict penalties on opponents by completing a significant number of lines. Some versions add variations on the rules, such as three-dimensional displays or a system for reserving pieces.


title: Tetris

text: Built on simple rules, "Tetris" established itself as one of the great early video games. By December 2011, "Tetris" had sold 202million copies – approximately 70million physical units and 132million paid mobile game downloads – making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. The Game Boy version is one of the best-selling games of all time, with more than 35 million copies sold. "Tetris" is available on over 65 platforms, setting a "Guinness" world record for the most ported video game. "Tetris" is rooted within popular culture and its popularity extends beyond the sphere of video games; imagery from the game has influenced architecture, music and cosplay. The game has also been the subject of various research studies that have analyzed its theoretical complexity and have shown its effect on the human brain following a session, in particular the Tetris effect.


title: Tetris

text: "Tetris" is primarily composed of a field of play in which pieces of different geometric forms, called "tetrominoes", descend from the top of the field. During this descent, the player can move the pieces laterally and rotate them until they touch the bottom of the field or land on a piece that had been placed before it. The player can neither slow down the falling pieces nor stop them, but can accelerate them in most versions. The objective of the game is to use the pieces to create as many horizontal lines of blocks as possible. When a line is completed, it disappears, and the blocks placed above fall one rank. Completing lines grants points, and accumulating a certain number of points or lines cleared moves the player up a level, which increases the number of points granted per completed line.


title: Tetris

text: In most versions, the speed of the falling pieces increases with each level, leaving the player with less time to think about the placement. The player can clear multiple lines at once, which can earn bonus points in some versions. It is possible to complete up to four lines simultaneously with the use of the I-shaped tetromino; this move is called a "Tetris", and is the basis of the game's title. If the player cannot make the blocks disappear quickly enough, the field will start to fill, and when the pieces reach the top of the field and prevent the arrival of additional pieces, the game ends. At the end of each game, the player receives a score based on the number of lines that have been completed. The game never ends with the player's victory; the player can only complete as many lines as possible before an inevitable loss.


title: Tetris

text: Since 1996, the Tetris Company has internally defined specifications and guidelines that publishers must adhere to in order to be granted a license to "Tetris". The contents of these guidelines establish such elements as the correspondence of buttons and actions, the size of the field of play, the system of rotation, and others.


title: Tetris

text: The pieces on which the game of "Tetris" is based around are called "tetrominoes". Pajitnov's original version for the Electronika 60 computer used green brackets to represent the blocks that make up tetrominoes. Versions of "Tetris" on the original Game Boy/Game Boy Color and on most dedicated handheld games use black-and-white or grayscale graphics, but most popular versions use a separate color for each distinct shape. Prior to the Tetris Company's standardization in the early 2000s, those colors varied widely from implementation to implementation.


title: Tetris

text: The scoring formula for the majority of "Tetris" products is built on the idea that more difficult line clears should be awarded more points. For example, a single line clear in "Tetris Zone" is worth 100 points, clearing four lines at once (known as a "Tetris") is worth 800, while each subsequent back-to-back "Tetris" is worth 1,200. In conjunction, players can be awarded combos that exist in certain games which reward multiple line clears in quick succession. The exact conditions for triggering combos, and the amount of importance assigned to them, vary from game to game.


title: Tetris

text: Nearly all "Tetris" games allow the player to press a button to increase the speed of the current piece's descent or cause the piece to drop and lock into place immediately, known as a "soft drop" and a "hard drop", respectively. While performing a soft drop, the player can also stop the piece's increased speed by releasing the button before the piece settles into place. Some games only allow either soft drop or hard drop; others have separate buttons for both. Many games award a number of points based on the height that the piece fell before locking, so using the hard drop generally awards more points.


title: Tetris

text: The question "Would it be possible to play forever?" was first considered in a thesis by John Brzustowski in 1992. The conclusion reached was that the game is statistically doomed to end. If a player receives a sufficiently large sequence of alternating S and Z Tetrominoes, the naïve gravity used by the standard game eventually forces the player to leave holes on the board. The holes will necessarily stack to the top and, ultimately, end the game. If the pieces are distributed randomly, this sequence will eventually occur. Thus, if a game with, for example, an ideal, uniform, uncorrelated random number generator is played long enough, any player will almost surely top out.


title: Tetris

text: Modern versions of "Tetris" released after 2001 use a bag-style randomizer that guarantees players will never receive more than four S or Z pieces in a row by shuffling tetrominoes of all types for each 7 pieces. This is one of the "Indispensable Rules" enforced by the "Tetris Guideline" that all officially licensed "Tetris" games must follow.


