title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: It is a metaphor of dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants () and expresses the meaning of "discovering truth by building on previous discoveries". This concept has been dated to the 12th century and, according to John of Salisbury, is attributed to Bernard of Chartres. But its most familiar and popular expression occurs in a 1675 letter by Isaac Newton: "if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: An unknown attribution to Bernard of Chartres from John of Salisbury in 1159, John wrote in his "Metalogicon": "Bernard of Chartres used to compare us to dwarfs perched on the shoulders of giants. He pointed out that we see more and farther than our predecessors, not because we have keener vision or greater height, but because we are lifted up and borne aloft on their gigantic stature." However, according to Umberto Eco, the most ancient attestation of the phrase dates back to Priscian cited by Guillaume de Conches.


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: According to medieval historian Richard William Southern, Bernard was comparing contemporary 12th century scholars to the ancient scholars of Greece and Rome: A similar conceit also appears in a contemporary work on church history by Ordericus Vitalis.


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: [The phrase] sums up the quality of the cathedral schools in the history of learning, and indeed characterizes the age which opened with Gerbert (950–1003) and Fulbert (960–1028) and closed in the first quarter of the 12th century with Peter Abelard. [The phrase] is not a great claim; neither, however, is it an example of abasement before the shrine of antiquity. It is a very shrewd and just remark, and the important and original point was the dwarf "could" see a little further than the giant. That this was possible was above all due to the cathedral schools with their lack of a well-rooted tradition and their freedom from a clearly defined routine of study.


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: The visual image (from Bernard of Chartres) appears in the stained glass of the south transept of Chartres Cathedral. The tall windows under the rose window show the four major prophets of the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel) as gigantic figures, and the four New Testament evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) as ordinary-size people sitting on their shoulders. The evangelists, though smaller, "see more" than the huge prophets (since they saw the Messiah about whom the prophets spoke).


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: Should Joshua the son of Nun endorse a mistaken position, I would reject it out of hand, I do not hesitate to express my opinion, regarding such matters in accordance with the modicum of intelligence allotted to me. I was never arrogant claiming "My Wisdom served me well". Instead I applied to myself the parable of the philosophers. For I heard the following from the philosophers, The wisest of the philosophers was asked: "We admit that our predecessors were wiser than we. At the same time we criticize their comments, often rejecting them and claiming that the truth rests with us. How is this possible?" The wise philosopher responded: "Who sees further a dwarf or a giant? Surely a giant for his eyes are situated at a higher level than those of the dwarf. But if the dwarf is placed on the shoulders of the giant who sees further? ... So too we are dwarfs astride the shoulders of giants. We master their wisdom and move beyond it. Due to their wisdom we grow wise and are able to say all that we say, but not because we are greater than they.


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: What Des-Cartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, & especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical consideration. If I have seen further it is by standing on the sholders of Giants.


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: This has recently been interpreted by a few writers as a sarcastic remark directed at Hooke's appearance. Although Hooke was not of particularly short stature, he was of slight build and had been afflicted from his youth with a severe kyphosis. However, at this time Hooke and Newton were on good terms and had exchanged many letters in tones of mutual regard. Only later, when Robert Hooke criticized some of Newton's ideas regarding optics, was Newton so offended that he withdrew from public debate. The two men remained enemies until Hooke's death.


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: Diego de Estella took up the quotation in the 16th century; by the 17th century it had become commonplace. Robert Burton, in the second edition of "The Anatomy of Melancholy" (1624), quotes Stella thus:


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: I say with Didacus Stella, a dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself.


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: Later editors of Burton misattributed the quotation to Lucan; in their hands Burton's attribution "Didacus Stella, in luc 10, tom. ii" "Didacus on the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10; volume 2" became a reference to Lucan's "Pharsalia" 2.10. No reference or allusion to the quotation is found there.


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: In 1634, Marin Mersenne quoted the expression in his "Questions harmoniques": "... comme l'on dit, il est bien facile, & mesme necessaire de voir plus loin que nos devanciers, lors que nous sommes montez sur leur espaules ..."Blaise Pascal, in the "Preface to the Treatise on the Vacuum" expresses the same idea, without talking about shoulders, but rather about the knowledge handed down to us by the ancients as steps that allow us to climb higher and see farther than they could:"C'est de cette façon que l'on peut aujourd'hui prendre d'autres sentiments et de nouvelles opinions sans mépris et sans ingratitude, puisque les premières connaissances qu'ils nous ont données ont servi de degrés aux nôtres, et que dans ces avantages nous leur sommes redevables de l'ascendant que nous avons sur eux; parce que s'étant élevés jusqu'à un certain degré où ils nous ont portés, le moindre effort nous fait monter plus haut, et avec moins de peine et moins de gloire nous nous trouvons au-dessus d'eux. C'est de là que nous pouvons découvrir des choses qu'il leur était impossible d'apercevoir. Notre vue a plus d'étendue; et, quoiqu'ils connussent aussi bien que nous tout ce qu'ils pouvaient remarquer de la nature, ils n'en connaissaient pas tant néanmoins, et nous voyons plus qu'eux."Later in the 17th century, George Herbert, in his "Jacula Prudentum" (1651), wrote "A dwarf on a giant's shoulders sees farther of the two."


title: Standing on the shoulders of giants

text: Against this notion, Friedrich Nietzsche argues that a dwarf (the academic scholar) brings even the most sublime heights down to his level of understanding. In the section of "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" (1882) entitled "On the Vision and the Riddle", Zarathustra climbs to great heights with a dwarf on his shoulders to show him his greatest thought. Once there however, the dwarf fails to understand the profundity of the vision and Zarathustra reproaches him for "making things too easy on [him]self." If there is to be anything resembling "progress" in the history of philosophy, Nietzsche in "Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks" (1873) writes, it can only come from those rare giants among men, "each giant calling to his brother through the desolate intervals of time", an idea he got from Schopenhauer's work in "Der handschriftliche Nachlass".


title: Bhairava

text: Bhairava (Sanskrit: भैरव ) or Kala Bhairava is a Shaivite and Vajrayāna deity worshiped by Hindus and Buddhists. In Shaivism, he is a powerful manifestation, or avatar, of Shiva associated with annihilation. In Trika system "Bhairava" represents Supreme Reality, synonymous to Para Brahman. Generally in Hinduism, Bhairava is also called Dandapani ("[he who holds the] Danda in [his] hand"), as he holds a rod or Danda to punish sinners, and Svaśva, meaning "whose vehicle is a dog". In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is considered a fierce emanation of boddhisatva Mañjuśrī, and also called Heruka, Vajrabhairava, and Yamantaka.


title: Bhairava

text: Bhairava originates from the word "bhīru", which means "fearsome". Bhairava means "terribly fearsome form". It is also known as one who destroys fear or one who is beyond fear. One interpretation is that he protects his devotees from dreadful enemies, greed, lust, and anger. These enemies are dangerous as they never allow humans to seek God within. There is also another interpretation: "Bha" means creation, "ra" means sustenance and "va" means destruction. Therefore, Bhairava is the one who creates, sustains and dissolves the three stages of life. Therefore, he becomes the ultimate or the supreme.


title: Bhairava

text: The origin of Bhairava is traced to a conversation between Brahma and Vishnu which is recounted in the Shiva Puranam. In it, Vishnu inquired of Brahma, "Who is the supreme creator of the Universe?" Arrogantly, Brahma told Vishnu to worship him as Supreme Creator. One day, Brahma thought "I have five heads. Shiva also has five heads. I can do everything that Shiva does and therefore I am Shiva." Brahma became a little egotistical as a result of this. Additionally, he began to forget the work of Shiva and also started interfering in what Shiva was supposed to be doing. Consequently, Shiva threw a small hair from his head which assumed the form of "Kala Bhairava" and casually went to cut off one of Brahma's heads. The skull (kapala) of Brahma is held in the hands of "Kala Bhairava", Brahma's ego was destroyed and he became enlightened. From then on, he became useful to himself and to the world, and deeply grateful to Shiva. In the form of the "Kala Bhairava", Shiva is said to be guarding each of these Shakti Pitha (Shakti temples). Each Shakti Pitha is accompanied by a temple dedicated to Bhairava.


title: Bhairava

text: There is another school of thought that states that Shiva himself created Bhairava. It states that there was once an asura named Dahurāsura, who got a boon that he could be killed only by a woman. Parvati took the form of Kali to kill him. The wrath of Kali killed the asura. After killing the asura, her wrath metamorphosed as a child. Kali fed the child with her milk. Shiva made both Kali and the child to merge with him. From this merged form of Shiva, Bhairava appeared in his eight forms (Aṣṭāṅga Bhairavas). Since Bhairava was thus created by Shiva, he is said to be one of the sons of Shiva.


title: Bhairava

text: The Puranas also give a version of Bhairava. In this version there was a war between devas and asuras. To eradicate the asuras, Shiva created Kala Bhairava from whom Aṣṭāṅga Bhairavas were created. These Ashta Bhairavas married Ashta Matrikas. These Ashta Bhairavas and Ashta Matrikas have dreadful forms. From these Ashta Bhairavas and Ashta Matrikas, 64 Bhairavas and 64 Yoginis were created.


title: Bhairava

text: Normally in Shiva temples, idols of Bhairava are situated in the north, facing Western direction. He is also called "Kṣhetrapāla". He appears in a standing position with four hands. His weapons are drum, pāśa (noose), trident and skull. In some forms of Bhairava, there are more than four hands. He appears with a dog. His weapons, the dog, protruding teeth, terrifying looks, and a garland with red flowers all give him a frightening appearance.


