title: Euroscepticism

text: Euroscepticism is a minority view in Ireland, with opinion polls from 2016 to 2018 indicating growing support for EU membership, moving from 70% to 92% in that time.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The Irish people initially voted against ratifying the Nice and Lisbon Treaties. Following renegotiations, second referendums on both were passed with approximately 2:1 majorities in both cases. Some commentators and smaller political groups questioned the validity of the Irish Government's decision to call second referendums.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The left-wing Irish republican party Sinn Féin expresses soft Eurosceptic positions on the current structure of the European Union and the direction in which it is moving.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The party expresses, "support for Europe-wide measures that promote and enhance human rights, equality and the all-Ireland agenda", but has a "principled opposition" to a European superstate. In its manifesto for the 2015 UK general election, Sinn Féin pledged that the party would campaign for the UK to stay within the EU. In the last European Parliament election in 2014, Sinn Féin won 3 seats coming second in seats and third in votes with 19.5% of the vote up 8.3%.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The Trotskyist organisation, the Socialist Party, supports Ireland leaving the EU and supported the Brexit result. It argues that the European Union is institutionally capitalist and neoliberal. The Socialist Party campaigned against the Lisbon and Nice Treaties and favours the foundation of an alternative Socialist European Union.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The Five Star Movement (M5S), an anti-establishment movement founded by comedian Beppe Grillo, originally set itself out as a Eurosceptic party. The M5S received 25.5% of vote in the 2013 general election, becoming the largest anti-establishment and Eurosceptic party in Europe. The party used to advocate a non-binding referendum on the withdrawal of Italy from the Eurozone (but not from the European Union) and the return to the lira. Since then, the party has toned down its eurosceptic rhetoric and such policy was rejected in 2018, and the M5S's leader has since stated that the "European Union is the Five Star Movement's home", clarifying that the party wants Italy to stay in the EU, even though it remains critical of some of its treaties. The M5S's popular support is distributed all across Italy: in the 2018 general election the party won 32.7% of the popular vote nationwide, and was particularly successful in central and southern Italy.


title: Euroscepticism

text: A party that retains a Eurosceptic identity is the Northern League (LN), a regionalist movement led by Matteo Salvini favouring Italy's exit from the Eurozone and the re-introduction of the lira. When in government, Lega approved the Treaty of Lisbon. The party won 6.2% of the vote in the 2014 European Parliament elections, but two of its leading members are presidents of Lombardy and Veneto (where Lega gained 40.9% of the vote in 2015).


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the 2014 European Parliament election the Five Star Movement came second, with 17 seats and 21.2% of the vote after contesting EP seats for the first time. Northern League had five seats and The Other Europe with Tsipras had three seats.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Other minor Eurosceptic organizations include right-wing political parties (e.g., Brothers of Italy, Tricolour Flame, New Force, National Front, CasaPound, National Movement for Sovereignty, the No Euro Movement), far-left political parties (e.g., the Communist Party of Marco Rizzo, the Italian Communist Party and the political movement Power to the People) and other political movements (e.g., the Sovereignist Front, MMT Italy). In addition, the European Union is criticized (especially for the austerity and the creation of the euro) by some left-wing thinkers, like the trade unionist Giorgio Cremaschi and the journalist Paolo Barnard, and some academics, such as the economists Alberto Bagnai and Vladimiro Giacché, the philosopher Diego Fusaro and the mathematician Marino Badiale.


title: Euroscepticism

text: According to the Standard Eurobarometer 87 conducted by the European Commission in spring 2017, 48% of Italians tend not to trust the European Union compared to 36% of Italians who do.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the 2019 European election, the Italian Eurosceptic and souverainist right-wing, represented in large part by the League, increased its number of seats in the EP, but was not assigned any presidency in the committees of the European Parliament. Despite its national political alliance with the League during the Conte Cabinet, the Five Star Movement voted for Ursula von der Leyen, member of pro-EU Christian Democratic Union of Germany, as President of the European Commission.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In July 2020, senator Gianluigi Paragone formed Italexit, a new political party with a main goal to withdraw Italy from the European Union.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The National Alliance (For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK/All for Latvia!), Union of Greens and Farmers and For Latvia from the Heart are parties that are described by some political commentators as bearing soft Eurosceptic views. A small hard Eurosceptic party exists, but it has failed to gain any administrative seats throughout history of its existence.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The Alternative Democratic Reform Party is a soft Eurosceptic party. It is a member of the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The Labour Party was not in favour of Malta entering the European Union. It was in favour of a partnership with the EU. After a long battle, the Nationalist Party led by Eddie Fenech Adami won the referendum and the following election, making Malta one of the states to enter the European Union on 1 May 2004. The party is now pro-European. Nowadays the People's Party often adopts Eurosceptic views.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Historically, the Netherlands have been a very pro-European country, being one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952, and campaigning with much effort to include the United Kingdom into the Community in the 1970s and others after that. It has become slightly more Eurosceptic in the 2000s, rejecting the European Constitution in 2005 and complaining about the relatively high financial investment into the Union or the democratic deficit amongst other issues.


title: Euroscepticism

text: A number of hard and soft eurosceptic parties have politicians elected to the Dutch House of Representatives and European Parliament which include:


title: Euroscepticism

text: A prominent former Eurosceptic party in the Netherlands was the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) established by politician and academic Pim Fortuyn in 2002. The party campaigned to reduce Dutch financial contributions to the EU, was against Turkish membership and opposed what it saw as the excessive bureaucracy and threat to national sovereignty posed by the EU. During the 2002 general election, the LPF polled in second place with 17% of the vote. Following the assassination of Fortuyn in the run-up to the election, support for the party declined soon after and it was disbanded in 2008 with many of is former supporters transferring to the Party for Freedom.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Despite these concerns, in 2014 the majority of the Dutch electorate continued to support parties that favour ongoing European integration: the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, the Liberals, but most of all the (Liberal) Democrats.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In 2016, a substantial majority in a low-turnout referendum rejected the ratification of an EU trade and association treaty with Ukraine.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the 2019 European Parliament election, Eurosceptic parties had mixed results with Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom losing all 4 of its seats taking only 3.5% of the vote. The new Forum for Democracy established in late 2016 took 11.0% of the vote and entered the European Parliament with 3 seats.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The main parties with Eurosceptic views are Law and Justice (PiS), United Poland (SP) and the Confederation Liberty and Independence and the main Eurosceptic politicians include Ryszard Bender, Andrzej Grzesik, Krzysztof Bosak, Dariusz Grabowski, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, Marian Kowalski, Paweł Kukiz, Zbigniew Ziobro, Anna Sobecka, Robert Winnicki, Artur Zawisza, Stanisław Żółtek.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Former president of Poland Lech Kaczyński resisted giving his signature on behalf of Poland to the Treaty of Lisbon, objecting specifically to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Subsequently, Poland got an opt-out from this charter. As Polish President, Kaczyński also opposed the Polish government's intentions to join the euro.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In 2015, it was reported that Euroscepticism was growing in Poland, which was thought to be due to the "economic crisis, concern over perceived interference from Brussels and migration". Polish president Andrzej Duda indicated that he wished for Poland to step back from further EU integration. He suggested that the country should "hold a referendum on joining the euro, resist further integration and fight the EU's green policies", despite getting the largest share of EU cash.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the 2019 European Parliament election, the Law and Justice party won the largest number of seats, with a vote share increase up from 31.8% to 45.4%, increasing its seats from 19 to 27.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In 2019, the former MEP Stanisław Żółtek created a political party called PolEXIT, whose flagship ideology is euroscepticism. Its candidate for president of Poland in the 2020 elections was the party's leader, Żółtek, who got 45 419 votes (0,23%), ranking 7th out of 11 candidates and did not qualify to the second round.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The main Eurosceptic parties in Portugal are Chega, the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), and Left Bloc (BE). Opinion polling in Portugal in 2015 indicated that 48 per cent tended not to trust the EU, while 79 per cent tended not to trust the Portuguese government (then led by Portugal Ahead). Eurosceptic political parties hold a combined total of 23 seats out of 230 in Portugal's parliament (BE 5, PCP 6, PNR 0, CHEGA 12) and a combined total of 4 out of Portugal's 21 seats in the European Parliament (PCP 2, BE 2, PNR 0, CHEGA 0).


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the last 2014 European Parliament election, the Portuguese Communist Party won three seats and the Left Bloc won one seat.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the 2019 European Parliament election, Left Bloc took 9.8% and gained 1 seat, Portuguese Communist Party working in coalition with Ecologist Party "The Greens" took 6.9% and 2 seats and National Renovator Party (PNR) polled just 0.5%, with no seats.


