title: Canada's Drag Race

text: It was the fourth international version of the "Drag Race" franchise to be announced, following "Drag Race Thailand", "The Switch Drag Race" (Chile) and "RuPaul's Drag Race UK"; two months after the announcement of the Canadian version, "RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under" was also announced. "Canada's Drag Race" was the first English-language iteration of "Drag Race" to not be hosted by RuPaul, although RuPaul does appear in video messages to the contestants, and narrates the title sequence. The series is hosted by "RuPaul's Drag Race" season 11 runner-up Brooke Lynn Hytes, along with judges Brad Goreski and Traci Melchor. Past judges include Amanda Brugel, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, and Stacey McKenzie.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: The first episode of the first season premiered on July 2, 2020. The cast was announced on May 14, 2020. A third season was announced on November 10, 2021 and premiered on July 14, 2022.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: Casting occurred in mid-2019 with production starting in fall 2019. The inaugural season consisted of ten one-hour episodes. In June 2020 it was announced that the series would be carried by BBC Three in the United Kingdom. Early coverage of the production announcement indicated that the series would also air on OutTV; although that channel did not simulcast the series in first run, it was later announced on December 3 that there would be a marathon of the series on December 5, along with all episodes being available for streaming as of December 3, on OutTV's subscription service, OutTV Go.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: In the United States the series premiered on WOW Presents Plus, the streaming service of "RuPaul's Drag Race" production company World of Wonder, concurrently with its Canadian debut. It was subsequently added to the schedule of Logo TV, premiering on that service on July 27, 2020.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: In August 2021, it was announced that the Season 1 queens would be featured in a "Canada's Drag Race Anniversary Extravaganza" reunion special, airing on Crave September 6, 2021 in advance of the second season launch. The special included the premiere of a new music video from Priyanka's "Taste Test" EP, as well as an introduction to the second season judging panel.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: In January 2021, it was announced that the show was renewed for a second season. At the same time, it was announced that comedian and producer Trevor Boris will join production as showrunner in the second season.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: In March 2021, it was announced that Bowyer-Chapman will not return as a judge in the second season, due to a scheduling conflict with another project he is working on. In June 2021, it was announced that McKenzie will not return as a judge in the second season, due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second season judging panel included fashion stylist Brad Goreski, actress Amanda Brugel, and broadcaster and Season 1 "Squirrel Friend" Traci Melchor.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: For the third season, the judges panel was re-worked again, consisting of only Hytes, Goreski, and Melchor.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: On September 26, 2019, it was announced that the judging panel for the first season would include "RuPaul's Drag Race" season 11 runner-up Brooke Lynn Hytes, actor Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman and fashion model Stacey McKenzie. Bell Media personality Traci Melchor appears as a recurring cast member, with the title "Canada's Squirrel Friend"; her role in the first season entailed participatory support in challenges, including co-judging the "Canada Gay-M" mini-challenge, hosting a "sheTalk" red carpet segment prior to Snatch Game, and serving as one of the judges of the Miss Loose Jaw pageant. Melchor also guest hosted the season finale. Hytes was the first prior competitor in the "RuPaul's Drag Race" franchise to appear on the judge's panel on any edition of the show.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: In March 2021 Hytes and McKenzie announced they would be returning for the show's second season while Bowyer-Chapman would not, citing scheduling issues, writing that "unfortunately, with scheduling, things just didn't work out for him to come back this season... he'll be so missed". On June 28, 2021, a tweet from the show's official Twitter account confirmed that, contrary to the previous announcement, McKenzie would not be returning either, blaming "COVID-related challenges" that meant she was unable to travel to Canada to film the season. The following day on June 29, 2021, celebrity stylist Brad Goreski and actress and season one guest host Amanda Brugel were announced to be joining the panel to replace Bowyer-Chapman and McKenzie, with "Canada's Squirrel Friend" Melchor also becoming a judge and alternating weekly with Brugel. Hytes, Goreski and Melchor returned as judges for the third season.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: Separately from the production of the series, all of the queens from the season participated in Pride events for both Pride Toronto and Fierté Montreal, presented as online streaming specials due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. The Toronto event, "Drag Ball presented by Crave", was streamed on June 27, and the Montreal event, "Drag Superstars", was streamed on August 14. The Toronto special was directly produced by Crave; the Montreal event was produced by a separate company, but received some production assistance and sponsorship from Crave and the "Canada's Drag Race" production team.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: During the series run, producers and competing queens spoke out against online bullying, after Bowyer-Chapman and some of the competing queens were subjected to campaigns of harassment on social media. Bowyer-Chapman's critics focused on purportedly unfair comments in his role as a judge, while several queens were attacked for simply having done better in challenges or lipsyncs than other more popular queens with bigger fanbases.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: In the second season, the show's use of KAPRI's cover of Alexis Jordan's 2010 single "Happiness" as a lip sync number faced some discussion among fans as KAPRI's recording was unlocatable on any music store or streaming platform. The situation led to unconfirmed speculation that the show had in fact directly commissioned a new cover of the song after using Jordan's original recording during production but then running into a copyright clearance issue.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: Following the conclusion of the season, the cast announced a cross-Canada tour, to be performed at drive-in venues due to the ongoing social distancing restrictions remaining in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brooke Lynn Hytes hosted, with Priyanka, Scarlett Bobo and Rita Baga were scheduled to appear at every date on the tour, while other cast members would perform at selected dates based on availability; ultimately, however, both Priyanka and Brooke Lynn Hytes had to miss a couple of later dates after being forced to self-isolate due to COVID-19 exposure.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: Priyanka, Scarlett Bobo, Rita Baga and Jimbo also participated in an online panel as part of the 2020 Just for Laughs festival.


title: Canada's Drag Race

text: In its December 2020 year in review, the Canadian film and television industry magazine "Playback" named "Canada's Drag Race" the Unscripted Series of the Year. The show was the highest-rated original production in Crave's history.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Tommaso Whitney (born May 8, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Tommaso Ciampa.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Whitney began his career in 2005, working on several independent promotions. In 2011, he began to work with Ring of Honor until 2015. He later appeared on WWE in 2015 as part of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, a tag team tournament. He formed a tag team, #DIY (Do It Yourself), with Johnny Gargano. The following year, he signed a contract with WWE and participated in the Cruiserweight Classic, a tournament for cruiserweight wrestlers, but Gargano defeated him in the first round.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Ciampa is a two-time NXT Champion and one-time NXT Tag Team Champion. Outside of WWE, he is best known for his work in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a one-time ROH World Television Champion. He has also wrestled for several other independent promotions, including Beyond Wrestling (BW), Chaotic Wrestling (CW), Top Rope Promotions (TRP), and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG).


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Whitney was trained by WWE Hall of Famer Killer Kowalski, and debuted in January 2005. He predominantly wrestled for independent promotions located in Massachusetts, most notably Chaotic Wrestling and Top Rope Promotions.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: On May 22, 2005, he wrestled an IWF Junior Heavyweight Championship match against champion Sean Royal, but was unsuccessful. Later that day he also failed to win a battle royal to earn the number one contendership to the IWF Heavyweight Championship.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Whitney debuted in Chaotic Wrestling as "Tommy Penmanship" in 2005. On April 1, he lost a qualifying match for entry in the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship Tournament to Fred Sampson. In June, Penmanship teamed with Arch Kincaid to unsuccessfully challenge the Logan Brothers for the Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship. Penmanship won his first championship on August 8, by defeating Chase del Monte for the Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship. He held it for half a year, successfully defending it against former del Monte, Jason Blade, and Psycho, before eventually losing it to Psycho at "Cold Fury 5".


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Penmanship then spent a couple of months without winning a singles match losing to Matt Logan and Psycho, but alongside Psycho, he won a Lethal Lottery Tournament first round match. Penmanship and Psycho qualified for a battle royal to determine the number one contender to the CW Heavyweight Championship, but the match was won by Luis Ortiz. At "Breaking Point 2006" Penmanship lost to Psycho once again in a "Psycho Rules" match with Tommy Dreamer as the special referee. On May 19, Penmanship defeated Handsome Johnny and became Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. As the Chaotic Heavyweight champion Penmanship defeated Bryan Logan, del Monte and Max Bauer. He held the Championship until February 2007, when he lost it to Brian Milonas in a "Loser leaves CW" match.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: He appeared on the July 14, 2005, episode of "SmackDown!" as Thomas Whitney, ESQ one of Muhammad Hassan's lawyers and confronted The Undertaker. Tommaso read a statement from Hassan before being attacked by The Undertaker. On the December 17 episode of "Velocity", under the ring name Demarso Whitney, he was defeated by Jamie Noble. On the August 25, 2006 episode of "Heat" he and Kofi Kingston had a dark match against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: On February 4, 2007, it was announced that Whitney signed a developmental contract with WWE and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He debuted on February 21 and wrestled as "Tommaso". After suffering an injury, he was forced to step away from in ring competition and became known as Dr. Thomas, Anger Management Specialist – during which time he managed Bolin Services