title: Tetris

text: "Easy spin", or "infinite spin", is a feature in some Tetris games where a tetromino stops falling for a moment after left or right movement or rotation, effectively allowing the player to suspend the piece while deciding where to place it. The mechanic was introduced in 1999's "The Next Tetris", and drew criticism in reviews of 2001's "Tetris Worlds".


title: Tetris

text: This feature has been implemented into the Tetris Company's official guideline. This type of play differs from traditional "Tetris" because it takes away the pressure of higher level speed. Some reviewers went so far as to say that this mechanism broke the game. The goal in "Tetris Worlds", however, is to complete a certain number of lines as fast as possible, so the ability to hold off a piece's placement will not make achieving that goal any faster. Later, GameSpot received "easy spin" more openly, saying that "the infinite spin issue honestly really affects only a few of the single-player gameplay modes in "Tetris DS", because any competitive mode requires you to lay down pieces as quickly as humanly possible."


title: Tetris

text: Henk Rogers stated in an interview that infinite spin was an intentional part of the game design, allowing novice players to expend some of their available scoring time to decide on the best placement of a piece. Rogers observed that "gratuitous spinning" does not occur in competitive play, as expert players do not require much time to think about where a piece should be placed. A limitation has been placed on infinite lock delay in later games of the franchise, where after a certain amount of rotations and movements, the piece will instantly lock itself. This is defaulted to 15 such actions.


title: Tetris

text: In 1979, Alexey Pajitnov joined the Computer Center of the Soviet Academy of Sciences as a speech recognition researcher. While he was tasked with testing the capabilities of new hardware, his ambition was to use computers to make people happy. Pajitnov developed several puzzle games on the institute's computer, an Electronika 60, a scarce resource at the time. For Pajitnov, "games allow people to get to know each other better and act as revealers of things you might not normally notice, such as their way of thinking".


title: Tetris

text: In 1984, while trying to recreate a favorite puzzle game from his childhood featuring pentominoes, Pajitnov imagined a game consisting of a descent of random pieces that the player would turn to fill rows. Pajitnov felt that the game would be needlessly complicated with twelve different shape variations, so he scaled the concept down to tetrominoes, of which there are seven variants. Pajitnov titled the game "Tetris", a word created from a combination of "tetra" (meaning "four") and his favorite sport, "tennis". Because the Electronika 60 had no graphical interface, Pajitnov modelled the field and pieces using spaces and brackets. Realizing that completed lines filled the screen quickly, Pajitnov decided to delete them, creating a key part of "Tetris" gameplay. This early version of "Tetris" had no scoring system and no levels, but its addictive quality distinguished it from the other puzzle games Pajitnov had created.


title: Tetris

text: Pajitnov had completed the first playable version of "Tetris" by June 6, 1984. Pajitnov presented "Tetris" to his colleagues, who quickly became addicted to it. It permeated the offices within the Academy of Sciences, and within a few weeks it reached every Moscow institute with a computer. A friend of Pajitnov, Vladimir Pokhilko, who requested the game for the Moscow Medical Institute, saw people stop working to play "Tetris". Pokhilko eventually banned the game from the Medical Institute to restore productivity.


title: Tetris

text: Pajitnov sought to adapt "Tetris" to the IBM Personal Computer, which had a higher quality display than the Electronika 60. Pajitnov recruited Vadim Gerasimov, a 16-year-old high school student who was known for his computer skills. Pajitnov had met Gerasimov before through a mutual acquaintance, and they had worked together on previous games. Gerasimov adapted "Tetris" to the IBM PC over the course of a few weeks, incorporating color and a scoreboard.


title: Tetris

text: Pajitnov wanted to export "Tetris", but he had no knowledge of the business world. His superiors in the Academy were not necessarily happy with the success of the game, since they had not intended such a creation from the research team. Furthermore, intellectual property did not exist in the Soviet Union, and Soviet researchers were not allowed to sell their creations. Pajitnov asked his supervisor Victor Brjabrin, who had knowledge of the world outside the Soviet Union, to help him publish "Tetris". Pajitnov offered to transfer the rights of the game to the Academy, and was delighted to receive a non-compulsory remuneration from Brjabrin through this deal.


title: Tetris

text: In 1986, Brjabrin sent a copy of "Tetris" to Hungarian game publisher Novotrade. From there, copies of the game began circulating via floppy disks throughout Hungary and as far as Poland. Robert Stein, an international software salesman for the London-based firm Andromeda Software, saw the game's commercial potential during a visit to Hungary in June 1986. After an indifferent response from the Academy, Stein contacted Pajitnov and Brjabrin by fax to obtain the license rights. The researchers expressed interest in forming an agreement with Stein via fax, but they were unaware that this fax communication could be considered a legal contract in the Western world; Stein began to approach other companies to produce the game.


