title: Mike Birbiglia

text: In April 2017, Birbiglia announced a tour of his newest show titled "The New One". The tour started with 25 cities and, in December 2017, featured a limited podcast titled "The Old Ones". The podcast features Mike Birbiglia analyzing his old stand-up with guests including his brother Joe Birbiglia, comedians Pete Holmes and John Mulaney, film producer and director Judd Apatow, contributor to 'This American Life' Ira Glass and his wife. "The New One" made its off-Broadway debut at the Cherry Lane Theatre on July 26 and was scheduled to run through August 2 before a high demand for tickets extended the show's run to and through August 26.


title: Mike Birbiglia

text: The show then received a Broadway transfer, with performances beginning October 25, 2018 and running through January 20, 2019 at the Cort Theatre.


title: Mike Birbiglia

text: In March 2020, Birbiglia created a charity initiative called "Tip Your Waitstaff" with fellow comics to raise money for comedy clubs closed because of COVID-19.


title: Mike Birbiglia

text: Birbiglia is a regular contributor to the Public Radio International-distributed program "This American Life".


title: Mike Birbiglia

text: Birbiglia temporarily replaced Jimmy Kimmel for a brief while in 2022, as Kimmel recovered from COVID-19.


title: Mike Birbiglia

text: Birbiglia has rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, which once caused him to run out of a second-story window of a motel he was staying in Walla Walla, Washington while on tour. As a result of the accident, Birbiglia received 33 stitches in his leg. He also had a tumor on his bladder at the age of 19.


title: Mike Birbiglia

text: Birbiglia is married to Jen Stein, whose pen name is J. Hope Stein, and whose work is featured in "The New One". They have one daughter, Oona.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: Supercell Oy is a Finnish mobile game development company based in Helsinki. Founded on 14 May 2010, the company's debut game was the browser game "Gunshine.net", and after its release in 2011, Supercell started developing games for mobile devices. Since then, the company has fully released five mobile games: "Hay Day", "Clash of Clans", "Boom Beach", "Clash Royale", and "Brawl Stars", which are freemium fast-paced games and have been very successful for the company, the first two generating revenue of €2 million a day in 2013.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: Following its rapid growth, Supercell opened additional offices in Tokyo, Shanghai, San Francisco, and Seoul. In 2016, the company was bought out by Chinese conglomerate Tencent holdings, taking an 81.4% stake in the company valued at €8.4 billion.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: Supercell focuses on the development of free-to-play games that yield profits through the in-game micropayments. The company's objective is to focus on the successful games that stay popular for years. The focus has not been on revenue, but on the principle "just design something great, something that users love." Game development focuses around "cells" of five to seven people which start with idea generation and an initial review by CEO Paananen. The team subsequently develops the idea into a game, which the rest of the company's employees get to play-test, followed by play-testing in Canada's App store; if the Canada reception is good, the next step is global rollout (App Store). Successful failures are celebrated by employees. One of the games that was cancelled well into development was "Battle Buddies", which had also been rated well in the test market, but the number of players was still too small. The final decision for cancelling a project is done by the development team themselves.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: Before Supercell, two of its founders, Mikko Kodisoja and Ilkka Paananen, worked at Sumea, a mobile game company. Kodisoja co-founded Sumea in 1999, and Paananen was hired as the company's CEO in 2000. In 2003, Sumea made a profit of €1.2 million. In the following year, the American Digital Chocolate bought Sumea and made the company its Finnish headquarters and Paananen the European manager. Kodisoja, the firm's creative director left the company in 2010, followed soon after by Paananen.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: Paananen moved to venture capital company Lifeline Ventures, but wanted to create a game company where executives would not disturb the work of the game developers. Together, Paananen, Kodisoja, Petri Styrman, Lassi Leppinen, Visa Forstén, and Niko Derome who had known each other through work connections, founded Supercell in 2010. The company started its business in the Niittykumpu district of Espoo.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: Kodisoja and Paananen invested €250,000 in the company. Tekes, the Finnish funding agency for technology innovation loaned them a further €400,000 and Lifeline Ventures also invested in Supercell. The following October, Supercell raised €750,000 through seed funding, including from London Venture Partners and Initial Capital. The first game Supercell started to develop was the massive multiplayer online game "Gunshine" that could be played on Facebook with a browser or on mobile platforms. The game prototype was ready in eight months. After "Gunshine's" completion, Accel Partners also invested €8 million in the company in May 2011, and shareholder Kevin Comolli became a member of Supercell's board of directors. Accel also invested in Rovio, among others.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: In November 2011, Supercell abandoned "Gunshine" for three reasons: it did not interest players for long enough, it was too difficult to play, and the mobile version did not work as well as the browser version. At best, the game had approximately half a million players. Supercell considered Zynga's market leadership in games on the Facebook platform insurmountable and so decided to focus on iPad games, cancelling a Facebook game it was developing. In order to ease concerns of Supercell's investors due to the change of direction, Paananen increased the detail of progress reports.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: The company simultaneously developed five games and the first to be released for public testing was "Pets vs Orcs". This game and "Tower" were abandoned. In May 2012, "Hay Day" was published and eventually became Supercell's first internationally released game. "Hay Day" was Supercell's version of Zynga's successful Facebook game "FarmVille", an easy-to-play farm simulator. Supercell added to their farming simulator the ability to refine products, a production chain, and touch screen properties. The social aspect of the game was emphasised as well. In four months, the game became one of the most profitable games in Apple's App Store in the US, and was one of the most profitable in the world for two and a half years. The game receives regular updates and is maintained by a team of 14 people.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: Lasse Louhento had started at Bloodhouse, and Lassi Leppinen was the chief programmer at Sumea and Digital Chocolate. Their team had spent months on a fantasy themed Facebook game when Supercell changed strategies. Leppinen and Louhento wanted to make a strategy game that would use a touch screen so playing would be as simple and pleasant as possible. The development of "Clash of Clans" took six months, and the game was released on 2 August 2012. In three months, it became the most profitable app in the US. According to App Annie, in the years 2013 and 2014 "Clash of Clans" was the most profitable mobile game in the world. The eponymous battle between the clans was added to the game as late as 2014.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: In summer 2013, Supercell began a marketing collaboration with the Japanese video game company GungHo: the companies cross-marketed each other's games in their own markets. As a result, "Clash of Clans" became one of the most downloaded apps in Japan. GungHo's chairman of the board Taizo Son flew to Finland to thank Paananen and later introduced him to his brother Masayoshi Son, the CEO of the SoftBank Corporation. Soon, they proposed a corporate acquisition which indeed happened on 7 October 2013. SoftBank and GungHo bought 51% of Supercell's shares for 1.1 billion euros which is the largest price for a Finnish private company in history. In six months, Supercell's value had tripled, since in spring 2013 the company had sold 16.7% of its shares for 100 million euros.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: Both "Clash of Clans" and "Hay Day" were released in summer 2012, and Supercell did not release a new game in almost two years. The design of the third game "Boom Beach" started in the autumn of 2012, and it was released in 2014. The new strategy game was released to the test market at the end of 2013, after which it went through large changes. The game was very successful in the US right after its release in March, but it did not stay at the top of the download charts for very long. However, it rose to the top 30 of the most downloaded iPhone apps after Supercell started an expensive marketing campaign in December 2014. In 2015, the game surpassed "Hay Day" in the charts.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: In March 2016, Supercell released its fourth supported game, "Clash Royale", which uses similar characters from "Clash of Clans". Between the releases of "Boom Beach" and "Clash Royale", Supercell had discontinued multiple game projects, two in their test release phase. One of them was "Smash Land" which had been developed by 4 to 5 people for 10 months.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: In December 2018, Supercell released "Brawl Stars" globally, which was their fifth supported game and took 18 months to develop from its original release.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: On December 15, 2021, Supercell announced that they are opening a new game studio in North America to make games for other platforms like PC and consoles.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: Accel Partners and Index Ventures invested $12 million in the Series A of Supercell in 2011. In October 2013 it was announced that the Japanese company GungHo Online Entertainment and its parent SoftBank had acquired 51% of the company for a reported $1.51 billion. On 1 June 2015, SoftBank acquired an additional 22.7% stake in Supercell, which brought their total stake to 73.2% of the company and made them the sole external shareholder. In 2016, Supercell reported annual revenues of around €2.11 billion. In three years, the company's revenues have grown a total of 800 percent, from 78.4 million (2012).