title: Euroscepticism

text: 2019 saw the emergence of a new Eurosceptic political party, Chega, who gained a seat in that year's legislative election. The party did not capture any seats in the 2019 European Parliament elections, but saw its leader André Ventura finish third in the 2021 presidential election, securing 11.9% of those voting.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the 2022 Portuguese snap election, Chega got 7.2% of the vote and 12 out of the 230 seats in the Assembly of the Republic.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Several parties espousing Eurosceptic views exist on the right, such as the New Republic, the Greater Romania Party and Noua Dreaptă, but as of June 2020 none of these parties are represented in European Parliament. Euroscepticism is relatively unpopular in Romania; all mainstream political parties are pro-European and a 2015 survey found 65% of Romanians had a positive view of the country's EU membership.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Parties with primarily Eurosceptic views represented in the National Council are the People's Party Our Slovakia, Republic, We Are Family. Prominent Slovak Eurosceptic politicians include Marian Kotleba, Milan Uhrík, Boris Kollár, Andrej Danko.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the 2019 European Parliament election, People's Party Our Slovakia came 3rd securing 12.1% and winning their first 2 seats in the European Parliament. We Are Family took just over 3% and no seats.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views are Slovenian National Party and The Left. Neither won seats in the 2019 European Parliament election in Slovenia.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The process of Europeanization changed during the years in Spain. In 1986 Spain entered in the European Community. Since then, Spain has been one of the most Europeanist countries. Therefore, when Spain became part of the European Community, the country had a strong pro-Europeanist feeling, according to Eurobarometer, as it reflected a 60% of the population. In Spain different reasons explain its entrance to the European Community. On the one hand, democracy has just been established in Spain after Francisco Franco dictatorship. On the other hand, the main objectives of Spain were to achieve economic development, and also a social modernization. Spain was one of the few countries to vote Yes for the European Constitution in a referendum in February 2005, though by a lower margin in Catalonia and the Basque Country. In 2008, after the financial crisis reached Spain, the percentage of pro European persons started to fall. Thus, during the five years of the economic crisis, the Eurobarometer shows how the trust in the EU increasingly fell in Spain, and the confidence of the Spanish citizens in the European Union decreased for more than 50 points. Spain became one of the most Eurosceptic countries among all European Union Members, as it happened in pretty much European countries, where nationalist and eurosceptic characterised parties became stronger.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The historical two-parties system, composed by the conservative Partido Popular and the social-democratic Partido Socialista Obrero Español, collapsed. In the 2000s, the liberal Ciudadanos and leftist party Podemos became part of the political context, gaining electoral consensus, followed years later by ultranationalist party Vox. The new parties were the effect of the disaffection of most Spaniards towards politics and politicians, that increased for several reasons: firstly, corruption at all political levels, reaching the Royal Family too; secondly, recession intensified distrust of the population towards national government; thirdly, a phase of renovation of the autonomous regions which extended the distance between the National government and the Regional ones. Candidatura d'Unitat Popular, a left-wing to far-left political party with about 1,300 members advocates independence for Catalonia outside of the European Union. Up to 2014 European elections, there were no Spanish parties present in the Eurosceptic groups at the European Parliament. In the 2015 Spanish general election, Podemos became the first left-wing Eurosceptic political party to win seats in the Congress of Deputies, obtaining 69 seats, and in the 2019 Spanish general election, Vox became the first far-right Eurosceptic political party to win seats in the Congress of Deputies, obtaining 24 seats.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The Left Party of Sweden is against accession to the eurozone and previously wanted Sweden to leave the European Union until 2019.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The nationalist and right-wing populist party Sweden Democrats support closer political, economic and military cooperation with neighboring Nordic and certain Northern European countries, but strongly oppose further EU integration and further transfers of Swedish sovereignty to the EU as a whole. The party is also against Swedish accession to the eurozone, the creation of a combined EU military budget and want to renegotiate Swedish membership of the Schengen Agreement.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The June List, a Eurosceptic list consisting of members from both the political right and left won three seats in the 2004 Elections to the European Parliament and sat in the EU-critical IND/DEM group in the European Parliament. The movement favours a withdrawal from the EU.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the European Parliament election, 2014, the Sweden Democrats gained 2 seats with 9.7% of the vote, up 6.4%, and the Left Party took one seat with 6.3% of the vote.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the European Parliament election, 2019, the Sweden Democrats increased from 2 to 3 seats with 15.3% of the vote, up from 9.7%, and the Left Party retained its one seat with 6.8% of the vote.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In winter 2019–2020, in connection with the request from "poor" member countries of much higher membership fees for "rich" member countries, for the reason of keeping support levels so "poor" countries wouldn't suffer from Brexit, where a "rich" country left the union in part due to high membership fees, a media and social media debate for a "Swexit" increased. This was still rejected by parties representing a majority of the parliament, with the COVID-19 pandemic quickly taking over the debate.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Prosperous Armenia represents the main Eurosceptic party in Armenia. Following the 2018 Armenian parliamentary election, the party gained 26 seats in the National Assembly, becoming the official opposition. Following the 2021 Armenian parliamentary election, the party lost all political representation and currently acts as an extra-parliamentary force. The party is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats is a Bosnian Serb political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Bosnia and Herzegovina's entity called Republika Srpska, with its leader being Milorad Dodik.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Georgian March is the main Eurosceptic party in Georgia. The party supports a slight distancing of Georgia from the West, as well as rejecting the country's entrance into NATO.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The three main Eurosceptic parties in Iceland are the Independence Party, Left-Green Movement and the Progressive Party. The Independence Party and the Progressive Party won the parliamentary election in April 2013 and they have halted the current negotiations with the European Union regarding Icelandic membership and tabled a parliamentary resolution on 21 February 2014 to withdraw the application completely.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In 2017, Iceland's newly elected government announced that it would hold a vote in parliament on whether to hold a referendum on resuming EU membership negotiations. In November 2017 that government was replaced by a coalition of the Independence Party, the Left Green Movement and the Progressive Party; all of whom oppose membership. Only 11 out of 63 MPs are in favour of EU membership.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The main Eurosceptic parties in Moldova are the left-wing Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova, which officially declared its main purpose to be the integration of Moldova in the Eurasian Economic Union, the Șor Party, and the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, even if nowadays its leader speech became more soft on the issue of Euroscepticism. As of March 2022 all the parties are represented in Moldovan Parliament, with 37 MPs out of a total of 101 MPs.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The right-wing Democratic Front alliance are the main moderate eurosceptic subject in the Parliament of Montenegro, although its initially declaratively supported country's bid for accession to the European Union, all other parliamentary subjects officially advocates Montenegrin access to EU. The only parties that advocates Montenegro's rejecting the European integration are the extra-parliamentary right-wing populist to far-right parties, such as True Montenegro, Party of Serb Radicals, Democratic Party of Unity and the Serb List, all four are known for their close cooperation with the parliamentary Democratic Front.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Since having come into national opposition, and amid disagreements in the Macedonia naming dispute, the VMRO-DPMNE – which does not endorse the name of "North Macedonia", instead continuing to refer to "Republic of Macedonia" without qualifiers – no longer supports the country's candidacy for EU membership. It has subsequently declared its aspirations towards Russia.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Norway has rejected EU membership in two referendums, 1972 and 1994. The Centre Party, Christian Democratic Party, Socialist Left Party and Liberal Party were against EU membership in both referendums. The Centre Party, Socialist Left Party, Capitalist Party, Christians and Red Party are also against Norway's current membership of the European Economic Area.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views are the ruling United Russia, and opposition parties the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Following the 2014 Crimean crisis, the European Union issued sanctions on the Russian Federation in response to what it regards as the "illegal" annexation of Crimea and "deliberate destabilisation" of a neighbouring sovereign country. In response to this, Alexey Borodavkin – Russia's permanent representative with the UN – said "The EU is committing a direct violation of human rights by its actions against Russia. The unilateral sanctions introduced against us are not only illegitimate according to international law, they also undermine Russian citizens' freedom of travel, freedom of development, freedom of work and others". In the same year, Russian president Vladimir Putin said: "What are the so-called European values? Maintaining the coup, the armed seizure of power and the suppression of dissent with the help of the armed forces?"


title: Euroscepticism

text: A February 2014 poll conducted by the Levada Center, Russia's largest independent polling organization, found that nearly 80% of Russian respondents had a "good" impression of the EU. This changed dramatically in 2014 with the Ukrainian crisis resulting in 70% taking a hostile view of the EU compared to 20% viewing it positively.


title: Euroscepticism

text: A Levada poll released in August 2018 found that 68% of Russians polled believe that Russia needs to dramatically improve relations with Western countries. 42% of Russian respondents said they had a positive view of the EU, up from 28% in May 2018.


title: Euroscepticism

text: A referendum was held in the landlocked microstate on 20 October 2013 in which the citizens were asked whether the country should submit an application to join the European Union. The proposal was rejected because of a low turnout, even though 50.3% of voters approved it. The "Yes" campaign was supported by the main left-wing parties (Socialist Party, United Left) and the Union for the Republic whereas the Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party suggested voting with a blank ballot, the Popular Alliance declared itself neutral, and We Sammarinese and the RETE movement supported the "No" campaign. The Citizens' Rights Directive, which defines the right of free movement for the European citizens, may have been an important reason for those voting no.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In Serbia, political parties with eurosceptic views tend to be right-orientated. The most notable examples are the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) which since its inception has opposed entering the European Union and the right-wing populist Dveri. Political parties such as the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) had pro-Western views and was initially supportive of the accession into the European Union but under the late 2000s leadership of Vojislav Koštunica they turned eurosceptic, and the Enough is Enough (DJB) political party, initially a liberal centrist party that also supported the accession turned towards the right-wing eurosceptic position shortly after 2018.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Historically, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and the Yugoslav Left (JUL) were the only two left-leaning political parties that imposed eurosceptic and anti-Western views. The ruling coalition in Serbia, For Our Children, which is predominantly pro-European orientated is also composed of two minor eurosceptic parties, the right-wing Serbian People's Party that advocates closer ties to Russia, and the left-leaning Movement of Socialists which was formed as the eurosceptic split from SPS in the 2000s.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Other minor political parties in Serbia that have eurosceptic views are Healthy Serbia, People's Freedom Movement, Russian Party, Love, Faith, Hope, Serbian Party Oathkeepers, Serbian Right and Leviathan Movement.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Switzerland has long been known for its neutrality in international politics. Swiss voters rejected EEA membership in 1992, and EU membership in 2001. Despite the passing of several referendums calling for closer relations between Switzerland and the European Union such as the adoption of bilateral treaties and the joining of the Schengen Area, a second referendum of the joining of the EEA or the EU is not expected, and the general public remains opposed to joining.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In February 2014, the Swiss voters narrowly approved a referendum limiting the freedom of movement of EU citizens to Switzerland.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Eurosceptic political parties include the Swiss People's Party, which is the largest political party in Switzerland, with 29.4% of the popular vote as of the 2015 federal election. Smaller Eurosceptic parties include, but are not limited to, the Federal Democratic Union, the Ticino League, and the Geneva Citizens' Movement, all of which are considered right-wing parties.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In addition, the Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland is a political organisation in Switzerland that is strongly opposed to Swiss membership of or further integration otherwise with the European Union.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Regionally, the German-speaking majority as well as the Italian-speaking areas are the most Eurosceptic, while French-speaking Switzerland tends to be more pro-European integration. In the 2001 referendum, the majority of French-speakers voted against EU membership. According to a 2016 survey conducted by M.I.S Trend and published in "L'Hebdo", 69 percent of the Swiss population supports systematic border controls, and 53 percent want restrictions on the EU accord of the free movements of peoples and 14 percent want it completely abolished. 54% of the Swiss population said that if necessary, they would ultimately keep the freedom of movement of people's accord.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The two main Eurosceptic parties are the far-right ultranationalist, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which secured 11.1% of votes, and 49 seats in the Parliament at the last election, and the Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi), a far-right Sunni Islamist party, which has no seats in the Parliament, as it only secured 0.7% of the votes in the last election, far below the 10% threshold necessary to be represented in the Parliament.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Many left-wing nationalist and far-left parties hold no seats at parliament but they control many activist and student movements in Turkey. The Patriotic Party (formerly called Workers' Party) consider the European Union as a front-runner of global imperialism.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Founded on 26 August 2021 under the leadership of Ümit Özdağ, Victory Party (Turkey) is a Turkish nationalist and anti-immigrant political party. It is represented by two deputies in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. "The European Union does not want to negotiate with Turkey. We will not humiliate Turkey anymore." Özdağ said.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views are Opposition Platform – For Life, Opposition Bloc, Party of Shariy and Right Sector.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The far-right Ukrainian group Right Sector opposes joining the European Union. It regards the EU as an "oppressor" of European nations.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the 2019 parliamentary election the Opposition Platform – For Life won 37 seats on the nationwide party list and 6 constituency seats.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The leader of the Party of Shariy Anatoly Shariy is one of the closest associates of Viktor Medvedchuk, whom Ukraine's special services suspect of financing terrorism.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom has been a significant element in British politics ever since the inception of the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor to the EU. The European Union strongly divides the British public, political parties, media and civil society.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The UK Independence Party has backed the idea of the UK unilaterally leaving the European Union (Brexit) since its foundation in 1993. During the 23 June 2016 referendum on the issue, whilst the Conservatives had no official position, although its leader David Cameron was in favour of remaining in the EU albeit after some renegotiation of the terms of membership, the party remained profoundly split, as it always had been. The Labour Party officially supported remaining in the EU, although party leader Jeremy Corbyn did suggest early on in the campaign that he would consider withdrawal, a position he had personally advocated from the far left for many years, in fact throughout his period as a Labour MP. The Liberal Democrats were the most adamantly pro-EU party, and since the referendum, pro-Europeanism has been their main policy.