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: (Charles Evans and Justin LaRouche), winning the OVW tag team titles. Dr Thomas would eventually make his in ring debut during a 6-man tag at Six Flags, tagging with Bolin Services to take on Elijah Burke and Cryme Tyme. On June 27, 2007, Whitney debuted a new gimmick when he began wrestling under a mask as Prodigy. On August 9, Whitney was released from his WWE developmental contract.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: In late 2007, he returned to the independent circuit. On September 29 Tommaso defeated A.J. Styles and Eddie Edwards to become the MWF Television Champion.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: In September 2008 Ciampa debuted in Harley Race's World League Wrestling. In October he took part in Nine Man Battle Royal for the vacant WLW Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Go Shiozaki. Ciampa also unsuccessfully challenged WLW Tag Team Championship twice: on November 22, 2008 alongside Steve Anthony and on March 21, 2009 alongside Marc Godeker.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: After returning to New England in 2008, Ciampa went on to compete in the ECWA Super 8 Tournament in 2009 and 2010 before finally winning the tournament in 2011 when he defeated Adam Cole.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: On August 30, 2013, Ciampa made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), when he entered the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles, losing to Brian Cage in his first round match.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: At "Honor Reclaims Boston" he, Alex Payne and Ernie Osiris lost a dark match to Bobby Dempsey, Grizzly Redwood and Rhett Titus. Ciampa appeared in dark matches for Ring of Honor in both 2007 and 2009.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: In January 2011, Ciampa began working regularly for ROH. On the January 22 "Ring of Honor Wrestling" tapings, he defeated Mike Sydal. He joined Prince Nana in his heel stable The Embassy. He later defeated Adam Cole and Grizzly Redwood. On April 1 he debuted on internet pay-per-view at Honor Takes Center Stage Night One, taking part in a Four Corners match that was won by Homicide. Ciampa went on to defeat Homicide twice, once on the second show of Honor Takes Center Stage and again on May 6, at "ROH Revolution: USA". The next day, at "ROH Revolution: Canada", Ciampa was part of the first "Double Danger Scramble" match, which was won by Michael Elgin. On July 13, Ring of Honor announced that Ciampa had signed a contract with the promotion. On September 17 at Death Before Dishonor IX, Ciampa pinned Homicide in a tag team match, where he teamed with Rhino and Homicide with Jay Lethal.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: At an ROH house show on January 21, 2012, Ciampa defeated ROH World Television Champion Jay Lethal in a Proving Ground Match to earn a future match for the ROH World Television Championship. On March 4 at the 10th Anniversary Show, Ciampa's match with Lethal for the ROH World Television Championship ended in a fifteen-minute time limit draw. Ciampa continued his feud with Lethal on March 31 at Showdown in the Sun, where he interfered in his match with Roderick Strong and cost him the title. On the April 7 episode of "Ring of Honor Wrestling", Ciampa defeated Lethal, Adam Cole and Mike Bennett in a four-way final to win the 2012 March Mayhem tournament. On May 12 at Border Wars, Ciampa's undefeated streak was ended, when he was defeated by Lethal in a singles match. On June 24 at , Ciampa received another shot at the ROH World Television Championship, but was defeated by Roderick Strong in a three-way elimination match, also involving Lethal, following interference from Prince Nana. Afterward, Ciampa turned on Nana, after it was revealed that he had struck a deal with Truth Martini to keep the Television Championship on Strong, broke away from The Embassy and adopted R.D. Evans as his new manager. The feud between Ciampa and Lethal culminated on August 11 at Boiling Point, where Lethal defeated Ciampa in a Two Out of Three Falls match. During the match Ciampa tore his anterior cruciate ligament, sidelining him indefinitely from in-ring action. On September 7, Ciampa announced that his injury required surgery, which would sideline him for a year. Ciampa made an appearance on December 16 at , trying to get his hands on R.D. Evans, after he had defeated Prince Nana in a match. Ciampa returned from his injury on May 4 at Border Wars 2013, chasing Evans and his new associate, Q.T. Marshall, out of the ring.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: On August 3, Ciampa entered a tournament to determine the new ROH World Champion, defeating Silas Young in his first round match. On August 17, Ciampa defeated Michael Bennett to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament. On September 20 at Death Before Dishonor XI, Ciampa was eliminated from the tournament by Adam Cole. At Final Battle 2013 on December 14, Ciampa began his first reign as ROH World Television Champion, when he defeated Matt Taven for the title. The following month Ciampa successfully defended the title against Taven and Jay Lethal in a three-way match. At the 12th Anniversary Show in February 2014, he retained the championship against Hanson. On April 4, at Supercard of Honor VIII, Ciampa lost the title to Jay Lethal following outside interference from Truth Martini.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: After an extended period of absence, Ciampa returned on July 19 with a new look, having increased his muscle mass and sporting an untrimmed full beard. He promptly defeated Adam Page of The Decade, then followed it with a promo hinting at a heel turn stating that he felt under-appreciated and wanted a shot at the ROH World Championship before being interrupted by Silas Young. He followed this up on August 9 by losing to Rocky Romero by disqualification due to not releasing the Sicilian Stretch at the referee's count of five. After unsuccessfully challenging Michael Elgin for the ROH World Championship on August 23, Ciampa was (kayfabe) suspended indefinitely by ROH for attacking the ring crew and ring announcer Bobby Cruise, thus cementing his heel status.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: At the ROH 13th Anniversary Show, Ciampa suffered two fractured ribs during his match, forcing him out of action. He later said he'd finished the match "on autopilot" as the pain was more intense than when he'd torn his ACL. He missed several Ring of Honor shows before returning to action (albeit with taped ribs) at an independent show in Toronto. On March 29, 2015, Ciampa announced his departure from ROH. His final match was a failed effort to win the TV title from Jay Lethal who retained after delivering a low blow to Ciampa. Ciampa then attacked referee Todd Sinclair with a low blow as payback for not calling a DQ for the illegal move.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Ciampa made an appearance for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on the September 30, 2015 episode of "Impact Wrestling" in a triple threat match also involving DJZ and Trevor Lee, which was won by Lee. Ciampa wrestled for TNA once again on the October 17, 2015, edition of "Xplosion", defeating Crazzy Steve.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Although not re-signed to WWE, on September 2, 2015, Ciampa was announced as part of the NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. On September 9, he successfully advanced in the first round of the tournament alongside his new partner Johnny Gargano, defeating the also newly formed duo of Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey. On the September 16 episode of "NXT", Ciampa and Gargano lost to Baron Corbin and Rhyno thus eliminating them from the tournament. On the September 30 episode, Ciampa lost to Breeze in a singles match. He appeared on the December 2 episode of "NXT", losing to Samoa Joe. Ciampa won a match against Danny Burch on the January 13, 2016, episode of "NXT" and defeated Bull Dempsey on the February 24, episode. On March 15 tapings, Ciampa scored another win, this time against Jesse Sorensen.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: On April 2, it was confirmed that Ciampa had re-signed with WWE earlier in the week. Ciampa's NXT contract was a so-called "Tier 2" contract, which allowed him to continue working independent dates alongside his now regular NXT bookings. On June 23, Ciampa entered the Cruiserweight Classic tournament, losing to Johnny Gargano in his first round match. The following month, Ciampa announced that his final independent booking was set for September as he was entering a new exclusive NXT contract. On August 20 at , Ciampa and Gargano unsuccessfully challenged The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) for the NXT Tag Team Championship. Ciampa and Gargano, now collectively billed as "#DIY", received another title shot in a two out of three falls match on November 19 at , where they defeated The Revival to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: DIY went on to successfully defend their championships against the team of Tajiri and Akira Tozawa and TM61 in Japan and Australia, respectively. They retained their titles against The Revival on the January 11, 2017 episode of "NXT", but were attacked by The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) afterwards. Ciampa and Gargano lost the championships to The Authors of Pain at . They would get their rematch on the March 1 episode of "NXT", which ended in a no contest after The Revival interfered and attacked both teams. This led to , a triple threat elimination match between all three teams for the titles, but DIY were unsuccessful after being the first team eliminated.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: At , DIY faced The Authors of Pain in the first-ever ladder match for the NXT Tag Team Championship, which they lost. After the match, Ciampa attacked Gargano, turning heel and disbanding #DIY. It was later revealed that Ciampa had suffered a ruptured ACL in his right knee during the ladder match and would await surgery in Birmingham, Alabama. In a further update, it was reported that his surgery was successful and the timetable for his return was estimated for early-to-mid 2018.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: On January 27, 2018, Ciampa returned at , attacking Gargano with a crutch to close the show. He then cost Gargano his NXT Championship match against Andrade "Cien" Almas on the February 21 episode of "NXT", forcing Gargano to leave NXT as per the pre-match stipulation. Ciampa made his in-ring return in the main event of , losing to Gargano in an unsanctioned match, resulting in Gargano being reinstated to NXT. Their feud would continue throughout the following weeks in which they attacked each other and interfered in each other's matches, leading to a Chicago Street Fight at , which Ciampa won.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: On the July 18 tapings of the July 25 episode of "NXT", Ciampa defeated Aleister Black to capture the NXT Championship after Gargano interfered and accidentally hit Black with the title belt. This made Ciampa only the second wrestler to hold both the NXT Championship and NXT Tag Team Championship, after Neville. At , he was scheduled to defend the title against Black and Gargano in a triple threat match, but Black was removed from the match due to being ambushed in the arena parking lot by an unknown assailant (in reality, Black had suffered a legitimate groin injury). The match was changed to the first-ever Last Man Standing match for the NXT Championship between Ciampa and Gargano, where Ciampa retained his title. At , Ciampa retained the championship against Velveteen Dream. Ciampa defended the title against Black at in a winning effort.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Ciampa debuted on "Raw" on February 18, 2019 with three other fellow NXT stars Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black and Ricochet. In his debut match on Raw, he and Gargano defeated former rivals Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival. The next night on "SmackDown Live", Ciampa and Gargano defeated The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus). On March 6, it was reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer that Ciampa would have to undergo neck surgery, as well as forcing him to vacate the NXT Championship and the injury would put him out of action for at least six months. At that point, he had not wrestled since February 19. WWE later confirmed the story saying he would undergo an anterior cervical fusion. Meltzer later reported that due to the injury, WWE had to cancel the main roster feud that was planned between Ciampa and Gargano. The two were also scheduled to face each other at .