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: In June 2016, Halti S.A., a Luxembourg-based consortium founded that month, acquired 81.4% of Supercell for $8.6 billion. At the time, Japan's SoftBank valued Supercell at $10.2 billion. Halti S.A. was 50%-owned by Chinese technology company Tencent; in October 2019, Tencent increased its stake in the consortium to 51.2% by acquiring shares worth $40 million as part of a convertible bond.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: In 2017, Supercell acquired 60% of Space Ape Games, a mobile game developer based in London. In February 2021, it was announced that Space Ape will collaborate with Supercell to make "Beatstar", which led to Supercell ID becoming available on "Beatstar". In late 2021, Space Ape developed "", a spin-off of "Boom Beach" with Supercell. It was soft-launched in Canada on 19 October 2021 and was released to selected countries. On 30 November 2022, the game was announced to be discontinued with servers shutting down in January 2023.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: During Super Bowl XLIX in February 2015, Supercell spent $9 million for a 60-second runtime in front of 118.5 million viewers. According to "The Guardian", the "Clash of Clans" advertisement was one of the most popular advertisements of the 61 spots aired on NBC. The commercial, dubbed "Revenge", featured Liam Neeson parodying his character from the "Taken" film series by seeking revenge in a coffee shop for a random player destroying his village. The commercial has reached a total of 165 million views on the game's official YouTube channel so far, and it was the most watched commercial on YouTube in 2015. Despite the success of the commercial, Supercell has seen only a marginal increase in downloads following the advertisement. In 2020, Supercell collaborated with an animation production studio Psyop, produced a short film "Lost & Crowned", was uploaded on 12 September 2020 and qualified for Oscars recognition in December.


title: Supercell (video game company)