title: Bhairava

text: In all Shiva temples, regular puja (reverence) rituals begin with Surya and end with Bhairava. Devotees offer what is understood to be favored by Bhairava: a ghee bath ("abhiṣeka"), red flowers, ghee lamp, unbroken coconut, honey, boiled food, fibrous fruits etc. If a Bhairava idol is facing west, it is good; facing south is moderate; facing east is not good. The right time to pray to Bhairavi is midnight. At midnight it is said that Bhairava and his consort Bhairavi will give "darśana" (appearance) to their devotees. The most appropriate time is a Friday midnight. There are eight types of flowers and leaves used in archana (अर्चन) to Bhairava.


title: Bhairava

text: One of his forms is called "Svarṇākarṣṇa Bhairava" ; In this form, he has red or blue complexion and is clothed in golden dress. He has the moon over his head. He has four hands, one of which he holds a golden vessel. He gives wealth and prosperity. Performing "pūja" on Tuesdays gives quick results. In some of the ancient texts he is said to have thirty two hands, the shape of a bird, golden complexion, terrible teeth, and a human form above the hip. Worshipping him destroys enemies.


title: Bhairava

text: Some forms of Bhairava are guardians of the eight cardinal points. There are 64 Bhairavas. These 64 Bhairavas are grouped under eight categories and each category is headed by one major Bhairava. The major eight Bhairavas are called Aṣṭāṅga Bhairavas. The Ashta Bhairavas control the eight directions of this universe. Each Bhairava has seven sub Bhairavas under him, totaling 64 Bhairavas. All of the Bhairavas are ruled and controlled by "Maha Kala Bhairava" otherwise known as "Kala Bhairava", who is the supreme ruler of time of this universe as per some Śaiva tantric scriptures (āgamas). Bhairavi is the consort of "Kala Bhairava." The eight Bhairavas are said to represent five elements viz. "ākāś", air, fire, water and earth and the other three being sun, moon and "ātman". Each of the eight Bhairavas are different in appearance, have different weapons, different "vāhanas" (vehicles) and they bless their devotees with eight types of wealth representing Ashta Lakshmis. Continuous worship of Bhairava leads the worshiper to a true Guru. There are separate mantras to all the eight Bhairavas.


title: Bhairava

text: Bhairava is also called upon as protector, as he guards the eight directions of the universe. In Shiva temples, when the temple is closed, the keys are placed before Bhairava. Bhairava is also described as the protector of women. He is described as the protector of the timid and in general women who are timid in nature.


title: Bhairava

text: It is generally believed that worshiping Bhairava gives prosperity, success and good progeny, prevents premature death and gives solution to debts and liabilities. Different forms of Bhairava evolve only from Śiva, who is called the "Mahā Bhairava".


title: Bhairava

text: Trika and Kashmiri Shaivism names the Absolute Reality (Para Brahman) as Bhairava. The Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra is a key Tantra text of the Trika System. Cast as a discourse between the god Bhairava and his consort Bhairavi it briefly presents 112 Tantric meditation methods or centering techniques (Dharana). The text is a chapter from the Rudrayamala Tantra, a Bhairava Agama. Bhairavi, the goddess, asks Bhairava to reveal the essence of the way to realization of the highest reality. In his answer Bhairava describes 112 ways to enter into the universal and transcendental state of consciousness. References to it appear throughout the literature of Trika, Kashmir Shaivism, indicating that it was considered to be an important text in the schools of Kashmir Shaiva philosophy and Trika.


title: Bhairava

text: Buddhism also adopted Bhairava (Tibetan: 'Jigs byed; Chinese: Buwei) as a deity and a dharmapala or dharma protector. The various buddhist forms of Bhairava (variously called Herukas, Vajrabhairava, Mahākāla and Yamantaka) are considered fierce deities and yidams (tantric meditational deity) in Tibetan Buddhism. They also have their own set of buddhist tantras, the "Vajrabhairava tantras." According to Tibetan tradition, these tantras were revealed to Lalitavajra in Oddiyana in the tenth century. These texts play a particularly important role in the Sarma (new translation) traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, especially among the Gelug school where Vajrabhairava is one of the three central highest yoga tantra practices of the lineage. Because of this, it is also popular in Mongolia as a protector deity and was also popular among the Manchus. The deity is also central to Newar Buddhism. The tantric practices associated with Bhairava focus on the transformation of anger and hatred into understanding.


title: Bhairava

text: Temples or shrines to Bhairava are present within or near most Jyotirlinga temples. There are also the sacred twelve shrines dedicated to Shiva which can be found all across India including the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi and the Kal Bhairava temple, Ujjain. The Patal Bhairava and Vikrant Bhairava shrines are located in Ujjain as well.


title: Bhairava

text: One of the ancient temples of Kala Bhairava is situated in Dhuri city (District Sangrur), Punjab. The idol of "Kala Bhairava" in the temple was found hundreds of years ago. The temple has been managed by "Baba Shri Pritam Muni Ji" for many years. It is believed that "Kala Bhairava Ji" resides here.


title: Bhairava

text: Gorat Kashmiris are known to worship Bhairava during Shivratri. The renowned Hindu reformer, Adi Sankara composed a hymn on "Kala Bhairava" called ""Sri Kalabhairava Ashtakam"" in the city of Kashi.


title: Bhairava

text: "Bhairava Ashtami", commemorating the day "Kala Bhairava" appeared on earth, is celebrated on Krishna paksha Ashtami of the Margashirsha month of the Hindu calendar. It is a day filled with special prayers and rituals.


title: Bhairava

text: Bhairava is depicted as being ornamented with a range of twisted serpents, which serve as earrings, bracelets, anklets, and sacred thread (yajnopavita). He wears a tiger skin and a ritual apron composed of human bones. Bhairava has a dog (Shvan) as his divine "vahana" (vehicle). Bhairavi is a fierce and terrifying aspect of the Devi who is virtually indistinguishable from Kali, with the exception of her particular identification as the consort of Bhairava.


title: Bhairava

text: "Kala Bhairava" is conceptualized as the Guru-Nath (Teacher and Master) of the planetary deity Shani (Saturn).


title: Bhairava

text: Bhairava is known as Bhairavar or Vairavar in Tamil, where he is often presented as a Grama devata or village guardian who safeguards the devotee in eight directions ("ettu tikku"). Known in Sinhalese as Bahirawa, he is said to protect treasures. Lord Bhairava is the main deity worshiped by the Aghora sect.


title: Bhairava

text: Bhairava is an important deity of the Newars. All the traditional settlements of Newars have at least one temple of Bhairava. Most of the temples of Bhairava in Nepal are maintained by Newar priests. There are several Bhairava temples in the Kathmandu valley.


title: Bhairava

text: In south Karnataka, Lord "Sri Kalabhairaveshwara" is present as "Kshetra Palaka" in Sri Adichunchanagiri Hills.


title: Bhairava

text: "Kala Bhairava" temples can also be found around "Shaktipeeths". It is said that Shiva allocated the job of guarding each of the 52 "Shaktipeeths" to one Bhairava. There are said to be 52 forms of Bhairava, which are considered a manifestation of Shiva himself. Traditionally, "Kala Bhairava" is the "Grama devata" in the rural villages of Maharashtra, where he is referred to as ""Bhairava/Bhairavnath"" and ""Bairavar"". In Karnataka, Lord Bhairava is the supreme God for the Hindu community commonly referred to as Vokkaligas (Gowdas). Especially in the Jogi Vokkaliga, he is considered the caretaker and punisher. Shri Kala Bhairava Nath Swami Temple of Madhya Pradesh is also popular.


title: Bhairava

text: In Mangalore there is an agnidurga temple at a place called karamogaru near gurupura bridge Karnataka it was believed that nath panth saints where workshiping Lord "Shri Mahakala Bhairava" and "Shri Agnidurgha". Presently Mahakala Bhairava and "Agnidurgha" has been one of the main deity in Gurupura, Karamogaru prathistapan rituals has been carried out by Sri Sri 1008 Sri Rajyogi Nirmalnathji Maharaj.


title: John Elkann

text: John Philip Jacob Elkann (born 1 April 1976) is an Italian industrialist. In 1997, he became the chosen heir of his grandfather Gianni Agnelli, following the death of Gianni's nephew Giovanni Alberto Agnelli and since 2004 has been leading the Agnelli family, an Italian multi-industry business dynasty. He chairs the automaker Stellantis and is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Exor, the holding company controlled by the Agnelli family, which also holds a controlling stake in Ferrari, CNH Industrial, Iveco Group, Juventus F.C. and The Economist Group. In July 2018 he was appointed chairman of Ferrari after Sergio Marchionne left due to health issues.


title: John Elkann

text: Born in New York City, John Elkann holds both Italian and American citizenship. He is the eldest son of Alain Elkann, a New York-born journalist and writer of French-Jewish and Italian-Jewish background, and his then wife Italian Margherita Agnelli. His parents divorced in 1981 and both have remarried. Elkann's maternal grandparents were the industrialist Gianni Agnelli and the Italian socialite Marella Agnelli (born Donna Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto). His paternal great-grand-uncle was the banker Ettore Ovazza.


title: John Elkann

text: He has a brother, Lapo, and a sister, Ginevra, as well as five half-siblings from his mother's second marriage, as Margherita Agnelli de Pahlen, to Serge de Pahlen. His younger half-siblings are: Maria (born 1983), Pierre (born 1986), twins Sophie and Anna (born 1988) and Tatiana (born 1990).


title: John Elkann

text: Elkann attended primary school in both the United Kingdom and Brazil, before his family moved to Paris, where he obtained a baccalauréat scientifique at the State School Lycée Victor-Duruy in 1994. Later that same year, he moved to Italy to attend the Politecnico di Torino (Turin), where he graduated with a degree in management engineering in 2000. As a result of his international upbringing, he is fluent in four languages.