title: Tetris

text: Stein approached publishers at the 1987 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Gary Carlston, co-founder of Broderbund, retrieved a copy and brought it to California. Despite enthusiasm amongst its employees, Broderbund remained skeptical because of the game's Soviet origins. Likewise, Mastertronic co-founder Martin Alper declared that "no Soviet product will ever work in the Western world". Stein ultimately signed two agreements: he sold the European rights to the publisher Mirrorsoft, and the American rights to Spectrum HoloByte. The latter obtained the rights after a visit to Mirrorsoft by Spectrum HoloByte president Phil Adam in which he played "Tetris" for two hours. At that time, Stein had not yet signed a contract with the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, he sold the rights to the two companies for £3,000 and a royalty of 7.5 to 15% on sales.


title: Tetris

text: Before releasing "Tetris" in the United States, Spectrum HoloByte CEO Gilman Louie asked for an overhaul of the game's graphics and music. The Soviet spirit was preserved, with fields illustrating Russian parks and buildings as well as melodies anchored in Russian folklore of the time. The company's goal was to make people want to buy a Russian product; the game came complete with a red package and Cyrillic text, an unusual approach on the other side of the Berlin Wall. The Mirrorsoft version was released for the IBM PC in November 1987, while the Spectrum HoloByte version was released for the same platform in January 1988.


title: Tetris

text: "Tetris" was ported to platforms including the Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC. At the time, it made no mention of Pajitnov and came with the announcement of "Made in the United States of America, designed abroad". "Tetris" was a commercial success in Europe and the United States: Mirrorsoft sold tens of thousands of copies in two months, and Spectrum HoloByte sold over 100,000 units in the space of a year. According to Spectrum HoloByte, the average "Tetris" player was between 25 and 45 years old and was a manager or engineer. At the Software Publishers Association's Excellence in Software Awards ceremony in March 1988, "Tetris" won Best Entertainment Software, Best Original Game, Best Strategy Program, and Best Consumer Software.


title: Tetris

text: Stein, however, was faced with a problem: the only document certifying a license fee was the fax from Pajitnov and Brjabrin, meaning that Stein sold the license for a game he did not yet own. Stein contacted Pajitnov and asked him for a contract for the rights. Stein began negotiations via fax, offering 75% of the revenue generated by Stein from the license. Elektronorgtechnica ("Elorg"), the Soviet Union's central organization for the import and export of computer software, was unconvinced and requested 80% of the revenue. Stein made several trips to Moscow and held long discussions with Elorg representatives. Stein came to an agreement with Elorg on February 24, 1988, and on May 10 he signed a contract for a ten-year worldwide "Tetris" license for all current and future computer systems. Pajitnov and Brjabrin were unaware that the game was already on sale and that Stein had claimed to own the rights prior to the agreement. Although Pajitnov would not receive any percentage from these sales, he said that "the fact that so many people enjoy my game is enough for me".


title: Tetris

text: In 1988, Spectrum HoloByte sold the Japanese rights to its computer games and arcade machines to Bullet-Proof Software's Henk Rogers, who was searching for games for the Japanese market. Mirrorsoft sold its Japanese rights to Atari Games subsidiary Tengen, which then sold the Japanese arcade rights to Sega and the console rights to BPS, which published versions for Japanese computers, including the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom), known outside Japan as the Nintendo Entertainment System and MSX2. At this point, almost a dozen companies believed they held the "Tetris" rights, with Stein retaining rights for home computer versions. Devices like Chinese "Brick Game", popular in the early 1990s, often had many variations of Tetris. Soviet Union's Elorg was still unaware of the deals Stein had negotiated, which did not bring money to them. Nevertheless, "Tetris" was a commercial success in North America, Europe and Asia.


title: Tetris

text: The same year, Nintendo was preparing to launch its first portable console, the Game Boy. Nintendo was attracted to "Tetris" by its simplicity and established success on the Famicom. Rogers, who was close to then Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, sought to obtain the handheld rights. After a failed negotiation with Atari, Rogers contacted Stein in November 1988. Stein agreed to sign a contract, but explained that he had to consult Elorg before returning to negotiations with Rogers. After contacting Stein several times, Rogers began to suspect a breach of contract on Stein's part, and decided in February 1989 to go to the Soviet Union and negotiate the rights with Elorg.