title: Euroscepticism

text: The referendum resulted in an overall vote to leave the EU, as opposed to remaining an EU member, by 51.9% to 48.1%, on a turnout of 72.2%. The vote was split between the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, with a majority in England and Wales voting to leave, and a majority in Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as Gibraltar (a British Overseas Territory), voting to remain. As a result of the referendum, the UK Government notified the EU of its intention to withdraw on 29 March 2017 by invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.


title: Euroscepticism

text: On 12 April 2019, a new Eurosceptic party, the Brexit Party was officially launched by former UK Independence Party Leader Nigel Farage.


title: Euroscepticism

text: In the 2019 European Parliament election, the Brexit Party topped the national poll by a large margin with 31.7% gaining 29 seats by running on a single policy of leaving the EU, versus the second-placed Liberal Democrats with 18.5% and 16 seats who promoted themselves as the party of Remain (the total vote for Remain-supporting parties was approximately the same as that for parties supporting a 'no-deal' Brexit). The Conservative Party suffered their lowest ever national vote share of 9.1% with just 4 seats following 3 years of Theresa May's unsuccessful Brexit negotiations. The Labour Party's ambiguous position on Brexit led to their vote share dropping significantly to 14.1% resulting in the loss of half their seats, down from 20 to 10. The rapid growth of the Brexit Party was a contributing factor to Theresa May announcing on 24 May that she would step down as Prime Minister on 7 June 2019. After the elections, the Eurosceptic Blue Collar Conservative caucus of Conservative MPs was formed.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Historically, the Conservative Party has expressed divided sentiments on the issue of EU membership, with the official stance changing with party leadership and individual MPs within the party variously favouring total withdrawal and remaining in the EU, while others adopted a position of soft Euroscepticism being supportive of membership but opposed to joining the eurozone and pursuing further integration. Until the 1980s, the Conservative Party was somewhat more pro-EU than the Labour Party: for example, in the 1971 House of Commons vote on whether the UK should join the European Economic Community, only 39 of the then 330 Conservative MPs were opposed to membership. When Margaret Thatcher came into power in 1979, the Conservative parties view on the EU saw a big shift from supporting the EU to becoming skeptical, thus campaigning against increasing its powers. Thatcher was seen as the "spiritual mother" of Euroscepticism and was one of the most important Eurosceptic voices in the United Kingdom, ultimately changing the Conservative parties view on the EU throughout the 1980s. In 2009 the Conservative Party actively campaigned against the Lisbon Treaty, which it believes would give away too much sovereignty to Brussels. Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague stated that, should the treaty be in force by the time of an incoming Conservative government, he would "not let matters rest there". Following the election of Boris Johnson as leader in 2019, the Conservative Party became a strong supporter of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and its platform was changed to unanimously support EU withdrawal. In the 2019 general election the Conservative Party adopted a clear pro-Brexit platform in its manifesto.


title: Euroscepticism

text: Although often associated with being a cause on the right in the twenty-first century with the contemporary Labour Party supporting EU membership, there have been notable Eurosceptic politicians on the left of British politics, such as former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn who held a longstanding opposition to British membership of the EU throughout his career. Other Labour MPs who have supported eurosceptic sentiments and British withdrawal have included Kate Hoey, Frank Field, Graham Stringer, Ian Austin, Tom Harris, Gisela Stuart and Austin Mitchell. Other figures on the left have included George Galloway and socialist politician and trade unionist Arthur Scargill who both endorsed Britain's exit from the European Union.


title: Euroscepticism

text: On 23 January 2020, the Parliament of the United Kingdom ratified a withdrawal agreement from the European Union, which was ratified by the EU Parliament on 30 January. On 31 January, the United Kingdom officially left the European Union after 47 years. During a transition period until 31 December 2020, the UK still followed EU rules and continued free trade and free movement for people within the European Union.


title: Rakesh Sharma

text: Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, AC (born 13 January 1949) is a former Indian Air Force pilot who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984 as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme. He is the only Indian citizen to travel in space, although there have been other astronauts with some Indian background who were not Indian citizens. Another Air Force pilot, Ravish Malhotra, was placed on standby.


title: Rakesh Sharma

text: Born on 13 January 1949 in Patiala of present-day Punjab, India. Sharma attended St. George's Grammar School, Hyderabad and graduated from Nizam College, Hyderabad. He joined the National Defence Academy as an air force plebe in July 1966 and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as a pilot in 1970.


title: Rakesh Sharma

text: An alumnus of the 35thNational Defence Academy, Sharma joined the Indian Air Force as a test pilot in 1970 and progressed through numerous levels where in 1984 he was promoted to the rank of squadron leader. He was selected on 20September 1982 to become a cosmonaut and go into space as part of a joint programme between the Indian Air Force and the Soviet Interkosmos space programme.


title: Rakesh Sharma

text: In 1984, Sharma became the first Indian citizen to enter space when he flew aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic on 3 April 1984. The Soyuz T-11 spacecraft carrying cosmonauts including Sharma docked and transferred the three member Soviet-Indian international crew, consisting of the ship's commander, Yury Malyshev, and flight engineer, Gennadi Strekalov, to the Salyut 7 Orbital Station. Sharma spent 7days, 21hours, and 40minutes aboard the Salyut 7 during which his team conducted scientific and technical studies which included forty-threeexperimental sessions. His work was mainly in the fields of bio-medicine and remote sensing. The crew held a joint television news conference with officials in Moscow and then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. When Indira Gandhi asked Sharma how India looked from outer space, he replied, ""Sare Jahan Se Accha"" (the best in the world). This is the title of a patriotic poem by Iqbal that had been written when India was under British colonial rule, that continues to be popular today. With Sharma's voyage aboard Soyuz T-11, India became the 14thnation to send a man to outer space.


title: Rakesh Sharma

text: Sharma retired as a wing commander and later joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in 1987, serving as the chief test pilot in the HAL Nashik Division until 1992, before moving on to Bangalore to work as HAL's chief test pilot. Sharma retired from flying in 2001.


title: Rakesh Sharma

text: Sharma was conferred the honour of the Hero of the Soviet Union upon his return from space. He remains to date the only Indian to have been conferred this honour. India also conferred its highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashoka Chakra, on him and the twoSoviet members of his mission, Malyshev and Strekalov.


title: Rakesh Sharma

text: Sharma married Madhu. His son, Kapil, is a film director, while his daughter, Krittika, is a media artist.


title: Rakesh Sharma

text: A biographical Hindi-language film titled, "Saare Jahaan Se Achcha" (formerly "Salute"), is under pre-production since 2018.


title: Tadanobu Asano

text: , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in "Electric Dragon 80.000 V", Kakihara in "Ichi the Killer", Mamoru Arita in "Bright Future", Hattori Genosuke in "Zatoichi", Kenji in "Last Life in the Universe", A man in "Survive Style 5+", Ayano in "The Taste of Tea", Temujin in "Mongol", Captain Yugi Nagata in "Battleship", Lord Kira Yoshinaka in "47 Ronin" and Hogun in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, based on the Marvel Comics character. In 2016, he appeared as the Interpreter in Martin Scorsese's "Silence". Three years later, he portrayed Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi in Roland Emmerich's "Midway" (2019). He portrayed the thunder god Raiden in the 2021 film "Mortal Kombat".


title: Tadanobu Asano

text: Asano was born in the Honmoku area, Yokohama, to artist and mother Junko (順子). His maternal grandfather was Willard Overing, a U.S. citizen of Norwegian ancestry, whom Asano never met. Asano has an older brother, Kujun Satō, born in 1971, who is a musician and a partner in Anore Inc., a talent agency Asano and their father Yukihisa Satō founded.