title: John Elkann

text: While pursuing a degree in engineering, Elkann gained work experience through several internships: headlight plant in Birmingham, England (1996), production line in Tychy, Poland (1997), car dealership in Lille, France (1998) and also at GE's CIG (corporate initiatives group) where he worked on a thesis on e-auctions (1999). In December 1997 Elkann was selected as the heir of his grandfather Gianni Agnelli in place of Giovanni Alberto Agnelli, the son of Gianni's younger brother, Umberto, who had died at the age of 33. He was appointed to the Fiat board at the age of 21. In 2000, after graduating in Engineering from Politecnico di Torino, he joined General Electric's Corporate Audit program. He left General Electric two years later. He moved back to Turin to be closer to his ageing grandfather, as well as be closer to the family business.


title: John Elkann

text: After the deaths of his grandfather Gianni Agnelli in 2003, and his great-uncle Umberto Agnelli in 2004, Elkann became vice chairman of Fiat and vice chairman of Giovanni Agnelli Sapaz (now Giovanni Agnelli B.V.), the family partnership controlling EXOR. In 2008, Elkann replaced 83-year-old Gianluigi Gabetti as the head of IFIL, which managed a portfolio worth eight billion euros. In March 2009 he merged the holding companies IFI and IFIL to create Exor, stepping to the role of Chairman. In 2010, he became chairman of Fiat S.p.A. (then Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), succeeding Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, and chairman of the Giovanni Agnelli Sapaz, succeeding . In February 2011, he was appointed chairman and CEO of EXOR. The value of the company's assets has grown and multiplied nine times in ten years.


title: John Elkann

text: He is also Chairman of Ferrari, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale Spa, and the Agnelli Foundation, a philanthropic institution supporting education.


title: John Elkann

text: In June 2017, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian newspaper "La Stampa", which was acquired by the Agnelli family in 1926, he organized an international conference, "The Future of Newspapers"attended by Washington Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and other media representatives such as Lionel Barber, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Mark Thompson and Robert Thomson.


title: John Elkann

text: In 2019, Elkann announced he would be trying to merge Fiat Chrysler (FCA) with Peugeot S.A. (Groupe PSA), with the goal of forming the world's 4th largest OEM by volume and 3rd largest by revenues. In July 2020, John and FCA's CEO Mike Manley announced that the name of the combined company will be Stellantis.


title: John Elkann

text: In 2019, under Elkann's management, Exor purchased the controlling stake in GEDI Gruppo Editoriale from CIR Group for $113 million.


title: John Elkann

text: In March 2020, Elkann and FCA’s board of directors agreed to forego their remaining compensation for 2020 in an act of shared sacrifice brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic.


title: John Elkann

text: In May 2021, Elkann is nominated Knight of the Order of Merit for Labour in the automotive industry by the president Sergio Mattarella.


title: John Elkann

text: Elkann was baptized and raised Catholic. Elkann married "Donna" Lavinia Borromeo (born Lavinia Ida Borromeo-Arese on 10 March 1977 in Milan, Italy) a member of the prominent Italian aristocratic family the House of Borromeo. She is the daughter of "Don" Carlo Ferdinando Borromeo, Count of Arona (born in 1935), the son of Vitaliano Borromeo, 2nd Prince of Angera.


title: John Elkann

text: They married, on 4 September 2004, in a Catholic ceremony in the Cappella Bianca on Isola Madre, one of the Borromean Islands of Lake Maggiore.


title: John Elkann

text: Since 2009, has been attending the annual "media and tech conference" organized in July every year by Allen & Co at Sun Valley, Idaho.


title: John Elkann

text: He is also a regular contributor to the Google Camp, which every year gathers tech entrepreneurs, investors, representatives of institutions and pop stars in Sciacca, Agrigento and other places around Sicily.


title: John Elkann

text: In February 2018, he appeared as one of the protagonists on the podcast series by Reid Hoffman, "Masters of Scale".


title: John Elkann

text: In June 2018, he invited Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, Xavier Niel and other global tech leaders to the SEI Torino Forum for the international launch of the new School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation of Turin, the initiative supported by the Agnelli Foundation helping university level students to start new businesses.


title: John Elkann

text: In April 2019, along with CERN's Director-General Fabiola Gianotti and the Italian architect Renzo Piano, he participated in a media event to unveil Science Gateway, a new scientific education and outreach centre of CERN, which aims to share knowledge and technology with society.


title: John Elkann

text: In June 2021, he celebrated another step with the laying of the first stone. The project will be funded through external donations, with Stellantis, through the FCA Foundation, as the main supporter.


title: John Elkann

text: In July 2020 he took part in the institutional presentation of the full-electric New 500 to the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella and Giuseppe Conte, the Italian Prime Minister.


title: John Elkann

text: Starting from July 2020, he supported the launch and expansion of the Arcipelago Educativo project, co-designed and promoted by Fondazione Agnelli, Exor, and Save the Children to fight the risk of dropping out of students, due to the lockdown caused by COVID-19.


title: John Elkann

text: In October 2021 he participated at the Italian Tech Week in a dialogue focused on innovation, future and technology with Elon Musk.


title: John Elkann

text: In December 2021 he has been included inside Bloomberg’s “50 Most Influential people and ideas that defined global business in 2021” for the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV with the PSA Group to form Stellantis, that started its trading with a $52.7 billion market value.


title: John Elkann

text: A yachtsman, in March 2012 John Elkann took part as owner in the Miami-New York crossing on the Maserati monohull of Giovanni Soldini's team, with the aim of covering 947 miles and setting a new record in the monohull category.


title: John Elkann

text: Following this crossing, in 2013 he participated in the Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu where they ranked second, as well as in the Cape2Rio, from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro, where they won and set the new speed record of the regatta.


title: John Elkann

text: In January 2015, he took part with Giovanni Soldini in the Maserati team, in the Rorc Caribbean 600 Race, a regatta that has been held since February throughout the Caribbean.


title: John Elkann

text: In January 2020 he participated in the 16th edition of the Cape2Rio aboard Soldini's VOR70 Maserati, sailing 3.600 miles from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro.


title: John Elkann

text: In October 2020, once again aboard with Soldini, he conquered the first position at the 41stedition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race with the Maserati Multi 70.


title: John Elkann

text: In August 2021, he kicked off the 89th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which saw the participation of the new LMH, a class in which Ferrari will enter starting from 2023.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi (; born 25 June 1972) is a Libyan political figure. He is the second son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his second wife Safia Farkash. He was a part of his father's inner circle, performing public relations and diplomatic roles on his behalf. He publicly turned down his father's offer of the country's second highest post and held no official government position. According to United States Department of State officials in Tripoli, during his father's reign, he was the second most widely recognized person in Libya, being at times the "de facto" prime minister, and was mentioned as a possible successor, though he rejected this. An arrest warrant was issued for him on 27 June 2011 by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for charges of crimes against humanity against the Libyan people, for killing and persecuting civilians, under Articles 7(1)(a) and 7(1)(h) of the Rome statute. He denied the charges.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Gaddafi was captured in southern Libya by the Zintan militia on 19 November 2011, after the end of the Libyan Civil War, and flown by plane to Zintan. He was sentenced to death on 28 July 2015 by a court in Tripoli for crimes during the civil war, in a widely criticised trial conducted "in absentia". He remained in the custody of the "de facto" independent authorities of Zintan. On 10 June 2017, he was released from prison in Zintan, according to a statement from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion. Later the same month, his full amnesty was declared by the Tobruk-based government led by Khalifa Haftar. , Gaddafi remained wanted under his ICC arrest warrant for crimes against humanity. On 14 November, he attempted to register as a candidate in the 2021 Libyan presidential election, but was rejected. This decision was overturned less than a month later, reinstating him as a presidential candidate.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi graduated with a bachelor of science degree in engineering science from Tripoli's Al Fateh University in 1994. However, there is another report stating that he is an architect. He earned an MBA from Vienna's Imadec business school in 2000.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: There are two different stories about his mother's origin. One is that his mother, Safia Farkash, is from a family from the Eastern Libyan Barasa tribe and that she was born in Bayda and was trained as a nurse. The other is that she is of Hungarian descent.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Saif's paintings made up the bulk of the international Libyan art exhibit, "The Desert is Not Silent" (2002–2005), a show which was supported by a host of international corporations with direct ties to his father's government, among them the ABB Group and Siemens.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Gaddafi was awarded a PhD degree in 2008 from the London School of Economics, where he attended amid a series of contacts between the school and the Libyan political establishment. He presented a thesis on "The role of civil society in the democratisation of global governance institutions: from 'soft power' to collective decision-making?" Examined by Meghnad Desai (London School of Economics) and Anthony McGrew (University of Southampton), among the LSE academics acknowledged in the thesis as directly assisting with it were Nancy Cartwright, David Held and Alex Voorhoeve (the son of former Dutch minister Joris Voorhoeve). Professor Joseph Nye of Harvard University is also thanked for having read portions of the manuscript and providing advice and direction. Alongside accusations of plagiarism, allegations abound that Saif's thesis was in many parts ghost-written by consultants from Monitor Group, which earned $3 million per year in fees from Muammar Gaddafi.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Speaking in Sabha on 20 August 2008, Gaddafi said that he would no longer involve himself in state affairs. He noted that he had previously "intervene[d] due to the absence of institutions", but said that he would no longer do so. He dismissed any potential suggestion that this decision was due to disagreement with his father, saying that they were on good terms. He also called for political reforms within the context of the Jamahiriya system and rejected the notion that he could succeed his father, saying that "this is not a farm to inherit".