title: Tetris

text: Rogers arrived at the Elorg offices uninvited, while Stein and Mirrorsoft manager Kevin Maxwell made an appointment the same day without consulting each other. During the discussions, Rogers explained that he wanted to obtain the rights to "Tetris" for the Game Boy. After quickly obtaining an agreement with Elorg president Nikolai Belikov, Rogers showed Belikov a "Tetris" cartridge. Belikov was surprised, as he believed at the time that the rights to "Tetris" were only signed for computer systems. The present parties accused Nintendo of illegal publication, but Rogers defended himself by explaining that he had obtained the rights via Atari Games, which had itself signed an agreement with Stein. Belikov then realized the complex path that the license had followed within four years because of Stein's contracts, and he constructed a strategy to regain possession of the rights and obtain better commercial agreements. At that point, Elorg was faced with three different companies seeking to buy the rights.


title: Tetris

text: During this time, Rogers befriended Pajitnov over a game of Go. Pajitnov would support Rogers throughout the discussions, to the detriment of Maxwell, who came to secure the "Tetris" rights for Mirrorsoft. Belikov proposed to Rogers that Stein's rights would be cancelled and Nintendo would be granted the game rights for both home and handheld consoles. Rogers flew to the United States to convince Nintendo's American branch to sign up for the rights. The contract with Elorg was signed by executive and president Minoru Arakawa for $500,000, plus 50 cents per cartridge sold. Elorg then sent an updated contract to Stein. One of the clauses defined a computer as a machine with a screen and keyboard, and thus Stein's rights to console versions were withdrawn. Stein signed the contract without paying attention to this clause, and later realized that all the contract's other clauses, notably on payments, were only a "smokescreen" to deceive him.


title: Tetris

text: In March 1989, Nintendo sent a cease and desist to Atari Games concerning production of the NES version of "Tetris". Atari Games contacted Mirrorsoft, and were assured that they still retained the rights. Nintendo, however, maintained its position. In response, Mirrorsoft owner Robert Maxwell pressured Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to cancel the contract between Elorg and Nintendo. Despite the threats to Belikov, Elorg refused to give in and highlighted the financial advantages of their contract compared to those signed with Stein and Mirrorsoft.


title: Tetris

text: On June 15, 1989, Nintendo and Atari Games began a legal battle in the courts of San Francisco. Atari Games sought to prove that the NES was a computer, as indicated by its Japanese name "Famicom", an abbreviation of "Family Computer". In this case, the initial license would authorize Atari Games to release the game. The central argument of Atari Games was that the Famicom was designed to be convertible into a computer via its extension port. This argument was not accepted, and Pajitnov stressed that the initial contract only concerned computers and no other machine. Nintendo brought Belikov to testify on its behalf. Judge Fern M. Smith declared that Mirrorsoft and Spectrum HoloByte never received explicit authorization for marketing on consoles, and on June 21, 1989, ruled in Nintendo's favor, granting them a preliminary injunction against Atari Games in the process. The next day, Atari Games withdrew its NES version from sale, and thousands of cartridges remained unsold in the company's warehouses.


title: Tetris

text: Sega had planned to release a Genesis version of "Tetris" on April 15, 1989, but cancelled its release during Nintendo and Atari's legal battle; fewer than ten copies were manufactured. A new port of the arcade version by M2 was included in the Sega Genesis Mini microconsole, released in September 2019.


title: Tetris

text: Through the legal history of the license, Pajitnov gained a reputation in the West. He was regularly invited by journalists and publishers, through which he discovered that his game had sold millions of copies, from which he had not made any money. However, he remained humble and proud of the game, which he considered "an electronic ambassador of benevolence".


title: Tetris

text: In January 1990, Pajitnov was invited by Spectrum HoloByte to the Consumer Electronics Show, and was immersed in American life for the first time. After a period of adaptation, he explored American culture in several cities, including Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York City and Boston, and engaged in interviews with several hosts, including the directors of Nintendo of America. He marveled at the freedom and the advantages of Western society, and spoke often of his travels to his colleagues upon returning to the Soviet Union. He realized that there was no market in Russia for their programs. At the same time, sales of the Game Boy – bundled with a handheld version of "Tetris" – exploded, exceeding sales forecasts three times.