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Ciampa relinquished his NXT Championship due to injury on the March 20, 2019 edition of NXT, ending his reign at 237 days. On April 1, he revealed that doctors had told him that he will be wrestling on "borrowed time" if he is even able to return to the ring at all. He made a surprise appearance at on April 5 after Gargano defeated Adam Cole to win the NXT Championship, embracing Gargano to celebrate his victory and turning face in the process.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: On the October 2 episode of "NXT", Ciampa returned from injury, confronting Adam Cole, who had become the longest-reigning NXT Champion. After Ciampa saved Matt Riddle and Keith Lee from a beatdown at the hands of The Undisputed Era (Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong) on the October 30 episode of "NXT", a WarGames match was scheduled between Ciampa's team against The Undisputed Era. At on November 23, Team Ciampa (Ciampa, Lee, Dominik Dijakovic, and Kevin Owens) defeated The Undisputed Era. This led to a match between Ciampa and Cole at on February 16, 2020 for the NXT Championship, which Cole won after Gargano cost Ciampa the match, thus re-igniting their feud. On the April 8 episode of "NXT", this culminated in a No Holds Barred match between Ciampa and Gargano, which Gargano won after interference from Candice LeRae.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Ciampa then entered a feud with Karrion Kross, who attacked him backstage during an interview. At , Ciampa was quickly defeated by Kross. After a brief hiatus, Ciampa returned as a heel on the August 26 episode of "NXT", where he defeated Jake Atlas and continued his post-match assault on Atlas. He would then compete in a losing effort in the fatal four-way 60 minute Iron Man match for the vacant NXT Championship, tying with Gargano at one fall a piece. Ciampa turned face again when he began a feud with Timothy Thatcher, leading to a match at where Ciampa won. On the January 20, 2021 episode of NXT, Ciampa fought and lost to Thatcher in the Fight Pit. After the match, Thatcher and Ciampa showed respect to one another and Ciampa asked Thatcher to be his partner for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic which Thatcher accepted. They defeated Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese in the first round and The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Roderick Strong) in the quarter finals, before losing to the Grizzled Young Veterans in the semi-finals. At , Ciampa was defeated by Walter for the NXT UK Championship. On the June 15 episode of "NXT", Ciampa and Thatcher defeated the Grizzled Young Veterans in a tornado tag match to earn a future NXT Tag Team Championship match. They faced the champions, MSK on July 6 at The Great American Bash but were defeated. Thatcher was written off TV on August 24 due to a kayfabe throat injury from Ridge Holland, ending the team; this was his final appearance as he was eventually released from the company in January.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: On the September 14 episode of "NXT", Ciampa defeated L. A. Knight, Pete Dunne, and Von Wagner in a fatal 4-way match to win the vacant NXT Championship. At , Ciampa retained against Bron Breakker. At WarGames, Ciampa teamed with Johnny Gargano, L. A. Knight and Pete Dunne (as "Team Black & Gold") against Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D'Angelo (as "Team 2.0"), but lost when Breakker pinned Ciampa. At on January 4, 2022, Ciampa lost the title to Breakker in a rematch, ending his second reign at 112 days. They both appeared on the March 7 episode of "Raw", where they defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. On April 2 at NXT Stand & Deliver, Ciampa lost to Tony D'Angelo in his final match in NXT.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: On the April 11 episode of "Raw", Ciampa was officially called up to the brand while also participating in a backstage segment with Kevin Owens and Ezekiel. On the April 25 episode of "Raw", now under the shortened ring name "Ciampa", he attacked Mustafa Ali after his match against The Miz, turning heel for the first time since 2019. On the July 4 episode of "Raw", Ciampa aligned himself with The Miz after helping him attack AJ Styles after their match. On the August 1 episode of "Raw", he defeated Dolph Ziggler and Chad Gable in a triple threat match while also defeating Styles later that night to earn an opportunity to face Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship. Ciampa faced Lashley for the title the following week in a match dedicated to Harley Race, but lost. On the September 5 episode of "Raw", his ring name was reverted back to Tommaso Ciampa.


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: As Tommaso Ciampa, he made his video game debut as a playable character in "WWE 2K18" and has since appeared in "WWE 2K20" and "WWE 2K22".


title: Tommaso Ciampa

text: Whitney married former professional wrestler Jessie Ward in September 2013, having been introduced to her by their mutual friend Samoa Joe. They have one daughter together named Willow. Whitney held a part-time job managing a fitness studio until March 2014, when he left to focus on a full-time career in professional wrestling.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Kumara Chokshananda Sangakkara (; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan cricket commentator, former professional cricketer, businessman, ICC Hall of Fame inductee and the former president of Marylebone Cricket Club and a former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team in all formats, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of the sport. He was officially rated in the top three current batsmen in the world in all three formats of the game at various stages of his international career. He is the current coach of Rajasthan Royals IPL team. Sangakkara scored 28,016 runs in international cricket across all formats in a career that spanned 15 years. At retirement, he was the second-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket, next only to Sachin Tendulkar, and the sixth-highest run scorer in Test cricket.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: As a player, Sangakkara was a left-handed top-order brilliant batsman and was also a wicket-keeper for a large proportion of his career. Sangakkara holds many Test records, having been the fastest, or joint-fastest (in terms of innings) to various run milestones in Test cricket. Sangakkara's partnership with Mahela Jayawardene was the second most prolific in the history of Test cricket. Additionally, he holds the record for the most wicket keeping dismissals in ODI cricket.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara won the ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2012 and won many other awards for both Test and ODI cricket. He was selected as Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2012 and 2015 editions of "Wisden Cricketers' Almanack", becoming the second player to have won this award twice. Sangakkara was rated as the Greatest ODI player of all time in a public poll conducted by Cricket Australia in 2016.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: He won the Man of the Match in the finals of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 tournament and was part of the team that made the final of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20. He won the Man of the Match award in the final of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, where he helped Sri Lanka win their first title.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: In 2019, he was appointed President of the MCC, the first non-British person to be appointed to the position since the club was founded in 1787. He was the youngest person and the first active international player to deliver the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture, which was widely praised by the cricketing community for its outspoken nature. In June 2021, he was inducted to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and became the second Sri Lankan to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame after Muttiah Muralitharan.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara was born in Matale, Central Province, near the city of Kandy, in 1977. He grew up in Kandy with three siblings and his parents.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara received his education at Trinity College, Kandy. During his school days, he was a chorister and played the violin.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara excelled in many sports, and his college principal encouraged him to focus on cricket. He represented his school's Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, Under-19 and first XI squads and was awarded his school's The Trinity Lion award and Ryde Gold Medal. He got selected to represent Sri Lanka A cricket team's tour to South Africa in 1999–00. His knock of an unbeaten 156 against the Zimbabwe A team during a one-day match helped him secure a place in the Sri Lankan national cricket team later that year.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: "Sanga" was the Senior Prefect (Head Boy) of school and entered the Law Faculty of the University of Colombo, but he was unable to finish his degree initially due to his cricketing commitments. He later completed his master's degree in Law from the university.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: At the relatively late age of 22 years 9 months, Sangakkara made his Test debut on 20 July 2000, keeping wicket and replacing pinch hitting wicket-keeper Kaliwuthirana in the first fixture of a three-match series against South Africa. Sri Lanka won the match and in his side's only innings Sangakakra batted at the fall of the third wicket and scored 23 runs before he was dismissed leg before wicket by spin bowler Nicky Boje. He had made his ODI debut 2 weeks earlier, scoring 35 before being run out in his One-day cricket debut against Pakistan. He then received his first man of the match award in the 2nd match of the Singer Triangular Series, 2000, scoring 85 runs against South Africa. He ended the series with 199 runs, at an average of 66.33, securing his place for the upcoming Test series against South Africa. Before reaching his first Test century, he was twice dismissed in the 90s, once against each of South Africa and England. In August 2001, India toured Sri Lanka for three Tests and in the opening match Sangakkara scored his first century. His innings of 105 not out at number three helped set up a ten-wicket victory for Sri Lanka. Later that year Sangakkara scored his second Test century, this time in the first of three matches against the touring West Indians.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: He scored his first double-century against Pakistan in 2002, at the 2nd Asian Test Championship final. His performance helped Sri Lanka secure the Test championship. In April 2003, Sangakkara made his first ODI century against Pakistan, in a losing effort. Together with Marvan Atapattu, he made a partnership of 438 for the 2nd wicket—4th highest in the world—against Zimbabwe in 2004. In that game, he scored 270, his first 250+ score. In July 2005, he was selected to the ICC World XI ODI team but missed out from its Test counterpart.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: When Sri Lanka toured Bangladesh in February 2006 regular captain Marvan Atapattu was injured and Mahela Jayawardene became captain while Sangakkara was made vice-captain. Pakistan toured Sri Lanka for two Test and three ODIs in March 2006, and with Atapattu still injured Jayawardene and Sangakkara remained captain and vice-captain respectively. The pair had only expected to hold the positions on an interim basis, but extended into a third series as Atapattu failed to recover in time to tour England in April and ended up filling the roles full-time. In July 2006, Sangakkara made his second-highest Test score to-date (287) against South Africa. In a record-breaking partnership with Mahela Jayawardene, he set up the world record for the highest partnership in Test cricket—624 runs—in this match.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On 6 December 2007 he made it to the top spot of ICC Test player rankings with a rating of 938, the highest rating ever achieved by a Sri Lankan player, and became the first batsman ever to score in excess of 150 in four consecutive tests. His skill was recognised worldwide when he earned selection for the ICC World XI One-Day International team that competed against Australia in the Johnnie Walker Series in October 2005. Despite the World XI losing all of the one-day games by considerable margins, Sangakkara left the series with some credit, averaging 46. He was one of the winners of the 2008 inaugural Cricinfo awards for outstanding batting in Test cricket. He was once again named in the World Test XI by the ICC in 2010.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara holds the record for being the fastest man to 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 (jointly held), 11,000 and 12,000 runs in Test cricket. During Sri Lanka's tour to England in May 2006, he was named the vice-captain of the side. On 3 March 2009, a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team convoy in Pakistan injured 6 Sri Lankan players including Sangakkara. Sangakkara suffered shrapnel wounds in his shoulder. In November 2006, Sangakkara was included in the ICC World XI Test team. Next year, he signed an agreement to join Warwickshire County Cricket Club. That year, he scored back-to-back double centuries in Tests and became only the fifth cricketer in the history to do so.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: In February 2009, the then captain of the Sri Lankan side, Mahela Jayawardene announced that he would step down from captaincy "in the best interests of the Sri Lankan team". He said he believed that it would give his successor around two years to build up to the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Therefore, at the age of 31 and with the experience of 80 Tests and 246 ODIs, Sangakkara succeeded Jayawardene as Sri Lanka's captain in all formats of the game. His first engagement in the role was the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 hosted by England in June. Sri Lanka became runners-up in the series after winning all the game in group and knock-out stages and being defeated by Pakistan in the final. Sangakkara made 64 not-out in the final, but was unable to take Sri Lanka for the championship. He was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' by Cricinfo for the 2009 T20I World Cup.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sri Lanka failed to reach to the knock-out stage of the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2009. The next Indian tour proved to be disastrous for the team, with Sri Lanka being beaten by India in Test series 2–0 and ODI series 3–1.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sri Lankan team under the captaincy of Sangakkara gained momentum and won the next Tri-series in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, beating India as well. The Sri Lankans' tour of Australia proved to be very successful, in winning both the T20 and ODI series. This was Sri Lanka's first ever series victory in Australia.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: A month in advance of the 2011 World Cup in March, Sangakkara decided that he would resign the captaincy after the tournament. Sri Lanka reached the final of the tournament. Throughout the tournament Sangakkara was in prolific form with the bat scoring 465 runs from 9 matches and was the third highest run-scorer behind teammate Tillakaratne Dilshan and India's Sachin Tendulkar. He was named as captain and wicket keeper of the 'Team of the Tournament' for the 2011 World Cup by the ICC. He was also named in the 'Team of the Tournament' by Cricinfo. During the final, loud crowd noise prevented match referee Jeff Crowe from hearing Sri Lankan captain Sangakkara's call as the coin was tossed by Indian captain Dhoni. The toss had to be redone – an extremely unusual event, especially at as prominent an event as the World Cup final. He also criticised the decision of ICC in its attempt to tweak and alter the 2.5-metre rule while a tournament was in progress.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Days after guiding Sri Lanka to the finals of the World Cup, Sangakkara announced to the public he was stepping down as captain of the T20 and ODI teams. He offered to continue as Test captain if deemed necessary for transition to new skipper, but Dilshan was appointed captain across all formats. Reflecting on the decision afterwards, he said that "captaining Sri Lanka is a job that ages you very quickly ... It's rarely a job you will last long in ... I also had a two-year stint, and I enjoyed it at times, certainly on the field where our results showed we were one of the top two sides in the world for one-and-a-half years, especially in the shorter form of the game."


