title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: Henceforth Versailles was the possession of the Gondi family, a family of wealthy and influential parliamentarians at the "Parlement" of Paris. Several times during the 1610s, the de Gondis invited King Louis XIII to hunt in the large forests around Versailles. In 1622, the king purchased a parcel of forest for his private hunting. In 1624, he acquired more and entrusted Philibert Le Roy with the construction of a small hunting lodge of red bricks and stone with a slate roof. In 1632, the king bought the totality of the land and seigneury of Versailles from Jean-François de Gondi. The hunting lodge was enlarged to the size of a small château between 1632 and 1634.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: This small château was the site of one of the historical events that took place during the reign of Louis XIII, on 10 November 1630, when, on the Day of the Dupes, the party of the queen mother was defeated and Richelieu was confirmed as Prime minister.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: King Louis XIV, son of Louis XIII, was only four years old when his father died. It was 20 years later, in 1661, when Louis XIV commenced his personal reign, that the young king showed interest in Versailles. The idea of leaving Paris, where, as a child, he had experienced first-hand the insurrection of the Fronde, had never left him. Louis XIV commissioned his architect Le Vau and his landscape architect Le Nôtre to transform the castle of his father, as well as the park, in order to accommodate the court. In 1678, after the Treaty of Nijmegen, the king decided that the court and the government would be established permanently in Versailles, which happened on 6 May 1682.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: At the same time, a new city was emerging from the ground, resulting from an ingenious decree of the king dated 22 May 1671, whereby the king authorized anyone to acquire a lot in the new city for free. There were only two conditions to acquire a lot: 1- a token tax of 5 shillings ("5 sols") per arpent of land should be paid every year ($0.03 per per year in 2005 US dollars); 2- a house should be built on the lot according to the plans and models established by the "Surintendant des Bâtiments du Roi" (architect in chief of the royal demesne). The plans provided for a city built symmetrically with respect to the "Avenue de Paris" (which starts from the entrance of the castle). The roofs of the buildings and houses of the new city were not to exceed the level of the Marble Courtyard, at the entrance of the castle (built above a hill dominating the city), so that the perspective from the windows of the castle would not be obstructed.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: The old village and the Saint Julien church were demolished to make room for buildings housing the administrative services managing the daily life in the castle. On both sides of the "Avenue de Paris" were built the Notre-Dame neighborhood and the Saint-Louis neighborhood, with new large churches, markets, aristocratic mansions, all built in very homogeneous style according to the models established by the "Surintendant des Bâtiments du Roi". Versailles was a vast construction site for many years. Little by little came to Versailles all those who needed or desired to live close to the maximum power. At the death of the Sun King in 1715, the village of Versailles had turned into a city of approximately 30,000 inhabitants.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: When the court of King Louis XV returned to Versailles in 1722, the city had 24,000 inhabitants. With the reign of Louis XV, Versailles grew even further. Versailles was the capital of the most powerful kingdom in Europe, and the whole of Europe admired its new architecture and design trends. Soon enough, the strict building rules decided under Louis XIV were not respected anymore, real estate speculation flourished, and the lots that had been given for free under Louis XIV were now on the market for hefty prices. By 1744, the population reached 37,000 inhabitants. The cityscape changed considerably under kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. Buildings were now taller. King Louis XV built a Ministry of War, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (where the Treaty of Paris (1783) ending the American Revolutionary War was signed in 1783 with the United Kingdom), and a Ministry of the Navy. By 1789, the population had reached 60,000 inhabitants, and Versailles was now the seventh or eighth-largest city of France, and one of the largest cities of Europe.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: Seat of the political power, Versailles naturally became the cradle of the French Revolution. The Estates-General met in Versailles on 5 May 1789. The members of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath on 20 June 1789, and the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism on 4 August 1789. Eventually, on 5 and 6 October 1789, a crowd of women joined by some members of the national guard from Paris invaded the castle to protest bread prices and forced the royal family to move to Paris. The National Constituent Assembly followed the king to Paris soon afterwards, and Versailles lost its role of capital city. During this turbulent time, Jean-François Coste, who had also been the chief physician of the King's Armies, was appointed mayor of Versailles.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: From then on, Versailles lost a good deal of its inhabitants. From 60,000, the population had declined to 26,974 inhabitants by 1806. The castle, stripped of its furniture and ornaments during the Revolution, was left abandoned, with only Napoleon briefly staying one night there and then leaving the castle for good. Louis-Philippe, who took the throne in the July Revolution of 1830, transformed the palace into a National Museum dedicated to "all the glories of France" in 1837. Versailles had become a sleepy town, a place of pilgrimage for those nostalgic for the old monarchy.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 put Versailles in the limelight again. On 18 January 1871 the victorious Germans proclaimed the king of Prussia, Wilhelm I, emperor of Germany in the very Hall of Mirrors of the castle, in an attempt to take revenge for the conquests of Louis XIV two centuries earlier. Then in March of the same year, following the insurrection of the Paris Commune, the French Third Republic government under Thiers relocated to Versailles, and from there directed the military suppression of the insurrection. The government and the French parliament stayed in Versailles after the quelling of the Commune (May 1871), and it was even thought for some time that the capital of France would move definitely to Versailles in order to avoid the revolutionary mood of Paris in the future.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: Restoration of a monarchy almost occurred in 1873, with parliament offering the crown to Henri, comte de Chambord, but his refusal to accept the tricolor flag that had been adopted during the Revolution made the restoration of monarchy impossible for the time being. Versailles became again the political center of France, full of buzz and rumors, with its population briefly peaking at 61,686 in 1872, matching the record level of population reached on the eve of the French Revolution 83 years earlier. Eventually, however, left-wing republicans won a string of parliamentary elections, defeating the parties supporting a restoration of the monarchy, and the new majority decided to relocate the government to Paris in November 1879. Versailles then experienced a new population setback (48,324 inhabitants at the 1881 census). After that, Versailles never again functioned as the seat of the capital of France, but the presence of the French Parliament there in the 1870s left a vast hall, built in one aisle of the palace, which the French Parliament uses when it meets in Congress to amend the French Constitution, as well as when the President of France addresses the two chambers of the French Parliament.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: Only in 1911 did Versailles definitely recover its level of population of 1789, with 60,458 inhabitants at the 1911 census. In 1919, at the end of the First World War, Versailles came into the limelight again as the various treaties ending the war were signed in the castle proper and in the Grand Trianon. After 1919, as the suburbs of Paris continued to expand, Versailles was absorbed by the urban area of Paris and the city experienced a strong demographic and economic growth, turning it into a large suburban city of the metropolitan area of Paris. The role of Versailles as an administrative and judicial center has been reinforced in the 1960s and 1970s, and somehow Versailles has become the main center of the western suburbs of Paris.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: The center of the town has kept its very bourgeois atmosphere, while more middle-class neighborhoods have developed around the train stations and in the outskirts of the city. Versailles is a chic suburb of Paris, well linked with the center of Paris by several train lines. However, the city is extremely compartmentalized, divided by large avenues inherited from the monarchy which create the impression of several small cities ignoring each other. Versailles was never an industrial city, even though there are a few chemical and food-processing plants. Essentially, Versailles is a place of services, such as public administration, tourism, business congresses, and festivals. From 1951 until France's withdrawal from the NATO unified command in 1966, nearby Rocquencourt functioned as the site for SHAPE. Versailles is an important military center, with several units and training schools headquartered at the Satory military base, which hosted the headquarters of the famed 2nd French Armored Division until 1999, and where a military exhibition is organized annually.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: Versailles' primary cultural attraction is the Palace, with its ornately decorated rooms and historic significance. The Potager du roi is a kitchen garden created under Louis XIV to supply fruits and vegetables to the Court. It is officially recognized as a Remarkable Garden of France.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: The town also has other points of cultural notability; in recent times, its position as an affluent suburb of Paris has meant that it forms a part of the Paris artistic scene, and musical groups such as Phoenix, Air, Fuzati, and Daft Punk have some link to the city, as does the director Michel Gondry.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: Football Club de Versailles 78 is a semi-professional association football club founded in 1989. Their home stadium is the Stade de Montbauron, which has a capacity of 6,208 people.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: The headquarters of the Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University are located in the city, as well as the ISIPCA, a post graduate school in perfume, cosmetics products and food flavor formulation.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: Versailles is served by Versailles-Chantiers station, which is an interchange station on Paris RER line C, on the Transilien La Défense suburban rail line, on the Transilien Paris-Montparnasse suburban rail line, and on several national rail lines, including low-frequency TGV service.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: Versailles is also served by two other stations on Paris RER line C: Versailles-Château–Rive Gauche (the closest station to the Palace of Versailles and consequently the station most frequently used by tourists) and Porchefontaine.


title: Versailles, Yvelines

text: Versailles is also served by two stations on the Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare suburban rail line: and .