title: Tetris

text: In 1991, Pajitnov and Pokhilko emigrated to the United States. Pajitnov moved to Seattle, where he produced games for Spectrum HoloByte. In April 1996, as agreed with the Academy ten years earlier and following an agreement with Rogers, the rights to "Tetris" reverted to Pajitnov. Pajitnov and Rogers founded the Tetris Company in June 1996 to manage the rights on all platforms, the previous agreements having expired. Pajitnov now receives a royalty for each "Tetris" game and derivative sold worldwide. In 2002, Pajitnov and Rogers founded Tetris Holding after the purchase of the game's remaining rights from Elorg, now a private entity following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Tetris Company now owns all rights to the "Tetris" brand, and is mainly responsible for removing unlicensed clones from the market; the company regularly calls on Apple Inc. and Google to remove illegal versions from their mobile app stores. In one notable 2012 case, "Tetris Holding, LLC v. Xio Interactive, Inc.", Tetris Holding and the Tetris Company defended its copyright against an iOS clone, which established a new stance on evaluating video game clone infringements based on look and feel.


title: Tetris

text: In December 2005, Electronic Arts acquired Jamdat, a company specializing in mobile games. Jamdat had previously bought a company founded by Rogers in 2001, which managed the "Tetris" license on mobile platforms. As a result, Electronic Arts held a 15-year license on all mobile phone releases of "Tetris", which expired on April 21, 2020.


title: Tetris

text: "Tetris" has been released on a multitude of platforms since the creation of the original version on the Electronika 60. The game is available on most game consoles and is playable on personal computers, smartphones and iPods. "Guinness World Records" recognized "Tetris" as the most ported video game in history, having appeared on over 65 different platforms as of October 2010.


title: Tetris

text: Since the 2000s, internet versions of the game have been developed. However, commercial versions not approved by the Tetris Company tend to be purged due to company policy. The most famous online version, "Tetris Friends" by Tetris Online, Inc., had attracted over a million registered users. Tetris Online had also developed versions for console-based digital download services. Because of its popularity and simplicity of development, "Tetris" is often used as a hello world project for programmers coding for a new system or programming language. This has resulted in the availability of a large number of ports for different platforms. For instance, μTorrent and GNU Emacs contain similar shape-stacking games as easter eggs.


title: Tetris

text: Within official franchise installments, each version has made improvements to accommodate advancing technology and the goal to provide a more complete game. Developers are given freedom to add new modes of play and revisit the concept from different angles. Some concepts developed on official versions have been integrated into the "Tetris" guidelines in order to standardize future versions and allow players to migrate between different versions with little effort. The IBM PC version was the most evolved from the original version, featuring a graphical interface, colored tetrominoes, running statistics for the number of tetrominoes placed, and a guide for the controls.


title: Tetris

text: In 2020 the intellectual property of the license belongs to Blue Planet Software. Maya (daughter of Rogers) supervises licenses to developers controlling their products.


title: Tetris

text: In computer science, it is common to analyze the computational complexity of problems, including real life problems and games. It was proven that for the "offline" version of "Tetris" (the player knows the complete sequence of pieces that will be dropped, i.e. there is no hidden information) the following objectives are NP-complete:


title: Tetris

text: Also, it is difficult to even approximately solve the first, second, and fourth problem. It is NP-hard, given an initial gameboard and a sequence of "p" pieces, to approximate the first two problems to within a factor of for any constant .


title: Tetris

text: To prove NP-completeness, it was shown that there is a polynomial reduction between the 3-partition problem, which is also NP-complete, and the "Tetris" problem.


title: Tetris

text: The earliest versions of "Tetris" had no music. The NES version includes two original compositions by Hirokazu Tanaka along with an arrangement of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from the second act of "The Nutcracker", composed by Tchaikovsky. The Tengen version also features original music, and an arrangement of "Kalinka" and "Katyusha". 1860s Russian folk tune "Korobeiniki" first appeared in Spectrum Holobyte's 1988 versions of Tetris together "Dark Eyes", "Polyushko-polye" and "The Birch Tree".


title: Tetris

text: Nintendo's Game Boy version also includes "Korobeiniki", as well as the Johann Sebastian Bach's French Suite No. 3 In B Minor (BWV 814), and an original track by Tanaka. "Korobeiniki" is used in most versions of the game, and has appeared in other games, albums and films that make reference to "Tetris". It was also included in the SNES Tetris game, Tetris & Dr. Mario, Tetris DS and Blue Planet Software "The Next Tetris" (1999, PSX and Windows). Doctor Spin's 1992 Eurodance cover (under the name "Tetris") reached #6 on the UK singles chart. In the 2000s, the Tetris Company added as a prerequisite for the granting of the license that a version of "Korobeiniki" be available in the game.


title: Tetris

text: According to research from Richard Haier et al., prolonged "Tetris" activity can also lead to more efficient brain activity during play. When first playing "Tetris", brain function and activity increases, along with greater cerebral energy consumption, measured by glucose metabolic rate. As "Tetris" players become more proficient, their brains show a reduced consumption of glucose, indicating more efficient brain activity for this task. According to one study, moderate play of "Tetris" (half-an-hour a day for three months) boosts general cognitive functions such as "critical thinking, reasoning, language and processing" and increases cerebral cortex thickness.