title: Tadanobu Asano

text: Asano's father, an actors' agent, suggested he take on his first acting role in the TV show "Kinpachi Sensei" at the age of 16. His film debut was in the 1990 "Swimming Upstream" ("Bataashi Kingyo"), though his first major critical success was in Shunji Iwai's "Fried Dragon Fish" (1993). His first critical success internationally was Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Maboroshi no Hikari" (1995), in which he played a man who inexplicably throws himself in front of a train, widowing his wife and orphaning his infant son. He also worked with Kore-eda in the pseudo-documentary "Distance" in 2001. His best known works internationally are the samurai films "Gohatto" (aka "Taboo", 1999) and "Zatoichi" (2003), as well as the critically acclaimed "Bright Future".


title: Tadanobu Asano

text: Asano acted in Katsuhito Ishii's 2003 film "The Taste of Tea", which premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. He appeared as the lead actor in "Last Life in the Universe" (2003) by Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and starred in Ratanaruang's 2006 follow-up film, "Invisible Waves". In 2007, he starred as the young Genghis Khan in Sergei Bodrov's Oscar-nominated film "Mongol". In "Villon's Wife" (2009), he played the part of an alcoholic writer, stating that, since he doesn't drink alcohol, he based his performance on people he knows. In 2011, he starred in the Marvel Studios film "Thor" as the Asgardian warrior Hogun, a member of the Warriors Three and companion to Thor. He reprised the role in 2013's "" and 2017's "".


title: Tadanobu Asano

text: Asano appeared in the 2021 "Mortal Kombat" reboot as Raiden. In September 2021, Asano was announced as part of the cast of the FX limited series "Shogun", adapted from the James Clavell novel.


title: Tadanobu Asano

text: In addition to his acting career, Asano directed commercial TV spots for his then-wife, Chara. He formed the band MACH-1.67 with director Sogo Ishii in 1996 and has also played in the bands Peace Pill and Safari. He is an artist and a model, most notably for Japanese fashion designers Jun Takahashi and Takeo Kikuchi, for whom he filmed a series of commercial spots directed by Wong Kar-wai, including the short film "wkw/tk/1996@7'55"hk.net".


title: Tadanobu Asano

text: Asano met J-pop singer Chara on the set of Iwai's "Picnic" (1994). They were married in March 1995 while Chara was pregnant with their first child, a daughter named Sumire, who was born on July 4 that same year. In 1999, they had a son named Himi. In July 2009, Chara announced on her website that the couple was divorcing. She received custody of both their children.


title: Tadanobu Asano

text: In August 2022, Asano announced his marriage to model Kurumi Nakata through his Twitter and Instagram accounts.


title: Tadanobu Asano

text: Asano won the Most Popular Performer award at the 1997 Japanese Academy Awards for "Acri" and was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category in 2004 for his performance in "Zatôichi." He also received the Upstream Prize for Best Actor at the 2003 Venice Film Festival for his role in "Last Life in the Universe". In 2014, he won the award for Best Actor at the 36th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in "My Man".


title: Bagua

text: The bagua or pakua (八卦) are a set of eight symbols that originated in China, used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each line either "broken" or "unbroken", respectively representing yin or yang. Due to their tripartite structure, they are often referred to as Eight Trigrams in English.


title: Bagua

text: The trigrams are related to Taiji philosophy, Taijiquan and the Wuxing, or "five elements". The relationships between the trigrams are represented in two arrangements: the "Primordial" (), "Earlier Heaven", or "Fu Xi" bagua () and the "Manifested" (), "Later Heaven", or "King Wen" bagua. The trigrams have correspondences in astronomy, astrology, geography, geomancy, anatomy, the family, martial arts, Chinese medicine and elsewhere.


title: Bagua

text: The ancient Chinese classic, I Ching (Pinyin: Yi Jing), consists of the 64 pairwise permutations of trigrams, referred to as "hexagrams", along with commentary on each one.


title: Bagua

text: Book of Changes listed two sources for the eight trigrams. The chapter explains the first source thus:


title: Bagua

text: Another chapter, , characterizes the trigram, which represents Heaven, and , which represent earth, as father and mother, respectively, of the six other trigrams, who are their three sons (, , ) and three daughters (, , ).


title: Bagua

text: The trigrams are related to the five elements of Wu Xing, used by Feng Shui practitioners and in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Those five elements are Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. The Water (Kan) and Fire (Li) trigrams correspond directly with the Water and Fire elements. The element of Earth corresponds with both the trigrams of Earth (Kun) and Mountain (Gen). The element of Wood corresponds with the trigrams of Wind (Xun) (as a gentle but inexorable force that can erode and penetrate stone) and Thunder (Zhen). The element of Metal corresponds with the trigrams of Heaven (Qian) and Lake (Dui).


title: Bagua

text: The Bagua is an essential tool in the majority of Feng Shui schools. The Bagua used in Feng shui can appear in two different versions: the "Earlier Heaven Bagua", used for burial sites, and the "Later Heaven Bagua", used for the residences.


title: Bagua

text: In Primordial Bagua, also known as Fu Xi Bagua or Earlier Heaven Bagua, the Heaven is in the higher part and the Earth is in the lower part. The trigram Qian (Heaven) is at the top, the trigram Kun (Earth) is at the bottom (in the past, the South was located at the top in Chinese maps). The trigram Li (Fire) is located on the left and opposite to it is the trigram Kan (Water). Zhen (Thunder) and Xun (Wind) form another pair, while being one opposite the other, the first on the bottom left next to Li while the second is next to Qian on the top right of the Bagua. Gen (Mountain) and Dui (Lake) form the last pair, one opposite the other, both in balance and harmony. The adjustment of the trigrams is symmetrical by forming exact contrary pairs. They symbolize the opposite forces of Yin and Yang and represent an ideal state, when everything is in balance.


title: Bagua

text: The sequence of the trigrams in Manifested Bagua, also known as the Bagua of King Wen or Later Heaven Bagua, describes the patterns of the environmental changes. Kan is placed downwards and Li at the top, Zhen in the East and Dui in the West. Contrary to the Earlier Heaven Bagua, this one is a dynamic Bagua where energies and the aspects of each trigram flow towards the following. It is the sequence used by the Luo Pan compass which is used in Feng Shui to analyze the movement of the Qi that practitioners believe affect them.


title: Bagua

text: Feng shui was made very popular in the Occident thanks to the Bagua of the eight aspirations. Each trigram corresponds to an aspect of life which, in its turn, corresponds to one of the cardinal directions. Applying feng shui using the Bagua of the eight aspirations (or Bagua map for short) made it possible to simplify feng shui and to bring it within the reach of everyone. Western Bagua focuses more heavily on the power of intention than the traditional forms of feng shui.


title: Bagua

text: Masters of traditional feng shui disregard this approach, for its simplicity, because it does not take into account the forms of the landscape or the temporal influence or the annual cycles. The Bagua of the eight aspirations is divided into two branches: the first, which uses the compass and cardinal directions, and the second, which uses the Bagua by using the main door. It is clear that, not taking into account the cardinal directions, the second is even more simplified.


title: Bagua

text: A bagua map is a tool used in Western forms of feng shui to map a room or location and see how the different sections correspond to different aspects in one's life. These sections are believed to relate to every area or aspect of life and are divided into such categories as: fame, relationships/marriage, children/creativity, helpful people/travel, career, inner knowledge, family/ancestors/health, and wealth/blessings.


title: Bagua

text: In this system, the map is intended to be used over the land, one's home, office or desk to find areas lacking good chi, and to show where there are negative or missing spaces that may need rectifying or enhancing in life or the environment.


title: Bagua

text: For example, if the bagua grid is placed over the entire house plan and it shows the toilet, bathroom, laundry, or kitchen in the wealth/blessings area it would be considered that the money coming into that particular environment would disappear very fast, as if to be 'going down the drain.'


title: Bagua

text: The constituent ⚋ yin and ⚊ yang bars that form them are also encoded in the Miscellaneous Symbols block, as are the digrams ⚌, ⚏, ⚍, and ⚎.


title: Bagua

text: In Peking Opera, a role that has Taoist technique or military strategy wears a costume decorated with Taiji and Bagua.


title: Bagua

text: The principles of Bagua are used in a form of traditional Acupuncture where the prenatal, early heaven arrangements and the postnatal, later heaven arrangements are used to select points specifically related or tailored to the patients constitution to treat illness or disease.


title: Bagua

text: The 2004 Philippine horror film Feng Shui and its 2014 sequel, Feng Shui 2, revolves around a cursed bagua mirror that kills those who stare into it.


title: General Grievous

text: General Grievous is a character and antagonist in the "Star Wars" franchise created by George Lucas. Grievous was introduced in the 2003 animated series "" (voiced by John DiMaggio in the second season and Richard McGonagle in the third season), before appearing through computer-generated imagery in the 2005 live-action film "" (voiced by Matthew Wood). Wood reprised his role in the 2008 computer animated series "".


title: General Grievous

text: General Grievous is depicted as a brilliant military strategist who serves as the Supreme Commander of the Confederacy of Independent Systems' Droid Armies during the Clone Wars. He is a powerful Kaleesh cyborg who has mastered all forms of lightsaber combat under the tutelage of Count Dooku to rival the Force abilities of the Jedi of the Galactic Republic. Grievous harbors an intense hatred of the Jedi and gains a reputation as a feared and ruthless Jedi hunter who collects the lightsabers of his fallen victims as trophies. He develops a rivalry with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom he clashes with numerous times during the war, and is killed by Kenobi during their final confrontation in "Revenge of the Sith".