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: The same year, he was named the ODI Cricketer of the Year at the ICC awards ceremony. In 2012, he was honored as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sri Lanka's first fixture after the World Cup was a Sri Lanka tour of England in 2011 beginning in May. During the second match of a three Test series Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sangakkara's successor as captain, suffered a broken thumb. Sangakkara filled in while Dilshan was off the pitch and formally assumed the captaincy for the final Test. The match ended in a draw and the series ended in a 1–0 victory for England; Sangakarra scored a century in the match, his first against England in nine Tests.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara was named the man of the series in Test series with Pakistan in 2011/12—his first man of the series award in Test cricket. He made 516 runs in the 3 match series which was won by Pakistan 1–0. On August in 2013, he was named the ODI Cricketer of the Year, wicket keeper-captain of the ICC World XI Test team, and won the ICC People's Choice Award in 2011 ICC Awards. In 2012, he was named one of the Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year. He was also named as captain and wicket keeper of the 2011 World Test XI by the ICC and named in the 2012 World Test XI and ODI XI.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara struggled with his form when England toured Sri Lanka in 2012. He failed to score a half century during The Two Test match series. But he regained his form in the ODI series against Pakistan where his batting score reached the 90s. In the Test series that followed, Sangakkara continued his form with a 199, the scoreboard originally said he had scored the double century but it turned out to be a mistake. Sri Lanka later won the Test match. He followed this up with 192 in the same game, again missing out on the double century. The next two matches were drawn, which meant Sri Lanka won the series 1–0. This was their first time winning a Test series since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On the Sri Lankan tour of Bangladesh in 2014, Sangakkara hit his highest test score to date with 319 in the first innings of the second test. Making him only the third Sri Lankan player to hit a triple century after Sanath Jayasuria and Mahela Jayawardena. He followed his triple century with a knock of 105 in the 2nd innings and the game finished as a draw. He continued his good batting run with another century in the 2nd ODI.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Along with teammate Mahela Jayawardene, he recorded the most partnership runs for the 3rd wicket in Test history, scoring 5890 runs surpassing the 5826 runs of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, during the first Test match against Pakistan at Galle International Stadium. The two also hold the record for the highest partnership for any wicket in Test matches, scoring 624 runs for the 3rd wicket against South Africa in July 2006. This still stands as the largest partnership for any wicket in first-class cricket, anywhere.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: His impressive form with the bat continued at the 2014 Asia Cup where he amassed a total of 245 runs in five innings. He started the tournament with a 63 against Pakistan before hitting a match winning 103 against India. He then added scores of 77 and 2 against Afghanistan and Bangladesh before being dismissed for a golden duck in the final against Pakistan. Sri Lanka went on to win the game and the tournament.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara decided to retire from T20 internationals after playing the 2014 ICC World Twenty20. Afterwards, Jayawardene also followed him into retirement. Sangakkara under-performed in the World T20, but in the final match against India, he scored 51 not out off just 33 balls making his team win their second ICC trophy since 1996.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sri Lanka played their first 7-match ODI series at home, against England, from 26 November to 16 December 2014. On 3 December 2014 Sangakkara reached 13,000 runs in One-day internationals in the third match of the series at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota, and became the fourth player in One-day history to achieve the feat after Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Sanath Jayasuriya. He also became the second most prolific half-century maker in One-day internationals during this match. He scored 4 consecutive half-centuries followed by a century. On 13 December 2014, he scored his 20th ODI century, becoming the second Sri Lankan to score 20 ODI centuries, after 28 by Sanath Jayasuriya, and 9th overall to do so. He also took 4 catches as a wicket-keeper in this match taking the player of the match award. This match was his last match in his hometown due to his retirement from the ODI arena after the 2015 Cricket World Cup.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: His last One-day innings in Sri Lanka was played on 13 December 2014 in the last match of the England ODI series. He was caught while on 33 in his last innings on home soil.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On 4 January 2015, Sangakkara scored his 38th test century by making 203 against New Zealand during the second match of the 2 Test match series. With this feat, he is only one short to become the highest double-century maker in test history. He has 11 test double centuries, only one short of 12 double centuries by Don Bradman. He also surpassed 12,000 runs in Test cricket, becoming the first Sri Lankan and 5th overall cricketer to achieve that mark.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On 14 February 2015, Sangakkara became the second highest run scorer in One-Day International history, by surpassing Australian Ricky Ponting. He achieved this milestone during the first match of 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup against New Zealand, but Sri Lanka lost the match.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On 26 February 2015 in 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup against Bangladesh, Sangakkara scored his 22nd ODI century in his 400th appearance in One-Day Internationals. The 210* second wicket partnership between Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan on that day was broken again on 1 March 2015, in the next group match in World Cup against England, where Sangakkara joined Lahiru Thirimanne with 212* for the second wicket. Sangakkara scored his 23rd century in this match and this 70-ball century was his fastest century overall and the fastest century by a Sri Lankan in World Cup history.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: During the same World Cup, against Australia, when chasing a massive score of 377, Sangakkara passed 14,000 ODI runs, becoming the first Sri Lankan and second overall cricketer to pass it. He scored 124 runs in the next match against Scotland, becoming first batsman in World Cup history to score 4 consecutive hundreds.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara's last ODI innings were disappointing from him and his teams' point of view, where Sri Lanka lost the quarter-final against South Africa on 18 March 2015. He only scored 45 runs, it was Sri Lanka's first World Cup defeat in a quarter final after 1999. His teammate Mahela also retired from ODI career with this match. He was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' for the 2015 World Cup by the ICC.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: During the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 championship, Sangakkara announced his retirement from the Twenty20 International arena after the championship with his teammate Mahela Jayawardene. In December 2014, he announced that he would also retire from ODI cricket after the 2015 Cricket World Cup, again with Jayawardene. As he said, he retired from T20I cricket in April 2014 and from ODI cricket on 18 March 2015.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On 1 April 2015, Sri Lanka's Sports Minister Navin Dissanayake stated that Sangakkara should reconsider his intention to retire in August 2015. He said that Sangakkara was disillusioned by some of the actions of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board in the past, and now that attempts have been made to change personnel and practices, Sangakkara should reconsider his decision. Sangakkara did not give an answer to the statement.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On 27 June 2015, Sangakkara officially announced his retirement from Test cricket as well. He retired from Test cricket after the second Test match against India. He scored 32 runs in the first innings and 18 in the second of his last test match and got out to Ravichandran Ashwin for the fourth consecutive time in the series.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: The P Sara Oval ground was decorated with numerous banners and posters of Sangakkara with messages such as "Thank You Sanga" and "Class Never Retires". His teammates including Mahela, Thilan Thushara, and Sanath Jayasuriya, Murali came to the ground to bid farewell to Sangakkara. Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation recognized Sangakkara as the "Player of the Century" citing many of Sangakkara's memories and achievements.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: After the conclusion of the second test, a special farewell presentation was held for Sangakkara with the presence of President Maithreepala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, former Sri Lankan Test captain Arjuna Ranatunga, former Indian Test captain Sunil Gavaskar, and several cricket celebrities. Several mementos were given for the behalf of his cricket career and Gavaskar invited him to the former cricketer's club. Indian captain Virat Kohli described Sangakkara as "a lovely person". President Sirisena offered him to work as the Commissioner for the United Kingdom in Sri Lanka stating "He has been a great face for our country and it gives me immense pleasure in offering him the post of High Commissioner to the UK".