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The Pyrenean ibex (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica), Aragonese and Spanish common name bucardo, Basque common name bukardo, Catalan common name herc and French common name bouquetin, was one of the four subspecies of the Iberian ibex or Iberian wild goat, a species endemic to the Pyrenees. Pyrenean ibex were most common in the Cantabrian Mountains, Southern France, and the northern Pyrenees. This species was common during the Holocene and Upper Pleistocene, during which their morphology, primarily some skulls, of the Pyrenean ibex was found to be larger than other "Capra" subspecies in southwestern Europe from the same time.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: In January 2000, the Pyrenean ibex became extinct. Other subspecies have survived: the western Spanish or Gredos ibex and the southeastern Spanish or beceite ibex, while the Portuguese ibex had already become extinct. Since the last of the Pyrenean ibex became extinct before scientists could adequately analyze them, the taxonomy of this particular subspecies is controversial.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: Following several failed attempts to revive the subspecies through cloning, a living specimen was born in July 2003; however, she died several minutes after birth due to a lung defect.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: Multiple theories are given regarding the evolution and historical migration of "C. pyrenaica" into the Iberian Peninsula, and the relationship between the different subspecies.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: One possibility is that "C. pyrenaica" evolved from an ancestor related to "C. caucasica" from the Middle East, at the beginning of the last glacial period (120–80 ky). "C. pyrenaica" probably moved from the northern Alps through southern France into the Pyrenees area at the beginning of Magdalenian period about 18 kya. If this is the case, then "C. caucasica praepyrenaica" may have been more different from the other three ibex species that lived in the Iberian Peninsula than scientists currently know. For example, this would mean that the "C. pyrenaica" (possible migration 18ky) and "C. ibex" (300 ky earlier migration) would have evolved from different ancestors and been morphologically more different from their separate genes. It is known that all four subspecies lived together in the Upper Pleistocene time, but scientists are unsure of how much genetic exchange could have occurred. The problem with this theory is that genetics suggest that "C. pyrenaica" and "C. ibex" may have shared a more common origin, possibly "C. camburgensis".


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: Many versions of when "C. pyrenaica" or "C. ibex" first migrated to and evolved in the Iberian Peninsula are related. "C. pyrenaica" possibly was already living in the Iberian Peninsula when the ibex began to migrate through the Alps. Genetic evidence also supports the theory that multiple "Capra" subspecies migrated to the Iberian region around the same time. Hybridization may have been possible, but the results are not conclusive.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The Pyrenean ibex had short hair which varied according to seasons. During the summer, its hair was short, and in winter, the hair grew longer and thicker. The hair on the ibex's neck remained long through all seasons. Male and female ibex could be distinguished due to color, fur, and horn differences. The male was a faded grayish brown during the summer, and they were decorated with black in several places on the body such as the mane, forelegs, and forehead. In the winter, the ibex was less colorful. The male transformed from a greyish brown to a dull grey and where the spots were once black, he became dull and faded. The female ibex, though, could be mistaken for a deer since her coat was brown throughout the summer. Unlike the male ibex, a female lacked black coloring. Young ibex were colored like the female for the first year of life.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The male had large, thick horns, curving outwards and backwards, then outwards and downwards, then inwards and upwards. The surface of the horn was ridged, and the ridges developing progressively with age. The ridges were said to each represent a year, so the total would correspond to the ibex's age. The female had short, cylindrical horns. Ibex fed on vegetation such as grasses and herbs.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: Pyrenean ibex migrated according to seasons. In spring, the ibex would migrate to more elevated parts of mountains where females and males would mate. In spring, females would normally separate from the males, so they could give birth in more isolated areas. Kids were typically born during May, usually singularly. During the winter, the ibex would migrate to valleys that are not covered in snow. These valleys allowed them to eat regardless of the change in season.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The species was often seen in parts of France, Portugal, Spain and Andorra, but not as much in northern areas of the Iberian Peninsula. In areas like Andorra and France in the mainland, the Pyrenean ibex became extinct first in the northern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. The Pyrenean ibex was estimated to have a peak population of 50,000 individuals with more than 50 other subgroups that ranged from the Sierra Nevada to Sierra Morena and Muela de Cortes. Many of these subgroups lived in mountainous terrain extending into Spain and Portugal. The last remaining Pyrenean ibex were seen in areas of the Middle and Eastern Pyrenees, below altitude. However, in areas of southern France and surrounding areas, ibex were found from to .


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The Pyrenean ibex was quite abundant until the 14th century and numbers did not dwindle in the region until the mid-19th century. Pyrenean ibex tended to live in rocky habitats with cliffs and trees interspersed with scrub or pine trees. However, small patches of rocks in farmland or various areas along the Iberian coast also formed suitable habitat. The ibex was able to thrive well in its environment as long as the appropriate habitat was available, and was able to disperse rapidly and colonize quickly. Pyrenean ibex formed a useful resource for humans, which may have been a cause of their eventual extinction. Researchers say that the eventual downfall of the Pyrenean ibex may have been caused by continuous hunting and even perhaps that the animal could not compete with the other livestock in the area. However, definite reasons for the extinction of this animal are still unknown.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The subspecies once ranged across the Pyrenees in France and Spain and the surrounding area, including the Basque Country, Navarre, north Aragon, and north Catalonia. A few hundred years ago, they were numerous, but by 1900, their numbers had fallen to fewer than 100. From 1910 onwards, their numbers never rose above 40, and the subspecies was found only in a small part of Ordesa National Park, in Huesca.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The Pyrenean ibex was one of four subspecies of the Iberian ibex. The first to become extinct was the Portuguese ibex ("Capra pyrenaica lusitanica") in 1892.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The Pyrenean ibex was the second, with the last individual, a female called Celia, found dead in 2000.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: In the Middle Ages, Pyrenean ibex were very abundant in the Pyrenees region, but decreased rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries due to hunting pressure. In the second half of the 20th century, only a small population survived in the Ordesa National Park situated in the Spanish Central Pyrenees.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: Competition with domestic and wild ungulates also contributed to the extinction of the Pyrenean ibex. Much of its range was shared with sheep, domestic goats, cattle, and horses, especially in summer when it was in the high mountain pastures. This led to interspecific competition and overgrazing, which particularly affected the ibex in dry years. In addition, the introduction of non-native wild ungulate species in areas occupied by the ibex (e.g. fallow deer and mouflon in the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park) increased the grazing pressure, as well as the risk of transmission of both native and exotic diseases.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The last natural Pyrenean ibex, a female named Celia, was found dead on January 6, 2000; she had been killed by a fallen tree. The reason for the subspecies' decline and extinction is not fully understood. Some hypotheses include the inability to compete with other species for food, infections and diseases, and poaching.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The Pyrenean ibex became the first taxon ever to become "unextinct" on July 30, 2003, when a cloned female ibex was born alive and survived for several minutes, before dying from lung defects.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: Celia, the last ibex, was captured in Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park in Huesca, Spain; skin biopsies were taken and cryopreserved in nitrogen. She died a year after tissue was harvested from her ear. American biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced in 2000 that the Spanish government would let them try to clone her from those samples. ACT intended to work alongside other scientists to clone Celia by nuclear transfer.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: It was expected to be easier than the cloning experiment of endangered gaur ("Bos gaurus"), as the reproductive biology of goats is better known and the normal gestation period is only five months. In addition, only certain extinct animals are candidates for cloning because of the need for a suitable proxy surrogate to carry the clone to term. ACT agreed with the government of Aragon that the future cloned Pyrenean ibex would be returned to their original habitat.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: Celia provided suitable tissue samples for cloning. However, attempts to clone her highlighted a major problem: even if it were possible to produce another healthy Pyrenean ibex, no males were available for the female clone to breed with. To produce a viable population of a previously extinct animal, genetic samples from many individuals would be needed to create genetic diversity in the cloned population. This is a major obstacle to re-establishing an extinct species population through cloning. One solution could be to cross Celia's clones with males of another subspecies, although the offspring would not be pure Pyrenean ibex. A more ambitious plan would be to remove one X chromosome and add a Y chromosome from another still-existing subspecies, creating a male Pyrenean ibex, but such technology does not yet exist, and it is not known whether this will be feasible at all without irreparable damage to the cell.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: Three teams of scientists, two Spanish and one French, are involved in the cloning project. One of the Spanish teams was led by Dr. Jose Folch of Zaragoza, from the Centre of Food Technology and Research of Aragon. The other teams had researchers from the National Research Institute of Agriculture and Food in Madrid.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: The project is coordinated by the Food and Agricultural Investigation Service of the Government of Aragon (Spanish: "Servicio de Investigación Agroalimentaria del Gobierno de Aragón)" and by the National Institute of Investigation and Food and Agrarian Technology "(Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria)." The National Institute of Agrarian Investigation (INRA) of France is also involved in the project.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: Researchers took adult somatic cells from the tissue and fused them with oocytes from goats that had their nuclei removed. The purpose of removing the nuclei from the goats' oocytes was to extract all the DNA of the goat, so there would be no genetic contribution to the clone from the egg donor. The resultant embryos were transferred into a domestic goat ("Capra hircus"), to act as a surrogate mother. The first cloning attempts failed. Of the 285 embryos reconstructed, 54 were transferred to 12 ibex and ibex-goat hybrids, but only two survived the initial two months of gestation before they, too, died.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: On July 30, 2003, one clone was born alive, but died several minutes later due to physical defects in the lungs. There was atelectasis and an extra lobe in the left lung.