title: General Grievous

text: The character has become one of the franchise's most iconic villains and his popularity within the "Star Wars" fandom has earned him a cult following. In addition to the film and the animated series, General Grievous has appeared in various forms of media in the "Star Wars" Expanded Universe, including novels, comic books and video games. Such works explore his past as a reptilian warlord named Qymaen jai Sheelal who grew to despise the Jedi for causing the plight of his people. A ship crash secretly orchestrated by Count Dooku mortally wounds Grievous and leads to his reconstruction as a cyborg. This origin story was retroactively altered in "The Clone Wars", in which it is implied that Grievous willingly augmented his body with cybernetic enhancements to rival the Jedi. Several elements of his original backstory were later reintegrated into the current "Star Wars" canon.


title: General Grievous

text: In 2002, George Lucas conceived of General Grievous as a powerful new villain for "Revenge of the Sith", specifically envisioning the character as a cyborg droid general to reflect and foreshadow Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader at the end of the film. The only instruction Lucas gave his art department was to make Grievous "iconic" and "scary". Numerous illustrations were developed at Lucasfilm, some purely mechanical and others more alien-like in appearance. One drawing presented Grievous as an eight-year-old alien child on a hover chair guarded by two IG assassin droids, which Lucas rejected for not being threatening enough. Another rejected robotic design was ultimately used for Grievous' IG-100 MagnaGuards in the movie.


title: General Grievous

text: Two weeks after Lucas' instruction to design Grievous, a sketch made by concept artist Warren Fu was chosen and developed by Lucas for the character's finalized appearance. Fu took inspiration from the top view of a spray bottle for the design of Grievous' face. Fu's sketch was made into a -tall maquette sculpture which was then refined into a realistic computer-generated model by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). This was one of the most complex models ever created by ILM at the time as many of its components were of differing physical qualities. Comparisons have been drawn between Grievous' appearance and Jacob Epstein's sculpture "Rock Drill".


title: General Grievous

text: In the lead-up to "Revenge of the Sith", Grievous made his first ever appearance in the season two finale of "Clone Wars". The character's voice was provided by John DiMaggio. Grievous would return in a more prominent capacity in the third and final season, with Richard McGonagle replacing DiMaggio in the role.


title: General Grievous

text: Numerous actors auditioned for the role of Grievous in "Revenge of the Sith". Lucas wanted Grievous to sound as if he was speaking through a cybernetic voice box, so every audition was put through the same computerized layer of processing by Matthew Wood, supervising sound editor at Skywalker Sound, to create a "synthesized timbre". Gary Oldman, a friend of producer Rick McCallum, was initially cast in the role and even completed some voice-over work. Oldman had to drop out of the production due to complications that arose from the rules of union filmmaking in Australia where the film was shot.


title: General Grievous

text: Having previously performed voices for other "Star Wars" projects, Wood took Lucas' feedback on the various auditions he modulated and submitted his own under the pseudonym Alan Smithee. Wood approached Grievous as a "classic villain" and used a gruff and harsh voice with an Eastern European accent for his performance. A "gravelly quality" was added to Wood's voice when it was processed. Lucas selected Wood for the role and, since he had bronchitis at the time, instructed Wood to give Grievous an asthmatic cough; this was intended to emphasize the character's organic nature as well as the flawed cyborg prosthetics of the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy (which would later be refined for Darth Vader in the original trilogy). Some of the audio effects for Grievous' cough in "Revenge of the Sith" were recorded by Lucas himself while he had bronchitis. Grievous was created entirely through CGI in the film. During filming, Grievous' dialogue was read off-screen while Kyle Rowling wore a bluescreen or greenscreen suit to perform the character's fight scenes with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Wood would subsequently reprise his role as the voice of Grievous in "The Clone Wars" animated series and numerous video games.


title: General Grievous

text: The official "Star Wars" Databank describes General Grievous as "a brilliant Separatist military strategist and a feared Jedi hunter". He is cruel, cunning, aggressive, murderous, and gains an infamous reputation for his ruthlessness during the Clone Wars. Grievous holds the title of Supreme Martial Commander of the Separatist Droid Armies, making him the absolute leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems' military and the second highest ranking member of the Separatist Alliance (after Count Dooku, the political Head of State). Although aligned with the Separatists, Grievous does not care for their political ideals and has professed that he only participates in the conflict to eliminate the Jedi. He harbors a deep-seated resentment of the Jedi and has a vast collection of lightsabers claimed from his many victims as war trophies. Grievous is also short-tempered and has little tolerance for failure or weakness, as he frequently lashes out against and destroys his own battle droids for their persisting incompetence.


title: General Grievous

text: Grievous' cyborg body was specifically designed to rival the abilities of the Jedi. Standing at 7 ft 1 in (216 cm), his imposing presence serves to instill fear in his opponents to give him a psychological advantage in battle. While he is not Force-sensitive, Grievous has been trained in all forms of lightsaber combat by Count Dooku. Each of his mechanical arms can separate in half, allowing him to wield four lightsabers at once to overwhelm his enemies. His cybernetic enhancements give him exceptional strength, speed and reflexes to outmaneuver Force-users and even the Force itself. In spite of Grievous' physical and acrobatic prowess, Dooku has advised him to retreat should he lose the elements of surprise and intimidation, and thus his advantage, in a fight against the Force-sensitive Jedi. Grievous often heeds his mentor's advice and becomes known as one of the Jedi's most elusive adversaries during the Clone Wars.


title: General Grievous

text: Grievous first appeared in Genndy Tartakovsky's "Clone Wars" before his character traits had been finalized for "Revenge of the Sith". According to Tartakovsky, Lucas initially pitched Grievous to him as "this ruthless, totally capable Jedi killer," but later developed the character into "one of those old B-serial villains who does something bad ... twirls his mustache and then runs off." The series depicted Grievous as a nigh-unstoppable fighter capable of dispatching multiple Jedi simultaneously with ease, which contradicted the then-upcoming film's less powerful portrayal of the character. To reconcile these continuity differences, the series finale of "Clone Wars" sees Mace Windu crush Grievous' chestplate with the Force, damaging his internal organs and providing a reason for both his hacking cough and his weakened state in the film. However, "The Clone Wars" would later present Grievous with his cough throughout the entirety of its run.


title: General Grievous

text: There remain numerous accounts of Grievous' backstory. Literature in the "Star Wars" EU written by Warren Fu, the original designer of Grievous, had the general's hatred of the Jedi stem from their role in the plight and enslavement of his people. A shuttle crash orchestrated by Dooku and pinned on the Jedi mortally wounds Grievous and leads to his reconstruction as a cyborg. "The Clone Wars" would later suggest that Grievous was denied the right to become a Jedi due to his lack of connection to the Force. Writers Dave Filoni and Henry Gilroy postulated that Grievous volunteered for cybernetic modifications to rival the Jedi that rejected him. In the series, Grievous' castle displays statues hinting at his gradual progression as a cyborg. Despite this, Filoni elected to keep Grievous' backstory ambiguous: "I tend to think of the episode "Lair of Grievous" as a look more into the mind of Grievous. How you interpret the story depends largely on what backstory you like. If you believe Grievous was shot down in a shuttle by Dooku and put back together, I think that story is there, it’s just that Grievous has invented this new "story" of choosing his alterations. If you don’t believe in the EU version of the story or didn’t like it, then perhaps this new revelation that Grievous was a warrior whose lust for power made him choose to be altered, suits you better."


title: General Grievous

text: During the Battle of Coruscant, General Grievous holds the kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine aboard his flagship, the "Invisible Hand". Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker infiltrate Grievous' vessel to rescue Palpatine. After Anakin kills Count Dooku, Grievous traps the Jedi on the battle-torn ship and departs in an escape pod. Grievous succeeds Dooku as the Head of State of the Separatists and has his battle droids take the planet Utapau hostage. At Darth Sidious' request, he relocates the Separatist Council to the volcanic world of Mustafar. Grievous is tracked to Utapau by Obi-Wan and the two engage in lightsaber combat while the Republic's clone troopers battle the droid armies. Before Grievous can kill him, Obi-Wan uses the Force to summon a blaster and shoots the organs housed within Grievous' chestplate, killing the cyborg general.


title: General Grievous

text: In , General Grievous uses the ion cannons of his flagship, the "Malevolence", to attack the Republic fleet. He encounters Obi-Wan Kenobi for the first time but is forced to abandon ship when Anakin Skywalker sabotages the "Malevolence" and sends it crashing into a nearby moon. Grievous' next plot to launch a surprise attack on Kamino is thwarted when his battle droids fail to secure a Republic outpost on the Rishi Moon. Grievous later uses a listening post to discover the Republic's military secrets. He engages Ahsoka Tano and her squad of clone troopers while his spy station is destroyed by Anakin. In light of Grievous' recent defeats, Count Dooku arranges for Kit Fisto, Nahdar Vebb and a group of clones to infiltrate Grievous' hidden fortress on Vassek to test him. Grievous kills Vebb and the clones but Fisto manages to escape.


title: General Grievous

text: In , Grievous forcibly boards a Republic cruiser and captures Eeth Koth. Obi-Wan, Anakin and Adi Gallia embark on a mission to rescue Koth and apprehend Grievous. Obi-Wan duels Grievous to a stalemate and pursues him to Saleucami. Although Anakin and Gallia succeed in freeing Koth, Grievous escapes once again.


title: General Grievous

text: In , Grievous and Asajj Ventress lead an attack on the Republic's cloning facilities on Kamino. Grievous defeats Obi-Wan but Anakin and the clones prevent Ventress from securing the DNA sample of the clones' template, forcing the Separatists to retreat. Grievous later dispatches a group of infiltrator droids to stage a bombing on the Galactic Senate on Coruscant to sabotage a peace agreement between the Republic and the Separatists.


title: General Grievous

text: In , Grievous attempts to invade Naboo but is captured by the Gungan army. He is freed in a prisoner exchange after Dooku captures Anakin. Grievous later attacks a Republic cruiser and defeats Gallia, though a rescue team led by Plo Koon frees her from captivity. After Dooku betrays Ventress, he sends Grievous to Dathomir to eliminate Ventress and the Nightsister clan. The droid armies massacre the undead Nightsister forces while Grievous briefly duels Ventress before turning his attention to Mother Talzin. Grievous foils Talzin's voodoo spell against Dooku and kills Daka, the leader of the Nightsisters. Grievous is later seen on Serenno listening to Dooku's concerns about Savage Opress and a disturbance in the Force.