title: Tetris

text: Jackie Andrade and Jon May, from Plymouth University's Cognition Institute, and doctoral student Jessica Skorka-Brown have conducted research that shows that playing "Tetris" could distract from cravings and give a "quick and manageable" fix for people struggling to stick to diets, or quit smoking or drinking.


title: Tetris

text: Another notable effect is that, according to a Canadian study in April 2013, playing "Tetris" has been found to treat older adolescents with amblyopia (lazy eye), which was better than patching a victim's well eye to train their weaker eye. Robert Hess of the research team said: "It's much better than patching – much more enjoyable; it's faster, and it seems to work better". Tested in the United Kingdom, this experiment also appears to help children with that problem.


title: Tetris

text: "Tetris" can cause the brain to involuntarily picture "Tetris" combinations even when the player is not playing (the "Tetris" effect), although this can occur with any computer game or situation showcasing repeated images or scenarios, such as a jigsaw puzzle. While debates about Tetris's cognitive benefits continue, some researchers view it as a milestone in the gamification of education.


title: Tetris

text: In January 2009, an Oxford University research group headed by Emily Holmes reported that, for healthy volunteers, playing "Tetris" soon after viewing traumatic material in the laboratory reduced the number of flashbacks to those scenes in the following week. They believe that the computer game may disrupt the memories that are retained of the sights and sounds witnessed at the time, and which are later re-experienced through involuntary, distressing flashbacks of that moment. The group hoped to develop this approach further as a potential intervention to reduce the flashbacks experienced in post-traumatic stress disorder but emphasized that these are only preliminary results. A 2017 study found that people who played "Tetris," and similar games such as "Candy Crush", while waiting for treatment following traffic accidents had fewer intrusive memories the following week.<ref name="psychologytoday/tetris-ptsd"></ref>


title: Tetris

text: Tetris is addictive because of the Zeigarnik effect, that the human brain stores incomplete tasks, and dispose of them when no longer needed, but Tetris, by creating new unfinished tasks, Tetris holds our attention.<ref name="denofgeek/tetris"></ref><ref name="bbc/psychology-tetris"></ref><ref name="wired/1994/05/tetris"></ref>


title: Tetris

text: "Compute!" called the IBM version of "Tetris" "one of the most addictive computer games this side of the Berlin Wall ... [it] is "not" the game to start if you have work to do or an appointment to keep. Consider yourself warned". Orson Scott Card joked that the game "proves that Russia still wants to bury us. I shudder to think of the blow to our economy as computer productivity drops to 0". Noting that "Tetris" was not copy-protected, he wrote: "Obviously, the game is meant to find its way onto every American machine". The IBM version of the game was reviewed in 1988 in "Dragon" No. 135 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4.5 out of 5 stars. The Lessers later reviewed Spectrum HoloByte's Macintosh version of "Tetris" in 1989 in "Dragon" No. 141, giving that version 5 out of 5 stars. "Macworld" reviewed the Macintosh version of "Tetris" in 1988, praising its strategic gameplay, stating that ""Tetris" offers the rare combination of being simple to learn but extremely challenging to play", and also praising the inclusion of the Desk Accessory version, which uses less RAM. "Macworld" summarized their review by listing "Tetris' "pros and cons, stating that "Tetris" is "elegant; easy to play; challenging and addicting; requires quick thinking, long-term strategy, and lightning reflexes" and listed "Tetris"' cons as "None".


title: Tetris

text: Roy Wagner reviewed the game for "Computer Gaming World", and said that ""Tetris" is simple in concept, simple to play, and a unique design".


title: Tetris

text: There was a hoax that circulated in February 2019 that the original NES instruction manual for "Tetris" had named the seven tetrominoes with names like "Orange Ricky", "Hero" and "Smashboy", but was disproven. Despite being disproven by video game historians, a question on the October 7 that year airing of "Jeopardy!" alluded to these names.


title: Tetris

text: Spectrum HoloByte's versions for personal computers sold 150,000 copies for ( adjusted for inflation) in two years, between 1988 and 1990. "Tetris" gained greater success with the release of Nintendo's NES version and Game Boy version in 1989. In six months of release by 1990, the NES version sold copies for ( adjusted for inflation), while Game Boy bundles with "Tetris" sold units. It topped the Japanese sales charts during AugustSeptember 1989 and from December 1989 to January 1990. "Tetris" became Nintendo's top-seller for the first few months of 1990. Nintendo's versions of "Tetris" went on to sell copies in the United States by 1992, and more than worldwide by 1996. Nintendo eventually sold a total of copies for the Game Boy, and for the NES.