title: Pyrenean ibex

text: This was the first attempt to revive an extinct subspecies, although the process technically began before the extinction of the subspecies.


title: Salve Regina

text: The "Salve Regina" (, ; meaning 'Hail Queen'), also known as the "Hail Holy Queen", is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday until the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent. The "Hail Holy Queen" is also the final prayer of the Rosary.


title: Salve Regina

text: The work was composed during the Middle Ages and originally appeared in Latin, the prevalent language of Western Christianity until modern times. Though traditionally ascribed to the eleventh-century German monk Hermann of Reichenau, it is regarded as anonymous by most musicologists. Traditionally it has been sung in Latin, though many translations exist. These are often used as spoken prayers.


title: Salve Regina

text: Marian antiphons have been sung, since the thirteenth century, at the close of Compline, the last Office of the day. Peter Canisius (d. 1597) noted that one praises God in Mary when one turns to her in song. Liturgically, the Salve Regina is the best known of four prescribed Marian Anthems recited after Compline, and, in some uses, after Lauds or other Hours. Its use after Compline is likely traceable to the monastic practice of intoning it in chapel and chanting it on the way to sleeping quarters.


title: Salve Regina

text: It was set down in its current form at the Abbey of Cluny in the 12th century, where it was used as a processional hymn on Marian feasts. The Cistercians chanted the Salve Regina daily from 1218. It was popular at medieval universities as evening song, and according to Fr. Juniper Carol, it came to be part of the ritual for the blessing of a ship. While the anthem figured largely in liturgical and in general popular Catholic devotion, it was especially dear to sailors.


title: Salve Regina

text: In the 18th century, the Salve Regina served as the outline for the classic Roman Catholic Mariology book "The Glories of Mary" by Saint Alphonsus Liguori. In the first part of the book Alphonsus, a Doctor of the Church, discusses the Salve Regina and explains how God gave Mary to mankind as the "Gate of Heaven".


title: Salve Regina

text: The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at the end of a priest's funeral Mass by the decedent's fellow priests in attendance.


title: Salve Regina

text: (in the version used by Catholics in the United Kingdom and in the Anglo-Catholic version, the wording "mourning and weeping in this vale of tears" is used in the 6th line)


title: Salve Regina

text: German priest Johann Georg Seidenbusch published a hymn entitled "Gegrüßet seist du, Königin" in his 1687 devotional book "Marianischer Schnee-Berg". This hymn was inspired by the pilgrimage devotions at Aufhausen Priory, and contains various salutations taken predominantly from the "Salve Regina".


title: Salve Regina

text: This hymn was soon to be found in various forms in many Catholic devotional books, and a Latin translation, ""Salve Regina coelitum"", was soon created. The modern melody first appeared in the 1736 hymnal "Geistliche Spiel- und Weckuhr", and Melchior Ludwig Herold's 1808 hymnal "Choralmelodien zum Heiligen Gesänge" contained the version that is standard today.


title: Salve Regina

text: The English translation "Hail, Holy Queen enthroned above" first appeared in "The Roman Missal" in 1884. This translation gained worldwide popularity after being featured in the 1992 film "Sister Act".


title: Salve Regina

text: As an essential component of the Compline service, the hymn has been set to music by various composers, including Victoria, Palestrina, Josquin and Lassus. Charpentier, (5 settings, H.18, H.47, H.23, H.24, H.27), Louis-Nicolas Clérambault, (C.114), Alessandro Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Jan Dismas Zelenka, (7 settings, ZWV 135-141, and ZWV 204), Johann Adolph Hasse (3 settings), Handel, and Liszt composed their own settings in later years. Schubert composed no fewer than seven versions. Francis Poulenc composed his setting of the text in 1941. Arvo Pärt composed a setting first performed in the Essen Cathedral in 2002. Olivier Latry premiered in 2007 an organ work "" which reflects in seven movements the lines of the hymn in Gregorian chant.


title: Salve Regina

text: In 1976 the words of the first verse of the Salve Regina were used as a repeating theme in the song "Oh What a Circus" in the musical "Evita", with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice.


title: Salve Regina

text: Salve Regina University, a U.S. university established by the Sisters of Mercy in 1934, was named in honor of the Salve Regina hymn and motto.


title: Salve Regina

text: The hymn is sung (using the English translation "Hail, Holy Queen enthroned above") by a choir of nuns in the 1992 comedy film "Sister Act", starring Whoopi Goldberg. In the film, the hymn is initially sung in the traditional style, before shifting into an uptempo, soul and gospel music–influenced arrangement. This arrangement has a bridge that intersperses lines from another Marian hymn, "O sanctissima", as well as the first lines of the "Sanctus" (a prayer recited at Mass).