title: General Grievous

text: In , Grievous defeats the Republic fleet led by Obi-Wan and wins the battle for control over the Florrum system. Grievous launches a full-scale attack on Florrum and captures pirate leader Hondo Ohnaka. When Ahsoka and a group of younglings free Hondo, Grievous pursues and outmatches the Jedi, forcing them to flee. Grievous appears via hologram when the Jedi attempt to decode his transmission regarding an impending Separatist plot.


title: General Grievous

text: In the , Grievous leads the Separatist fleet during the Battle of Coruscant after he kidnaps Chancellor Palpatine. An unfinished story arc also sees Grievous attempt to obtain a giant kyber crystal on Utapau. Although Grievous defeats Obi-Wan, Anakin manages to destroy the crystal.


title: General Grievous

text: Towards the end of the Clone Wars, General Grievous escapes from the Battle of Coruscant after his attempt to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine is thwarted by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Retreating into the outer rim, Grievous orders his Separatist armies to mount a counterattack against Republic forces across the galaxy.


title: General Grievous

text: General Grievous appears in the four-issue comic book "", an unproduced story arc originally intended for the sixth season of "The Clone Wars". Grievous is sent by Count Dooku to hunt down the rogue Sith Lord Darth Maul, who has become a threat to Darth Sidious' plans. On Zanbar, Grievous defeats Maul and forces him to flee while the droid armies overwhelm Maul's Mandalorian Death Watch forces. Grievous and Dooku are later lured into a trap by Maul and Mother Talzin to draw out Sidious. Grievous escapes and rejoins Sidious in attacking Dathomir, where Talzin sacrifices herself to help Maul escape before she is killed by Grievous.


title: General Grievous

text: With the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, most of the licensed "Star Wars" novels and comics produced since the original 1977 film were rebranded as "Star Wars Legends" and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014.


title: General Grievous

text: General Grievous makes his first ever appearance in the season two finale. He leads the Separatist droid armies on the planet Hypori as they surround a group of seven Jedi, comprising Masters Ki-Adi-Mundi, Shaak Ti, Daakman Barrek, and K'Kruhk; and Knights Aayla Secura, Tarr Seirr and Sha'a Gi. Grievous elects to face the Jedi alone and easily bests and kills most of them. Before Grievous can finish off Mundi, a squadron of clone ARC troopers arrives to extract the surviving Jedi. Grievous collects the lightsabers of the fallen Jedi as trophies.


title: General Grievous

text: In season three, set three years later, Grievous attacks Coruscant in an attempt to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. The Jedi Masters defending the Chancellor include Shaak Ti, Roron Corobb and Foul Moudama. Grievous kills Corobb and Moudama, defeats Ti yet again, and manages to capture Palpatine. As Grievous boards his escape shuttle, Jedi Master Mace Windu arrives and uses the Force to crush Grievous' chestplate, severely damaging his internal organs and giving him his distinctive cough.


title: General Grievous

text: General Grievous's origin is revealed in the comic book "The Eyes of Revolution" from "". Grievous was originally Qymaen jai Sheelal, an organic reptilian humanoid native from the planet Kalee. The Kaleesh were at war with the rival Huk species and Sheelal was considered a demigod by his people for his victories in the Huk War. He fell in love with a warrior named Ronderu lij Kummar. Following Kummar's death during a mission, Sheelal realized that he was destined to forever mourn for her and rechristened himself as Grievous. He became a warlord and his swift attacks against the Huk prompted them to turn to the Jedi Knights of the Galactic Republic for help. Hefty fines and embargoes came down upon Kalee and thousands of Grievous' people starved and died in poverty. Appealing to Grievous' hatred of the Jedi and the Republic, San Hill of the InterGalactic Banking Clan enlisted him to serve as their enforcer in exchange for the Banking Clan's help in taking on Kalee's massive debt. Impressed by Grievous' abilities as a fighter, Hill and Count Dooku arranged for his shuttle to crash to ensure his permanent servitude to the Separatists. Dooku convinced the mortally wounded Grievous that the Jedi responsible for his homeworld's plight were the ones who caused the crash. Grievous accepted Dooku's offer to reconstruct him with a cyborg body and became the Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies to seek revenge against the Jedi.


title: General Grievous

text: In the third volume of "Clone Wars Adventures", Count Dooku pits Grievous against Asajj Ventress and Durge to test his abilities. Grievous swiftly defeats the pair and emerges victorious, earning his position as the Supreme Martial Commander of the Separatist Droid Armies.


title: General Grievous

text: Grievous starred in his own comic called "Star Wars: General Grievous", in which he fights Jedi Master T'chooka D'oon and his Padawan Flyn. After Grievous kills D'oon, Kybo returns to the Jedi council with a plan to destroy Grievous once and for all. When the council rebukes his vengeful plan, Kybo decides to take this matter into own hands with disastrous results. Grievous also appears in the comics in "Star Wars: Obsession" issue number 4, in which he is on the world of Boz Pity, where he kills two Jedi, Master Soon Bayts and Jedi Council member Adi Gallia. Though Windu injures Grievous, Dooku is able to save the general so he may fight another day.


title: General Grievous

text: In the novel "Labyrinth of Evil", Grievous plans an invasion of Coruscant alongside Dooku and Sidious. He first appears in the novel watching his hated subordinate Nute Gunray flee from a pursuant Republic Strike Force. Grievous reluctantly saves Gunray by destroying the fighters. Grievous's invasion of the planet Belderone would also be thwarted by Anakin and Obi-Wan due to a careless mistake on Gunray's part. Though Gunray resorts to lies, Grievous deduces that he is lying and threatens to kill him. Later on the bridge of the "Invisible Hand", Dooku watches as Grievous spars his elite Magnaguards. Though Grievous wins the fight, Dooku points out several flaws in the general's technique while realizing he is partly to blame for the general's inadequacies. Grievous soon launches his invasion on the Republic capital of Coruscant in an attempt to kidnap Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, placing himself on the battlefield once again. During the invasion, Grievous battles Mace Windu atop a maglev train while personally trying to capture Palpatine. Though Windu overwhelms Grievous in combat, the cyborg outwits the Jedi Guard and takes Palpatine hostage, setting the stage for "Revenge of the Sith".


title: General Grievous

text: General Grievous has become a fan favorite character and is considered one of the most popular villains in the "Star Wars" franchise.


title: General Grievous

text: Several writers have placed General Grievous in "Top 10 "Star Wars" Villains" lists. While the character's limited presence in "Revenge of the Sith" was criticized, his greater role and appearances throughout the Clone Wars in both the 2003 and 2008 animated series were praised for expanding on Grievous' character.


title: General Grievous

text: The character's line from "Revenge of the Sith", "Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection", has gained popularity as an Internet meme. Amanda Derby from "Screen Rant" wrote: "Greet a Star Wars fan with the words, "Hello there," and they'll likely respond with, "General Kenobi". This alone is a testament to the popularity of General Grievous. Though it's hard to say whether fans love him for his skill or his meme-ability, there's no denying that Grievous is a favorite."


title: Mercedes Ruehl

text: Mercedes J. Ruehl (; born February 28, 1948) is an American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, two Obie Awards, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards.


title: Mercedes Ruehl

text: Ruehl is known for her leading performance in the play "Lost in Yonkers" (1990) and supporting performance in the film "The Fisher King" (1991). Her other film credits include "Big" (1988), "Married to the Mob" (1988), "Last Action Hero" (1993), "Roseanna's Grave" (1997), and "Hustlers" (2019).


title: Mercedes Ruehl

text: Ruehl was born February 28, 1948 in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, to Mercedes J. Ruehl, a schoolteacher, and Vincent Ruehl, an FBI agent. Her father was of German and Irish descent and her mother was of Cuban and Irish descent. The family frequently moved during her childhood owing to Vincent Ruehl's assignments with the FBI, and lived in other states including Silver Spring, Maryland. She and her brother, Peter, were raised Catholic.


title: Mercedes Ruehl

text: Ruehl began her career in regional theatre with the Denver Center Theatre Company, taking odd jobs between engagements. In 1980, she was nearly cast in the sixth season of "Saturday Night Live", losing her slot to Denny Dillon. Her first starring role on Broadway came in 1984's "I'm Not Rappaport". She then went on to win the 1984 Obie Award for her performance in "The Marriage of Bette and Boo" and twenty years later, an Obie for "Woman Before a Glass". She also received a 1991 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers" and continued her role in the show during its tour with co-star Mercedes McCambridge. Her performances in two other plays earned her two other Tony nominations: in 1995, as Best Actress (Featured Role – Play) for a revival of "The Shadow Box"; and in 2002, as Best Actress (Play) for Edward Albee's "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?".


title: Mercedes Ruehl

text: Her most acclaimed film role was in "The Fisher King"; her performance in the film earned her the 1991 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as an American Comedy Award, a Boston Society of Film Critics Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, and a Golden Globe. Earlier she had won the 1989 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "Married to the Mob". She played KACL station manager Kate Costas in five episodes of "Frasier", and had a major role in the made-for-TV film "". In 2005, she (along with Esai Morales) received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors. She later played the mother of main character Vincent Chase in HBO's "Entourage".


title: Mercedes Ruehl

text: In 2009, she returned to the stage in Manhattan Theater Club's production of Richard Greenberg's "The American Plan" playing the role of Eva Adler. The production opened at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre and the limited engagement ran From January 22 until March 22. In his rave review in "The New York Times", Ben Brantley called Ruehl's performance "masterly". Ruehl next appeared in the drama/horror film "What Ever Happened to Barker Daniels?", which was released in 2009. In January 2011, Ruehl starred in Sarah Treem's play "The How and The Why", directed by Emily Mann at McCarter Theatre of Princeton University.