text: In 2012, Supercell was awarded as the best Nordic start-up company and chosen as the Finnish game developer of the year. The following year, Supercell won the Finnish Teknologiakasvattaja 2013 (Technology Educator 2013) contest, and the company was chosen as the software entrepreneur of the year. In 2014, the research and consultancy agency T-Media chose Supercell as Finland's most reputable company in their Luottamus&Maine (Trust&Reputation) report.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas, in the United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Prix, NASCAR's Texas Grand Prix, and the Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, a round in MotoGP. It previously hosted the Australian V8 Supercars, the Americas Rallycross Championship, the American Le Mans Series, the Rolex Sports Car Series, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Classic.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: The circuit and Grand Prix were first proposed in the middle of 2010. The circuit was the first in the United States to be purpose-built for Formula One. The layout was conceived by promoter Tavo Hellmund and 1993 Motorcycle World Champion Kevin Schwantz with the assistance of German architect and circuit designer Hermann Tilke, who has also designed the Sepang, Shanghai, Yas Marina, Istanbul, Bahrain, Yeongam, and Buddh circuits, as well as the reprofiling of the Hockenheimring and Fuji Speedway.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: In a news conference on July 27, 2010, Tavo Hellmund announced plans to build the track on about of undeveloped land in southeastern Travis County. The majority of the site had been planned to be developed into a residential subdivision called "Wandering Creek". In the same news conference, Hellmund also revealed that Texas billionaire Red McCombs was the project's largest investor.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: The circuit homologation design was submitted to the FIA in Geneva for approval on December 17, 2010. HKS, Inc. and Tilke Engineers & Architects designed the track, and Austin Commercial, a subsidiary of Austin Industries, was the general contractor. Construction began on December 31, 2010, and was due to be complete by June 2012. Following a stop-work order in December 2011, the completion date was revised to August. The first tasks were building the silt fences, taking core samples, and shredding existing vegetation.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: On January 21, 2011, a $900,000 check was posted with Travis County that permitted grading to begin. The money was to be used to restore the land if the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declined to allow the project to move forward because part of the site lies in a floodplain. FEMA issued a letter on June 28, 2011, stating the project meets its floodplain management criteria.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: In January 2012, Travis County announced that Elroy Road—one of the two primary public access roads to the circuit—would receive an upgrade to handle the volume of incoming traffic, but not before the running of the 2012 race. At the time of the announcement, the unstable clay soils under the road surface had caused Elroy Road to gradually buckle and shift, necessitating the upgrade.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: On June 13, 2012, Charlie Whiting—the FIA-appointed Race Director for Formula One—declared himself satisfied with the circuit's construction, scheduling a final pre-race inspection of the circuit for September 25, sixty days before the first race, which the circuit later passed. To ensure the demanding FIA specifications for the track were met, GPS-based 3D paving equipment was used on the asphalt paving and milling machines. The first layer of asphalt was completed on August 3, 2012. Construction began laying the final layer of asphalt on August 14, and was finished on September 21. The track was officially opened on October 21, with Mario Andretti running the ceremonial first laps in a Lotus 79, the car he drove when he became the last American to win the World Drivers' Championship in 1978. The Grand Plaza, Observation Structure, Tower Amphitheater, and Main Grandstand were designed by Austin-based architectural firm Miró Rivera Architects.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: McCombs wished to call the site "Speed City", but the owners originally anticipated selling the naming rights to various parts of the facility for $7 million. On April 12, 2011, the track's name was announced as "Circuit of the Americas" at a press conference.Red McCombs, later said: “One of the most inviting aspects of the name is the word ‘Americas’. It reflects Austin's ideal location at the crossroads of North America from north to south, east to west. Also, it speaks to our state as a centre of commerce and cultural exchange in this hemisphere. I look forward to meeting many fans and visitors who will be coming from every country.” In December 2020 Red McCombs got a corner named after him called 'Big Red'.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: In order for the race to take place, the Austin city council was asked to be the sponsoring municipality for the event. Through being a sponsor, the city could apply for money from a state fund, the Major Events Trust Fund (METF), designed to attract major sporting events to Texas that would be used to pay the Formula One race sanctioning fee. This matter was complicated by opponents of the project who filed a lawsuit against state comptroller Susan Combs, claiming that she had promised the funding to the circuit without having been legally authorized to do so, though promoters have responded stating that all necessary guidelines had been followed.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: In June 2011, the Austin city council agreed to allow the circuit to apply to the Texas Major Events Trust Fund but withheld its full endorsement requiring the circuit to pay the financial match normally borne by the local government sponsor. As a part of the endorsement, the sport will pay $15,000 in carbon offsets and $5 million to establish an on-site research project into environmentally friendly technologies.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: On July 1, 2011, a state district court judge declined to enter a temporary restraining order against Combs preventing payments from the METF; nonetheless, Texas Comptroller Combs reconsidered and chose not to make the July 31 advance payment to FOMC/Bernard Ecclestone as previously agreed for the first year's sanctioning fee. The attorney for the project's opponents has stated that he is unsure if they will continue pursuing the lawsuit.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: In November 2011, Bernie Ecclestone expressed what he called "minor" doubt over the future of the United States Grand Prix in Austin after "disagreements inside the [management] company". These issues were later confirmed when construction of the circuit came to a halt because of a dispute between the circuit owners, promoter Full Throttle Productions, and Formula One Management.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: Promoter Tavo Hellmund admitted that his company had been in breach of its contract with Formula One Management since May 2011. The situation further escalated when state comptroller Susan Combs described the planned Grand Prix of America as a threat to the race in Texas, and said that the first $25 million payment from the state sports fund would only be made available after the first Grand Prix at the circuit, despite having previously promised to make the funds available in time for the inaugural event. Bernie Ecclestone later issued an ultimatum to the owners and organizers: find a solution before the December 7 meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council or else risk being removed from the 2012 calendar. Ecclestone emphasized that if the Circuit of the Americas were removed from the calendar, it would not be added again at a later date.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: On December 7, 2011, the World Motor Sport Council released the final calendar for the 2012 season, with the Circuit of the Americas retaining its November 18 date. Further details revealed that the race investors, McCombs and Epstein, had reached a new arrangement with Ecclestone, with work on the circuit scheduled to resume immediately. As a part of the arrangement, organizers paid the sanctioning fee for the 2012 race one year in advance as a show of good faith. At the time of the circuit's reinstatement, there were no reports supporting Tavo Hellmund's continued involvement under the new contract.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: On March 4, 2012, "The Austin American-Statesman" reported that Hellmund had launched legal proceedings against investors Bobby Epstein and Red McCombs, with Hellmund claiming that he was still a part of the management company and had not been paid since September. Further details emerged, reporting that Hellmund was in the process of attempting to acquire Epstein's interest in the company, describing the condition of the circuit as of March 4 as "teetering". Epstein responded to the lawsuit by stating that Hellmund had been found to have been in breach of contract by Formula One Management. In June 2012, the dispute between Hellmund and Epstein was reported to have been settled out of court.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: A crowd of 117,429 spectators watched the United States Grand Prix in November 2012 after four years of Formula One not hosting a Grand Prix in the United States. In October 2022, the three-day Formula One United States Grand Prix event drew a record number of fans. Roughly 440,000 people attended the event, breaking Formula One's attendance record of 400,000 set at the 2021 United States Grand Prix for an event held in North America. Sunday's race final drew over 150,000 spectators to Circuit of the Americas breaking the inaugural Formula One race at the circuit attendance in 2012. This surge was due to the popularity of "" in the United States and the honoring of the 2020 tickets as the 2020 United States Grand Prix was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: In April 2011, plans were unveiled by Tavo Hellmund of Full Throttle Productions and Kevin Schwantz of 3fourTexas for the circuit to host a round of the 2013 MotoGP World Championship, with the race to be known as the Texas Grand Prix. The race was the brainchild of Schwantz, the circuit co-designer, who would serve as event promoter with his company, 3fourTexas. However, following the settlement of the lawsuit between Tavo Hellmund and Bobby Epstein, Schwantz announced that he would be suing Steve Sexton. Schwantz claimed that upon the resolution of the dispute between Hellmund and Epstein, Sexton moved to negotiate directly with MotoGP's commercial rights holder, Dorna Sports, ignoring what he claimed was an existing contract between Dorna and 3fourTexas to hold the race.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: Circuit representatives denied that there was ever a contract between Schwantz and the Circuit of the Americas, and that his dispute was with Dorna Sports. Dorna later claimed that although a contract for the race between Dorna and Schwantz had existed, the contract had been terminated in July 2012 as they believed Schwantz had failed to acquire the necessary rights from the circuit to hold the race. Schwantz then accused Sexton and the Circuit of the Americas of "undermining" him, deliberately blocking his attempts to establish a race in order to have the contract terminated and allowing them to negotiate a more-favourable arrangement with Dorna.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: In October 2012, Dorna Sports announced that they had come to agreeable terms with organizers of the Texas motorcycle Grand Prix, including the race on the 2013 calendar as the Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, but made no mention of the dispute with Schwantz or any outcome of it. Prior to the 2014 Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, the circuit announced that COTA and Schwantz had amicably settled their legal differences and reached an agreement to collaborate to promote motorcycling racing, with Schwantz taking the role as official ambassador for COTA.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: On September 4, 2018, IndyCar announced that it has reached a multi-year agreement to add the Circuit of the Americas to its calendar replacing Phoenix Raceway (then known as ISM Raceway), finalizing the IndyCar Series calendar. After hosting an IndyCar Spring Training test session, on February 12–13, COTA made its debut on the IndyCar Series schedule on Sunday, March 24, serving as the second race of the 2019 campaign, with the AutoNation IndyCar Challenge (IndyCar Classic), following the March 10 season-opener at St. Petersburg, FL. It was the first time since 2014 that two tracks in Texas would appear on the IndyCar Series calendar.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: On February 11, 2020, (perhaps as a precursor of the season to come) the opening day of IndyCar Spring Training, cold temperatures and persistent showers severely limited track time for all competitors to slow installation laps and a few experimental runs on rain tires. With improved weather, on February 12, IndyCar concluded its first open test of the season. However, the 2020 race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 1, 2020, Indycar released the 2021 calendar with COTA dropped from the schedule unexpectedly to the surprise of many, after it was announced two years prior that they had a multi year deal in place between Indycar and COTA.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: On September 30, 2020, it was announced that COTA would host a NASCAR Cup Series event for the first time on May 23, 2021. The lower Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series were also added as support events. On December 11, 2020, it was announced that NASCAR would run the full course. EchoPark Automotive assumed naming rights for the Cup race, which dubbed it the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix. The Xfinity and Truck races were respectively named the Pit Boss 250 and Toyota Tundra 225 with title sponsorship from Pit Boss Grills and Toyota.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: The inaugural race weekend was marred by rain, with the Truck race on Saturday being in wet conditions while the Xfinity event later in the day was drier. The Cup race the following day, won by Chase Elliott, was shortened as the weather worsened and caused low driver visibility. On September 15, "The Athletic" has reported that NASCAR will return to the circuit for the 2022 season as Speedway Motorsports, the promoter of the race picked up the renewal on the contract. The race ran as scheduled on March 27, 2022. The promoters announced on the week prior to the race that NASCAR will be returning to Austin as they renewed for one more year. It will mark the third time consecutively that NASCAR goes to Austin.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: In an episode of Speed TV's "Wind Tunnel" program broadcast on August 22, 2010, Tavo Hellmund revealed that the circuit would be long and would be made up of twenty turns with an elevation change of . The final plan of the circuit was released on September 1, 2010, showing a design inspired by the European tradition of sculpting the circuit to the contours of the land. The design draws from several European Formula One circuits, including a recreation of Silverstone's Maggotts–Becketts–Chapel sequence, Hockenheim's arena bends, and a replica of Istanbul's Turn Eight. Other corners were loosely inspired by the Senna 'S' at Interlagos and the Österreichring's Sebring-Auspuffkurve. A feature of the circuit is a deliberate widening of corners, to encourage drivers to follow multiple racing lines. A similar feature was used at the Buddh International Circuit in India, where the circuit widens on the approach to certain corners.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: The circuit was one of only a handful on the Formula One 2012 calendar to be run counter-clockwise, the others being Marina Bay, the Korea International Circuit, Yas Marina, and Interlagos. Because of this, the circuit contains more left-hand turns than right-hand ones, placing greater physical demands on the drivers whose bodies, particularly their necks, are more adapted to the lateral g-forces of clockwise circuits.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: From the start line, the drivers climb a gradient of over 11% to the first corner—the highest point of the circuit—with the apex of the corner positioned on the crest of the hill. They descend the hill to navigate a series of fast sweepers modeled on Silverstone's Maggotts–Becketts–Chapel complex and through a blind corner at Turn 10, taking them to the far end of the circuit and a hairpin at Turn 11. The drivers then follow a straight back towards the pit and paddock area before entering the final sector of the lap and weaving through a series of corners modeled on Hockenheim's stadium section. This is followed by a downhill, multi-apex corner with limited run-off before the final two corners of the circuit, a pair of left-hand bends that return the drivers to the main straight.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: The reception from drivers ahead of the inaugural race was highly positive. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton both praised the circuit, suggesting that it would be considerably more difficult to learn than other recent additions to the Formula One calendar. Jenson Button described the first sector as "spectacular", but remarked that he felt that starting second would be better than starting first as the placement of pole position put it on a steeper incline than the rest of the grid. Kamui Kobayashi, on the other hand, was less complimentary, claiming that he did not feel intimidated by the steep climb to the first corner as it was no different from Eau Rouge at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and accusing the media of hyping it up without precedent. Mark Webber was also unimpressed, stating that while he enjoyed driving the first sector of the circuit, the second and third sectors were similar to other circuits on the calendar.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: Bordered by the track on three sides, the Grand Plaza is a space designed by Miró Rivera Architects of Austin, Texas that includes a large reflecting pool, lawn, and varying landscape zones. A promenade along the north side of the Grand Plaza hosts concessions, retail, restroom facilities, and entrances to spectator seating. From the southeast end of the Grand Plaza, two pedestrian bridges cross over turns 16 and 3 to provide access for visitors to other areas of the circuit complex.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: Circuit of the Americas features a observation tower designed by Miró Rivera Architects and built by Patriot Erectors as a landmark for the venue. The structure of the tower consists of an elevator hoist-way surrounded by a double helix staircase of 419 stairs, both of which lead to an observation platform above ground level. The platform provides a 360-degree panorama of the circuit, as well as views to downtown Austin, Texas. The observation platform, which is accessible to the public for an admission fee, can accommodate up to 70 visitors and features glass railings and a partial glass floor. In addition, a "veil" consisting of 18 bright red steel tubes runs nearly the full height of the tower, acting as a canopy for both the observation platform and the stage below. The design of the observation tower was inspired by the visual imagery of sports cars and movement, and the red color was selected to mimic the streaks of lights trailing racecars at night.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: On July 23, 2012, COTA announced a booking agreement with Live Nation to book major concerts at an open air amphitheater to be built at the base of the observation tower. Designed by Miró Rivera Architects, the venue opened in April 2013 with a concert by Kenny Chesney.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: The amphitheater accommodates up to 14,000 people with 5,240 permanent reserved seats. Another 1,700 seats can be configured on the stage-front floor or there is standing room for 2,300. The remaining general admission spots are on a sloping grass area behind the reserved seats. The venue was originally going to be called Tower Amphitheater, but under a deal closed in March 2013, was renamed to Austin360 Amphitheater, with naming rights sold to the entertainment/events website associated with the "Austin American-Statesman". Beginning January 1, 2020, COTA renamed the venue the Germania Insurance Amphitheater under a seven-year deal with the Brenham, Texas based insurance company.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: The primary permanent seating at Circuit of the Americas is located within the Main Grandstand, designed by Miró Rivera Architects. Above-ground construction on the grandstand began in March 2012, and the "topping out" occurred in June 2012 with completion in time for the inaugural United States Grand Prix.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: The Main Grandstand is tall, and has a total capacity of approximately 9,000 spectators. The seating is divided into three levels: lower level (capacity ~5400, including Loge Boxes), club level (capacity ~2900), and suite level (capacity ~750). The majority of seating is covered by a tensile fabric canopy. The primary structure is long, while the lower risers extend an additional . The grandstand also contains concessions, restrooms, offices, and two lounge spaces located at the second and third levels. The Velocity Lounge on the second level is approximately , and contains a 36-screen video wall and the acrylic painting "Velocity" by Dallas-based artist Christopher Martin measuring in length.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: Both the Main Grandstand and the concessions buildings in the Grand Plaza were conceived as a modular system consisting of several components that can be arranged according to need. The concessions, with banners and deep canopies, can be expanded with restrooms, permanent seating or suites. Inherent to this “kit-of-parts” construction system is flexibility allowing the site to grow and change.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: In August 2017, a new soccer-specific stadium was announced to be built between the Amphitheater and the Grand Plaza. A professional soccer team known as Austin Bold FC began playing in the USL Championship in 2019 until 2021. The stadium seats 5,000 people. The Austin Gilgronis of Major League Rugby began playing home games at the stadium in 2020.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: Official record lap times are only set during the race. The fastest ever lap on the track is 1:32.029 set by Valtteri Bottas in a Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ during qualifying at the 2019 United States Grand Prix. The official race lap records at the COTA are listed as:


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: The circuit as of 2022 hosts minor completions like the Formula Regional Americas Championship, Formula 4 United States Championship and the Ferrari Challenge North America.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: The track has hosted various events like the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, INDYCAR and the X Games.