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: Power Rangers Ninja Steel is the twenty-fourth season of the television program "Power Rangers". The season was produced primarily using footage, costumes, and props from Japanese 39th Super Sentai series "Shuriken Sentai Ninninger" with minimal costume and prop elements being recycled from "Ressha Sentai ToQger". The show was produced by Saban Brands and premiered on Nickelodeon on January 21, 2017. The third Power Rangers movie was released on the same year.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: The second season of "Ninja Steel" and twenty-fifth "Power Rangers" season overall, Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel premiered on January 27, 2018. As the twenty-fifth anniversary season of the franchise, "Super Ninja Steel" featured popular Rangers from past seasons. "Ninja Steel" was the last installment in the series to have toys manufactured and distributed by Bandai and "Super Ninja Steel" was the last season produced by Saban Brands; the "Power Rangers" franchise was acquired by Hasbro in 2018.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: The series features the last appearance of Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver before his death in 2022.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: Galvanax is the reigning champion of "Galaxy Warriors," the most popular intergalactic TV game show in the universe where contestants from all over the universe battle to prove who is the galaxy's mightiest warrior. He has become determined to make himself invincible by controlling the mythical Ninja Nexus Prism, which contains the supernatural Ninja Nexus Star. Meanwhile, the Prism, flying through space, lands at the house of Master Dane Romero, who chips off old fragments of the Prism's metallic coating, creating the legendary Ninja Steel. When Galvanax came to Earth soon after, Master Dane Romero fought him to keep him from obtaining the Nexus Star and apparently sacrificed himself to thwart Galvanax's plan, while in the process separating the Nexus Star into six separate Ninja Power Stars, though Galvanax and his minions Madame Odius and Ripcon made off with his son Brody. Ten years later, an enslaved Brody escapes from Galvanax's ship with the Prism, the Power Stars, and fellow slaves Redbot and Mick Kanic and returns to Earth, descending into the city of Summer Cove where they meet high school students Preston Tien, Sarah Thompson, Calvin Maxwell and Hayley Foster who manage to retrieve the Power Stars from the Prism and morph into the Ninja Steel Power Rangers. Furious at the outcome, Galvanax sends his warrior contestants down to Earth to steal the Prism where each epic battle against the Rangers is broadcast throughout the universe. Together, the Rangers must master their arsenal of Power Stars, Mega Morph Cycles, and Zords, that are all made from the Ninja Steel, in order to stop this evil threat and save the Earth from destruction. During their battles, they gain a new addition to their team in the form of country singer Levi Weston, who received his own Power Star and became the Gold Ranger. He is later revealed to be Brody's long lost brother Aiden.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: During the final battle against Galvanax, the Ninja Nexus Prism restores Brody's broken Red Ninja Power Star where it not only turns Mick into an alternate Red Ranger, but also restores Master Dane Romero. The Rangers are able to destroy Galvanax with the Ninja Nexus Prism going inactive, but Madame Odius survives the unexpected Ninja Steel meteor attack on Galvanax's ship.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: In "Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel", the heroic teens find themselves face-to-face with an old enemy when they discover that Madame Odius is still alive and is more determined than ever to steal the Ninja Nexus Prism and revive its powers for her nefarious purposes with the assistance of Badonna, Brax, and General Tynamon. Now it is up to the Rangers and some unexpected help from new friends to use the power of teamwork to protect the Prism, defeat Madame Odius, and save the world.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: Sledge and his crew from "Power Rangers Dino Charge" escape from a wormhole (due to events from the "Power Rangers Dino Super Charge" finale – "End of Extinction", thought they did not fade away from existence by the history alteration except Fury and Curio after their past selves are destroyed, assumed there is a side effect from the wormhole that keep them from being erased.), thus arriving in the main dimension of the Power Rangers multiverse. After finding the wreckage of the Warrior Dome and the survivors of the asteroid collision (including Madame Odius and Cosmo Royale), Sledge offers to fix the ship in exchange for the asteroid, which is covered in Ninja Super Steel, a metal even stronger than Ninja Steel. Instead, Odius tricks him and gains the loyalty of a prisoner of his named Badonna, takes the Super Steel for herself, and gets the ship fixed regardless. Putting Galaxy Warriors back on the air, Odius, Badonna, and a new contestant named Smellephant attack Earth to revive the Ninja Nexus Prism and forge evil Ninja Stars from Super Steel. Thanks to prior warning from a returning Mick and using every trick up their sleeves, the former Rangers manage to claim the Super Steel and regain their powers, though much stronger than before.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: With new and improved powers and gear, the Rangers protect the Ninja Power Stars from Odius and her Warrior contestants. In order to get an edge on them, Badonna books a ragtag team of Galactic Ninjas, intent on proving their superiority to the "Earth Ninjas". Odius hatches a plan to send the Galactic Ninjas into fatal battles in order to claim their Ninja Medallions for the creation of Foxatron, her own Zord. Foxatron destroys the Ninja Ultrazord, leaving the Rangers' Zord Stars burned and in no condition for use. Luckily, with the help of three mysterious cloaked figures, they are able to repair the Zord Stars and destroy Foxatron with their new Ninja Blaze Megazord, gained by proving to the Prism, that they're kind at heart enough to be worthy of such power.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: As revenge, Odius forms an alliance with Lord Draven, ruler of an evil dimension known as the Antiverse. The two plan to unite all dimensions into one and use an army of Robo Ranger clones to conquer them all. Fortunately, the Ninja Steel Rangers and a team of Legendary Rangers (including the three cloaked figures revealed to be Wes Collins, Gemma from RPM, and Koda from Dino Charge, as well as Tommy Oliver, Katherine Hillard, Rocky DeSantos, Trent Fernandez-Mercer, T.J. Johnson, Antonio Garcia, and Gia Moran, all of whom escaped Draven's captivity) are able to destroy Draven and stop the merging of the dimensions.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: After the fall of the Galactic Ninjas and Draven's demise, Odius continues to plot the Rangers' downfall, even as going as far as to trick the legendary Space Sheriff Skyfire into viewing the Rangers as thieves, while the sheriff was hunting a wanted criminal and demolitions expert named Blammo, who was a contestant on Galaxy Warriors at the time. Odius makes yet another deal, this time with General Tynamon, manager of a famous fighter named Brax. Tynamon is actually a small monster using a robot suit to look big, hoping Odius will grant him to grow big if he can get the Power Stars and destroy the Rangers. While he does succeed in testing out her mind control device and thus gaining Mick as an ally, the monster is only able to achieve his dream for a small amount of time, as he is destroyed by the Rangers. For Odius however, losing Tynamon is meaningless as Mick can help her launch her ultimate plan.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: Mick promises to help her broadcast a signal which will mind control the whole planet. A monster named Gorrox disguises as a TV producer to get humans for her broadcast. The audition he holds causes Calvin and Hayley to argue and breakup, while, Victor and Monty are chosen for the role. Gorrox reveals himself and is destroyed along with a vengeful Brax, in battle with the Rangers. Unfortunately, they are unable to stop her as Odius now controls half the human race and has ambushed Summer Cove High. While Sarah and Hayley sneak onto the Warrior Dome to save a mind controlled Calvin, the Romero brothers and Preston watch as Odius turns the Nexus Prism evil and forges a Ninja Nexus Super Star, revealing she's wanted to control an army with the Prism's power for a thousand years. The three are then forced to fight Brody and Levi's father, whom was also mind controlled. Luckily, Hayley destroys the satellite and gets back together with a free Calvin. Odius' former human soldiers escape with Victor and Monty's help, leading to the destruction of the Warrior Dome and demise of Cosmo Royale and Badonna. Despite having her plan failed, Odius is still able to unite with the Nexus Super Star. The Rangers reunite and in order to combat a seemingly unstoppable Odius, infuse themselves with the power of the Nexus Star with a little help from Preston's magic. Try as she may, Odius is no match for a whole team of those with equal powers to hers, falling in the final battle when the Rangers combine their Nexus Stars combined with the Nexus Power and bringing peace to Earth. Victor and Monty are rewarded for their bravery in helping to stop Odius while the Rangers return their powers to the Ninja Nexus Prism, which uses its power to reforge its Ninja Steel crust and flies off in search of another planet in need. With Mick remaining on Earth as their teacher (though remaining in contact with his family through satellite), the Rangers return to life as normal high school students, unaware that Sledge and his crew are still alive elsewhere in space.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: Later, Sledge and his crew return again on Christmas where the use the rebuilt Warrior Dome ship to start Poisandra's talk show. With help from Koda, the Blue Dino Charge Ranger and Santa Claus, Sledge and his crew along with his ship and reprogrammed Basher Bots are all destroyed this time for good. Afterwards, Koda invites the Ninja Steel Rangers back to his world to spend Christmas with him.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: In 2018, the Ninja Steel Rangers appeared in Boom! Studios' "Shattered Grid", a crossover event between teams from all eras commemorating the 25th anniversary of the original television series. It was published in "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" #25-30 and various tie-ins. A "Power Rangers Ninja Steel" story by Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale and Simone Di Meo was published in "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2018 Annual" as part of the crossover.


title: Power Rangers Ninja Steel

text: A "Power Rangers Ninja Steel" story by Mat Groom, Michael Busuttil and Lucas Werneck was published the same year in "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 25th Anniversary Special" #1.


title: Van Halen II

text: Van Halen II is the second studio album by American rock band Van Halen. Released on March 23, 1979, it peaked at number six on the "Billboard" 200 and spawned the singles "Dance the Night Away" and "Beautiful Girls". As of 2004, it has sold almost six million copies in the United States. Critical reaction to the album has been positive as well, with "The Rolling Stone Album Guide" praising the "feel-good, party atmosphere" of the songs.


title: Van Halen II

text: Recording of the album took place at Sunset Studio less than a year after the release of the band's 1978 debut album, "Van Halen". Recording of the album began on December 10, 1978, just one week after completing their first world tour, and was complete within a week. The band used a Putnam 610 console to record the album, similar to the console Eddie would later install in his home studio in 1983. Many of the songs on "Van Halen II" are known to have existed prior to the release of the first album, and are present on the demos recorded in 1976 by Gene Simmons, and in 1977 by Ted Templeman, including an early version of "Beautiful Girls" (then known as "Bring On the Girls") and "Somebody Get Me a Doctor."