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: In November 2020, Sangakkara was nominated for the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade, and the award for ODI cricketer of the decade.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara delivered the 2011 Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lords. He became the youngest person and the first active international player to deliver that lecture, which was widely praised by the cricketing community. The one-hour-long speech was based on the history and the corruption in the cricket administration in Sri Lanka. In his speech, he said: "accountability and transparency in administration and credibility of conduct were lost in a mad power struggle that would leave Sri Lankan cricket with no clear, consistent administration", and observed that these problems in administration had risen only after Sri Lanka's 1996 Cricket World Cup victory. He also blamed "a handful of well-meaning individuals" who control the game, wasting the cricket board's finances and resources. Immediately after the lecture, the Sri Lankan sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage ordered an investigation into the speech. Despite the critical comments by the Sri Lankan government officials, it has been described as "the most important speech in cricket history".


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On 19 August 2015, just after the end of Sri Lankan Parliamentary election of 2015, president Maithripala Sirisena appointed Sangakkara as the Ambassador Of Anti-narcotics program In Sri Lanka. The letter of appointment was handed over to Sangakkara by the president at President's official residence.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: In January 2019, Sangakkara accepted an invitation from the incumbent President of the MCC Anthony Wreford to be his successor. The decision was announced on 1 May 2019, at which time Sangakkara became the President Designate. His one-year term began on 1 October 2019. Sangakkara was the first non-British MCC President since the club was founded in 1787. The MCC are the custodians of the "Laws of Cricket", which are applied by the International Cricket Council in its role as the global governing body for the game. Sangakkara was awarded honorary life membership of the MCC in 2012 and joined its world cricket committee the same year. Sangakkara described the MCC as "the greatest cricket club in the world" and described being named as its president as a "huge honour". Kumar Sangakkara has become the first non-British President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), with effect from 1 October 2019 for a period of one year which was extended for further one year till October 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said, "I am thrilled to hold the prestigious position of MCC President and I look forward to working hard with the MCC to build on this incredible year of cricket. We have the opportunity to convert more supporters to the game we love and educate them about the fantastic work MCC does locally, nationally and globally for cricket and those communities."


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara has a long association with MCC. He played against the Club in 2002, opening the batting for the touring Sri Lankans in a first-class match at Queen's Park Chesterfield.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara used to play domestic cricket for Nondescripts in Sri Lanka, as well as Surrey in England and also various T20 tournaments around the world. He made his Twenty20 debut on 17 August 2004, for Nondescripts Cricket Club in the 2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament. He currently only plays for the MCC as a player-president in T20s.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara has played English county cricket with Warwickshire in the 2007 County Championship. In 2010, Sangakkara was contracted to represent Lancashire in the 2010 County Championship, but never represented the club because of international commitments. For the 2015 and 2016 seasons Sangakkara was contracted to play for Surrey. After his international retirement, Sangakkara continued to play for Surrey and in 2017 scored his 100th century in all formats of the game combined on 13 June 2017.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara has played in five seasons of the Indian Premier League. Winning bids for him in 2008 and 2011 were US$700,000 by Kings XI Punjab and US$300,000 by Deccan Chargers, respectively. He was the captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad team. Sangakkara has scored 1567 runs with 10 half-centuries in 62 matches in IPL.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: In January 2021, Sangakkara was named the director of cricket of Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL 2021.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: In the Sri Lanka Premier League which officially started in 2012, Sangakkara was named the captain and icon player of the Kandurata Warriors franchise. Unfortunately, he couldn't participate as a player in the inaugural edition in 2012 as he suffered a finger injury weeks before the tournament during a One Day International against India. However, he appeared as a television commentator during some matches.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: In 2015, he was signed by Dhaka Dynamites for the 2015–16 Bangladesh Premier League. He was the leading run scorer of that season, scoring 349 runs in 10 matches. He was retained by Dhaka Dynamites for the 2016–17 Bangladesh Premier League.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: In 2015, Sangakkara joined the Quetta Gladiators of the Pakistan Super League. He was later released by the franchise and was picked by Karachi Kings as captain for the 2017 edition. Under his captaincy team reached play-offs. The following year, in the 3rd edition of PSL, Sangakkara was picked by Multan Sultans.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Before Sri Lanka's Test series against England in 2014, Sangakkara returned to county cricket, playing two matches for Durham, which included 159 against Sussex in his final innings. On 16 January 2015, it was announced that he would be joining Surrey on a two-year contract. Sangakkara scored a brilliant century against Glamorgan, where he scored 149 runs, which was his maiden century for Surrey in this county season. After the match, he said that he was willing to see the comeback of English batsman Kevin Pietersen to international cricket.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara represented Surrey from 2015 till 2017, helping them win Division Two of LV= 2015 County Championship and gaining promotion to Division One for the Specsavers 2016 County Championship season. Surrey also reached the finals of 2015 Royal London One-Day Cup before losing by six runs to Gloucestershire.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On 22 May 2017, Sangakkara announced that the following season would be his last in first-class cricket. He made the announcement after scoring four consecutive centuries becoming the fourth Surrey batsman to achieve this feat (Ian Ward was the last to do it in 2002), pass 20,000 first-class and having scored 592 runs in the said four games. He scored the fifth consecutive century on 26 May against Essex at the County Cricket Ground, Chelmsford. becoming only the eighth player to achieve this feat. In the quarter-final of the Royal London One-Day Cup against Yorkshire, he scored 121 from as many balls, which became his 100th century in all formats of the game combined, that now included 61 in first-class and 39 in List A games. Sangakkara became the first batsman to reach 1,000 runs for the season when he brought up his sixth century for the season against Yorkshire.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On the 2020 MCC tour of Pakistan, with all matches played in Lahore, Sangakkara played in all matches, registering 25 runs in the first T20 match with 1 catch behind the stumps, 3 runs in the only LA game (where he did not keep wicket), 1 catch behind the stumps and 10 with the bat in the second T20, and 52 and 1 catch keeping wicket in the third and tour-ending T20, giving him a total of 3 dismissals credited to his name and 90 runs in total on the tour, giving him a T20 average of 30 and a tour average of 22.5.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara, though retired from international cricket, participated in the 2015 Cricket All-Stars Series for Warne's Warriors under Shane Warne's captaincy. In the three T20 matches, he scored 153 runs, more than any other cricketer in the series, and included one fifty. His average in the series was 51.00. He also hit the most fours and sixes, 12 apiece. For his overall performance, Sangakkara was judged player of the series.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara also played for Gemini Arabians in the first edition of Masters Champions League T20 tournament which took place in the UAE. In the first match against Gemini and Libra Legends, Sangakkara scored 86 runs from just 43 balls and helped the team post a huge total of 234 runs in their allotted 20 overs. Libra Legends only scored 156 in their 20 overs and thus Gemini Arabians won the match courtesy of Sangakkara's knock. Sangakkara was also awarded man of the match. Sangakkara scored four consecutive fifties (65, 51, 51, 62) in the other matches played during the series, this secured a place in the final for the Arabians. In the final against Leo Lions, he scored 30 runs to become top run scorer of the series. His team won the series and remained undefeated throughout the tournament. Sangakkara won player of the series for his 386 runs with 5 fifties.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On 7 March 2016, Sangakkara was appointed as a member of Sri Lanka's selection committee by sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekara. The committee was tasked to select the Sri Lankan squad for 2016 ICC World Twenty20 tournament, as Sri Lanka suffered heavy defeats in recent times with the previous squad. The chairman of the selection committee is Aravinda de Silva. The other members are Romesh Kaluwitharana, Ranjith Madurasinghe, and Lalith Kaluperuma.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: On August 20, 2020, Sangakkara was appointed as a member of the National Sports Council under the overview of Cabinet Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Namal Rajapakse. The council is headed by his teammate Mahela Jayawardena and includes notable sporting personalities such as Dilantha Malagamuwa and Julian Bolling. In 2021, he was appointed as one of the members in the selection committee and technical advisory committee panel of Sri Lanka Cricket led by Aravinda de Silva.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara is married to his longtime partner, Yehali with whom he has twin children, a daughter Swyree and a son Kavith. Sangakkara converted to Christianity after his marriage to Yehali and Yehali has openly credited God for Kumar's career success.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara is involved in charity work in Sri Lanka. He is a member of the "Think Wise Initiative", launched by International Cricket Council, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and UNICEF, this initiative is aimed at raising awareness of HIV prevention and eliminating discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS. He is also a partner of the Foundation of Goodness, a charity launched by Kushil Gunasekara.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: In December 2011, Sangakkara collaborated with Mahela Jayawardene and veteran chef Dharshan Munidasa to open the Ministry of Crab which later went to become one of the top performing restaurants in Sri Lanka. He is also a partner in the local private equity firm Atman Group, and he has made substantial investments in the Sri Lankan economy post-war..