title: Circuit of the Americas

text: COTA would have hosted the inaugural Intercontinental GT Challenge and the AutoNation INDYCAR Challenge.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Islamic State and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The conflict escalated when militants who were affiliated with Islamic State – Khorasan Province killed Abdul Ghani, a senior Taliban commander in Logar province on 2 February 2015. Since then, Taliban and IS-KP have engaged in clashes over the control of territory, mostly in eastern Afghanistan, but clashes have also occurred between the Taliban and IS-KP cells which are located in the north-west and south-west.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: The Haqqani network, al-Qaeda and others support the Taliban, while IS is supported by the High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Mullah Dadullah Front and the pro-ISIS faction of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. After the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in 2021, several members of the Afghan intelligence agency and the Afghan national army have also joined the Islamic State – Khorasan Province. In February 2022, Pakistani officials acknowledged that ongoing violence was destabilizing the region.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: During their original stint in power of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the ruling Taliban had pursued a policy of suppressing Salafism; motivated by strict Deobandi tenets. During this period, the main issue of Salafist scholars was that Taliban was led by Maturidi Sufis. As a result of the unofficial Taliban bans on "Ahl-i Hadith" during the 1996-2001 era, several Salafis had shifted to Peshawar. However, after the US-led Invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Taliban and "Ahl-i Hadith" allied to wage a common Jihad to resist the invasion. The Afghan Salafists decided to put aside their differences with the Taliban to join them in the “greater jihad” against the United States. Several Arab Salafis in Al-Qaeda rank and file would mediate the disputes between Afghan Salafists and Taliban; enabling them to unify for the more important religious duty of fighting against the U.S and its allies in Afghanistan. Many Salafi commanders and "Ahl-i Hadith" organisations participated in the Taliban insurgency (2001-2021) under Afghan Taliban's command.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: During the Taliban insurgency, in January 2015, IS established itself in Khorasan and formed IS-K. The main objective of IS-K was to occupy the land of Khorasan, that includes the country of Afghanistan. Even though the initial IS-K was formed by Taliban as well as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) defectors and thus ideologically similar, it became dominated by Salafists. The disgruntled members of TTP would establish IS-KP and shifted to the Nangarhar province. After its founding Pakistani leaders who defected from TTP were killed in US drone strikes, Afghan Salafists took charge of TTP.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: The emergence of IS-K provided militant Afghan Salafists with an opportunity to set up a rival force, although Salafist support for the group waned as it proved ideologically "too extreme and brutal" for most Afghan Salafis. As a result, the majority of Afghan Salafis have remained supportive of the Taliban. In March 2020, major Pashtun "Ahl-i Hadith" "ulema" convened in Peshawar under the leadership of Shaikh Abdul Aziz Nooristani and Haji Hayatullah to pledge "Bay'ah" (oath of loyalty) to the Taliban and publicly condemn IS-K. The scholars also requested protection from the Afghan Taliban for the "Ahl-i Hadith" community.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: After Taliban victory in the War in Afghanistan and Restoration of the Islamic Emirate, hundreds of "Ahl-i Hadith" "ulema" would gather to announce their "Bay'ah" (pledge of allegiance) to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Numerous "Ahl-i Hadith" clerics and their representatives held gatherings across various provinces of Afghanistan to re-affirm their backing of the Taliban and officially declare their support to the Taliban crackdown on IS-K.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: By 2016, IS-K mostly consisted of eastern Afghans, Pakistanis, and foreign fighters from Central Asia. The latter were mainly former members of the Islamic Jihad Union and the Turkistan Islamic Party. In addition, there were a small number of Arabs. Throughout its existence, IS-K has operated in a very limited area, mainly concentrated in select provinces in eastern Afghanistan, most importantly Nangarhar and Kunar. By 2016, it had appointed shadow governors in other regions as well, but not exerted much influence outside its traditional bases. The group is known to receive support by the Islamic State's central command in form of money and combat trainers from Iraq and Syria. IS-K's combat strength has fluctuated greatly over the years, but has mostly remained in the low thousands.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 2 February, militants affiliated with IS-K killed Abdul Ghani, a Taliban commander, in Logar province.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 26 May, Asif Nang, governor of Farah province, said the Taliban have been fighting against IS militants for the past three days in Farah province. The clash left 10 Taliban and 15 IS militants dead.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: In May, IS-K militants captured Maulvi Abbas, a Taliban commander who was leading a small squad of insurgent fighters in Nangarhar province.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: In June, IS-K militants beheaded 10 Taliban fighters who were fleeing an Afghan military offensive according to a spokesman of Afghan army corps responsible for the region.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 9 November, fighting had broken out between different Taliban factions in the Zabul Province of Afghanistan. Fighters loyal to the new Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour began to fight a pro-IS faction, led by Mullah Mansoor Dadullah. According to Afghan security and local officials, Akhtar Mansour had sent as many as 450 Taliban fighters to crush Mullah Mansoor and Islamic State elements in Zabul. Dadullah's faction received support from IS during the clashes, and IS fighters also joined in on the fighting alongside Dadullah, including foreign fighters from Chechnya and Uzbekistan. Dadullah and IS were eventually defeated by Mansour's forces. Hajji Momand Nasratyar, the district governor of Arghandab, said the fighting took place in three districts of Zabul province and 86 IS militants and 26 Taliban fighters were killed in the clash. Taliban also reported to have killed several IS militants who were responsible for beheading of seven Hazara civilians a few days back.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: Hajji Atta Jan, the Zabul provincial council chief, said the offensive by Mullah Mansour's fighters was so intense, that at least three Islamic State commanders, all of them ethnic Uzbeks, had surrendered. They were also asking others IS militants to do the same. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, while quoting sources from Southern Afghanistan, reported that some 70 IS militants were also captured in the clash by the Taliban.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 13 November, Ghulam Jelani Farahi, an Afghan police chief, said that Mullah Mansoor Dadullah was killed in a clash with Taliban.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: In January, hundreds of Taliban fighters launched an assault against IS bases in eastern Afghanistan. Taliban fighters were successful in capturing two districts from IS in eastern Afghanistan, but it failed to drive the group out of their stronghold in the Nazyan district in Nangarhar province. Ataullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said that 26 IS militants and 5 Taliban fighters were killed in the clashes in Nangarhar.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 2 February, US carried out airstrikes targeting IS radio station in eastern Afghanistan. The strike destroyed the radio station and killed 29 IS militants.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: In March, Taliban factions led by Muhammad Rasul and opposed to Mansoor, began to fight against his loyalists in the group. During the fighting, dozens were reported killed.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 26 April, Hazrat Hussain Mashriqwal, a provincial police spokesman, said that 10 IS militants, including an IS commander, and 6 Taliban fighters were killed in a clash in Nangarhar. 15 IS militants and 4 Taliban fighters were also wounded during the same clash according to the spokesman.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 19 May, local government officials reported that a clash took place between IS and Taliban in Achin and Khogyani district of Nangarhar province. 15 IS militants and 3 Taliban fighters were killed in Achin district, and the remaining were killed in Khogyani. 4 Taliban commanders were also among the dead.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 13 August, US defence officials said that ISIL's top leader, Hafiz Saeed Khan, was killed in a drone strike on 26 July in Nangarhar province.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 30 October, Ajmal Zahid, a governor of Golestan district, said that ISIL's commander, Abdul Razaq Mehdi, was killed by Taliban fighters in Farah province.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 13 April 2017, the United States dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb, known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) Mother of All Bombs near Momand village upon a Nangahar's Achin District village in eastern Afghanistan to destroy tunnel complexes used by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (ISIL-KP or ISIS-K). The "Guardian" reported that following the strike, US and Afghan forces conducted clearing operations and airstrikes in the area and assessed the damage.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 26 April, a fight occurred after IS captured 3 drug dealers who were involved in selling opium for the Taliban in Jowzjan Province. An Afghan National Police spokesman stated that the Taliban attacked IS in response, saying "The clashes erupted when group of armed Taliban attacked Daesh militants [to secure] the release of 3 drug smugglers who came here to pay 10 million afghanis [$14,780] to the Taliban for a deal." The Taliban's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid had also confirmed clashes were ongoing with IS at the time, without providing details on the nature of the fight or reasons. Mohammad Reza Ghafori, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said that the clashes between Taliban and IS-K had left 76 Taliban and 15 IS militants dead. IS militants also seized 2 districts from the Taliban, according to the spokesman.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 24 May, a clash between the Taliban and IS occurred, and at that time, it had reportedly been the largest clash between the two with 22 casualties, 13 of which were IS fighters, and 9 Taliban fighters, according to a Taliban official. The clashes occurred near Iran's border with Afghanistan. The Taliban had attacked an IS camp in the area, an IS commander, who was formerly a Taliban member, said that there was an agreement between the Taliban and IS not to attack each other until there was a dialogue. The commander claimed that the Taliban had violated the agreement and attacked the IS camp. The IS commander also claimed the attack was coordinated with the Iranian military, and that there were Iranians filming dead IS fighters. The Taliban splinter faction Fidai Mahaz has also criticized the Taliban for its relationship with Iran. Days before the battle, the Taliban reportedly met with Iranian officials to discuss regional issues. A spokesman for Fidai Mahaz claimed the meeting was held at the request of the Taliban, as it was weary of the expansion of IS in the country, which also concerned the Iranian government. The spokesman also said that the Taliban received US$3 million in cash, 3,000 arms, 40 trucks, and the ammunition from Iran's intelligence services, in order to fight IS near the Iranian border, although a Taliban spokesman denied the allegations.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 27 November, Taliban executed one of its senior commanders for colluding with IS. A week before, IS fighters were mass executed by their fellow militants in Achin district, according to a provincial government spokesman. However, the spokesman did not provide any additional detail, and neither did IS release any official statement on killing its own members.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 20 June, after the talks between the Russian government and the Taliban, US assistant secretary of state Alice Wells condemned the Russian government's position on the Taliban that included backing for the group against IS, stating it gave the Taliban legitimacy and challenged the recognized Afghan government.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: In July, the Taliban launched an offensive against IS in the Jowzjan province. According to a surrendered IS commander, the Taliban had amassed 2,000 fighters for the offensive against IS. The fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, who had sworn allegiance to IS, were also present fighting alongside IS against the Taliban. During the fighting, 3,500 to 7,000 civilians were displaced. By the end of July, IS's hold in the region was reduced to 2 villages, all thanks to the Taliban's campaign. In response, they requested support from the Afghan government, and also agreed to put down their arms in exchange for protection from the Taliban. The Afghan Air Force later carried out airstrikes against the Taliban in exchange for IS's surrender in the region. The agreement between the Afghan government and IS created controversy afterwards. On 17 July, IS militants killed 15 Taliban militants and injured 5 others during a raid on a house belonging to a Taliban commander in Sar-e Pol. Abdul Qayuom Baqizoi, the police chief of Sar-e Pol, told Associated Press that Taliban and IS fighters have been fighting each other in Jowzjan and Sar-e Pol for more than two months, killing hundreds on both sides.