title: Mercedes Ruehl

text: Ruehl appeared in the role of Ma in Harvey Fierstein's revamped and renamed revival of his play "Torch Song" Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater. The play began previews on September 26, and opened officially on October 19, 2017. The production later transferred to Broadway.


title: Mercedes Ruehl

text: In 1999, Ruehl married painter David Geiser with whom she had adopted a son, Jake (born 1995). She had another son, Christopher, whom she placed for adoption in 1976 when she was 28. They were reunited in the late 1990s when he turned 21, and later Christopher became Jake's godfather. Ruehl and Geiser put their Hampton house on the market in 2017; the same year Ruehl was quoted as saying that they were no longer together, but remained close. David Geiser died unexpectedly of heart disease in his sleep at home on October 14, 2020, at the age of 73.


title: Mercedes Ruehl

text: Her brother, Peter, moved to Australia in 1987 where he was a popular newspaper columnist until his death in 2011.


title: Goblin shark

text: The goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) is a rare species of deep-sea shark. Sometimes called a "living fossil", it is the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage some 125 million years old. This pink-skinned animal has a distinctive profile with an elongated, flat snout, and highly protrusible jaws containing prominent nail-like teeth. It is usually between long when mature, though it can grow considerably larger such as one captured in 2000 that is thought to have measured . Goblin sharks are benthopelagic creatures that inhabit upper continental slopes, submarine canyons, and seamounts throughout the world at depths greater than , with adults found deeper than juveniles. Some researchers believe that these sharks could also dive to depths of up to , for short periods of time.


title: Goblin shark

text: Various anatomical features of the goblin shark, such as its flabby body and small fins, suggest that it is sluggish in nature. This species hunts for teleost fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans both near the sea floor and in the middle of the water column. Its long snout is covered with ampullae of Lorenzini that enable it to sense minute electric fields produced by nearby prey, which it can snatch up by rapidly extending its jaws. Small numbers of goblin sharks are unintentionally caught by deepwater fisheries. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as Least Concern, despite its rarity, citing its wide distribution and low incidence of capture.


title: Goblin shark

text: American ichthyologist David Starr Jordan described the goblin shark in an 1898 issue of "Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences", recognizing the peculiar fish not only as a new species, but also a new genus and family. He based his account on an immature male long caught in Sagami Bay near Yokohama, Japan. The specimen had been acquired by shipmaster and naturalist Alan Owston, who had given it to Professor Kakichi Mitsukuri at the University of Tokyo, who in turn had brought it to Jordan. Thus, Jordan named the shark "Mitsukurina owstoni" in honor of these two men.


title: Goblin shark

text: The generic name honors Keigo Mitsukuri, a Japanese zoologist who studied at University College London during the 1860s. The specific name honors Alan Owston, an English collector of Asian wildlife. The common name "goblin shark" is a calque of its traditional Japanese name , a being a Japanese mythical creature often depicted with a long nose and red face. Another name for this species is elfin shark.


title: Goblin shark

text: Soon after Jordan's description was published, several scientists noted the similarity between "Mitsukurina" and the extinct Mesozoic shark "Scapanorhynchus". For a time, the prevailing opinion was to treat "Mitsukurina" as a junior synonym of "Scapanorhynchus". Eventually, more complete fossils revealed many anatomical differences between "Scapanorhynchus" and "Mitsukurina", causing modern authors to again regard them as distinct genera. Several goblin shark specimens were described as separate species from 1904 to 1937, none of which are now considered valid. This taxonomic confusion began because the specimens' jaws were fixed at varying degrees of protrusion during preservation, giving the appearance of proportional differences among the heads.


title: Goblin shark

text: Phylogenetic studies based on morphology have classified the goblin shark as the most basal member of the order Lamniformes, known as mackerel sharks. Studies using genetic data have also confirmed a basal classification for this species. The family Mitsukurinidae, represented by "Mitsukurina", "Scapanorhynchus", and "Anomotodon", dates back to the Aptian age of the Cretaceous period ("c." 125–113 Ma). "Mitsukurina" itself first appears in the fossil record during the period Middle Eocene ("c." 49–37 Ma); extinct species include "M. lineata" and "M. maslinensis". "Striatolamia macrota", which lived in warm shallow waters during the Paleogene period ("c." 66–23 Ma), may also be a "Mitsukurina" species. As the last member of an ancient lineage, and one that retains several "primitive" traits, the goblin shark has been described as a "living fossil".


title: Goblin shark

text: The goblin shark has a distinctively long and flat snout, resembling a blade. The proportional length of the snout decreases with age. The eyes are small and lack protective nictitating membranes; behind the eyes are spiracles. The large mouth is parabolic in shape. The jaws are very protrusible and can be extended almost to the end of the snout, though normally they are held flush against the underside of the head. It has 35–53 upper and 31–62 lower tooth rows. The teeth in the main part of the jaws are long and narrow, particularly those near the symphysis (jaw midpoint), and are finely grooved lengthwise. The rear teeth near the corners of the jaw are small and have a flattened shape for crushing. Much individual variation of tooth length and width occurs, as for whether the teeth have a smaller cusplet on each side of the main cusp, and regarding the presence of toothless gaps at the symphysis or between the main and rear teeth. The five pairs of gill slits are short, with the gill filaments inside partly exposed; the fifth pair is above the origin of the pectoral fins.


title: Goblin shark

text: The body is fairly slender and flabby. The two dorsal fins are similar in size and shape, both being small and rounded. The pectoral fins are also rather small and rounded. The pelvic and anal fins have long bases and are larger than the dorsal fins. The caudal peduncle is flattened from side-to-side and lacks keels or notches. The asymmetric caudal fin has a long upper lobe with a shallow ventral notch near the tip, and an indistinct lower lobe. The soft, semitranslucent skin has a rough texture from a covering of dermal denticles, each shaped like a short upright spine with lengthwise ridges. Living sharks of this species are pink or tan due to visible blood vessels beneath the skin; the color deepens with age, and young sharks may be almost white. The fins' margins are translucent gray or blue, and the eyes are black with bluish streaks in the irises. After death, the coloration fades quickly to dull gray or brown. Adult sharks usually measure between long. However, the capture of an enormous female estimated at long during 2000 showed this species can grow far larger than suspected previously. A 2019 study suggested that it would have reached in maximum length. The maximum weight recorded is for a shark of 3.8 m (12.5 ft) in length.


title: Goblin shark

text: The goblin shark has been caught in all three major oceans, indicating a wide global distribution. In the Atlantic Ocean, it has been recorded from the northern Gulf of Mexico, Suriname, French Guiana, and southern Brazil in the west, and France, Portugal, Madeira, and Senegal in the east. It has also been collected from seamounts along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In the Indo-Pacific and Oceania, it has been found off South Africa, Mozambique, Japan, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. This species has been recorded from off East Cape to Kaikōura Canyon and from the Challenger Plateau near New Zealand. A single eastern Pacific specimen is known, collected off southern California. This species is most often found over the upper continental slope at depths of . It has been caught as deep as , and a tooth has been found lodged in an undersea cable at a depth of . Adults inhabit greater depths than juveniles. Immature goblin sharks frequent the submarine canyons off southern Japan at depths of , with individuals occasionally wandering into inshore waters as shallow as . On 19 April 2014, fishermen in Key West, Florida, while fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, caught a goblin shark in their fishing net, only the second one ever to be caught in the Gulf. The shark was photographed and released back into the water. The first shark found in the Gulf was caught by commercial fisherman on 25 July 2000 at a depth of approximately 919-1,099 m (3,016-3606 ft) and is thought to have been about 20 ft long.


title: Goblin shark

text: During July 2014, a goblin shark was found in a fishery net in Sri Lanka, near the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. The shark was about long and weighed about . The shark was given to the NARA (National Aquatic Resource Research & Development Agency) for further research.


title: Goblin shark

text: Although observations of living goblin sharks are scant, its anatomy suggests its lifestyle is inactive and sluggish. Its skeleton is reduced and poorly calcified, the muscle blocks along its sides (myomeres) are weakly developed, and its fins are soft and small. Its long caudal fin, held at a low angle, is also typical of a slow-swimming shark. The long snout appears to have a sensory function, as it bears numerous ampullae of Lorenzini that can detect the weak electric fields produced by other animals. Due to the snout's softness, it is unlikely to be used for stirring up prey from the bottom as has been proposed. Vision seems to be less important than other senses, considering the relatively small optic tectum in the shark's brain. Yet unlike most deep-sea sharks, it can change the size of its pupils, thus probably does use its sight in some situations. Goblin sharks may be the prey of blue sharks ("Prionace glauca"). Parasites documented from this species include the copepod "Echthrogaleus mitsukurinae", and the tapeworms "Litobothrium amsichensis" and "Marsupiobothrium gobelinus".


title: Goblin shark

text: The goblin shark feeds mainly on teleost fishes such as rattails and dragonfishes. It also consumes cephalopods and crustaceans, including decapods and isopods. Garbage has been recorded from the stomachs of some specimens. Its known prey includes bottom-dwelling species such as the blackbelly rosefish ("Helicolenus dactylopterus"), and midwater species such as the squid "Teuthowenia pellucida" and the ostracod "Macrocypridina castanea rotunda". Thus, the goblin shark appears to forage for food both near the sea floor and far above it.