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara is a left-handed top order batsman who likes to hit the ball square of the stumps on the off-side. While the cut and the pull are natural strokes for him, he tends to play off the front foot. The cover drive is one of his regular scoring shots. Sangakkara averaged 57.40 in Test cricket. In ODI cricket, he retired with an average of 42. Sangakkara handed his wicket-keeping duties in Test cricket to Prasanna Jayawardene in 2006. He played as a specialist batsman in Tests, and retired as a wicket keeper-batsman in other formats of the game. He is the first on the list of wicket keepers who contributed to the most dismissals in ODI cricket, with 499. He is also the wicket keeper with the second highest number of stumpings—99—in ODI cricket after Mahendra Singh Dhoni surpassed him.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara has won a certain degree of admiration for his clever use of sledging and is one of the few cricketers who are willing to talk about it openly. In an interview in 2004 he explained his approach to sledging:


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Kumar Sangakkara made his ICC TV commentary debut during the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy along with newcomers Brendon McCullum, Graeme Smith and Ricky Ponting. Sangakkara was also one of the commentators for the global broadcast of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Kumar Sangakkara has joined SkySports for commentary throughout the English summer of 2018. He also commentated in Pakistan's tour of England as well as India's tour of England.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara is also a part of the IPL commentary panel in 2019 as well as in the 2020 edition that was taking place in the UAE.


title: Kumar Sangakkara

text: Sangakkara has scored 38 centuries in Test cricket, more than any other Sri Lankan. Additionally, Sangakkara has scored 25 centuries in ODIs.


title: Evergreen

text: In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.


title: Evergreen

text: The Latin binomial term , meaning "always green", refers to the evergreen nature of the plant, for instance


title: Evergreen

text: Leaf longevity in evergreen plants varies from a few months to several decades (over thirty years in the Great Basin bristlecone pine).


title: Evergreen

text: Evergreen and deciduous species vary in a range of morphological and physiological characters. Generally, broad-leaved evergreen species have thicker leaves than deciduous species, with a larger volume of parenchyma and air spaces per unit leaf area. They have larger leaf biomass per unit leaf area, and hence a lower specific leaf area. Construction costs do not differ between the groups. Evergreens have generally a larger fraction of total plant biomass present as leaves (LMF), but they often have a lower rate of photosynthesis.


title: Evergreen

text: Deciduous trees shed their leaves usually as an adaptation to a cold or dry/wet season. Evergreen trees also lose leaves, but each tree loses its leaves gradually and not all at once. Most tropical rainforest plants are considered to be evergreens, replacing their leaves gradually throughout the year as the leaves age and fall, whereas species growing in seasonally arid climates may be either evergreen or deciduous. Most warm temperate climate plants are also evergreen. In cool temperate climates, fewer plants are evergreen. In this climate, there is a predominance of conifers because few evergreen broadleaf plants can tolerate severe cold below about .


title: Evergreen

text: In areas where there is a reason for being deciduous, e.g. a cold season or dry season, evergreen plants are usually an adaptation of low nutrient levels. Additionally, they usually have hard leaves and have an excellent water economy due to scarce resources in the area in which they reside. The excellent water economy within the evergreen species is due to high abundance when compared to deciduous species. Whereas deciduous trees lose nutrients whenever they lose their leaves. In warmer areas, species such as some pines and cypresses grow on poor soils and disturbed ground. In "Rhododendron", a genus with many broadleaf evergreens, several species grow in mature forests but are usually found on highly acidic soil where the nutrients are less available to plants. In taiga or boreal forests, it is too cold for the organic matter in the soil to decay rapidly, so the nutrients in the soil are less easily available to plants, thus favoring evergreens.


title: Evergreen

text: In temperate climates, evergreens can reinforce their own survival; evergreen leaf and needle litter has a higher carbon-nitrogen ratio than deciduous leaf litter, contributing to a higher soil acidity and lower soil nitrogen content. This is the case with Mediterranean evergreen seedlings, which have unique C and N storages that allow stored resources to determine fast growth within the species, limiting competition and bolstering survival. These conditions favor the growth of more evergreens and make it more difficult for deciduous plants to persist. In addition, the shelter provided by existing evergreen plants can make it easier for younger evergreen plants to survive cold and/or drought.


title: Charmy Kaur

text: Charmy Kaur, also spelt as Charmme or Charmi (born 17 May 1987), is an Indian film producer and former actress. She is well known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema, as well as few Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films. Her most notable works include films such as "Mass" (2004), "Anukokunda Oka Roju" (2005), "Lakshmi" (2006), "Pournami" (2006), and "Rakhi" (2006), where she played supporting roles in all these movies except "Anukokunda Oka Roju" (2005).


title: Charmy Kaur

text: She then appeared in films such as "Mantra" (2007), for which she won the state Nandi Award for Best Actress, the subsequent years, she appeared in "Manorama" (2009), "Kavya's Diary" (2009) and "Mangala" (2011) for which she garnered another state Nandi Special Jury Award. Later she also appeared in the Hindi film "Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap" alongside Amitabh Bachchan.


title: Charmy Kaur

text: Charmy Kaur made her acting debut in the 2002 Telugu film "Nee Thodu Kavali", in which she acted as a housewife at the age of 15. This film was a flop, but helped Charmy in getting noticed by the south Indian film industry. Her next film was T. Rajendar's "Kadhal Azhivathillai" in Tamil, alongside Silambarasan. During this time she acted in a Malayalam film directed by Vinayan named "Kattuchembakam".


title: Charmy Kaur

text: Her re-entry to Telugu films happened with "Neeke Manasichaanu" a film with Srikanth; then in "Sri Anjaneyam", directed by Krishna Vamsi, was followed by another drama film "Chanti", paired against Ravi Teja. She finally got a big break in Telugu with "Gowri", in which she was paired with Sumanth. Again, Charmy paired with Ravi Teja in "Dongala Mutha", directed by Ram Gopal Varma. In 2012, she made special appearances in films such as "Dhamarukam", "Naayak" and "Yaare Koogadali". She then appeared in Hindi films such as "Zila Ghaziabad" and "R... Rajkumar". She produced and starred in the film "Jyothi Lakshmi" (2015), directed by Puri Jagannadh. Her next film, "Pratighatana", in which she played a journalist, was her 50th film.


title: Charmy Kaur

text: Charmy Kaur co-produced "Rogue", starring the debuting Ishan, a Telugu & Kannada bilingual and also "Paisa Vasool", starring Nandamuri Bala Krishna, all three movies directed by south Indian star director Puri Jagannadh, who is the core founder of "Puri Connects", a production house along with media related events and marketing and designing and talent management company. She co-produced the film "Mehbooba" under the Puri Connects Banner along with Puri Jagannadh, who has directed and also co-produced the film on Puri Jagannadh Touring Talkies Banner, launching his son Akash Puri. In May 2019, Charmy Kaur announced she had quit her acting career, and would continue as a film producer.


The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right, which promotes private enterprise and economic liberalism.


title: People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

text: Mark Rutte has been the party's leader since 31 May 2006 and on 14 October 2010 became Prime Minister of the Netherlands, marking the first time that the VVD led a government.


text: The VVD was founded in 1948 as a continuation of the Freedom Party, which was a continuation of the interbellum Liberal State Party, which in turn was a continuation of Liberal Union. They were joined by the Comité-Oud, a group of liberal members of the Labour Party (PvdA), led by Pieter Oud. The liberals within the Labour Party were primarily members of the pre-war social liberal Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) who had gone on to join the Labour Party in the post-war "Doorbraak" ("Breakthrough") movement. However, they believed that the Labour Party was becoming too socialist for their liking. Oud became the merged party's first leader.


text: Between 1948 and 1952 the VVD took part in the broad cabinets led by the Labour Party Prime Minister Willem Drees. The party was a junior partner with only eight seats to the Catholic People's Party (KVP) and Labour Party, which both had around thirty seats (out of 100). The Drees cabinets laid the foundation for the welfare state and decolonisation of the Dutch East Indies. In the general election of 1952 the VVD gained one seat, but did not join the government. In the general election of 1956 it increased its total, receiving thirteen seats, but was still kept out of government until the general election of 1959, which was held early because of a cabinet crisis. This time it gained nineteen seats, and the party entered government alongside the Protestant Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), Christian Historical Union CHU and the Roman Catholic KVP.


text: In 1963, Oud retired from politics, and was succeeded by the Minister of the Interior Edzo Toxopeus. With Toxopeus as its Leader, the VVD lost three seats in the 1963 election, but remained in government. In 1962, a substantial group of disillusioned VVD members founded the Liberal Democratic Centre ("Liberaal Democratisch Centrum", LDC) which was intended to introduce a more twentieth-century liberal direction pointing to the classical liberal VVD. In 1966, frustrated with their hopeless efforts, LDC members departed the VVD altogether and went on now to form an entirely political party, the Democrats 66 (D66).


text: In 1965, there also occurred a conflict between VVD Ministers and their counterparts from the KVP and ARP in the Marijnen cabinet. The cabinet fell, and without an election it was replaced by a KVP–ARP–PvdA cabinet under Jo Cals, which itself also fell the next year. In the following 1967 election the VVD remained relatively stable and entered yet again the cabinet under Prime Minister Piet de Jong.


text: During this period the VVD had loose ties with other liberal organisations, and together these formed the neutral pillar. They included the liberal papers "Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant" and "Algemeen Handelsblad", the broadcaster AVRO and the employers' organisation VNO.


text: In the Dutch general election of 1971 the VVD lost one seat and the cabinet lost its majority. A cabinet was formed by the Christian democratic parties, the VVD and the Labour Party offshoot Democratic Socialists '70. This cabinet collapsed after a few months. Meanwhile, the charismatic young MP Hans Wiegel had attracted considerable attention. He became the new leader of the VVD: in 1971 he became the new parliamentary leader, and in 1972 he was appointed "lijsttrekker". Under Wiegel's leadership, the party oriented towards a new political course, aiming to reform the welfare state and cut taxes. Wiegel did not shrink from conflict with the Labour Party and the trade unions. With this new course came a new electorate: working-class and middle-class voters who, because of individualisation and depillarisation, were more easy to attract.


text: The course proved to be profitable: in the heavily polarised general election of 1972 the VVD gained six seats. The VVD was kept out of government by the social democratic and Christian democratic cabinet led by Joop den Uyl. Although the ties between the VVD and other organisations within the neutral pillar became ever looser, the number of neutral organisations friendly to the VVD grew. The TROS and later Veronica, new broadcasters which entered the Netherlands Public Broadcasting, were friendly to the VVD. In 1977 the VVD again won six seats, bringing its total to twenty-eight seats. When lengthy formation talks between the social democrats and Christian democrats eventually led to a final break between the two parties, the VVD formed cabinet with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), with a majority of only two seats.