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Gaddafi was the president of the Libyan National Association for Drugs and Narcotics Control (DNAG). In 1998, he founded the official charity, the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity Associations, which intervened in various hostage situations involving Islamic militants and the crisis of the HIV trial in Libya and the resulting European Union-Libyan rapprochement.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In 2009, both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were allowed entry to Libya, via Gaddafi's non-profit organization in order to gather facts about the human rights situation in Libya. While AI and HRW reported that there were concerns about the "repressive atmosphere," both felt there were signs of "improvement" and HRW said that one should not "underestimate the importance of the efforts made so far" by Gaddafi in the realm of human rights in Libya.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In December 2010, Gaddafi announced that his charity foundation "will no longer be involved in promoting human rights and political change in the North African country," and that instead, it "will focus on its 'core charitable mission' of delivering aid and relief to sub-Saharan Africa."


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Gaddafi was instrumental in negotiations that led to Libya's abandoning a weapons of mass destruction programme in 2002–2003. He arranged several important business deals on behalf of the Libyan regime in the period of rapprochement that followed. He was viewed as a reformer, and openly criticised the regime:


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 10 December 2004, shortly before a trip by Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to Tripoli, in an interview with "The Globe and Mail" Gaddafi requested a formal apology from the Canadian government, for joining U.S.-led sanctions against Libya after the Lockerbie bombing, and for denying him a student visa to study in Canada in 1997. His request was met with incredulity in Canada, and the Canadian government announced that no apology would be forthcoming.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Gaddafi played an important role in the HIV trial in Libya. At first he rejected information the medics were tortured. "During this time we saw Gaddafi's son on a television broadcast categorically denying that Libya still tortured suspected criminals", claimed Valya Chervianashka, one of the accused nurses in her autobiography. Later he admitted in interviews that the Bulgarian nurses, charged with conspiring to deliberately infect over 400 children with HIV in 1998, had been tortured and that the government had denied them a fair trial. His admissions were said to have badly damaged his reputation in Libya.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: The torture process is confirmed and described in details in the book "Notes from Hell", co-written by one of the nurses, Valya Chervianashka. Saif al-Islam was mentioned several times in the book. According to her:


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: One day, the executive director of Muammar al-Gaddafi's son's foundation, the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity Associations (GICDF), arrived at the prison, inviting us to the director's office of the women's wing for a meeting. We were in our pyjamas, dishevelled and unprepared. We hastily put on some clothes and hurried to meet the director. A Libyan man along with Ambassador Lyudmil Spassov and Roumen Petrov waited for us outside the office. The Ambassador told us, "This is a very important person. He will help you; he is on your side." Saleh Abdel Salam, executive director of GICDF, was intimidating. We didn't realise it then, but this Libyan man would indeed help us in the future.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Saif introduced the Isratine proposal to permanently resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through a secular, federalist, republican, binational one-state solution.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Gaddafi served as Chairman of the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charitable Associations. In this role, he was involved in a number of humanitarian initiatives. Notably, he hosted peace talks between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Tripoli. In the resulting peace agreement concluded on 22 June 2001, Gaddafi was expressly thanked for his involvement. He was also the witness to the signing of the peace agreement. The peace agreement forms a part of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro concluded in 2014.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Gaddafi was involved in negotiating compensation from Libya's former colonial power, Italy, and on 30 August 2008 a Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation Agreement was signed in Benghazi by his father and Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. However, the treaty was unilaterally suspended by Italy at the beginning of 2011, after Italy refused to consider Gaddafi government as their interlocutor.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: He was also negotiating with the United States in order to conclude a comprehensive agreement making any further payments for American victims of terror attacks that have been blamed on Libya – such as the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing, the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the 1989 UTA Flight 772 bombing – conditional upon U.S. payment of compensation for the 40 Libyans killed and 220 injured in the 1986 United States bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi. On 14 August 2008, the U.S.-Libya Comprehensive Claims Settlement Agreement was signed in Tripoli. Former British Ambassador to Libya Oliver Miles described the agreement as "a bold step, with political cost for both parties" and wrote an article in the online edition of "The Guardian" querying whether the agreement is likely to work.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In an August 2008 BBC TV interview, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said that Libya had admitted responsibility (but not "guilt") for the Lockerbie bombing simply to get trade sanctions removed. He further admitted that Libya was being "hypocritical" and was "playing on words", but said Libya had no other choice on the matter. According to Gaddafi, a letter admitting "responsibility" was the only way to end the economic sanctions imposed on Libya. When asked about the $10m (£5.3m) compensation that Libya was paying to each victims' family, he again repeated that Libya was doing so because it had no other choice. He went on to describe the families of the Lockerbie victims as "trading with the blood of their sons and daughters" and being very "greedy", saying, "They were asking for more money and more money and more money".


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Interviewed by French newspaper "Le Figaro" on 7 December 2007, Gaddafi said that the seven Libyans convicted for the Pan Am Flight 103 and the UTA Flight 772 bombings "are innocent". When asked if Libya would therefore seek reimbursement of the compensation paid to the families of the victims (US$2.33 billion), Gaddafi replied: "I don't know."


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Gaddafi led negotiations with Britain for the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the convicted Pan Am 103 conspirator.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In 2007, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Tripoli, with whom it is alleged he helped broker an arms deal, including missiles.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In November 2008, Gaddafi made a high-profile visit to the United States where he met with US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. During the meeting, Rice raised the case of Libya's jailed political dissident and democracy activist, Fathi El-Jahmi. In a "Forbes" article in 2009, Fathi's brother wrote that "for nearly a year, both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch hesitated to advocate publicly for Fathi's case, because they feared their case workers might lose access to Libyan visas."


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In 2009, Saif al-Islam welcomed Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East division, into Libya, accompanying her in meeting with many government officials and others during her visit. She wrote of her official visit that "the real impetus for the transformation rests squarely with a quasi-governmental organization, the Qaddafi Foundation for International Charities and Development" chaired by Gaddafi. She praised Gaddafi for establishing the country's two semi-private newspapers, and said "it is impossible to underestimate the importance of the efforts made so far. Let's hope this spring will last."