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: In August, during the negotiations between the US government and the Taliban in Doha, the Taliban had requested that the US ends airstrikes on the Taliban, as well as provide support to the group in order to fight IS.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 22 June, clashes were reported in Kunar between the Taliban and IS, by an Afghan government official. The official also claimed that the Afghan military had killed some IS fighters in the area, and that the Taliban was active in the area as well.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 29 June, IS released photos of weapons captured from the Taliban. On the same day, IS published a video of its fighters renewing their Bayah to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In the video, fighters criticized the Taliban for engaging in peace talks and called upon Taliban fighters to join IS.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 1 August, the Amaq News Agency claimed that IS had killed 5 Taliban members during clashes in Kunar.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: In March 2020, the Afghan Salafist Council under its emir, Shaikh Abdul Aziz Nooristani, met with Taliban leaders and pledged loyalty to their movement. Salafists had previously provided crucial support to IS-K, but recognized that the latter's position had greatly declined after its defeats in Nangarhar and Kunar. The Salafist Council, represented by 32 scholars and military leaders, stated that they were in no way loyal to IS-K, and wanted to be left out of the Islamic State–Taliban conflict. The Taliban leadership accepted the pledge of loyalty, exploiting it in its propaganda.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: In October 2020, former Politico reporter Wesley Morgan revealed that United States special operations forces, longtime foes of the Taliban, had been conducting drone strikes against IS-K to give the Taliban an advantage in the field. According to Morgan, the operators were jokingly referred to as the "Taliban Air Force" and instead of communicating directly with Taliban commanders, they would monitor Taliban communications and decide when was the best time to strike. On 10 December 2020, General Kenneth McKenzie Jr., head of U.S. Central Command, confirmed that the U.S. had assisted the Taliban via opportunistic drone strikes, saying that they did not coordinate operations with the Taliban, but took advantage of them fighting a "common enemy" to conduct their own operations. Gen. McKenzie said the strikes occurred several months prior when IS-K was holding ground in Nangarhar Province and elsewhere in eastern Afghanistan.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: The Taliban finally succeeded in taking over Afghanistan from the Islamic Republic during a large-scale offensive in summer 2021. Kabul fell on 15 August 2021, prompting the leaders of the IS-K to denounce the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The Taliban immediately moved to contain or purge potential opponents, including Islamic State supporters and Salafists. Across the country, the Taliban ordered the closure of Salafist mosques seminaries and tried to arrest prominent Salafist scholars, prompting many to go into hiding. Among those targeted by the new Taliban authorities were Salafi clerics who had publicly opposed IS-K. Researcher Abdul Sayed argued that the purge was probably organized by hardline anti-Salafist elements within the Taliban and more motivated by long-time resentment than fears about Salafi support for a future IS-K insurgency. On 16 August, the Taliban claimed to have killed around 150 IS-K fighters, including its former chief Abu Umar Khurasani, while prisoners were being released from a jail in Kabul. However, many IS-K militants were able to rejoin the IS-K ranks because of spree of prison breaks across the country organized by the Taliban.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 26 August, a suicide bombing and a mass shooting occurred near Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. The attack began hours after the United States' State Department told Americans outside the airport to leave due to a terrorist threat. At least 185 people were killed in the attacks, including 13 U.S. service members. The Taliban condemned the attack, saying "evil circles will be strictly stopped". The Taliban later announced that they would take every possible measure to capture IS-KP leader Shahab al-Muhajir. The same day, Saifullah Mohammed, Taliban's CID chief, told The Times that they had captured 6 militants belonging to IS-K following a gun battle in western side of Kabul.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: Taliban militants kidnapped the influential Salafi cleric, Mullah Abu Obaidullah Mutawakil on 28 August; he was "brutal[ly]" murdered one week later. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid denied the Taliban's role in the killing of Mutawakil, but also did not condemn the murder. Even though Mutawakil was described as an IS-K sympathiser and a large number of his students were part of IS-K, he had not officially backed the Islamic State. IS-K did not offer prayers for him after his demise, stating that he had not been loyal to the Islamic State's caliphate. On 9 November 2021, Reuters journalist James MacKenzie stated that "frequent, smaller atrocities" in the conflict are "less commonly reported." Aside from the ISIS stronghold of Nangarhar, other affected areas include Ghazni in central Afghanistan, Herat in the west, Balkh in the north, and Paktia, Paktika and Khost in the southeast.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 6 September, Neda Mohammad, a Taliban governor for Nangarhar province, vowed to continue fighting IS-K militants. Nangarhar province is a stronghold of IS-K and the governor says that since taking over Nangarhar, his forces had arrested 70–80 suspected militants belonging to IS-K in Nangarhar province.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 8 September, Taliban killed Farooq Bengalzai, an ISKP head for a Pakistan's province, in Nimroz, Afghanistan.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 18 September, 7 people were killed when 4 bombs planted by suspected IS-KP members exploded in Jalalabad targeting Taliban patrols.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 22 September, 2 Taliban fighters and a civilian were killed by ISIL gunmen who attacked a checkpoint in Ghawchak district of Jalalabad, security sources and witnesses said.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 1 October, Taliban forces raided an ISKP base in the city of Charikar, north of Kabul. The Taliban claimed they had killed and arrested a number of ISKP members.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 3 October, an explosion at the entrance to the Eidgah Mosque in Kabul leaves at least 5 dead, where a memorial service was held for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. ISKP later claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it killed Taliban militants.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 4 October, the Taliban says it has "destroyed an IS–K cell" in Kabul following yesterday's bombing at a mosque during the memorial for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. Mujahid says that a special Taliban unit carried out the operation and that the base was destroyed and everyone inside was killed.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 6 October, 7 people, including at least 1 Taliban fighter, were killed in a grenade attack on a religious school in Khost. ISKP claimed responsibility for the attack.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 7 October, the Taliban announced that they had arrested 4 ISKP members after a raid in Paghman district, west of Kabul. On the same day, ISIS claimed responsibility for the capture and execution of a Taliban fighter in District 2 of Jalalabad.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 8 October, a Uyghur Islamic State militant, by the name of Muhammad al-Uyghuri killed 55–100 people and injured dozens more after launching a suicide bombing on a Shi'ite mosque in Kunduz.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 9 October, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen announced that there would be no co-operation with the U.S. to combat ISKP, saying that the Taliban are 'able to deal with ISIS independently'.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 10 October, ISKP claimed responsibility for the assassination of 2 Taliban fighters in District 7 of Jalalabad.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 14 October, a bomb killed a Taliban police chief in Asadabad, capital of Kunar province, Afghanistan. They also claim that 11 people were injured, including 4 Taliban soldiers.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 15 October, a bomb explosion occurred in Kandahar at the Shia 'Imam Bargah mosque', killing at least 65 people and wounding at least 70 more. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 20 October, the Taliban announced they had arrested at least 250 ISKP operatives between mid-September and mid-October 2021.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 23 October, ISKP claimed responsibility for shooting 2 Taliban fighters dead in District 1 of Jalalabad city.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 24 October, a bomb attack in Afghanistan has left at least 2 civilians dead on Saturday, 1 being a child, and four wounded. The device placed on the road in eastern Afghanistan was aimed at a Taliban vehicle. On the same day, it was reported that ISKP had raised a flag in a village in Uruzgan Province and that the militants were distributing leaflets at mosques in nearby villages.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 25 October, 17 people were killed in clashes between gunmen and Taliban forces in Herat. On the same day it was announced that Tajikistan and China had reached an agreement for China to fund construction for a new Tajik military base and that Chinese forces can completely operate a military base near the Afghan border.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 31 October, at least a hundred IS militants reportedly surrendered to the Taliban security forces in Nangarhar province, as part of an operation to suppress the insurgent formation in the country.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: In the month of October, a former Afghan national army officer, who recently joined ISKP ranks, was killed in clash with Taliban fighters. The former officer commanded the Afghan military's weapons and ammunition depot in Gardez before the Taliban takeover.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: Since the Taliban takeover, the violence in Nangahar province has escalated with near-daily attacks claimed by the Islamic State. The Taliban responded by deploying an additional 1,300 fighters in the province in the month of October with the aim to increase the number of operations conducted against the ISKP fighters in the province. Talibans have also carried out night raids against suspected ISKP fighters in the province and many of the hundreds arrested during those raids have either disappeared or turned up dead. The Taliban's harsh crackdown in the province against the suspected ISKP fighters has resulted in a number of human right violations by the Taliban fighters, according to Nangahar residents. Islamic State has also used Taliban's harsh crackdown as a part of its recruitment propaganda calling on Nangahar residents to rise up and resist the Taliban. Nangahar residents say that the Taliban fighters in the province are not familiar with the area and have no way to check the intelligence they receive about Islamic State targets. So the Taliban fighters have started killing anyone they suspect of working for the Islamic State, according to the residents. Washington Post reports that only a few Taliban fighters have the necessary training or experience to conduct precision-based operations in urban areas. As the Taliban are more adopted to guerrilla warfare, they are therefore still adjusting to maintain security during peacetime.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: By early November, IS-KP in Nangahar was repeatedly assassinating ex-republicans and pro-Taliban figures and attacked patrols with such a frequency that the Taliban government ordered its fighters in the province to no longer leave settlements at night.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 2 November, the 2021 Kabul hospital attack took place where assailants attacked the Daoud Khan Military Hospital with guns and suicide bombers killing at least 25 people and wounding at least 50 more people. A senior Taliban commander, Mawlawi Hamdullah Mukhlis, was killed in the attack. He was the head of the Kabul military corps and was 1 of the first "senior" Taliban commanders to enter the abandoned Afghan presidential palace on August 15. The Taliban blamed ISKP for the attack and claimed that they killed at least 4 militants in a shootout. On the same day, ISIL claimed responsibility for killing a Taliban judge in a gun attack in PD-2, Jalalabad.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 7 November, at least 3 members of the Taliban security forces were killed and 3 others wounded in a series of attacks in Jalalabad. "Two blasts hit the Taliban, then the ISKP militants engaged in a gunfight and finally managed to escape".