text: In the general election of 1981 the VVD lost two seats and its partner the CDA lost even more. The cabinet was without a majority and a CDA, Labour and D66 cabinet was formed, falling after only a few months. In 1982 Hans Wiegel left Parliament to become Queen's Commissioner in Friesland and was succeeded by Ed Nijpels. In the general election of 1982 Nijpels' VVD gained ten seats, bringing its total up to 36. Once again, it formed a cabinet with the CDA under CDA Leader Ruud Lubbers. The cabinet began a programme of radical reform of the welfare state, which is still in place today. The VVD lost nine seats in the 1986 election but the cabinet nonetheless retained its majority. The losses were blamed on Nijpels, who stood down as leader of the VVD. He was succeeded by Joris Voorhoeve. In 1989 the CDA–VVD cabinet fell over a minor issue, and the VVD lost five seats in the subsequent election, leaving only twenty-two. The VVD was kept out of government, and Voorhoeve stood down and was succeeded by the charismatic intellectual Frits Bolkestein.


text: Bolkestein's VVD was one of the winners of the Dutch general election of 1994: the party gained nine seats. It formed an unprecedented government with the Labour Party (PvdA) and the social liberal Democrats 66. The so-called "purple cabinet" led by Wim Kok was the first Dutch government without any Christian parties since 1918. Like many of his predecessors, Bolkestein remained in parliament. His political style was characterised by some as "opposition to one's own government". This style was very successful and the VVD gained another seven seats in the 1998 election, becoming the second largest party in parliament with thirty-eight seats. The VVD formed a second Purple cabinet with the Labour Party and D66. Bolkestein left Dutch politics in 1999 to become European Commissioner. He was replaced by the more technocratic and social liberal Hans Dijkstal.


text: In the heavily polarised Dutch general election of 2002, dominated by the rise and murder of Pim Fortuyn, the VVD lost fourteen seats, leaving only twenty-four. The VVD nonetheless entered a cabinet with the Christian Democratic Appeal and the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF). Dijkstal stood down and was replaced by the popular former Minister of Finance Gerrit Zalm. After a few months, Zalm "pulled the plug" on the First Balkenende cabinet, after infighting between Pim Fortuyn List ministers Eduard Bomhoff and Herman Heinsbroek.


text: In the subsequent general election of 2003, the VVD with Gerrit Zalm as "lijsttrekker" gained four seats, making a total of twenty-eight. The party had expected to do much better, having adopted most of Fortuyn's proposals on immigration and integration. The VVD unwillingly entered the Second Balkenende cabinet with Zalm returning as Minister of Finance and as Deputy Prime Minister. On 2 September 2004, Geert Wilders, a Member of the House of Representatives, left the party after a dispute with Parliamentary leader Van Aartsen. He chose to continue as an Independent in the House of Representatives. On 27 November 2004 Gerrit Zalm was succeeded as Leader by the Parliamentary leader of the VVD in the House of Representatives Jozias van Aartsen.


text: In 2006 the party lost a considerable number of seats in the municipal elections, prompting parliamentary leader Jozias van Aartsen to step down. Willibrord van Beek was subsequently appointed parliamentary leader "ad interim". In the subsequent party leadership run-off Mark Rutte was elected as the leader, defeating Rita Verdonk and Jelleke Veenendaal.


text: The general election of 2006 did not start off well for the VVD: Mark Rutte was criticised by his own parliamentary party for being invisible in the campaign, and he was unable to break the attention away from the duel between current Christian democratic Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Wouter Bos of the Labour Party. However, the VVD's campaign started relatively late. The election polls showed losses for the VVD; the former VVD deputy Prime Minister Hans Wiegel blamed a poor VVD campaign for this, caused by the heavily contested VVD leadership run-off between Mark Rutte and Rita Verdonk earlier in the year. Verdonk had her eyes on the deputy-minister post, while cabinet posts are normally decided upon by the political leader of the VVD. On election day, the party received enough votes for twenty-two seats, a loss of six seats. When the official election results were announced on Monday 27 November 2006, preferential votes became known as well, showing that Rita Verdonk, the second candidate on the list, had obtained more votes than the VVD's top candidate, Mark Rutte. Rutte had received 553,200 votes, while Verdonk had received 620,555. This led Verdonk to call for a party commission that would investigate the party leadership position, as a consequence of the situation of her obtaining more votes in the general election than Rutte, creating a short-lived crisis in the party. A crisis was averted when Rutte called for an ultimatum on his leadership, which Verdonk had to reconcile to, by rejecting her proposal for a party commission.


text: During 2007, signs of VVD infighting continued to play in the media. In June 2007, the former VVD minister Dekker presented a report on the previous election, showing that the VVD lacked clear leadership roles, however the report did not single out individuals for blame for the party's losses.


text: After Verdonk renewed her criticism of the party in September 2007, she was expelled from the parliamentary faction, and subsequently relinquished her membership of the party, after reconciliation attempts had proven futile. Verdonk started her own political movement, Proud of the Netherlands, subsequently. In opinion polls held after Verdonk's exit, the VVD was set to lose close to ten parliamentary seats in the next election.


text: Jan van Zanen, chairman of the VVD's party board, announced in November 2007 that he would step down in May 2008, a year before his term would end. The rest of the board also announced that they would step down. On the same day of his announcement, honorary member Hans Wiegel called for the resignation of the board, because it could not keep Verdonk in the party. Wiegel also opined that the VVD should become part of a larger liberal movement, that would encompass the social liberal Democrats 66, the Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders and Rita Verdonk's Proud of the Netherlands movement, although he found little resonance for this ideas from others.


text: In 2008, the VVD chose a new party chairman, Ivo Opstelten, the outgoing mayor of Rotterdam. Mark Rutte announced at the celebration of the party's sixth decennial that he would rewrite the foundational programme of the party that was enacted in the early 1980s, and offer the new principles for consideration by the party's members in the fall congress.


text: After the 2010 general election the VVD became the largest party with 31 seats and was the senior party in a centre-right minority First Rutte cabinet with the Christian Democratic Appeal supported by the Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders to obtain a majority. Rutte was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 October 2010. Not only was it the first time that the VVD had led a government, but it was the first liberal-led government in 92 years. However, on 21 April 2012, after failed negotiations with the Party for Freedom on renewed budget cuts, the government became unstable and Mark Rutte deemed it likely that a new election would be held in 2012. On election day, 12 September 2012, the VVD remained the largest party in Parliament, winning 41 seats, a gain of 10 seats.


text: After the 2012 general election the VVD entered into a ruling coalition with the Labour Party as its junior coalition partner. This coalition lasted a full term, but lost its majority at the 2017 election; the VVD itself lost eight seats, though remained the largest party with 33. Rutte became Prime Minister again, forming a centre-right green cabinet with the Christian Democratic Appeal, Democrats 66 and the Christian Union. In March 2021, VVD was the winner of the general election, securing 34 out of 150 seats. Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in power since 2010, formed his fourth VVD-led coalition.


text: The VVD was originally a merger of the Party of Freedom and Freethinking Democratic dissenters within the Labour Party. In this name, both tendencies, classical liberalism ("Freedom") and social liberalism ("People's Party"; "Democracy") are represented. Despite being a liberal party, the VVD did not openly call itself "liberal", mainly because of the for some still lingering negative connotations of liberalism developed during the Great Depression and World War II.


text: The most common English translation of the name is the literal translation, People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.


text: The VVD describes itself as a party founded on a liberal philosophy, traditionally being the most ardent supporter of 'free markets' of all Dutch political parties, promoting political, economic liberalism, classical liberalism, cultural liberalism, but also (in contrast to this) committed to the idea of the welfare state.


text: Post 1971, the party became more populist, although some conservative-liberal elements remain. The 2006 leadership election was interpreted by many as a conflict between a liberal group and a conservative group within the VVD, with the distinctly liberal Rutte beating conservative Verdonk. The results were, with 52% voting for Rutte and 46% for Verdonk.


text: The principles of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy were outlined in the "Liberal Manifesto" ("Liberaal Manifest") and latterly the election programmes. The Liberal Manifesto was a general outlook on the direction of the party would like to mirror itself and is an extension of the party's foundational principles. The election programmes are more oriented to practical politics, for example, winning the elections on-the-day and by any means possible. The last Liberal Manifesto of the VVD was published in September 2005. It developed a broad outline around the themes of democracy, security, freedom and citizenship, along with a vision of the future of party's internal structure. Below some of the points from the Manifesto are presented:


text: In the European Committee of the Regions, VVD sits in the Renew Europe CoR Group, with one full and two alternate members for the 2020-2025 mandate. Martijn van Gruijthuijsen is Coordinator in the ECON Commission and Wilma Delissen-Van Tongerlo is Deputy Coordinator in the CIVEX Commission.


text: The VVD provides three out of twelve King's Commissioners. The VVD is part of every college of the Provincial-Executives "Gedeputeerde Staten" except for Utrecht.


text: In the following figure one can see the election results of the provincial elections of 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019 per province. It shows the areas where the VVD is strong, namely the Randstad urban area that consists out of the provinces of North and South Holland, Utrecht and (parts of) Flevoland, and also the provinces of North Brabant and Gelderland. The party is weak in northern peripheral provinces like Friesland, Groningen, and Overijssel, and also in southern peripheral provinces like Zeeland, and Limburg.


text: 119 of the 380 Dutch Mayors are member of the VVD since 2018. Furthermore, the party has about 250 aldermen and 1100 members of municipal councils. The VVD provides the mayors of several major cities.


text: Historically the VVD electorate consisted mainly of secular middle-class and upper-class voters, with a strong support from entrepreneurs. Under the leadership of Wiegel, the VVD started to expand its appeal to working class voters.