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In 2009, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi claimed that Libya's opinion of him was shaped largely by his role in Libya's engagement with the West, saying "If something goes wrong, people will blame me, whether I am in a certain official position or not." He expressed frustration with the US, saying Libya's decision to give up its weapons of mass destruction program was contingent upon "compensation" from the US, including the signing of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, economic cooperation, and cooperation in purchasing conventional weapons and military equipment. He stated, "We share rich natural resources – oil and gas – along the borders, yet we have no capacity to defend that wealth." Because of a US legal embargo, Libya cannot purchase weapons from the United States, Sweden, or Germany, and has been disallowed from buying "Tiger" vehicles with American-manufactured engines from Jordan. He asked for greater military assistance, as Libya had committed itself to destroying chemical stockpiles, but would require at least $25 million to do so. Gaddafi said the United States had "humiliated" his father during his visit to New York City in 2009, and said that his father's tent and residence issues were disappointing and his UN speech had been misinterpreted. Gaddafi said that his father was barred from visiting Ground Zero, which also frustrated him. Gaddafi held a standoff with US officials in November 2009, refusing to send a shipment of Highly Enriched Uranium back to Russia unless the United States renewed its commitment to cooperation with Libya.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 19 February, several days after the conflict began, Saif al-Islam announced the creation of a commission of inquiry into the violence, chaired by a Libyan judge, as reported on state television. He stated that the commission was intended to be "for members of Libyan and foreign organizations of human rights" and that it would "investigate the circumstances and events that have caused many victims." Later in the month, he went on state television to deny allegations that the government had launched airstrikes against Libyan cities and stated that the number of protesters killed had been exaggerated.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 20 February 2011, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi delivered an address to the nation on Libyan state television stating that if no agreement could be found between protesters and the government "thousands of deaths, and rivers of blood will run through Libya". He also insisted that his father remained in charge with the army's backing and would "fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet." Speaking on Libyan state TV, Saif al-Islam blamed the civil war on tribal factions and Islamists acting on their own agendas, drunken and drugged. He promised reforms, and said the alternative would be civil war blocking trade and oil money and leading to the country being taken over by foreigners. He closed by saying, "We will not let Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya and BBC trick us." Oliver Miles, a former British Ambassador to Libya, disagreed with his assessment. In an interview with ABC News reporter Christiane Amanpour, Saif al-Islam denied that his father's regime was killing civilians.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 2 May 2011, Saif al-Islam and his older half-brother Muhammad were among the 2,000 mourners who attended his younger brother Saif al-Arab's funeral. He was seen touching his younger brother’s chest while fighting back tears before leaving the graveside while pumping his fist to the crowd. Saif al-Arab and three of Muammar Gaddafi's grandchildren had been killed by an NATO airstrike on 30 April 2011.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In June 2011, Saif al-Islam and his father, Muammar, announced that they were willing to hold elections and that Muammar Gaddafi would step aside if he lost. Saif al-Islam stated that the elections could be held within three months and transparency would be guaranteed through international observers. NATO and the rebels rejected the offer, and NATO soon resumed their bombardment of Tripoli.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 27 June 2011, an arrest warrant was issued by the ICC. On 1 July, Saif al-Islam had an interview with Russia Today, where he denied the ICC's allegations that he, or his father, ordered the killing of civilian protesters. He pointed out that he was not a member of the government or the military, and therefore had no authority to give such orders. According to Saif al-Islam, he made recorded calls to General Abdul Fatah Younis, who later defected to the rebel forces, requesting him not to use force against protesters, to which Younis responded that the protestors were attacking a military site, where surprised guards fired in self-defence. Younis was later assassinated by his fellow rebels on 28 July, allegedly for secret communication with Saif.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Saif al-Islam condemned NATO for bombing Libyan civilians, including his family members and their children, under the false pretence that their homes were military bases. He stated that NATO offered to drop the ICC charges against him and his father if they accept a secret deal, an offer they rejected. He thus criticised the ICC as "a fake court" controlled by NATO member states.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In August 2011, Saif al-Islam gave an interview to the "New York Times" stating that Libya was becoming more closely aligned to Islamists and would likely resemble Iran or Saudi Arabia. Saif al-Islam said that his father was working closely with Islamists within the rebellion to splinter the resistance.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 21 August, the National Transitional Council claimed that Saif al-Islam was arrested by the National Liberation Army, pursuant to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. However, on the early morning of 23 August, Saif al-Islam was seen by Western journalists apparently moving around under his own free will outside the Rixos Hotel.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: After the fall of Tripoli, Saif al-Islam went to Bani Walid. His brother, Al-Saadi, contacted CNN, stating that he had the authority to negotiate on behalf of loyalist forces, and wished to discuss a ceasefire. On 5 September, Al-Saadi said in an interview with CNN that an "aggressive" speech by his brother Saif al-Islam had led to the breakdown of the negotiations between NTC forces and Gaddafi loyalists in Bani Walid. Saif al-Islam stayed in Bani Walid until the town was captured by NTC forces.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 17 October, after leaving Bani Walid, his convoy was hit by a NATO air attack at Wadi Zamzam where he lost 26 of his supporters and 9 military vehicles. His right hand was wounded and according to his own explanation it happened during the NATO air strike. According to the Libyan Al Mashhad Al Leebi program, the fingers of his right hand were cut off.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: With the death of his father Muammar and his brother Mutassim Gaddafi in Sirte on 20 October 2011, Saif al-Islam was the only member of the Gaddafi family left in Libya. He appeared on Syrian pro-Gaddafi television on 22 October claiming "I am in Libya, I am alive and free and willing to fight to the end and take revenge", but his whereabouts were unknown and subject to many rumours.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: An international team of lawyers representing the interests of Saif al-Islam wrote to US leaders demanding that he be protected from assassination and holding the United States and NATO responsible for the Libyan leader's "brutal assassination" and repeated attacks on Libya's civilian population.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 19 November 2011, as Saif al-Islam was trying to flee from Libya, he and four aides were captured, and detained about west of the town of Ubari near Sabha in southern Libya, from Tripoli. Sources say that it was the betrayal by a Libyan nomad, Yussef Saleh al-Hotmani, that finally led to his capture. Yussef Saleh al-Hotmani told the interviewers that he was hired to guide a man to Niger and that he was offered €1 million for the job. Being offered such a huge sum of money, he suspected foul play as Saif's agent did not tell him whom he was going to guide. He contacted the rebel fighters and told them where a two vehicle convoy would pass through southern Libya on the night of 18 November and this allowed the rebel fighters to ambush the convoy. Saif was taken to Zintan by plane and, pending trial, he was kept in detention by the Zintan-militia that captured him.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Based on his outstanding warrant the International Criminal Court (ICC) asked the new government about Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's detention. The new government was unable or unwilling to comply with the ICC's information requests regarding Saif al-Islam. New deadlines for information requests from the ICC were also missed. A brief filed by the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence on behalf of Gaddafi claimed that "there is no basis for asserting that the ICC should defer the case to Libya". The brief requested the court to order Libya to immediately implement Gaddafi's rights, and report Libya to the Security Council if it does not.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In June 2012, Australia lawyer Melinda Taylor and three other members from an ICC delegation were arrested by Zintan while visiting Saif and accused of passing coded messages to Saif. They were freed a month later in a deal brokered by ICC President Sang-Hyun Song. In August 2012, the Libyan government announced that Saif al-Islam would stand trial in the western Libyan town of Zintan, in September 2012. However, the trial was subsequently delayed; Saif al-Islam appeared in court in Zintan on 17 January 2013. However, trial was again delayed, and it wasn't until April 2014 that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi appeared in court in Tripoli, via video link for security reasons.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Libya appealed his extradition to the Hague Court (ICC), but the court affirmed the indictments. The court held that the Libyan government failed to show that Saif al-Islam faced the same charges in Libya as he did in the ICC.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 28 July 2015, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was sentenced to death in absentia for war crimes by the "self-declared government" in Tripoli, Libya (he was being held in Zintan, not where the trial was held). However, the Zintan authorities have consistently refused to either hand him over to the Tripoli authorities or to implement their sentence. The trial and the sentence have been criticised by the United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) and by Human Rights Watch.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In July 2016, one of his lawyers, Karim Khan, claimed that his client had been freed on 12 April of that year and transferred to a secret location after the government quashed his sentence, and that he would petition the ICC to drop all charges against him. A Zintan military source denied that he had been released.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 10 June 2017, Saif al-Islam was released from prison in Zintan, according to a statement from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion. The militia chose not to transfer him to the custody of the International Criminal Court, saying "We are not concerned with the international tribunal as the ICC did not ask us to hand him over". The UN-backed Libyan government based in Tripoli condemned his release while an ICC prosecutor was still trying to verify the release, and called on Libya and other states to arrest and surrender him, stating "Libya is obliged to immediately arrest and surrender Mr Gaddafi [...] regardless of any purported amnesty law."


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In May 2018, the ICC reminded Libyan authorities of the arrest warrant issued against Saif al-Islam, calling for him to be arrested and transferred to the custody of the ICC. The ICC also called for "credible information" that could lead to finding his location. In March 2020, the ICC confirmed that Saif al-Islam's case was admissible in the ICC, despite the 28 July 2015 Libyan judgment against him, since the 2015 judgment was carried out "in absentia", thus not qualifying as final under Libyan law.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In May 2019, two Russians affiliated with Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner Group, Maxim Shugaley and Samer Hasan Ali Sueyfan, were arrested in Tripoli for conspiring with Saif al-Islam. They were released in December 2020. In September 2020, "Corriere della Sera" reported that a Russian airplane took Saif al-Islam from Zintan to Moscow to hold secret meetings. On 12 August 2021, prosecutors in Tripoli issued an arrest warrant for Saif over suspected links to the Wagner Group.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Gaddafi stated on 22 March 2018 in Tunis that he would run for president in the next Libyan general election under the Popular Front for the Liberation of Libya (PFLL). Ayman Abu Ras, a spokesperson for the party, said that Gaddafi wished to focus on a programme of "reform", namely reconstruction projects.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 11 June 2021, "The Times" spoke exclusively with political representatives of Saif, who revealed that he was planning to make a return to public life, including possibly running for president, and had been courting foreign diplomats to re-establish his viability. A direct phone call between "The Times" reporters and Saif was subsequently arranged, where he confirmed his identity and his relationship with the group of aides "The Times" had been speaking with. He also stated that he was in good health.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In a July 2021 interview with "The New York Times", his first interview with western media in ten years, Gaddafi attacked Libyan politicians for their governance since the 2011 First Libyan Civil War, describing them as having "raped the country". Gaddafi hinted that he was running for president. Commenting on his years-long absence from public life, he said "You need to come back slowly, slowly. Like a striptease. You need to play with their minds a little." The July 2021 "New York Times" interview included topics related to Saif's political thinking and past actions. Saif defended his father's legacy. Saif said of his father's Green Book; "It was not crazy, it talked about things everybody is now recognizing." He said that many "ideas gaining popularity in the West, such as frequent public referendums, employee stock-ownership programs and the dangers of boxing and wrestling", echoed the words of his father's book. His interview was given to the "New York Times" at an opulent two-storey villa inside a gated compound in Zintan. Until the interview, Saif al-Islam had not been seen or heard from since June 2014, when he appeared via video link from Zintan during his trial by the Tripoli court.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 14 November 2021, making his first public appearance since June 2014, Gaddafi confirmed his intention to run for the presidency of Libya, registering his nomination in the southern city of Sebha. On 16 November, Libya's High National Election Commission rejected Gaddafi's candidacy on grounds that under Libyan law, his criminal convictions disqualified him from holding a political office. On 28 November, Gaddafi stated to "Al Arabiya" that Libyan judicial authorities refused to hold hearings on his disqualification appeal.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 2 December 2021, a Libyan court ruled that Saif be re-instated as a presidential candidate. "Al-Araby Al-Jadeed" reported that Saif had secretly visited Egypt and met with President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Egyptian Chief of Intelligence Abbas Kamel before his reinstatement.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 29 January 2022, through a statement published by his lawyer Khalid al-Zaidi, Gaddafi proposed an initiative to resolve the political crisis that began after presidential elections scheduled for December 2021 were delayed. The initiative proposed postponing presidential elections and proceeding with parliamentary elections without delay.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: On 6 July 2022, Saif presented two separate proposals to resolve the ongoing Libyan crisis through a written statement disseminated by his lawyer Khalid al-Zaidi. In the first proposal, Saif argued for the appointment of a neutral party to oversee urgent, non-exclusive presidential and parliamentary elections in which everyone would be allowed to participate. In the second proposal, Saif recommended that current political figures should all collectively withdraw from the electoral process in order to make way for new faces chosen by the Libyan people through transparent elections.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In 2006, the German newspaper "Der Spiegel" and the Spanish newspaper "La Voz de Galicia" reported that Saif al-Islam was romantically linked to Orly Weinerman, an Israeli actress and model, they dated from 2005 to 2011. At the time, Weinerman publicly denied having any contact with Saif al-Islam, but she has since admitted it, and in September 2012, she asked former British prime minister Tony Blair to intervene in his trial in order to spare his life.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In 2009, a party in Montenegro for his 37th birthday included well-known guests such as Oleg Deripaska, Peter Munk and Prince Albert of Monaco.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In April 2016, the Italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera" reported that Saif al-Islam had married in Zintan and had a three year old daughter. In his 2021 interview with "The New York Times", Saif denied being married and claimed that he was lonely.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: In the 2000s, Saif al-Islam was hosted at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle by the British royal family. In 2009, he spent a weekend at Waddesdon Manor, home of financier Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, where he was the guest of Lord Mandelson and Nathaniel Philip Rothschild. He later stayed at the Rothschild holiday home in Corfu. Nathaniel Rothschild was a guest at Saif's 37th birthday celebration in Montenegro.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Saif al-Islam received his PhD from the London School of Economics (LSE) in 2008. Through the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF), Saif pledged a donation of £1.5 million to support the work of the LSE's Centre for the Study of Global Governance on civil society organisations in North Africa. Following the LSE–Gaddafi affair, the LSE issued a statement indicating that it would cut all financial ties with the country and would accept no further money from the GICDF, having already received and spent the first £300,000 instalment of the donation.