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 10 November, a spokesman for the General Directorate of Intelligence, the new name of the Afghan spy agency under Taliban rule, told reporters in Kabul that they have arrested nearly 600 members of ISKP including “high-ranking” commanders.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 13 November, at least 3 people were killed including Afghan journalist Hameed Saighani after a bus exploded in a majority Shia part of Kabul city. ISKP later claimed responsibility.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 15 November, 4 ISKP members and 3 civilians were killed in a Taliban raid on a suspected ISKP hideout in Kandahar.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 18 November, a UN assessment concluded that members of ISIS-KP were now present in all of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 20 November, 3 Taliban fighters were killed after ISKP militants opened fire on their car in Jalalabad city.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 22 November, the United States revealed the names of and declared four main leaders of ISKP, including a funder of the organisation, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). On the same day, ISKP claimed responsibility for shooting and killing a Taliban fighter and a former Afghan intelligence operative after their car was fired upon on Jalalabad.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 30 November, 3 ISKP militants were killed in a Taliban raid on a house in the city of Jalalabad. Four Taliban fighters were wounded in the operation.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 4 December, ISKP released a photo on telegram showing an IED explosion that targeted a Taliban patrol vehicle in Kabul.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 5 December, ISKP claimed responsibility for killing two Taliban fighters after shooting at their car in the city of Jalalabad.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 6 December, ISKP claimed responsibility for shooting dead a Taliban fighter in Taloqan. Making this ISKP's first claim of responsibility in Takhar Province since the Taliban takeover.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 9 December, during an interview, the spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed that since the re-foundation of the Islamic Emirate, 25 ISKP hideouts had been destroyed and that 670 ISKP fighters had been arrested. He also stated that “Daesh is no longer a big threat in Afghanistan. It was a small group that has now been dismantled in Kabul and Jalalabad.”


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 14 December, Nada Al-Nashif, the UN deputy high commissioner for human rights, announced that the Taliban had been responsible for at least 50 executions of suspected ISKP members, including hangings and beheadings. The same report also stated that the Taliban had conducted at least 72 executions of former Afghan security personnel.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 4 January, ISKP claimed to have abducted and executed a Taliban 'spy' in the Mamandra region of Nangarhar.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 16 January, ISKP released footage of one of their operatives shooting dead a Taliban fighter in Herat.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 30 January, two Taliban fighters were targeted by ISKP gunmen in the Sarkani region of Kunar, on the Afghan-Pakistani border. One Taliban fighter was killed and the other was wounded.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 13 February, during a televised interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan urges the world to work with the Taliban in order to resolve the ongoing regional humanitarian crisis which resulted in part from the conflict.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 22 February 2022, Pakistan officials acknowledged that the ongoing conflict was destabilizing Afghanistan and also threatening the stability of Pakistan.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 4 March 2022, an ISKP suicide bomber attacked a Shiite mosque in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing 63 worshippers.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 2 April, ISKP claimed to have bombed a vehicle containing Taliban militants with an IED in District 5 of Kabul.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 11 April 2022 Islamic State transforms and grows in Pakistan and Afghanistan according to a report by the AP news agency- A concerted focus on “social media warfare” is critical to advance on the ideological battlefield but also in order to counter the pull of “enchanting” social media influencers, ISIS Khorasan declared in a new issue of the group's English-language magazine. In their magazine "Voice of Khurasan", ISIS Khorasan criticized the management and thinking of the Taliban.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 19 April 2022, At least 6 people were killed and 17 injured in bomb attacks on two schools in Kabul. The students who attended these centers are from the Shiite Hazara minority, which is the population that lives in the Dashte Barchi neighborhood to the west of the Afghan capital. The Taliban spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior has warned that the death toll could increase. Several injured are in serious condition. No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks but it is suspected that the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State is guilty of the events


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: The Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State extremist group has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks against the country's Shiite minority during the week of 18–24 April 2022. The bomb attack on a mosque and religious school in northern Afghanistan, from 22 April, caused the death of 33 people, including students. Added to these attacks are those that occurred in two educational centers in the Shiite Hazara minority neighborhood of Dashte Barchi, in western Kabul, causing at least six deaths and 25 injuries, according to official data. several smaller explosions in recent days in different parts of Afghanistan, including another detonation today in a Kabul neighborhood that initially caused no casualties. There was also a roadside mine explosion yesterday in the eastern province of Nangarhar, which left at least four members of the Taliban security forces dead and one wounded. In the city of Kunduz, another detonation against a vehicle left four dead and 18 injured, including children. The Taliban announced the arrest of a former leader of IS-K in the northern region of Balkh, whose capital is Mazar-e-Sharif.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On Friday, 29 April 2022, the last day of the holy month of Ramadan, there was a new attack against a Sufi Mosque in Afghanistan as part of the wave of violence that is sweeping the country. The explosion occurred in the west of the capital, Kabul, during prayers and killed 50 people, The same day two high-voltage towers in Parwan province were bombed on the night of Friday, 29 April 2022, cutting off electricity to the capital and neighboring provinces. Millions of people in 11 provinces of Afghanistan suffered blackouts on Saturday, 30 April 2022 after two power transmission towers were blown up west of the capital Kabul.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 25 May, at least 9 people were killed in a triple bombing targeting mini-busses in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. IS-KP later claimed responsibility.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 18 June, two people were killed and seven others were injured after gunmen attacked a Sikh temple in Kabul. ISKP claimed responsibility, claiming the attack was in revenge for 'insults made by members of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party about the Prophet Mohammed'. Seven ISKP gunmen were killed in a firefight with Taliban forces after the attack.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 3 August, two Taliban policemen and three Islamic State gunmen are killed during a gunbattle at a hideout in Kabul. Four other officers are wounded.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 5 August, 8 people were killed and 18 others were injured after a bomb exploded at a Shia gathering in Kabul. ISKP later claimed responsibility.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 11 August, a senior Taliban cleric, Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, was blown up and killed in a suicide bombing during an Islamic seminary in Kabul. ISKP later claimed responsibility for the attack.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 17 August, a mosque in Kabul was attacked during evening prayers. It was reported that happen a huge explosion with 21 killed including the mosque's imam Amir Muhammad Kabuli. Another 33 people were injured.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 2 September, a bombing at a mosque in Herat killed at least 18 people and wounded 23 others. A senior Taliban cleric, Mujib-ul Rahman Ansari, was killed in the blast.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 5 September, At least eight dead in an attack claimed by the self-styled Islamic State in Afghanistan. In the explosion, near the Russian embassy, a security guard and the second secretary of the delegation have died. In addition, four Afghan Taliban police officers have also been killed. An unclear number of people were injured in the bombing. RIA Novosti reported 15 to 20 wounded