title: Van Halen II

text: The black-and-yellow guitar on the back of the album known as "Bumblebee" is buried with Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who was killed December 8, 2004. Eddie Van Halen placed it in his Kiss Kasket at his funeral because Darrell had said it was his favorite. Eddie himself stated in an interview conducted in December, 1979 by Jas Obrecht and published in the April, 1980 edition of Guitar Player Magazine, that the guitar itself was not actually used on the tracking of "Van Halen II", as it had only been completed just in time for the photo shoots for the album.


title: Van Halen II

text: However, the guitar was completed by Charvel, delivered to Eddie by Karl Sandoval in early October, 1978 and was photographed in use on the 2nd European leg of Van Halen's 1978 tour. Despite this, there is no conclusive evidence that the guitar itself was or was not used for the tracking of the album. It is likely that Eddie had, in fact, taken the guitar apart and "reassembled" it just in time for the photoshoot, as there is evidence of swapped parts and a new guitar strap made from a lap-style seatbelt seen in the photos from the shoot.


title: Van Halen II

text: David Lee Roth is shown in a cast in the inner liner notes, as he allegedly broke his heel on the third try of the spread-eagle jump used on the back cover photo.


title: Van Halen II

text: In the liner notes, The Sheraton Inn of Madison, Wisconsin is thanked. On Van Halen's first tour, they stayed at the hotel and destroyed the seventh floor, having fire extinguisher fights in the hallways and throwing televisions out windows. They blamed the incidents on their tour-mates at the time, Journey.


title: Van Halen II

text: In a 1979 "Rolling Stone" review, Timothy White writes, "Scattered throughout Van Halen's second album are various Vanilla Fudge bumps and grinds, an Aerosmith-derived pseudobravado, a bit of Bad Company basement funk and even a few Humble Pie miniraveups," adding that the "LP retains a numbing live feel." In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic rates "Van Halen II" 4 stars out of 5. He notes the album is "virtually a carbon copy of their 1978 debut," though goes on to say it is "lighter and funnier" and "some of the grandest hard rock ever made." Erlewine praises Eddie's "phenomenal gift" and Roth's "knowing shuck and jive."


title: Van Halen II

text: It reached No. 6 on the "Billboard" 200 charts and #23 on the UK charts. "Van Halen II" was certified 5× Platinum in 2004. About 5.7 million records have been sold in the United States as of 2004. In 2000, "Van Halen II" was remastered and re-released.


title: Don't Let Me Down (Beatles song)

text: "Don't Let Me Down" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, recorded in 1969 during the "Let It Be" sessions. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. The band recorded the song with keyboardist Billy Preston; the single release with "Get Back" was credited to "the Beatles with Billy Preston". Originally released as a B-side, producer Phil Spector excluded the song from "Let It Be". However, it was eventually included on an alternate mix of the album, "Let It Be... Naked".


title: Don't Let Me Down (Beatles song)

text: Written by John Lennon as an anguished love song to Yoko Ono, it was interpreted by Paul McCartney as a "genuine plea", with Lennon saying to Ono, "I'm really stepping out of line on this one. I'm really just letting my vulnerability be seen, so you must not let me down."


title: Don't Let Me Down (Beatles song)

text: The song is in the key of E major and is in time during the verse, chorus and bridge, but changes to in the pick-up to the verse. It grew (like "Sun King") from the Fm–E changes from Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" with McCartney arranging instrumental and vocal parts and George Harrison adding a descending two-part lead guitar accompaniment to the verse and a countermelody in the bridge. Alan W. Pollack states that "the counterpoint melody played in octaves during the Alternate Verse by the bass and lead guitars is one of the more novel, unusual instrumental touches you'll find anywhere in the Beatles catalogue."


title: Don't Let Me Down (Beatles song)

text: Multiple versions of "Don't Let Me Down" were recorded by the Beatles during the "Get Back (Let It Be)" recording sessions. The version recorded on 28 January 1969, with vocal overdubs in late February, was released as a B-side to the single "Get Back", recorded the same day. "Get Back" reached number one and "Don't Let Me Down" reached number 35 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Don't Let Me Down (Beatles song)

text: When the "Get Back" project was revisited, Phil Spector dropped "Don't Let Me Down" from the "Let It Be" (1970) album.


title: Don't Let Me Down (Beatles song)

text: The Beatles performed "Don't Let Me Down" twice during their rooftop concert of 30 January 1969, and the first performance was included in the "Let It Be" (1970) film, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. In November 2003, a composite edit of the two rooftop versions was released on "Let It Be... Naked". Both versions were seen in the 2022 film "The Beatles: Get Back - The Rooftop Concert".


title: Don't Let Me Down (Beatles song)

text: The B-side version of the song was included on the Beatles' compilations "Hey Jude", "1967–1970" and "Past Masters Volume 2" and "Mono Masters". The same recording also appears on the soundtrack to the 1988 documentary, "".


title: Don't Let Me Down (Beatles song)

text: Richie Unterberger of AllMusic called it "one of the Beatles' most powerful love songs", Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the song as "heart-wrenching soul" and Roy Carr and Tony Tyler called it "a superb sobber from misery-expert J. W. O. Lennon, MBE. And still one of the most highly underrated Beatle underbellies." Author Ian MacDonald praised "Don't Let Me Down" and declared that "this track vies with 'Come Together' for consideration as the best of Lennon's late-style Beatles records". “Don’t Let Me Down” is the most viewed video on the Beatles’ YouTube channel, with over 400 million views.


title: Don't Let Me Down (Beatles song)

text: No official producer's credit was included for the single release owing to "the confused roles of George Martin and Glyn Johns". However the "1967-1970" compilation liner notes credited Martin as the song's producer.


title: Duesenberg

text: Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company, Inc. was an American racing and luxury automobile manufacturer founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, by brothers Fred and August Duesenberg in 1920. The company is known for popularizing the straight-eight engine and four-wheel hydraulic brakes. A Duesenberg car was the first American car to win a Grand Prix race, winning the 1921 French Grand Prix. Duesenbergs won the Indianapolis 500 in 1924, 1925, and 1927. Transportation executive Errett Lobban Cord acquired the Duesenberg corporation in 1926. The company was sold and dissolved in 1937.


title: Duesenberg

text: Fred and August Duesenberg began designing engines in the early 1900s after Fred became involved with bicycle racing. The brothers designed a vehicle in 1905 and in 1906, formed the Mason Motor Car Company with funds from lawyer Edward R. Mason in Des Moines, Iowa. F.L. and Elmer Maytag acquired a majority stake in the company and renamed it the Maytag-Mason Automobile Company until they sold their stake in 1912. The Duesenbergs moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota and established the first iteration of the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company. Eddie Rickenbacker drove the first Duesenberg-designed vehicle to race at the Indianapolis 500 in 1914, placing tenth. The brothers sold their Saint Paul factories in 1919.


title: Duesenberg

text: During World War I, the Duesenbergs designed and built aircraft engines in Elizabeth, New Jersey. They relocated to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1920 and re-launched the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company, manufacturing the Duesenberg Model A. The Duesenberg brothers assumed engineering roles after signing over the naming rights and patents for Duesenberg engines to promoters Newton E. Van Zandt and Luther M. Rankin. The first ModelA was commissioned by businessman and politician Samuel Northrup Castle. The car had a straight-eight engine that output 88 horsepower, the largest engine in a commercially available vehicle at the time, and was the first to have hydraulic brakes on all its wheels. Duesenberg continued to build race cars as well, and a Duesenberg race car won the 1921 French Grand Prix, the first American car to do so. Duesenberg cars also performed well at the Indianapolis 500 during the 1920s, winning the race in 1922, 1924, 1925, and 1927.


title: Duesenberg

text: Van Zandt left the company in 1921 and it struggled financially and entered receivership in 1924. Duesenberg was purchased by Errett Lobban Cord in 1926. August's role in the passenger car side of the business declined after Cord's takeover, and August worked primarily in the Duesenberg's racing division after 1926, designing all Duesenberg race cars built from that year until the company's dissolution. Two years later, Cord had the Duesenbergs make a new model to "outclass" all other American cars. In 1929, the company began selling the Duesenberg Model J, which was powered by a 265-horsepower straight-eight engine. The body and cabin were custom-built by coachbuilders. Prices for the cars ranged from $14,000 to $20,000 at the time. Duesenbergs were considered to be among the most luxurious American cars ever made. Historian Donald Davidson called them the "most prestigious passenger car" in American history and likened them to an American version of the Rolls-Royce. The vehicles were popular with movie stars, royalty, and other wealthy individuals. The company was sold by Cord and dissolved in 1937. The last Duesenberg to be made by the original company was completed in 1940, commissioned by German artist Rudolf Bauer and completed by August Duesenberg after the company had shut down.