title: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

text: Critics have charged that Gaddafi plagiarized portions of his doctoral dissertation and pressure was put on the LSE to revoke his degree. The LSE set up a review process to evaluate the plagiarism charges in early 2011. In November 2011, the review panel stated that the PhD thesis had been "annotated to show where attribution or references should have been made" and recommended that the PhD itself "should not be revoked".


title: Nick Castle

text: Nicholas Castle is an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He is known for playing Michael Myers in John Carpenter's horror film "Halloween" (1978). He reprised the role in "Halloween" (2018), and its sequels "Halloween Kills" (2021) and "Halloween Ends" (2022). Castle also co-wrote "Escape from New York" (1981) with Carpenter. After "Halloween", Castle became a director, taking the helm of films such as "The Last Starfighter" (1984), "The Boy Who Could Fly" (1986), "Dennis the Menace" (1993), and "Major Payne" (1995).


title: Nick Castle

text: Castle's film credits include "Dark Star" where he played the beach ball alien, "Major Payne", "Dennis the Menace", "The Last Starfighter", and "Connors' War" as a director. He wrote the screenplays for the films "Escape from New York" and "Hook". He was the writer and director of the film "Tap".


title: Nick Castle

text: In 1978, he played the iconic starring role of Michael Myers in the classic horror film "Halloween", directed by former USC classmate John Carpenter, and was paid 25 dollars a day. Castle's subsequent collaborations with Carpenter included his name being used as one of the main characters' names in "The Fog", co-writing the script of "Escape From New York", and performing the title song of "Big Trouble in Little China" as part of the band The Coup De Villes, alongside Carpenter and another friend, Tommy Lee Wallace. After "Halloween", Castle had his directorial debut in "", followed by taking the helm of films such as "The Last Starfighter", "The Boy Who Could Fly", "Dennis the Menace", and "Major Payne".


title: Nick Castle

text: Castle wrote "August Rush", a musical-drama directed by Kirsten Sheridan and starring Freddie Highmore, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Robin Williams, and Keri Russell, which was released in 2007. He also stars as himself in the 2010 documentary "Halloween: The Inside Story" by Filipino filmmaker Nick Noble.


title: Nick Castle

text: In 2018, Castle reprised his role as Michael Myers in the direct sequel, "Halloween", directed by David Gordon Green, becoming the third actor to play Michael Myers more than once. The announcement of Nick Castle's participation was widely reported as his retaking the role of Michael Myers he originated, with stunt performer James Jude Courtney only doing additional work as the character. However, an interview with Courtney revealed that Castle's screentime was minimal and that the great majority of the work under the mask was done by Courtney himself, which led to the question of whether the return of Castle had been misrepresented by the production. While Courtney was involved in every scene featuring Myers, including those of Castle, who was only involved for a minimal amount of filming, which Castle described to the journalists on set as a cameo appearance, Castle reprises his role in one scene with Jamie Lee Curtis and did all of Michael Myers' breathing sounds in post-production. Courtney referred to collaborating with Castle as an "honor", while Castle described it as a "passing of the torch". On July 26, 2019, it was confirmed that Castle would return for the sequels to the 2018 film, "Halloween Kills" (2021) and "Halloween Ends" (2022) for some scenes as Michael Myers, with James Jude Courtney again playing Myers for a majority of the films.


title: Nick Castle

text: Castle won a Saturn Award for Best Writing for "The Boy Who Could Fly", a Silver Raven (for "Delivering Milo"), a Grand Prize (for "The Last Starfighter"), a Bronze Gryphon, and a Gold Medal of the Regional Council.


title: David Filo

text: David Robert Filo (born April 20, 1966) is an American billionaire businessman and the co-founder of Yahoo! with Jerry Yang. His Filo Server Program, written in the C programming language, was the server-side software used to dynamically serve variable web pages, called Filo Server Pages, on visits to early versions of the Yahoo! website.


title: David Filo

text: Filo earned a B.S. degree in computer engineering at Tulane University (through the Dean's Honor Scholarship) and an M.S. degree in 1990 at Stanford University.


title: David Filo

text: In February 1994, he co-created with Jerry Yang an Internet website called "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web", consisting of a directory of other websites. It was renamed "Yahoo!" (an exclamation). Yahoo! became very popular, and Filo and Yang realized the business potential and co-founded Yahoo! Inc.


title: David Filo

text: Yahoo! started off as a web portal with a web directory providing an extensive range of products and services for various online activities. Yahoo was one of the pioneers of the early Internet era in the 1990s. It is still one of the leading internet brands and, due to partnerships with telecommunications firms, is one of the most visited websites on the internet.


title: David Filo

text: Filo is married to photographer and teacher Angela Buenning, a graduate of Stanford (1993) and Berkeley (1999). They have one child, and live in Palo Alto, California.


title: David Filo

text: In 2005, he gave $30 million to his alma mater, Tulane University, for use in its School of Engineering.


title: David Filo

text: The Filos have been major benefactors of both Stanford, especially its schools of sustainability and education, and Berkeley, primarily its graduate school of journalism.


title: David Filo

text: As of September 2019, "Forbes" estimated Filo to be worth $4.3 billion, ranking him the 379th-richest person in the world.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: "Teddy Perkins" is the sixth episode of the second season of the American comedy-drama television series "Atlanta", and the sixteenth episode of the series overall. It was originally broadcast on FX in the United States on April 5, 2018. The episode features series regular Darius Epps visiting a mansion to pick up a free piano, where he encounters a strange man named Teddy Perkins. Against the phone advice of Alfred, Darius continues his attempt to leave with the piano, and discovers that Perkins intends to turn the mansion into a museum.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: In a deviation from the typical comedic structure of "Atlanta", series creator Donald Glover wrote the episode and played the titular Teddy Perkins character with more of a dramatic/horror bent. Hiro Murai directed the episode, his eleventh directorial credit for "Atlanta". The episode is longer than a typical "Atlanta" episode, running 34 minutes. In its initial airing, the episode was shown by FX with no commercial breaks.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: The episode received universal acclaim, with some critics lauding it one of the show's most innovative episodes. It received 776,000 viewers in its initial airing, and 1.77 million viewers in total with DVR viewership.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: Darius Epps (Lakeith Stanfield) answers a message board advertisement for a valuable piano owned by a famous musician named Benny Hope. This leads him to a mansion owned by a pale, idiosyncratic man with a mask-like face named Theodore "Teddy" Perkins (Donald Glover). Teddy exhibits strange and unsettling behavior during their conversations. He claims that Benny is his brother, whom he watches over. Teddy will not let Darius meet Benny, as he uses a wheelchair and has a skin condition that makes him extremely photosensitive.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: After exploring some of the mansion, Darius calls Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry) who urges him to be direct and leave as soon as possible. Darius hypothesizes that the man he has been dealing with is actually Benny, and uses the persona of Teddy to cope with his dwindling career and physical condition. Teddy then shows Darius the mansion's gift shop and informs him that he is turning the mansion into a museum and historical site. Teddy also claims that he and Benny were physically abused by their father in his desire to make the two of them musical prodigies.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: Darius is eventually granted the piano and attempts to leave via the elevator. A malfunction takes him to the mansion's basement where he encounters a man in a wheelchair, dark sunglasses and heavy bandages, presumed to be Benny (Derrick Haywood). Benny, unable to speak due to the bandages covering his face, warns Darius by writing on a small chalkboard that "Teddy [will] kill us both" and that he should retrieve a gun located in the attic. Darius, believing that Benny is actually Teddy in a disguise, ignores this and attempts to leave with the piano immediately. Reaching the porch, he discovers that Teddy is blocking the loading bay of Darius's rental truck with his car. Darius returns to the house to ask Teddy to move the vehicle.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: For protection, Darius picks up a wrought-iron fireplace poker and locates Teddy upstairs by following the vague sound of light piano. He enters a large study and discovers Teddy, alone, watching a home movie of his father giving Benny a piano lesson. Darius, unnerved, asks for the restroom. Teddy mentions that the restroom is up the stairs further, near the attic, before revealing a large double-barreled shotgun.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: Teddy holds Darius at gunpoint, and states that Darius will be his "sacrifice." He marches Darius down to the foyer and forces him to handcuff himself, and reveals his plan to kill Darius and stage the scene like a home invasion by an "obsessed" fan in order to increase interest in his planned museum. As Teddy sets down his shotgun, Darius unsuccessfully attempts to dissuade Teddy from following through with his plan by sympathizing with his past, revealing that he too had an abusive father.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: Despite Darius' effort, Teddy prepares to go ahead with his plan. The elevator door opens. To both men's surprise, the injured Benny exits the elevator and enters the room, revealing that Teddy was telling the truth about Benny: he exists. Benny picks up Teddy's discarded shotgun as Teddy exclaims "Benny, you're alive." As Benny lifts the gun, a bloody wound can be seen on his abdomen, implying that Teddy may have attempted to kill his brother, and that his ultimate plan was to frame Darius for his murder.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: Benny shoots Teddy dead before using the fireplace poker he takes from Darius to pull the trigger, shooting himself in the head. The police arrive and haul off the corpses, along with the piano as crime scene evidence as a visibly disturbed Darius drives away empty-handed in his U-Haul truck.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: The titular Teddy Perkins was portrayed by series star Donald Glover, who performed the role in whiteface. In addition to Glover's starring credit, the end credits list "Teddy Perkins as himself". Teddy's brother, Benny Hope, was played by Derrick Haywood, who had previously played a small role as a bartender in the first season of "Atlanta". Haywood called playing the character "an amazing experience". Haywood received a similar makeup and prosthetic treatment as Glover for the character, as the two were supposed to be brothers with the same skin condition.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: In an episode which deviated from the typical comedic structure of "Atlanta", Glover stayed in whiteface throughout the entire filming. The crew referred to Glover as "Teddy" on-set, and Haywood did not know of Glover's true identity, saying that there was "no Donald on set whatsoever". Some outlets compared the titular Teddy Perkins character to Michael Jackson. "Atlanta" writer Stefani Robinson commented that while it was "undeniable that there are references to Michael Jackson and the idea of someone changing themselves within the industry", she saw the parallels as "more of a symbolic reference to the industry maybe and what you do for greatness, or what one will do to be perceived as great".