title: Tetris

text: Sega's arcade version of "Tetris" was also successful in Japan, where it became the highest-grossing arcade game of 1989. Spectrum HoloByte's PC versions of "Tetris" eventually sold more than copies , with women accounting for nearly half of "Tetris" players, in contrast to most other PC games.


title: Tetris

text: In January 2010, the "Tetris" franchise had sold more than 170 million copies, including approximately 70 million physical copies and over 100 million copies for cell phones, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. , "Tetris" has sold 132million paid mobile game downloads.


title: Tetris

text: In April 2019, Tetris99 has been published through worldwide. While associating with Nintendo Switch Online, Tetris99 has more than 9.8 million accounts globally from the subscription.


title: Tetris

text: In 1993, the ZX Spectrum version of the game was voted number 49 in the "Your Sinclair Official Top 100 Games of All Time". In 1996, "Tetris Pro" was ranked the 38th best game of all time by "Amiga Power". "Entertainment Weekly" picked the game as the #8 greatest game available in 1991, saying: "Thanks to Nintendo's endless promotion, "Tetris" has become one of the most popular video games".


title: Tetris

text: "Computer Gaming World" gave "Tetris" the 1989 Compute! Choice Award for Arcade Game, describing it as "by far, the most addictive game ever". The game won three Software Publishers Association Excellence in Software Awards in 1989, including Best Entertainment Program and the Critic's Choice Award for consumers. In 1995, Flux magazine ranked Tetris 30th on their Top 100 Video Games. "Computer Gaming World" in 1996 ranked it 14th on the magazine's list of the most innovative computer games. That same year, "Next Generation" listed it as number 2 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time", commenting that "there is something so perfect, so Zen about the falling blocks of "Tetris" that the game has captured the interest of everyone who has ever played it". In 1999, "Next Generation" listed "Tetris" as number 2 on their "Top 50 Games of All Time", commenting that ""Tetris" is the essence of gameplay at its most basic. You have a simple goal, simple controls, and simple objects to manipulate". On March 12, 2007, "The New York Times" reported that "Tetris" was named to a list of the ten most important video games of all time, the so-called game canon. After announced at the 2007 Game Developers Conference, the Library of Congress took up the video game preservation proposal and began with these 10 games, including "Tetris".


title: Tetris

text: In 2007, video game website GameFAQs hosted its sixth annual "Character Battle", in which the users nominate their favorite video game characters for a popularity contest in which characters participate. The L-shaped "Tetris" piece (or "L-Block" as it was called) entered the contest as a joke character, but on November 4, it won the contest. On June 6, 2009, Google honored "Tetris" 25-year anniversary by changing its logotype to a version drawn with "Tetris" blocks – the "l" letter being the long "Tetris" block lowering into its place, seen here. In 2009, "Game Informer" put "Tetris" 3rd on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", saying that "if a game could be considered ageless, it's "Tetris"". The "Game Informer" staff also placed it third on their 2001 list of the 100 best games ever.


title: Tetris

text: "Electronic Gaming Monthly"s 100th issue had "Tetris" as first place in the "100 Best Games of All Time", commenting that ""Tetris" is as pure as a video game can get. ... When the right blocks come your way - and if you can manage to avoid mistakes - the game can be relaxing. One mislaid block, however, and your duties switch to damage control, a mad, panicky dash to clean up your mess or die". "Tetris" was also the only game for which the list did not specify one or two versions; the editors explained that after deadlocking over which version was best, they concluded that there was no wrong version of "Tetris" to play. In 2007, "Tetris" came in second place in IGN's "100 Greatest Video Games of All Time".


title: Tetris

text: In 1991, "PC Format" named "Tetris" one of the 50 best computer games ever. The editors called it "incredibly addictive" and "one of the best games of all time".


title: Tetris

text: "Tetris" has been the subject of academic research. Vladimir Pokhilko was the first clinical psychologist to conduct experiments using "Tetris". Subsequently, it has been used for research in several fields including the theory of computation, algorithmic theory, and cognitive psychology.


title: Tetris

text: During the game of "Tetris", blocks appear to adsorb onto the lower surface of the window. This has led scientists to use tetrominoes "as a proxy for molecules with a complex shape" to model their "adsorption on a flat surface" to study the thermodynamics of nanoparticles.