text: The highest organ of the VVD is the General Assembly, in which all members present have a single vote. It convenes usually twice every year. It appoints the party board and decides on the party programme.


text: The order of the First Chamber, Second Chamber and European Parliament candidates list is decided by a referendum under all members voting by internet, phone or mail. If contested, the "lijsttrekker" of a candidates lists is appointed in a separate referendum in advance. Since 2002 the General Assembly can call for a referendum on other subjects too. The present chairman of the board was elected this way.


text: About 90 members elected by the members in meetings of the regional branches form the Party Council, which advises the Party Board in the months that the General Assembly does not convene. This is an important forum within the party. The party board handles the daily affairs of the party.


text: The independent youth organisation that has a partnership agreement with the VVD is the Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy ("Jongeren Organisatie Vrijheid en Democratie", JOVD), which is a member of the Liberal Youth Movement of the European Union and the International Federation of Liberal and Radical Youth.


text: The education institute of the VVD is the "Haya van Someren Foundation". The Telders Foundation is the party's scientific institute and publishes the magazine "Liberaal Reveil" every two months. The party published the magazine "Liber" bi-monthly.


text: The VVD is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and Liberal International.


text: The VVD has always been a very independent party. The VVD cooperates on the European and the international level with the social liberal Democraten 66. It has a long history of coalitions with the Christian Democratic Appeal and its Christian democratic predecessors, but was in government with the social democratic Labour Party from 1994 to 2002 and again between 2012 and 2017.


text: The VVD participates in the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, a democracy assistance organisation of seven Dutch political parties.


title: House (season 1)

text: The first season of "House" premiered November 16, 2004, and ended May 24, 2005. The season follows Dr. Gregory House and his team as they solve a medical case each episode. The season's sub-plot revolves around billionaire Edward Vogler making a $100 million donation to the hospital. Through this donation, Vogler becomes the new chairman of the board and orders House to fire one of his team members. Vogler does this to show House he can control him: "I need to know that whatever I ask you to do, however distasteful you find it, you'll do it".


title: House (season 1)

text: Chi McBride joined the cast as Vogler in five episodes of the season. His character was brought in after Universal Studios president Jeff Zucker threatened that the season would be cut short by six episodes if a "boss" character wasn't added. While there were possibilities of the character returning, he was generally disliked by viewers and critics and therefore not brought back to the show. Sela Ward, who would return as the main recurring character of season two, appeared in the final two episodes as Stacy Warner, House's former girlfriend.


title: House (season 1)

text: Andrew Airlie, John Patrick Amedori, Skye McCole Bartusiak, Patrick Bauchau, Nicole Bilderback, Brandy, Hedy Burress, Nestor Carbonell, Ever Carradine, John Cho, Sarah Clarke, David Conrad, Christina Cox, Missy Crider, Myndy Crist, Nicholas D'Agosto, Ann Dowd, Stacy Edwards, Carmen Electra, Cynthia Ettinger, Scott Foley, Erin Foster, Kurt Fuller, Wendy Gazalle, Michael A. Goorjian, Peter Graves, Stanislav Grof, Mark Harelik, Roxanne Hart, David Henrie, Aaron Himelstein, Marin Hinkle, Leslie Hope, Lucinda Jenney, Andrew Keegan, Shirley Knight, Harry Lennix, Eddie McClintock, Scott Mechlowicz, Tracy Middendorf, Elizabeth Mitchell, Meredith Monroe, Joe Morton, Danny Nucci, Faith Prince, Dominic Purcell, Daryl Sabara, Amanda Seyfried, Alex Skuby, Jennifer Stone, Robin Thomas, Sam Trammell, Robin Tunney, Kristoffer Ryan Winters, Kevin Zegers and Josh Zuckerman.


title: House (season 1)

text: Season one gained high Nielsen ratings, averaging 13.3 million viewers an episode. It was 24th most-watched television show of the 2004–2005 television season.


title: House (season 1)

text: Hugh Laurie submitted the episode "Detox" for consideration at the 57th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2005. This resulted in his first Emmy Award nomination, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Dr. Gregory House.


title: House (season 1)

text: The Region 1 DVD set of Season 1 was issued in non-anamorphic widescreen (meaning those with widescreen TVs would have to use the Zoom button for the show to fit their screen properly, causing the picture to be blurry) on 3 double-sided discs. However, Universal reissued the Season 1 set on February 10, 2009, in the correct anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, which is now on 6 single-sided discs instead of the 3 double-sided ones.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: Diane von Fürstenberg (born Diane Simone Michele Halfin, 31 December 1946) is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence in 1969 when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon von Fürstenberg. Following their separation in 1972 and divorce in 1983, she has continued to use his family name.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: Her fashion company, Diane von Furstenberg (DvF), is available in over 70 countries and 45 free-standing shops worldwide, with the company's headquarters and flagship boutique located in Manhattan's Meatpacking District.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: She is the past chairwoman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), a position she held from 2006 to 2019; in 2014 was listed as the 68th most powerful woman in the world by "Forbes"; and in 2015 was included in the "Time" 100, as an icon, by "Time" magazine. In 2016, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the New School. In 2019, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: Fürstenberg was born Diane Simone Michele Halfin in Brussels, Belgium, to Jewish parents. Her father, Bessarabian-born Leon (Lipa) Halfin, migrated to Belgium in 1929 from Chişinău, and later sought refuge from the Nazis in Switzerland. Her mother was Greek-born Liliane Nahmias, from Thessaloniki, a Holocaust survivor, who was initially captured by the Nazis while she was a member of the Resistance during World War II. Eighteen months before Fürstenberg was born, her mother was a prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp. Fürstenberg has spoken broadly about her mother's influence in her life, crediting her with teaching her that "fear is not an option."


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: Fürstenberg attended a boarding school in Oxfordshire. She studied at Madrid University before transferring to the University of Geneva to study economics. She then moved to Paris and worked as an assistant to fashion photographer's agent Albert Koski. She left Paris for Italy to apprentice to the textile manufacturer Angelo Ferretti in his factory, where she learned about cut, color and fabric. It was here that she designed and produced her first silk jersey dresses.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: A year after marrying, Fürstenberg began designing women's clothes: "The minute I knew I was about to be Egon's wife, I decided to have a career. I wanted to be someone of my own, and not just a plain little girl who got married beyond her deserts." After the Fürstenbergs separated in 1973, Egon also became a fashion designer. After moving to New York, she met high-profile Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, who declared her designs "absolutely smashing". She had her name listed on the Fashion Calendar for New York Fashion Week, and so her business was created. She moved into an estate in Connecticut she named and has lived there ever since.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: In 1974, she introduced the knitted jersey "wrap dress", which became an iconic piece in women's fashion; it is included in the collection of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Soon after the launch, 25,000 dresses were selling each week; one million dresses had been sold by 1976, according to "Forbes".. After the success of the wrap dress, von Fürstenberg was featured on the cover of "Newsweek" magazine in 1976. The accompanying article declared her "the most marketable woman since Coco Chanel."<ref name="nymag.com/fashion"></ref> She launched a cosmetic line and her first fragrance, "Tatiana", named after her daughter. The New York Times reported that by 1979 the annual retail sales for the company were $150 million (equivalent to $ million in ).


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: In 1985, von Fürstenberg moved to Paris, where she founded Salvy, a French-language publishing house. She started a number of other businesses, including a line of cosmetics and a home-shopping business, which she launched in 1991. In 1992, von Fürstenberg sold $1.2 million (equivalent to $ million in ) of her Silk Assets collection in two hours on QVC. She credits the success with giving her the confidence to relaunch her company.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: Fürstenberg relaunched her company in 1997, and reintroduced the wrap dress, which gained popularity with a new generation of women. Initially, the relaunch was a failure but, with the appointment of Paula Sutter as president of the brand, it was seemingly restored to its heyday of the mid-seventies. In 1998, she published her business memoir, "Diane: A Signature Life". In 2004, she introduced the DVF by H. Stern fine jewelry collection, and launched scarves and beachwear. In 2006, she was elected president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, a position she still holds. In 2008, she received a star on Seventh Avenue's Fashion Walk of Fame.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: In 2010,the designer was awarded a gold medal at the annual Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Gold Medal Gala. In 2011, DVF introduced a home collection, and a signature fragrance, Diane.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: In 2012, von Fürstenberg launched her first children's collection with GapKids and a denim collaboration with Current/Elliott.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: Her clothes have been worn by celebrities including Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Beckinsale, Madonna, Tina Brown, Jessica Alba, Susan Sarandon, Priyanka Chopra, Jennifer Lopez and Whitney Houston. Google Glass made its New York Fashion Week debut at the designer's Spring 2013 fashion show.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: In 2014, the designer joined the Ban Bossy campaign as a spokesperson advocating leadership roles for girls. She also released her second memoir, The Women I Wanted to Be, an autobiography which delved into her personal life and upbringing.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: Between 2017 and 2019, the DVF brand lost nearly $80 million, leading to an eventual 75% of the workforce made redundant in the U.S in May 2020. By 2018, sales, which had been $300 million before the 2008 recession, were down to $150 million.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: In 2018, the brand banned mohair use after a PETA exposé showed workers mutilating and killing goats to obtain it. All fur, angora and exotic skins were also banned from future collections.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: Fürstenberg is a director of the Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation, which provides support to nonprofit organizations in the area of community building, education, human rights, arts, health and the environment. In 2010, the foundation created "The DVF Awards", presented annually to four women who display leadership, strength and courage in their commitment to women's causes. In 2011, the foundation made a $20 million commitment to the High Line.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: In 2006, she was elected the President of The Council of Fashion Designers of America’s, (CFDA), after winning the Andre Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.


title: Diane von Fürstenberg

text: Fürstenberg sits on the board of Vital Voices, a women's leadership organization, and served as one of the project chairs for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's review of the future of NYC's Fashion industry, prepared by New York City Economic Development Corporation.