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 23 September 2022 a car bomb exploded outside a mosque in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood of Kabul, Afghanistan. The explosion happened just as worshippers were leaving the building after finishing Friday prayers. Police said that seven people had been killed and 41 injured.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 30 September 2022, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Kaaj education center in Dashte Barchi, a Hazara neighborhood in Kabul, killing at least 52 people and injuring 110 others.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 5 October 2022, 4 people were blown up and killed and a further 25 were wounded by an explosion at a mosque at the Ministry of Interior Affairs in Kabul.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 22 October 2022, The Taliban killed six ISKP members during a raid in Kabul. A Taliban spokesman says they were responsible for the September 2022 Kabul mosque bombing and the September 2022 Kabul school bombing.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 2 December 2022, 2 men disguised in burqas attack a mosque while former Mujahideen leader and Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, was inside. The attackers killed a civilian and injured two others before being shot dead by security guards. Hekmatyar was unhurt.


title: Islamic State–Taliban conflict

text: On 12 December 2022, insurgents attacked a hotel popular with foreigners in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least three civilians were killed. Eighteen others, including foreigners, are reported to be among those injured. Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Adobe Lightroom (officially Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) is a piece of image organization and image manipulation software developed by Adobe Inc. as part of the Creative Cloud subscription family. It is supported on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and tvOS (Apple TV). Its primary uses include importing, saving, viewing, organizing, tagging, editing, and sharing large numbers of digital images. Lightroom's editing functions include white balance, presence, tone, tone curve, HSL, color grading, detail, lens corrections, and calibration manipulation, as well as transformation, spot removal, red eye correction, graduated filters, radial filters, and adjustment brushing. The name of the software is based on darkrooms used for processing light-sensitive photographic materials.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Lightroom is a non-destructive editing software that keeps the original image separate from any in-program edits, saving the edited image as a new file. While Photoshop includes doctoring functions like adding, removing or altering the appearance of individual image items, rendering text or 3D objects on images, or modifying individual video frames, Lightroom is a library and development software. Lightroom can store and organize photos once imported into the platform database, and is currently compatible with TIFF, JPEG, PSD (Photoshop), PNG, CMYK (edited in RGB color space) and raw image formats.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Initially, Adobe Lightroom was only available on desktop operating systems. However, in 2017, it was expanded to support mobile operating systems with the release of Lightroom Mobile. Later in 2017, Adobe released a brand new variant of Lightroom called Lightroom CC to be more cohesive with their mobile software. The existing version of Lightroom was renamed Lightroom Classic CC, and Lightroom Mobile was renamed to Lightroom CC to have the same name as this new desktop version. While similar in some ways, all three Lightroom variations have significant differences in how they store images and interact with Adobe's cloud storage offering and in feature parity. Lightroom CC stores all uploaded photos and raw files on a cloud server, while Lightroom Classic CC stores files locally and has a more comprehensive set of features. Both CC platforms and Lightroom Mobile also allow users to create, upload, and export Lightroom presets, a batch copy of an image's in-program edits.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: There is currently a large market for Lightroom presets as a tool for both mobile and digital photographers looking for an easy way to apply a stylized look to their images.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: In 1999, veteran Photoshop developer Mark Hamburg began a new project, code-named "Shadowland" (a reference to the 1988 KD Lang music album of same name). Hamburg contacted Andrei Herasimchuk, former interface designer for the Adobe Creative Suite, to start the project. It was an intentional departure from many of Adobe's established conventions. Forty percent of Photoshop Lightroom is written in the scripting language Lua. In 2002, Hamburg left the Photoshop project and in fall of the same year he sent a first experimental software sample, name "PixelToy", to his former teammate Jeff Schewe for review; in 2003, Hamburg presented Schewe a first version of Shadowland in a very early UI version. After a few years of research by Hamburg, Herasimchuk, Sandy Alves (the former interface designer on the Photoshop team), and Grace Kim (a product researcher at Adobe), the Shadowland project accelerated around 2004. However, Herasimchuk chose to leave Adobe Systems at that time to start a Silicon Valley design company. Hamburg then chose Phil Clevenger, a former associate of Kai Krause, to design a new look for the application.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Photoshop Lightroom's developers work mostly in Minnesota, comprising the team that had already created the program Adobe ImageReady. Troy Gaul, Melissa Gaul, and the rest of their crew (reportedly known as the "Minnesota Phats"), with Hamburg, developed the architecture behind the application. George Jardine was the product manager.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: On January 9, 2006, an early version of Photoshop Lightroom, formerly named only Lightroom, was released to the public as a Macintosh-only public beta, on the Adobe Labs website. This was the first Adobe product released to the general public for feedback during its development. This method was later used in developing Adobe Photoshop CS3.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: On June 26, 2006, Adobe announced that it had acquired the technology of Pixmantec, developers of the Rawshooter image processing software.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Further beta releases followed. Notable releases included "Beta 3" on July 18, 2006, which added support for Microsoft Windows systems. On September 25, 2006, "Beta 4" was released, which saw the program merged into the Photoshop product range, followed by a minor update on October 19, which was released as "Beta 4.1".


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: On January 29, 2007, Adobe announced that Lightroom would ship on February 19, 2007, list priced at $299 US, £199 UK.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 Beta was advertised in official emails from Adobe in April 2008. New features included:


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: The official release of Lightroom v2 was on July 29, 2008, along with the release of Adobe Camera Raw v4.5 and DNG Converter 4.5. Adobe Camera Raw allows importing the proprietary raw data images of various camera manufacturers.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Adobe added DNG Camera Profiling to both releases. This technology allows custom camera color profiles, or looks, to be created and saved by users. It also allows profiles matching the creative styles built into cameras to be replicated. At the same time as the Lightroom v2 release, Adobe [through Adobe Labs] released a full set of such Camera Profiles for Nikon and Canon models, along with basic Standard Profiles for all supported makes and models. This technology is open to all programs compliant with the DNG file format standard.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Although not included in any beta release, version 3 also contains built-in lens correction and perspective control.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: The final version was released on June 8, 2010 with no major new functions added. It had all the features included in the betas, added the lens corrections and perspective transformations, and a few more improvements and performance optimizations.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.0 was officially released on March 5, 2012 after being available in beta format since January 10, 2012. It dropped support for Windows XP. New features included:


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 was officially released on June 9, 2013 after being available in beta format since April 15, 2013. The program needs Mac OS X 10.7 or later, or Windows 7 or 8. Some of the changes include:


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: An update to Version 5, 5.4 allows syncing a collection to Lightroom Mobile App released for iPad on April 8, 2014.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC 2015 (version 6.0) was officially released on April 21, 2015. The program needs OS X 10.8 or later, or Windows 7 or 8. It is the first release of Lightroom to only support 64-bit operating systems. New features include:


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: On July 26, 2016, Adobe launched Lightroom on Apple TV, a means of displaying photographs on a large screen using Apple's network appliance and entertainment device.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC (unofficially: version 7.0) was officially released on October 18, 2017. It is the first version of Lightroom that is not available with a perpetual license (one-time purchase price); instead, it must be licensed through a monthly subscription model, with the fee initially set at US$9.99/month. Once the user stops paying the monthly fee, the program will be limited to viewing existing catalogs, without the ability to apply further changes to images.


title: Adobe Lightroom

text: Adobe Lightroom CC is the new online cloud-based version of Adobe's Lightroom application and can be installed alongside Lightroom Classic CC. It is included in the same US$9.99/month photography plan, but has limited editing features in comparison to Lightroom Classic CC. It can be installed on desktops, laptops, iPad and mobile. Lightroom CC has the ability to sync developed photos easily between a laptop, iPad and mobile devices, which is the major difference between both applications. Its user interface is also more similar to that of Adobe's mobile version of the applications.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Shock is the state of insufficient blood flow to the tissues of the body as a result of problems with the circulatory system. Initial symptoms of shock may include weakness, fast heart rate, fast breathing, sweating, anxiety, and increased thirst. This may be followed by confusion, unconsciousness, or cardiac arrest, as complications worsen.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Shock is divided into four main types based on the underlying cause: low volume, cardiogenic, obstructive, and distributive shock. Low volume shock, also known as hypovolemic shock, may be from bleeding, diarrhea, or vomiting. Cardiogenic shock may be due to a heart attack or cardiac contusion. Obstructive shock may be due to cardiac tamponade or a tension pneumothorax. Distributive shock may be due to sepsis, anaphylaxis, injury to the upper spinal cord, or certain overdoses.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: The diagnosis is generally based on a combination of symptoms, physical examination, and laboratory tests. A decreased pulse pressure (systolic blood pressure minus diastolic blood pressure) or a fast heart rate raises concerns. The heart rate divided by systolic blood pressure, known as the shock index (SI), of greater than 0.8 supports the diagnosis more than low blood pressure or a fast heart rate in isolation.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Treatment of shock is based on the likely underlying cause. An open airway and sufficient breathing should be established. Any ongoing bleeding should be stopped, which may require surgery or embolization. Intravenous fluid, such as Ringer's lactate or packed red blood cells, is often given. Efforts to maintain a normal body temperature are also important. Vasopressors may be useful in certain cases. Shock is both common and has a high risk of death. In the United States about 1.2 million people present to the emergency room each year with shock and their risk of death is between 20 and 50%.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: The presentation of shock is variable, with some people having only minimal symptoms such as confusion and weakness. While the general signs for all types of shock are low blood pressure, decreased urine output, and confusion, these may not always be present. While a fast heart rate is common, those on β-blockers, those who are athletic, and in 30% of cases of those with shock due to intra abdominal bleeding, heart rate may be normal or slow. Specific subtypes of shock may have additional symptoms.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Dry mucous membrane, reduced skin turgor, prolonged capillary refill time, weak peripheral pulses, and cold extremities can be early signs of shock.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Hypovolemic shock is the most common type of shock and is caused by insufficient circulating volume. The most common cause of hypovolemic shock is hemorrhage (internal or external); however, vomiting and diarrhea are more common causes in children. Other causes include burns, as well as excess urine loss due to diabetic ketoacidosis and diabetes insipidus.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: The severity of hemorrhagic shock can be graded on a 1–4 scale on the physical signs. The shock index (heart rate divided by systolic blood pressure) is a stronger predictor of the impact of blood loss than heart rate and blood pressure alone. This relationship has not been well established in pregnancy-related bleeding.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Cardiogenic shock is caused by the failure of the heart to pump effectively. This can be due to damage to the heart muscle, most often from a large myocardial infarction. Other causes of cardiogenic shock include dysrhythmias, cardiomyopathy/myocarditis, congestive heart failure (CHF), myocardial contusion, or valvular heart disease problems.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Obstructive shock is a form of shock associated with physical obstruction of the great vessels of the systemic or pulmonary circulation. Several conditions can result in this form of shock.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Many of the signs of obstructive shock are similar to cardiogenic shock, however treatments differ. Symptoms of obstructive shock include:


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Distributive shock is low blood pressure due to a dilation of blood vessels within the body. This can be caused by systemic infection (septic shock), a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis), or spinal cord injury (neurogenic shock).