title: Tetris

text: "Tetris" appeared in the 2010 short animated film "Pixels", and in the 2015 movie of the same name inspired by the former.


title: Tetris

text: In 2014 it was announced that Threshold Entertainment had teamed up with the Tetris Company to develop "Tetris - The Movie", a film adaptation of the game. Threshold's CEO described the film as an epic sci-fi adventure that would be the first part of a trilogy. In 2016, sources reported on a press release claiming the film would be shot in China in 2017 with an $80 million budget. However, no 2017 or later sources confirm the film ever actually went into production.


title: Tetris

text: A movie titled "Tetris", about the legal battle surrounding the game in the late 1980s, was announced in 2020, to star Taron Egerton as Henk Rogers.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko (, ; Hrihyan (); born 27 November 1960) is a Ukrainian politician, people's Deputy of Ukraine (1997–2000, 2002–2005, 2006–2007, 2007, 2014–2019, and since 2019), Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for the fuel and energy complex (1999–2001), Prime Minister of Ukraine from February to September 2005 and from December 2007 to March 2010. She was the first and so far the only woman to serve as prime minister of Ukraine. She has the degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: Tymoshenko is the leader of the Batkivshchyna () political party. She supports Ukraine's integration into the European Union and strongly opposes the membership of Ukraine in the Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union. She supports NATO membership for Ukraine.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: She co-led the Orange Revolution and was the first woman twice appointed and endorsed by parliamentary majority to become prime minister, serving from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in "Forbes" magazine's list of the world's most powerful women in 2005.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: Tymoshenko finished second in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election runoff, losing by 3.5 percentage points to the winner, Viktor Yanukovych. From 5 August 2011 to 22 February 2014 she was involved in a criminal case that was seen by many as politically motivated persecution by President Viktor Yanukovych, but after the Revolution of Dignity she was rehabilitated by the Supreme Court of Ukraine and the European Court of Human Rights. In the concluding days of the Revolution of Dignity, she was released after three years in jail. She again finished second in the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election, this time to Petro Poroshenko. After being a heavy favorite in the polls for several years, she came third in the first round of the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, receiving 13.40% of the vote, thus failing to qualify for the second round.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: Tymoshenko was born Yulia Hrihyan on 27 November 1960, in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. Her mother, Lyudmila Telehina ("née" Nelepova), was born on 11 August 1937, also in Dnipropetrovsk. Yulia's father, Volodymyr Hrihyan, who according to his Soviet Union passport was Latvian, was born on 3 December 1937, also in Dnipropetrovsk. He abandoned his wife and young daughter when Yulia was between one and three years old; Yulia used her mother's surname.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: Yulia's paternal grandfather, Abram Kapitelman (), was born in 1914. After graduating from Dnipropetrovsk State University in 1940, Kapitelman was sent to work in Western Ukraine, where he worked "one academic quarter" as the director of a public Jewish school in the city Sniatyn. Kapitelman was mobilized into the army in the autumn of 1940 and subsequently was killed while taking part in the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) on 8 November 1944, with the rank of "lieutenant" in Signal corps.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: In 1977, Tymoshenko graduated from high school № 75 in Dnipropetrovsk. Tymoshenko constantly helps the school. In 1978, Tymoshenko was enrolled in the Automatization and Telemechanics Department of the Dnipropetrovsk Mining Institute. In 1979, she transferred to the Economics Department of the Dnipropetrovsk State University, majoring in cybernetic engineering and graduating in 1984 with first degree honors as an engineer-economist.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: In 1999, she defended her PhD dissertation, titled "State Regulation of the tax system", at the Kyiv National Economic University and received a Ph.D. in economics.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: Tymoshenko has worked as a practicing economist and academic. Prior to her political career, she became a successful but controversial businesswoman in the gas industry, becoming by some estimates one of the richest people in the country. Before becoming Ukraine's first female prime minister in 2005, Tymoshenko co-led the Orange Revolution. She was placed third in "Forbes" magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2005.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: After graduating from the Dnipropetrovsk State University in 1984, Tymoshenko worked as an engineer-economist in the "Dnipro Machine-Building Plant" (which produced missiles) in Dnipropetrovsk until 1988.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: In 1988, as part of the "perestroika" initiatives, Yulia and Oleksandr Tymoshenko borrowed 5,000 roubles and opened a video-rental cooperative, perhaps with the help of Oleksander's father, Gennadi Tymoshenko, who presided over a regional film-distribution network in the provincial council.


title: Yulia Tymoshenko

text: From 1989 to 1991, Yulia and Oleksandr Tymoshenko founded and led a commercial video-rental company "Terminal" in Dnipropetrovsk,