title: Duesenberg

text: Several unsuccessful attempts were made to revive the Duesenberg name. August Duesenberg failed to restart the company in 1947, and an attempt by his son, Fritz, and car designer Virgil Exner to revive the brand failed after the production of one concept car in 1966. In 1978, Heritage Elite Motors started producing handmade Duesenberg replicas in Elroy, Wisconsin, under the name Duesenberg Motors Company. The "Duesenberg II" retained the styling of the cars from the 1920s and 1930s, but included some modern updates, such as stereo systems, air conditioning, and an automatic transmission. The company produced several models, including the Torpedo sedan and phaeton, and the Murphy roadster. The factory closed in 2001.


title: Duesenberg

text: Duesenberg's first car was the Model A. It is powered by the Duesenberg Straight-8 engine and was the first car to be mass-produced with a straight-eight. The purchase price for a ModelA started at $6,500 ($ in dollars ). The Duesenberg ModelA introduced several innovative features, such as an overhead camshaft, four-valve cylinder heads, and the first four-wheel hydraulic brakes offered on a passenger car. It had the largest engine of any consumer vehicle at the time of its production.


title: Duesenberg

text: The Duesenberg Model A experienced various delays going from prototype to production. Deliveries to dealers did not start until December 1921. Sales lagged, and Duesenberg could not meet a 100-vehicles-per-month quota as the Indianapolis plant struggled to roll out one a day. In 1922, no more than 150 Duesenberg ModelAs were manufactured, with only a total of 650 units sold over a period of six years.


title: Duesenberg

text: The Model X is a sportier version of the ModelA with a heavier and longer ( wheelbase) chassis and engine that enabled it to reach . The most notable differences between the Aand the X were that the latter had hypoid differentials and all its valves were on one side.


title: Duesenberg

text: The Duesenberg Model X chassis, is an upgrade over the ModelA chassis, offering a reworked 260 cu. in. straight-8 engine, an overhead cam, with a new crankshaft, revised valve train, improved pistons and superior intake manifold. Power is 100 hp, which made driving at 100 mph possible. The chassis length increased to 136 inches, with additional reinforcements. Improved leaf springs are mounted above the frame rails, thus, lowering the center of gravity. The Duesenberg ModelX chassis is the rarest Duesenberg street production chassis ever made, with only thirteen ever manufactured. Only five of the Duesenberg ModelXs manufactured are known to have survived.


title: Duesenberg

text: The first Model J prototype was created in 1927 and the first cars were delivered in 1929, shortly before the onset of the Great Depression. About three hundred ModelJs were completed by 1930, short of the original 500-vehicle goal.


title: Duesenberg

text: The car's engine was based on the company's racing engines of the 1920s and was manufactured by another Cord company, Lycoming. It output , aided by dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, making it the most powerful car of its time. The ModelJ was capable of a top speed of , and in second gear. Duesenberg historian Randy Ema wrote that the ModelJ spurred change in engine design, "single-handedly (starting) the horsepower race that drove the number of cylinders from twelve to sixteen," but noted those engines still could not match the ModelJ's power output.


title: Duesenberg

text: Only the chassis and engine of the ModelJ were displayed, as the body and cabin of the car were custom built per custom for luxury vehicles at the time. The company's chief body designer, Gordon Buehrig designed around half of the ModelJ bodies, while the remainder were designed by coachbuilders around the world, including Gurney Nutting, Murphy, and Derham, among others.


title: Duesenberg

text: The J was available in two versions of chassis with a different wheelbase; a longer one () and a shorter one (about ). There were also other special sizes, like the SSJs with a wheelbase shortened to and a few cars with the wheelbase extended to and over.


title: Duesenberg

text: The supercharged Model J, referred to as the SJ, was reported to have reached in second gear and have a top speed of in third gear. Zero-to- times of around eight seconds and in 17 seconds were reported for the SJ despite having an unsynchonized transmission, at a time when even the best cars of the era were not likely to reach . The SJ had a wheelbase of . The SJ was introduced in 1932. Only 36 units were built. A special version of the SJ, the "Mormon Meteor", broke several land speed records.


title: Duesenberg

text: Investors in New York City originally supported the ModelJ, but following the Stock market crash of 1929, the market for ModelJs switched to Hollywood stars. Two modified ModelJs, known as the SSJ, were produced in 1935 for actors Gary Cooper and Clark Gable. The SSJ reportedly produced and could go in less than 8 seconds. Cooper's SSJ sold for $22 million in 2018, making it the most expensive American car ever sold at auction at the time. About 378 of 481 ModelJs of all types still existed as of 2002.


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is a 2015 action-adventure game developed by Bluepoint Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is a remaster of the first three main games in the "Uncharted" franchise, developed by Naughty Dog, and was released in October 2015 for PlayStation 4. Players control Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter who travels the world to uncover various historical mysteries.


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: Development of "The Nathan Drake Collection" began in 2014, and required the largest team ever assembled by Bluepoint. To take advantage of the greater capabilities of the console, Bluepoint were able to remodel elements of the gameplay, including the shooting and grenade mechanics, some controls, and the camera schemes. In-game cutscenes were overhauled to improve lighting, visuals, and character models, while online leaderboards and motion blur were introduced. "The Nathan Drake Collection" only contains the single-player story modes, with all multiplayer content absent.


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: "Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection" received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its updates and improvements to the games, namely the graphics, controls, and visuals, and was deemed a worthy remaster of the original trilogy. There was some criticism for its aforementioned omission of multiplayer and lack of additional features. The game was also a commercial success, selling over five million copies worldwide.


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: "The Nathan Drake Collection" includes the single player campaigns of the first three mainline titles in the "Uncharted" series: "" (2007), "" (2009), and "" (2011). Played from a third-person perspective, they are action-adventure video games with platforming elements. In these games, the player assumes control of treasure hunter Nathan Drake, and must explore dangerous ruins, defeat enemies using various firearms and solve various puzzles. All three remastered games run in 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second, while the music was enhanced to support surround sound systems.


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: Bluepoint attempted to unify the gameplay across all three games. To achieve this, it overhauled the aim assist system and grenade gameplay from "Drake's Fortune" to match that of the other games, and altered "Uncharted 3"s camera movement. The team also remapped buttons to ensure that the control schemes across the three games are consistent. The aiming mechanics across all three games were improved. The game also features graphical improvements, with Bluepoint re-rendering the cutscenes, enhancing the lighting and the visual effects, making the models and textures more detailed, and incorporating ambient occlusion and motion blur, both of which were not supported in the original games. The team added friends leaderboards, new difficulty settings, trophies and a photo mode into the game, though the multiplayer components in both "Uncharted 2" and "Uncharted 3" were not included in the package.


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: While the three original games were produced by Naughty Dog, the remaster games were developed by Bluepoint Games, who had previously worked with Sony on "God of War Collection" and "The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection". Naughty Dog wanted to bring the "Uncharted" games, which were originally developed for the PlayStation 3, to its successor, the PlayStation 4, following the success of "The Last of Us Remastered" (2014). According to the studio, about 80% of the PS4 owners at that time had never played an "Uncharted" game before. The team originally considered remastering "", a spin-off of the franchise developed by Bend Studio, but the plan was scrapped as the team felt that the story from "Golden Abyss" was too tangential and strayed too far from the narrative arc established by the trilogy. The multiplayer modes from "Uncharted 2" and "Uncharted 3" were not remastered because Naughty Dog felt that its inclusion in the collection could potentially divide the PS3 community who were still playing the game at that time.