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Although not officially classified as a subcategory of shock, many endocrinology disturbances in their severe form can result in shock.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Shock is a common end point of many medical conditions. Shock triggered by a serious allergic reaction is known as anaphylactic shock, shock triggered by severe dehydration or blood loss is known as hypovolemic shock, shock caused by sepsis is known as septic shock, etc. Shock itself is a life-threatening condition as a result of compromised body circulation. It can be divided into four main types based on the underlying cause: hypovolemic, distributive, cardiogenic, and obstructive. A few additional classifications are occasionally used, such as endocrinologic shock.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: There are four stages of shock. Shock is a complex and continuous condition, and there is no sudden transition from one stage to the next. At a cellular level, shock is the process of oxygen demand becoming greater than oxygen supply.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: One of the key dangers of shock is that it progresses by a positive feedback loop. Poor blood supply leads to cellular damage, which results in an inflammatory response to increase blood flow to the affected area. Normally, this causes the blood supply level to match with tissue demand for nutrients. However, if there is enough increased demand in some areas, it can deprive other areas of sufficient supply, which then start demanding more. This then leads to an ever escalating cascade.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: As such, shock is a runaway condition of homeostatic failure, where the usual corrective mechanisms relating to oxygenation of the body no longer function in a stable way. When it occurs, immediate treatment is critical in order to return an individual's metabolism into a stable, self-correcting trajectory. Otherwise the condition can become increasingly difficult to correct, surprisingly quickly, and then progress to a fatal outcome. In the particular case of anaphylactic shock, progression to death might take just a few minutes.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: During the Initial stage (Stage 1), the state of hypoperfusion causes hypoxia. Due to the lack of oxygen, the cells perform lactic acid fermentation. Since oxygen, the terminal electron acceptor in the electron transport chain, is not abundant, this slows down entry of pyruvate into the Krebs cycle, resulting in its accumulation. The accumulating pyruvate is converted to lactate (lactic acid) by lactate dehydrogenase. The accumulating lactate causes lactic acidosis.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: The Compensatory stage (Stage 2) is characterised by the body employing physiological mechanisms, including neural, hormonal, and bio-chemical mechanisms, in an attempt to reverse the condition. As a result of the acidosis, the person will begin to hyperventilate in order to rid the body of carbon dioxide (CO). CO indirectly acts to acidify the blood, so the body attempts to return to acid–base homeostasis by removing that acidifying agent. The baroreceptors in the arteries detect the hypotension resulting from large amounts of blood being redirected to distant tissues, and cause the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine. Norepinephrine causes predominately vasoconstriction with a mild increase in heart rate, whereas epinephrine predominately causes an increase in heart rate with a small effect on the vascular tone; the combined effect results in an increase in blood pressure. The renin–angiotensin axis is activated, and arginine vasopressin (anti-diuretic hormone) is released to conserve fluid by reducing its excretion via the renal system. These hormones cause the vasoconstriction of the kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, and other organs to divert blood to the heart, lungs and brain. The lack of blood to the renal system causes the characteristic low urine production. However the effects of the renin–angiotensin axis take time and are of little importance to the immediate homeostatic mediation of shock.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: The Progressive stage (stage 3) results if the underlying cause of the shock is not successfully treated. During this stage, compensatory mechanisms begin to fail. Due to the decreased perfusion of the cells in the body, sodium ions build up within the intracellular space while potassium ions leak out. Due to lack of oxygen, cellular respiration diminishes and anaerobic metabolism predominates. As anaerobic metabolism continues, the arteriolar smooth muscle and precapillary sphincters relax such that blood remains in the capillaries. Due to this, the hydrostatic pressure will increase and, combined with histamine release, will lead to leakage of fluid and protein into the surrounding tissues. As this fluid is lost, the blood concentration and viscosity increase, causing sludging of the micro-circulation. The prolonged vasoconstriction will also cause the vital organs to be compromised due to reduced perfusion. If the bowel becomes sufficiently ischemic, bacteria may enter the blood stream, resulting in the increased complication of endotoxic shock.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: At Refractory stage (stage 4), the vital organs have failed and the shock can no longer be reversed. Brain damage and cell death are occurring, and death will occur imminently. One of the primary reasons that shock is irreversible at this point is that much of the cellular ATP (the basic energy source for cells) has been degraded into adenosine in the absence of oxygen as an electron receptor in the mitochondrial matrix. Adenosine easily perfuses out of cellular membranes into extracellular fluid, furthering capillary vasodilation, and then is transformed into uric acid. Because cells can only produce adenosine at a rate of about 2% of the cell's total need per hour, even restoring oxygen is futile at this point because there is no adenosine to phosphorylate into ATP.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: The diagnosis of shock is commonly based on a combination of symptoms, physical examination, and laboratory tests. Many signs and symptoms are not sensitive or specific for shock, thus many clinical decision-making tools have been developed to identify shock at an early stage. A high degree of suspicion is necessary for the proper diagnosis of shock.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: The first change seen in shock is increased cardiac output followed by a decrease in mixed venous oxygen saturation (SmvO2) as measured in the pulmonary artery via a pulmonary artery catheter. Central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) as measured via a central line correlates well with SmvO2 and are easier to acquire. If shock progresses anaerobic metabolism will begin to occur with an increased blood lactic acid as the result. While many laboratory tests are typically performed, there is no test that either conclusively makes or excludes the diagnosis. A chest X-ray or emergency department ultrasound may be useful to determine volume status.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: The best evidence exists for the treatment of septic shock in adults. However, the pathophysiology of shock in children appears to be similar so treatment methodologies have been extrapolated to children. Management may include securing the airway via intubation if necessary to decrease the work of breathing and for guarding against respiratory arrest. Oxygen supplementation, intravenous fluids, passive leg raising (not Trendelenburg position) should be started and blood transfusions added if blood loss is severe. In select cases, compression devices like non-pneumatic anti-shock garments (or the deprecated military anti-shock trousers) can be used to prevent further blood loss and concentrate fluid in the body's head and core. It is important to keep the person warm to avoid hypothermia as well as adequately manage pain and anxiety as these can increase oxygen consumption. Negative impact by shock is reversible if it's recognized and treated early in time.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Aggressive intravenous fluids are recommended in most types of shock (e.g. 1–2 liter normal saline bolus over 10 minutes or 20 mL/kg in a child) which is usually instituted as the person is being further evaluated. Colloids and crystalloids appear to be equally effective with respect to outcomes., Balanced crystalloids and normal saline also appear to be equally effective in critically ill patients. If the person remains in shock after initial resuscitation, packed red blood cells should be administered to keep the hemoglobin greater than 100 g/L.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: For those with hemorrhagic shock, the current evidence supports limiting the use of fluids for penetrating thorax and abdominal injuries allowing mild hypotension to persist (known as permissive hypotension). Targets include a mean arterial pressure of 60 mmHg, a systolic blood pressure of 70–90 mmHg, or until the patient has adequate mentation and peripheral pulses. Hypertonic fluid may also be an option in this group.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: Vasopressors may be used if blood pressure does not improve with fluids. Common vasopressors used in shock include: norepinephrine, phenylephrine, dopamine, and dobutamine.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: There is no evidence of substantial benefit of one vasopressor over another; however, using dopamine leads to an increased risk of arrhythmia when compared with norepinephrine. Vasopressors have not been found to improve outcomes when used for hemorrhagic shock from trauma but may be of use in neurogenic shock. Activated protein C (Xigris), while once aggressively promoted for the management of septic shock, has been found not to improve survival and is associated with a number of complications. Activated protein C was withdrawn from the market in 2011, and clinical trials were discontinued. The use of sodium bicarbonate is controversial as it has not been shown to improve outcomes. If used at all it should only be considered if the blood pH is less than 7.0.


title: Shock (circulatory)

text: People with anaphylactic shock are commonly treated with epinephrine. Antihistamines, such as Benadryl (diphenhydramine) or ranitidine are also commonly administered. Albuterol, normal saline, and steroids are also commonly given.