title: Teddy Perkins

text: Director Hiro Murai said that looking into Glover's face when he played the role was "like looking into a doll's face", and called it "uncanny and unsettling". He recalled a "general sense of unease on set because the cast and crew didn't know how to behave around him". Murai and cinematographer Christian Sprenger were influenced by the work of Stanley Kubrick, particularly "The Shining", when creating the episode.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: In its initial airing on FX, "Teddy Perkins" aired commercial-free. It ran as an "extended" episode, at around 41 minutes. "Collider" said that the decision to run the episode commercial-free aided the episode's message of "being trapped", a theme also explored in other episodes of "Atlanta"s second season. The pre-release description for the episode read, "Darius is trippin in this one. Y'all know I woulda been left." The episode was shot at a real mansion in a suburb of Atlanta. "Evil" by Stevie Wonder plays over the episode's end credits, and Wonder's music is also used to open the episode, in addition to being referenced by characters in the episode. Glover had to personally request clearance from Wonder as he did not want his music accompanying violence.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: "Teddy Perkins" was lauded by critics, and is considered one of the most innovative episodes in "Atlanta"s short history. Dee Lockett of "Vulture" said that "Teddy Perkins" will "likely go down as one of the wildest episodes of "Atlanta" – and television, in general – to ever air". Jim Poe of "Junkee" called it "the best piece of television that's aired this year". "Complex"s Khris Davenport compared the episode's dark and unnerving tone to the social thriller film "Get Out", as did "Vulture" and "IndieWire". Brian Richards of "Pajiba" said that his "stomach tied itself into every imaginable knot" while watching the episode. "Uproxx" called the episode a "horrific acid trip" that "brings the idea of destroyed heroes to a grizzly conclusion", also calling it an "incredible episode of television". "Gold Derby" offered high praise for Lakeith Stanfield's performance, particularly praising the "freedom" the episode allowed Stanfield to show his range.


title: Teddy Perkins

text: The character of Teddy Perkins, and Glover's portrayal of him, was praised by critics. "Junkee" wrote that "Glover's frighteningly inhuman make-up is an eerie metaphor for the destructive effects of American racism". "The Huffington Post" called him a "tormented, broken man". Director Steven Soderbergh called the episode the "most beautifully photographed half hour of TV" he had ever seen, adding that it was "COMPLETELY BANANAS". "The A.V. Club" said that "Atlanta" has "never felt more dangerous" than in "Teddy Perkins". "The New York Times" praised the episode's deconstruction of classic horror movie tropes, while "Junkee" lauded it as a "self-contained psychological horror flick", noting themes of child abuse and toxic masculinity. "IndieWire" said that the episode "might have been the most horrific "Atlanta" episode to date", and said that the "sense of complacency and safety" from the previous week's more humorous "Barbershop" was "torn away". It also called the soft-boiled ostrich egg scene "perhaps one of the most disturbing sequences in the entire series".


title: Teddy Perkins

text: "Teddy Perkins" was ranked #1 on "Time"s list of the "Top 10 Best TV Episodes of 2018". "Teddy Perkins" was also on The Washington Post's list of "The 10 Best TV Episodes of 2018".


title: Teddy Perkins

text: The episode received 0.776 million viewers in its initial airing, with a 0.4 rating in the 18–49 demographic. With DVR viewership, the ratings increased to 1.77 million viewers.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. The pill contains two important hormones: progestin (a synthetic form of the hormone progestogen/progesterone) and estrogen (usually ethinylestradiol and 17β estradiol). When taken correctly, it alters the menstrual cycle to eliminate ovulation and prevent pregnancy.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: COCPs were first approved for contraceptive use in the United States in 1960, and are a very popular form of birth control. They are used by more than 100 million women worldwide and by about 9 million women in the United States. From 2015 to 2017, 12.6% of women aged 15–49 in the US reported using COCPs, making it the second most common method of contraception in this age range (female sterilization is the most common method). Use of COCPs, however, varies widely by country, age, education, and marital status. For example, one third of women aged 16–49 in the United Kingdom currently use either the combined pill or progestogen-only pill (POP), compared with less than 3% of women in Japan (as of 1950–2014).


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Combined oral contraceptives are on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. The pill was a catalyst for the sexual revolution.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Combined oral contraceptive pills are a type of oral medication that were originally designed to be taken every day at the same time of day in order to prevent pregnancy. There are many different formulations or brands, but the average pack is designed to be taken over a 28-day period (also known as a cycle). For the first 21 days of the cycle, users take a daily pill that contains two hormones, estrogen and progestogen. During the last 7 days of the cycle, users take daily placebo (biologically inactive) pills and these days are considered hormone-free days. Although these are hormone-free days, users are still protected from pregnancy during this time.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Some COCP packs only contain 21 pills and users are advised to take no pills for the last 7 days of the cycle. Other COCP formulations contain 91 pills, consisting of 84 days of active hormones followed by 7 days of placebo (Seasonale). Of recent innovation, COCP formulations can contain 24 days of active hormone pills followed by 4 days of placebo pills (e.g. Yaz 28 and Loestrin 24 Fe) as a means to decrease the severity of placebo effects. These COCPs containing active hormones and a placebo/hormone-free period are called cyclic COCPs. Once a pack of cyclical COCP treatment is completed, users start a new pack and new cycle.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Most monophasic COCPs can be used continuously such that patients can skip placebo days and continuously take hormone active pills from a COCP pack. One of the most common reasons users do this is to avoid or diminish withdrawal bleeding. The majority of women on cyclic COCPs have regularly scheduled withdrawal bleeding, which is vaginal bleeding mimicking users' menstrual cycles with the exception of lighter menstrual bleeding compared to bleeding patterns prior to COCP commencement. As such, a recent study reported that out of 1003 women taking COCPs approximately 90% reported regularly scheduled withdrawal bleeds over a 90-day standard reference period. Withdrawal bleeding usually occurs during the placebo, hormone-free days. Therefore, avoiding placebo days can diminish withdrawal bleeding among other placebo effects.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: If used exactly as instructed, the estimated risk of getting pregnant is 0.3% which means that about 3 in 1000 women on COCPs will become pregnant within one year. However, typical use of COCPs by users often consists of timing errors, forgotten pills, or unwanted side effects. With typical use, the estimated risk of getting pregnant is about 9% which means that about 9 in 100 women on COCPs will become pregnant in one year. The perfect use failure rate is based on a review of pregnancy rates in clinical trials, and the typical use failure rate is based on a weighted average of estimates from the 1995 and 2002 U.S. National Surveys of Family Growth (NSFG), corrected for underreporting of abortions.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: For instance, someone using COCPs might have received incorrect information by a health care provider about medication frequency, forgotten to take the pill one day or not gone to the pharmacy in time to renew her COCP prescription.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: COCPs provide effective contraception from the very first pill if started within five days of the beginning of the menstrual cycle (within five days of the first day of menstruation). If started at any other time in the menstrual cycle, COCPs provide effective contraception only after 7 consecutive days of use of active pills, so a backup method of contraception (e.g. condoms) must be used in the interim.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: The effectiveness of COCPs appears to be similar whether the active pills are taken continuously or if they are taken cyclically. Contraceptive efficacy, however, could be impaired by numerous means. Factors that may contribute to a decrease in effectiveness:


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: In any of these instances, a backup contraceptive method should be used until hormone active pills have been consistently taken for 7 consecutive days or drug-drug interactions or underlying illnesses have been discontinued or resolved. According to CDC guidelines, a pill is considered "late" if a user takes the pill after the user's normal medication time, but no longer than 24 hours after this normal time. If 24 hours or more have passed since the time the user was supposed to take the pill, then the pill is considered "missed." CDC guidelines discuss potential next steps for users who missed their pill or took it late.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: The role of the placebo pills is two-fold: to allow the user to continue the routine of taking a pill every day and to simulate the average menstrual cycle. By continuing to take a pill every day, users remain in the daily habit even during the week without hormones. Failure to take pills during the placebo week does not impact the effectiveness of the pill, provided that daily ingestion of active pills is resumed at the end of the week.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: The placebo, or hormone-free, week in the 28-day pill package simulates an average menstrual cycle, though the hormonal events during a pill cycle are significantly different from those of a normal ovulatory menstrual cycle. Because the pill suppresses ovulation (to be discussed more in the Mechanism of action section), birth control users do not have true menstrual periods. Instead, it is the lack of hormones for a week that causes a withdrawal bleed. The withdrawal bleeding that occurs during the break from active pills has been thought to be reassuring, a physical confirmation of not being pregnant. The withdrawal bleeding is also predictable. Unexpected breakthrough bleeding can be a possible side effect of longer term active regimens.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Since it is not uncommon for menstruating women to become anemic, some placebo pills may contain an iron supplement. This replenishes iron stores that may become depleted during menstruation. As well, birth control pills, such as COCPs, are sometimes fortified with folic acid as it is recommended to take folic acid supplementation in the months prior to pregnancy to decrease the likelihood of neural tube defect in infants.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: If the pill formulation is monophasic, meaning each hormonal pill contains a fixed dose of hormones, it is possible to skip withdrawal bleeding and still remain protected against conception by skipping the placebo pills altogether and starting directly with the next packet. Attempting this with bi- or tri-phasic pill formulations carries an increased risk of breakthrough bleeding and may be undesirable. It will not, however, increase the risk of getting pregnant.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Starting in 2003, women have also been able to use a three-month version of the pill. Similar to the effect of using a constant-dosage formulation and skipping the placebo weeks for three months, Seasonale gives the benefit of less frequent periods, at the potential drawback of breakthrough bleeding. Seasonique is another version in which the placebo week every three months is replaced with a week of low-dose estrogen.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: A version of the combined pill has also been packaged to eliminate placebo pills and withdrawal bleeds. Marketed as Anya or Lybrel, studies have shown that after seven months, 71% of users no longer had any breakthrough bleeding, the most common side effect of going longer periods of time without breaks from active pills.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: While more research needs to be done to assess the long term safety of using COCP's continuously, studies have shown there may be no difference in short term adverse effects when comparing continuous use versus cyclic use of birth control pills.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: The hormones in the pill have also been used to treat other medical conditions, such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, adenomyosis, acne, hirsutism, amenorrhea, menstrual cramps, menstrual migraines, menorrhagia (excessive menstrual bleeding), menstruation-related or fibroid-related anemia and dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation). Besides acne, no oral contraceptives have been approved by the U.S. FDA for the previously mentioned uses despite extensive use for these conditions.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: The cause of PCOS, or polycystic ovary syndrome, is multifactorial and not well-understood. Women with PCOS often have higher than normal levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and androgens that impact the normal function of the ovaries. While multiple small follicles develop in the ovary, none are able to grow in size enough to become the dominant follicle and trigger ovulation. This leads to an imbalance of LH, follicle stimulating hormone, estrogen, and progesterone. Without ovulation, unopposed estrogen can lead to endometrial hyperplasia, or overgrowth of tissue in the uterus. This endometrial overgrowth is more likely to become cancerous than normal endometrial tissue. Thus, although the data varies, it is generally agreed upon by most gynecological societies that due to the unopposed estrogen, women with PCOS are at higher risk for endometrial cancer.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: To reduce the risk of endometrial cancer, it is often recommended that women with PCOS who do not desire pregnancy take hormonal contraceptives to prevent the effects of unopposed estrogen. Both COCPs and progestin-only methods are recommended. It is the progestin component of COCPs that protects the endometrium from hyperplasia, and thus reduces a woman with PCOS's endometrial cancer risk. COCPs are preferred to progestin-only methods in women who also have uncontrolled acne, symptoms of hirsutism, and androgenic alopecia, because COCPs can help treat these symptoms.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: COCPs are sometimes prescribed to treat symptoms of androgenization, including acne and hirsutism. The estrogen component of COCPs appears to suppress androgen production in the ovaries. Estrogen also leads to increased synthesis of sex hormone binding globulin, which causes a decrease in the levels of free testosterone.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Ultimately, the drop in the level of free androgens leads to a decrease in the production of sebum, which is a major contributor to development of acne. Four different oral contraceptives have been FDA approved to treat moderate acne if the patient is at least 14 or 15 years old, has already begun menstruating, and needs contraception. These include Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Estrostep, Beyaz, and YAZ.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Hirsutism is the growth of coarse, dark hair where women typically grow only fine hair or no hair at all. This hair growth on the face, chest, and abdomen is also mediated by higher levels or action of androgens. Therefore, COCPs also work to treat these symptoms by lowering the levels of free circulating androgens.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: For pelvic pain associated with endometriosis, COCPs are considered a first-line medical treatment, along with NSAIDs, GnRH agonists, and aromatase inhibitors. COCPs work to suppress the growth of the extra-uterine endometrial tissue. This works to lessen its inflammatory effects. COCPs, along with the other medical treatments listed above, do not eliminate the extra-uterine tissue growth, they just reduce the symptoms. Surgery is the only definitive treatment. Studies looking at rates of pelvic pain recurrence after surgery have shown that continuous use of COCPs is more effective at reducing the recurrence of pain than cyclic use.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Similar to endometriosis, adenomyosis is often treated with COCPs to suppress the growth the endometrial tissue that has grown into the myometrium. Unlike endometriosis however, levonorgetrel containing IUDs are more effective at reducing pelvic pain in adenomyosis than COCPs.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: In the average menstrual cycle, a woman typically loses 35 to 40 milliliters of blood. However, up to 20% of women experience much heavier bleeding, or menorrhagia. This excess blood loss can lead to anemia, with symptoms of fatigue and weakness, as well as disruption in their normal life activities. COCPs contain progestin, which causes the lining of the uterus to be thinner, resulting in lighter bleeding episodes for those with heavy menstrual bleeding.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Although the pill is sometimes prescribed to induce menstruation on a regular schedule for women bothered by irregular menstrual cycles, it actually suppresses the normal menstrual cycle and then mimics a regular 28-day monthly cycle.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Women who are experiencing menstrual dysfunction due to female athlete triad are sometimes prescribed oral contraceptives as pills that can create menstrual bleeding cycles. However, the condition's underlying cause is energy deficiency and should be treated by correcting the imbalance between calories eaten and calories burned by exercise. Oral contraceptives should not be used as an initial treatment for female athlete triad.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: While combined oral contraceptives are generally considered to be a relatively safe medication, they are contraindicated for those with certain medical conditions. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publish guidance, called medical eligibility criteria, on the safety of birth control in the context of medical conditions.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Estrogen in high doses can increase risk of blood clots. All COCP users have a small increase in the risk of venous thromboembolism compared with non-users; this risk is greatest within the first year of COCP use. Individuals with any pre-existing medical condition that also increases their risk for blood clots have a more significant increase in risk of thrombotic events with COCP use. These conditions include but are not limited to high blood pressure, pre-existing cardiovascular disease (such as valvular heart disease or ischemic heart disease), history of thromboembolism or pulmonary embolism, cerebrovascular accident, and a familial tendency to form blood clots (such as familial factor V Leiden). There are conditions that, when associated with COCP use, increase risk of adverse effects other than thrombosis. For example, women with a history of migraine with aura have an increased risk of stroke when using COCPs, and women who smoke over age 35 and use COCPs are at higher risk of myocardial infarction.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Women who are known to be pregnant should not take COCPs. Those in the postpartum period who are breastfeeding are also advised not to start COCPs until 4 weeks after birth due to increased risk of blood clots. While studies have demonstrated conflicting results about the effects of COCPs on lactation duration and milk volume, there exist concerns about the transient risk of COCPs on breast milk production when breastfeeding is being established early postpartum. Due to the stated risks and additional concerns on lactation, women who are breastfeeding are not advised to start COCPs until at least six weeks postpartum, while women who are not breastfeeding and have no other risks factors for blood clots may start COCPs after 21 days postpartum.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: The WHO currently does not recommend the use of COCPs in women with breast cancer. Since COCPs contain both estrogen and progestin, they are not recommended to be used in those with hormonally-sensitive cancers, including some types of breast cancer. Non-hormonal contraceptive methods, such as the Copper IUD or condoms, should be the first-line contraceptive choice for these patients instead of COCPs.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Women with known or suspected endometrial cancer or unexplained uterine bleeding should also not take COCPs to avoid health risks. COCPs are also contraindicated for people with advanced diabetes, liver tumors, hepatic adenoma or severe cirrhosis of the liver. COCPs are metabolized in the liver and thus liver disease can lead to reduced elimination of the medication. Additionally, severe hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia are also currently contraindications, but the evidence showing that COCP's lead to worse outcomes in this population is weak. Obesity is not considered to be a contraindication to taking COCPs.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: It is generally accepted that the health risks of oral contraceptives are lower than those from pregnancy and birth, and "the health benefits of any method of contraception are far greater than any risks from the method". Some organizations have argued that comparing a contraceptive method to no method (pregnancy) is not relevant—instead, the comparison of safety should be among available methods of contraception.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Different sources note different incidence of side effects. The most common side effect is breakthrough bleeding. A 1992 French review article said that as many as 50% of new first-time users discontinue the birth control pill before the end of the first year because of the annoyance of side effects such as breakthrough bleeding and amenorrhea. A 2001 study by the Kinsey Institute exploring predictors of discontinuation of oral contraceptives found that 47% of 79 people discontinued the pill. One 1994 study found that women using birth control pills blinked 32% more often than those not using the contraception. Another 2011 study, presented data that indicated 74% of the women experienced weight gain, and 51% recorded an appetite change. Another 47% of the women recorded vaginal dryness and 48% experienced low sex drive.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: On the other hand, the pills can sometimes improve conditions such as dysmenorrhea, premenstrual syndrome, and acne, reduce symptoms of endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, and decrease the risk of anemia. Use of oral contraceptives also reduces lifetime risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer. Women have experienced amenorrhea, easy administration, and improvement in sexual function in some patients.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Nausea, vomiting, headache, bloating, breast tenderness, swelling of the ankles/feet (fluid retention), or weight change may occur. Vaginal bleeding between periods (spotting) or missed/irregular periods may occur, especially during the first few months of use.


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: Combined oral contraceptives increase the risk of venous thromboembolism (including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE)).


title: Combined oral contraceptive pill

text: While lower doses of estrogen in COC pills may have a lower risk of stroke and myocardial infarction compared to higher estrogen dose pills (50 μg/day), users of low estrogen dose COC pills still have an increased risk compared to non-users. These risks are greatest in women with additional risk factors, such as smoking (which increases risk substantially) and long-continued use of the pill, especially in women over 35 years of age.