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: According to Bluepoint's CTO Marco Thrush, the studio began working on "The Nathan Drake Collection" in June 2014 when "The Last of Us Remastered" shipped. Development for the collection took 15 months, and became one of Bluepoint's largest projects since its establishment. During the peak of the game's development, the team had 48 people, including 13 engineers and 17 artists. Bluepoint designed the gameplay adjustments, and met with design leads from Sony and Naughty Dog for feedback and guidance. The team first ported "Uncharted 2" to the PS4, and then "Uncharted 1" and "Uncharted 3" in succession. During the improvement phase of development, the team likewise started with both "Uncharted 2" and then switched to "Uncharted 1" once work on the second game was finished, while the production of "Uncharted 3"s remaster ran parallel to its predecessors. The team adjusted the gameplay for "Uncharted 1" and "Uncharted 3" in order to align with "Uncharted 2"s. The first "Uncharted" required the most work as it was the oldest game in the series. According to Thrush, "almost every system in "U1" was touched" and that it "needed the most love to get it to the state of "how you remember it" from the PS3 days".


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: "Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection" was announced by Sony on June 4, 2015. It was released for the PlayStation 4 on October 7 in the same year in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and October 9 in Ireland, the UK, the US. Players who purchased "The Nathan Drake Collection" would gain access to the multiplayer beta for "". Sony released the three games individually in Europe on November 16, 2016. The collection was released as a free title for PlayStation Plus subscribers for the month of January 2020. Sony later announced that as a part of its Play at Home initiative that "Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection" would be free for all users to purchase from April 15 - May 5, 2020.


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: "Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection" received generally positive reviews upon release, according to review aggregator Metacritic.


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: Most critics believed that the game was a worthy remaster of the three games and praised Bluepoint for introducing the graphical updates. Sam Byford from "The Verge" described the collection as a "perfect primer" and an excellent entry point for players who have not played any "Uncharted" games in the past, and the "perfect way to get yourself up to speed before "Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End" drops next year". "Uncharted 2" remained the highlight game in the trilogy, with critics praising its pacing and attention to detail, while "Uncharted 3" was lauded for its spectacle and cinematography. However, "Uncharted 1"s remaster received a mixed reception as many critics wrote that despite the graphical enhancements, the design of the base game did not live up to modern industry standards. Many critics considered the omission of multiplayer and behind-the-scene videos as well as the lack of extra content as missed opportunities.


title: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

text: "The Nathan Drake Collection" was the ninth best-selling retail game in the United States in October 2015. It was the second best-selling retail game in the United Kingdom during its release week, only behind "FIFA 16". It was the eighth largest launch for a PS4 game at that time.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, known as "Bones", is a character in the American science-fiction franchise "Star Trek". McCoy was played by actor DeForest Kelley in the from 1966 to 1969, and he also appears in the , six "Star Trek" films, the pilot episode of "", and in numerous books, comics, and video games. A decade after Kelley's death, Karl Urban assumed the role of McCoy in the "Star Trek" reboot film in 2009.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: McCoy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2227. The son of David McCoy, he attended the University of Mississippi and is a divorcé. McCoy later married Natira, the priestess of Yonada, characterized in the episode, "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky". In 2266, McCoy was posted as chief medical officer of the USS "Enterprise" under Captain James T. Kirk, who often calls him "Bones". McCoy and Kirk are good friends, even "brotherly". The passionate, sometimes cantankerous McCoy frequently argues with Kirk's other confidant, science officer Spock, and occasionally is prejudiced against Spock's Vulcan heritage. McCoy often plays the role of Kirk's conscience, offering a counterpoint to Spock's logic. McCoy is suspicious of technology, especially the transporter. As a physician, he prefers less intrusive treatment and believes in the body's innate recuperative powers. The nickname "Bones" – chosen before the character was named – is a play on "sawbones", a 19th century epithet for a surgeon. In the 2009 "Star Trek" film reboot, when McCoy first meets Kirk, he complains that his ex-wife took all their shared assets following their divorce: "All I got left is my bones", implying this was the origin of the nickname.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: When Kirk orders McCoy's commission reactivated in "" (1979); a resentful McCoy complains of being "drafted". Spock transfers his "katra"—his knowledge and experience—into McCoy before dying in "" (1982). This causes mental anguish for McCoy, who in "" (1984) helps restore Spock's "katra" to his reanimated body. McCoy continues to serve on Kirk's crew aboard the captured Klingon ship in "" (1986). In "" (1989), McCoy (through the intervention of Spock's half-brother Sybok) reveals that he helped his father commit suicide to relieve him of his pain. Shortly after the suicide, a cure was found for his father's disease, and McCoy had carried the guilt about it with him until Sybok's intervention.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: In "" (1991), McCoy and Kirk escape from a Klingon prison world, and the "Enterprise" crew stops a plot to prevent peace between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. Kelley reprised the role for the "Encounter at Farpoint" pilot episode of "" (1987), insisting upon no more than the minimum Screen Actors Guild payment for his appearance. McCoy had attained the rank of admiral in the "Trek" timeline when this episode was aired, and he is stated to be 137 years of age. He went on to become chief of Starfleet Medical, with a special rank known as branch admiral. The fictional book "Comparative Alien Physiology" was written by McCoy, and was required reading at the Starfleet Medical Academy through the 2370s.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: In the 1973 "" episode "", McCoy mentions he has a daughter, Joanna. Although Chekov's friend Irina in the original series episode "The Way to Eden" was originally written as McCoy's daughter, it was changed before the episode was shot.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: In the 2009 "Star Trek" film, which takes place in an alternate, parallel reality, McCoy and Kirk become friends at Starfleet Academy, which McCoy joins after a divorce that he says, "left [him] nothing but [his] bones." This line, improvised by Urban, explains how McCoy earned the nickname "Bones". McCoy later helps get Kirk posted aboard the USS "Enterprise". He later becomes the chief medical officer after Doctor Puri is killed during an attack by Nero. McCoy remains aboard to see the "Enterprise" defeat Nero and his crew, with Kirk becoming the commanding officer of the ship.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: "The Guardian" called Urban's portrayal of McCoy in the 2009 film an "unqualified success", and "The New York Times" called the character "wild-eyed and funny". "Slate" said Urban came closer than the other actors to impersonating a character's original depiction.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: Kelley had worked with "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry on previous television pilots, and he was Roddenberry's first choice to play the doctor aboard the USS "Enterprise". However, for the rejected pilot "" (1964), Roddenberry went with director Robert Butler's choice of John Hoyt to play Dr. Philip Boyce. For the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1966), Roddenberry accepted director James Goldstone's decision to have Paul Fix play Dr. Mark Piper. Although Roddenberry wanted Kelley to play the character of ship's doctor, he did not put Kelley's name forward to NBC; the network never "rejected" the actor, as Roddenberry sometimes suggested.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: Kelley's first broadcast appearance as Doctor Leonard McCoy was in "The Man Trap" (1966). Despite his character's prominence, Kelley's contract granted him only a "featuring" credit; he was not given "starring" credit until the second season, at the urging of producer Robert Justman. Kelley was apprehensive about "Star Trek"s future, telling Roddenberry that the show was "going to be the biggest hit or the biggest miss God ever made". Kelley portrayed McCoy throughout the original "Star Trek" series, and voiced the character in the animated "Star Trek".


title: Leonard McCoy

text: Kelley, who in his youth wanted to become a doctor like his uncle, but whose family could not pay for a medical education, in part drew upon his real-life experiences in creating McCoy, a doctor's "matter-of-fact" delivery of news of Kelley's mother's terminal cancer was the "abrasive sand" Kelley used in creating McCoy's demeanor. "Star Trek" writer D. C. Fontana said that while Roddenberry created the series, Kelley essentially created McCoy; everything done with the character was done with Kelley's input.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: "Exquisite chemistry" among Kelley, William Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy manifested itself in their performances as McCoy, Captain James T. Kirk, and Science Officer Spock, respectively. Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, referred to Kelley as her "sassy gentleman friend"; the friendship between the African-American Nichols and Southern Kelley was a real-life demonstration of the message Roddenberry hoped to convey through "Star Trek".


title: Leonard McCoy

text: For the 2009 "Star Trek" film, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman saw McCoy as an "arbiter" in Kirk and Spock's relationship. While Spock represented "extreme logic, extreme science" and Kirk symbolized "extreme emotion and intuition", McCoy's role as "a very colorful doctor, essentially a very humanistic scientist", represented the "two extremes that often served as the glue that held the trio together". They chose to reveal that McCoy befriended Kirk first, explaining the "bias" in their friendship and why he would often be a "little dismissive" of Spock. Urban said the script was "very faithful" to the original character, including the "great compassion for humanity and that sense of irascibility" with which Kelley imbued the character. New Zealand-born Urban trained with a dialect coach to create McCoy's accent and reprised the role in its sequels "Star Trek Into Darkness" and "Star Trek Beyond".