title: Goblin shark

text: Since it is not a fast swimmer, the goblin shark may be an ambush predator. Its low-density flesh and large oily liver make it neutrally buoyant, allowing it to drift towards its prey with minimal motions so as to avoid detection. Once prey comes into range, the shark's specialized jaws can snap forward to capture it. The protrusion of the jaw is assisted by two pairs of elastic ligaments associated with the mandibular joint, which are pulled taut when the jaws are in their normal retracted position; when the shark bites, the ligaments release their tension and essentially "catapult" the jaws forward. At the same time, the well-developed basihyal (analogous to a tongue) on the floor of the mouth drops, expanding the oral cavity and sucking in water and prey. Striking and prey capture events were videotaped and recorded for the first time during 2008 and 2011 and helped to confirm the use and systematics of the protrusible jaws of goblin sharks. The video evidence suggests that while the jaws are definitely unique, goblin sharks use ram feeding, a type of prey capture that is typical of many mackerel sharks. What makes the goblin shark unique is the kinematics of their jaw when feeding. The lower jaw seems to undergo more complex movements and is important in capturing the prey. The measured protrusions of the upper and lower jaw combined put the goblin shark jaws at 2.1–9.5 times more protrusible than other sharks. The lower jaw has a velocity about two times greater than the upper jaw because it not only protrudes forward, but also swings upward to capture the prey, and the maximum velocity of the jaws is 3.14 m/s. The goblin shark has a re-opening and re-closing pattern during the strike, a behavior that has never been seen in other sharks before and could be related to the extent with which the goblin shark protrudes its jaws. This “slingshot” style of feeding could be an adaptation to compensate for poor swimming ability by allowing the goblin shark to catch elusive, fast prey without having to chase the prey.


title: Goblin shark

text: Little is known about goblin shark reproduction because a pregnant female has yet to be found and studied. It likely shares the reproductive characteristics of other mackerel sharks, which are viviparous with small litter sizes and embryos that grow during gestation by eating undeveloped eggs (oophagy). The birth size is probably close to , the length of the smallest known specimen. Males mature sexually at about long, while female maturation size is unknown. No data is available concerning growth and aging. Some researchers have estimated, based on their own research and prior findings, that male goblin sharks mature at approximately 16 years old and can live up to 60 years.


title: Goblin shark

text: Some of the first known findings pertaining to the goblin shark were published in 1910, and the researcher wrote that, "the new shark is certainly grotesque," and that, "the most remarkable feature is the curiously elongated nose." Given the depths at which it lives, the goblin shark poses little danger to humans. A few specimens have been collected alive and brought to public aquariums, though they only survived briefly. One was kept at Tokai University and lived for a week, while another was kept at Tokyo Sea Life Park and lived for two days. Its economic significance is minimal; the meat may be dried and salted, while the jaws fetch high prices from collectors. At one time, the Japanese also used it for liver oil and fertilizer. This shark is not targeted by any fisheries, but is occasionally found as bycatch in bottom gillnets and trawls, hooked on longlines, or entangled in fishing gear. Most captures are isolated incidents; one of the few areas where it is caught regularly is off southern Japan, where around 30 individuals (mostly juveniles) are taken each year. A black scabbardfish ("Aphanopus carbo") fishery off Madeira also takes two or three goblin sharks annually. During April 2003, more than a hundred goblin sharks were caught off northwestern Taiwan; the cause of the event was unknown, though observers noted it was preceded by a major earthquake. The species had never been recorded in the area before, nor has it been found in such numbers since. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has categorized the goblin shark as Least Concern. In addition to its wide range, most of its population is thought to reside in unfished environments because few adults are caught. Therefore, it is not believed to be threatened by human activity. However, during June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the goblin shark as "At Risk – Naturally Uncommon" with the qualifiers "Data Poor" and "Secure Overseas" using the New Zealand Threat Classification System.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia. It does not include the temperate and polar regions of the Indian and Pacific oceans, nor the Tropical Eastern Pacific, along the Pacific coast of the Americas, which is also a distinct marine realm. The term is especially useful in marine biology, ichthyology, and similar fields, since many marine habitats are continuously connected from Madagascar to Japan and Oceania, and a number of species occur over that range, but are not found in the Atlantic Ocean.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: The region has an exceptionally high species richness, with the world's highest species richness being found in at its heart in the Coral Triangle, and a remarkable gradient of decreasing species richness radiating outward in all directions. The region includes over 3,000 species of fish, compared with around 1,200 in the next richest marine region, the Western Atlantic, and around 500 species of reef building corals, compared with about 50 species in the Western Atlantic.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: The term first appeared in academic use in oceanography and geopolitics. Scholarship has shown that the "Indo-Pacific" concept circulated in Weimar Germany, and spread to interwar Japan. German political oceanographers envisioned an "Indo-Pacific" comprising anticolonial India and republican China, as German allies, against "Euro-America". Since the late 2010s, the term "Indo-Pacific" has been increasingly used in geopolitical discourse. It also has a "symbiotic link" with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or "Quad", an informal grouping between Australia, Japan, India, and the United States. It has been argued that the concept may lead to a change in popular "mental maps" of how the world is understood in strategic terms.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: In its widest sense, the term geopolitically covers all nations and islands surrounding either the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, encompassing mainland African and Asian nations who border these oceans, such as India and South Africa, Indian Ocean territories such as the Kerguelen Islands and Seychelles, the Malay Archipelago (which is within the bounds of both the Indian Ocean and the Pacific), Japan, Russia and other Far East nations bordering the Pacific, Australia and all the Pacific Islands east of them, as well as Pacific nations of the Americas such as Canada or Mexico. ASEAN countries (defined as those in Southeast Asia and the Malay Archipelago) are considered to be geographically at the centre of the political Indo-Pacific.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: The WWF and Nature Conservancy divide the Indo-Pacific into 3 realms (or subrealms), and each of these into 25 marine provinces and 77 ecoregions (Marine Ecoregions of the World; MEOW) based on data-driven expert opinion. Other schemes for subdivision of the Indo-Pacific have included: 5 provinces, based on endemism in fishes; 3 regions split into 10 provinces based on dissimilarity of fish assemblages, 11 provinces based on range boundaries in corals, 12 divisions split into 124 ecoregions based on biogeographic clustering from coral distributions and finally 8 realms from distributions of 65,000 marine species. All but the last of these schemes were tested against one another by an international consortium of marine scientists using genetic data from 56 Indo-Pacific species, with the reasoning that genetic data should reflect the evolutionary processes that structure the Indo-Pacific. While there was no clear winning scheme, and all schemes were supported by data from at least one species, the genetic data in general favored schemes with few subdivisions, supporting the Indo-Pacific as relatively unstructured biogeographic realm - possibly the world's largest. Below are briefly described the 3 MEOW realms of the Indo-Pacific:


title: Indo-Pacific

text: The Central Indo-Pacific includes the numerous seas and straits connecting the Indian and Pacific oceans, including the seas surrounding the Indonesian archipelago (with the exception of Sumatra's northwest coast, which is part of the Western Indo-Pacific), the South China Sea, the Philippine Sea, the north coast of Australia, and the seas surrounding New Guinea, western and central Micronesia, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga. The Central Indo-Pacific, due in part to its central location at the meeting of two oceans, has the greatest richness and diversity of marine organisms, specifically located within the Coral Triangle, which contains 76% of all known coral species in the world.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: The Eastern Indo-Pacific surrounds the mostly volcanic islands of the central Pacific Ocean, extending from the Marshall Islands in the west through central and southeastern Polynesia to Hawaii, to the west coast of Chile. The World Wide Fund for Nature believe the region ends at Chile's Easter Island and Isla Salas y Gómez, although it is sometimes extended even further to include Chile's Desventuradas Islands and Juan Fernández Islands.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: The Western Indo-Pacific covers the western and central portion of the Indian Ocean, including Africa's east coast, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Andaman Sea, as well as the coastal waters surrounding Madagascar, Seychelles, the Comoros, the Mascarene Islands, Maldives, and the Chagos Archipelago.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: Some seashore and coastal plants are found throughout most of the region, including the trees "Pisonia grandis, Calophyllum inophyllum, Heliotropium arboreum, Pandanus tectorius, Cordia subcordata, Guettarda speciosa", and the shrubs "Scaevola taccada, Suriana maritima", and "Pemphis acidula". These plants have adapted to grow on coral sand, and have seeds adapted to crossing salt water, including distribution by birds or which can survive floating in salt water.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: The trees coconut ("Coco nucifera"), candlenut ("Aleurites moluccanus"), and "Morinda citrifolia" originated in the Central Indo-Pacific, and were spread further across the region by human settlers.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: The "Indo-Pacific" has been an economic idea since its early formulation in Weimar Germany. According to Hansong Li, the German geographer Karl Haushofer, son of the economist Max Haushofer, believed that capital, along with urbanisation and population growth, are key vectors that determine the 'manometers' of the oceanic region. Haushofer also explained why industrialisation broke out in Europe rather than the Indo-Pacific by a spatial theory of demography.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: In the 21st century, with the rising involvement of the United States in the new growth areas of Asia, the idea of the Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor (IPEC) emerged during the U.S.–India Strategic Dialogue of 2013. The Secretary of State John Kerry referred to the potential of the Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor in transforming the prospects for development and investments as well as for trade and transit between the economies of South and Southeast Asia Indo-Pacific economic corridor.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: K. Yhome in his scholarly study has mapped out the potential for various emerging trans-regional corridors in Asia along with the challenges of linking IPEC into the larger web of regional economic integration initiatives taking shape in the region in 2017.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: On 23 May 2022, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). This agreement includes a dozen of initial partners including: Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, all the countries included within the framework represent 40% of the world GDP. The IPEF contains four pillars. The goal of a Connected Economy through digital economy rules, data localization, AI, privacy. A Resilient Economy through better supply chain commitments that better anticipate and prevent disruptions in supply chains to create a more resilient economy. A Clean Economy with commitments to clean energy, de-carbonization, and green infrastructure. A Fair Economy, with recommendation to strengthen efforts to crack down on corruption, effective tax implementation, anti-money laundering, and anti-bribery regimes.


title: Indo-Pacific

text: The German geopolitician Karl Haushofer first used "Indo-Pacific" in the 1920s in multiple works on geography and geopolitics: "Geopolitics of the Pacific Ocean" (1924), "Building Blocks of Geopolitics" (1928), "Geopolitics of Pan-Ideas" (1931), and "German Cultural Politics in the Indo-Pacific Space" (1939). Haushofer legitimated the integration of the two oceans by evidence in marine biology, oceanography, ethnography, and historical philology. He envisioned an "Indo-Pacific" comprising anticolonial forces in India and China, as Germany's ally against the maritime domination of Britain, the United States, and Western Europe.