title: Leonard McCoy

text: McCoy is someone to whom Kirk unburdens himself, but is a foil to Spock. He is Kirk's "friend, personal bartender, confidant, counselor, and priest". Spock and McCoy's bickering became so popular that Roddenberry wrote in a 1968 memo "we simply didn't realize ... how much the fans loved the bickering between our Arrowsmith and our Alien". Urban said McCoy has a "sense of irascibility with real passion for life and doing the right thing", and that "Spock's logic and McCoy's moral standing gave Kirk the benefit of having three brains instead of just one."


title: Leonard McCoy

text: Kelley said that his greatest thrill at "Star Trek" conventions was the number of people who told him they entered the medical profession because of the McCoy character. He received two or three letters a month from others reporting similar experiences. A friend observed that despite not becoming a doctor as he had hoped, Kelley's portrayal of McCoy had helped create many doctors. According to Kelley, "You can win awards and that sort of thing, but to influence the youth of the country ... is an award that is not handed out by the industry".


title: Leonard McCoy

text: Twenty times on the original "Star Trek" series, McCoy declares someone or something deceased with the line, "He's dead", "He's dead, Jim", or something similar. The phrase so became a catchphrase of the character that Kelley joked that the line would appear on his tombstone—and it appeared in the first sentence of at least one obituary—but disliked repeating the line. During filming of "", when Spock is dying from radiation exposure, Kelley felt it would spoil the gravitas of the moment, so he and James Doohan agreed to swap their lines: McCoy warns Kirk not to open the chamber, and Scotty says, "He's dead already".


title: Leonard McCoy

text: University of Southern California literature professor Henry Jenkins cites Dr. McCoy's "He's dead, Jim" line as an example of fans actively participating in the creation of an underground culture in which they derive pleasure by repeating memorable lines as part of constructing new mythologies and alternative social communities.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: Another of McCoy's catchphrases is his "I'm a doctor, (Jim) not a(n)..." statements, delivered by Kelley 11 times, and three times by Karl Urban in later films. McCoy repeats the line when he must perform some task beyond his medical skills, such as when he is asked to treat the unfamiliar silicon-based Horta alien in "The Devil in the Dark" (1967), saying, "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer." The in the later "" series repeatedly makes statements that pay homage to this catchphrase.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: Kelley parodied the phrase in a 1992 commercial for Trivial Pursuit's 10th Anniversary Edition, in which the question is asked, "How many chambers are there in a human heart?" replying "How should I know? I'm an actor, not a doctor!".


title: Leonard McCoy

text: In a rebuttal to a tongue-in-cheek analysis in the "Canadian Medical Association Journal", which claimed that Dr. Nick from "The Simpsons" was a better role model than his competitor Dr. Hibbert, both of which were published in the same journal in 1998, both doctors are cast aside for Dr. McCoy, "TV's only true physician" and "someone who has broken free from the yoke of ethics and practises the art and science of medicine beyond the stultifying opposition of paternalism and autonomy. A free and independent thinker and, indeed, someone even beyond role models".


title: Leonard McCoy

text: In 2012, IGN ranked the character Doctor McCoy, as depicted in the original series, its films, and the 2009 film "Star Trek," as the fifth-top character of the "Star Trek" universe, behind Data, Picard, Spock, and Kirk.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: In 2016, Doctor McCoy was ranked as the fifth-most important character of Starfleet within the "Star Trek" science-fiction universe by "Wired".


title: Leonard McCoy

text: In 2017, Screen Rant ranked the reboot film (Kelvin timeline) McCoy, played by Urban, as the 17th-most attractive person in the "Star Trek" universe.


title: Leonard McCoy

text: In 2018, "The Wrap" placed Doctor McCoy as sixth out 39 in a ranking of main cast characters of the "Star Trek" franchise. In 2018, CBR ranked McCoy as the 11th-best Starfleet character of "Star Trek."


title: Quisling

text: Quisling (, ) is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English meaning a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force – or more generally as a synonym for "traitor". The word originates from the surname of the Norwegian war-time leader Vidkun Quisling, who headed a domestic Nazi collaborationist regime during World War II.


title: Quisling

text: Use of Vidkun Quisling's surname as a term predates World War II. The first recorded use of the term was by Norwegian Labour Party politician Oscar Torp in a 2 January 1933 newspaper interview, where he used it as a general term for Quisling's followers. Quisling was at this point in the process of establishing the Nasjonal Samling (National Unity) party, a fascist party modelled on the German Nazi Party. Further uses of the term were made by Aksel Sandemose, in a newspaper article in "Dagbladet" in 1934, and by the newspaper "Vestfold Arbeiderblad", in 1936. The term with the opposite meaning, a Norwegian patriot, is "Jøssing".


title: Quisling

text: The use of the name as a term for collaborators or traitors in general probably came about upon Quisling's unsuccessful 1940 coup d'état, when he attempted to seize power and make Norway cease resisting the invading Germans. The term was widely introduced to an English-speaking audience by the British newspaper "The Times". It published an editorial on 19 April 1940 titled "Quislings everywhere", in which it was asserted that "To writers, the word Quisling is a gift from the gods. If they had been ordered to invent a new word for traitor... they could hardly have hit upon a more brilliant combination of letters. Aurally it contrives to suggest something at once slippery and tortuous." The "Daily Mail" picked up the term four days after "The Times" editorial was published. "The War Illustrated" discussed "potential Quislings" among the Dutch during the German invasion of the Netherlands. Subsequently, the BBC brought the word into common use internationally.


title: Quisling

text: Chips Channon described how during the Norway Debate of 7–8 May 1940, he and other Conservative MPs who supported Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Neville Chamberlain called those who voted against a motion of no confidence "Quislings". Chamberlain's successor Winston Churchill used the term during an address to the Allied Delegates at St. James's Palace on 12 June 1941, when he said: "A vile race of Quislings—to use a new word which will carry the scorn of mankind down the centuries—is hired to fawn upon the conqueror, to collaborate in his designs and to enforce his rule upon their fellow countrymen while groveling low themselves." He used the term again in an address to both houses of Congress in the United States of America on 26 December 1941. Commenting upon the effect of a number of Allied victories against Axis forces, and moreover the United States' decision to enter the war, Churchill opined: "Hope has returned to the hearts of scores of millions of men and women, and with that hope there burns the flame of anger against the brutal, corrupt invader. And still more fiercely burn the fires of hatred and contempt for the filthy Quislings whom he has suborned." The term subsequently entered the language and became a target for political cartoonists.


title: Quisling

text: In his work "The Yugoslav peoples fight to live", Josip Broz Tito made several descriptions of his enemies as Quislings, including General Milan Nedić ("the Serbian Quisling") and Dr. Ante Pavelić ("the criminal Croatian Quisling ... a creature of Mussolini and Hitler").


title: Quisling

text: In the United States, it was used often. In the Warner Bros. cartoon "Tom Turk and Daffy" (1944), it was uttered by a Thanksgiving turkey whose presence is betrayed to Porky Pig by Daffy Duck. In the American film "Edge of Darkness" (1943), about the Resistance in Norway, the heroine's brother is often described as a quisling.


title: Quisling

text: The back-formed verb, "to quisle" () exists, and gave rise to a much less common version of the noun: "quisler". However, the verb form was rare even during World War II and has entirely disappeared from contemporary usage.


title: Quisling

text: "Quisling" was applied to some who cooperated with communist takeovers. As an illustration, the renegade social democrat Zdeněk Fierlinger of Czechoslovakia was frequently derided as "Quislinger" for his collaboration with the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.


title: Quisling

text: "The Patriot Game", one of the best known songs to emerge from the Irish nationalist struggle, includes the line "...those quislings who sold out the Patriot Game" in some versions (although the original uses "cowards" and other versions substitute "rebels" or "traitors").


title: Quisling

text: In the Norwegian television series "Occupied", Norwegians who are seen as collaborating with the Russian invaders and later with European Union peacekeepers are called Quislings.


title: Quisling

text: In the epilogue of Farnham's Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein, a sign is posted listing available goods and services. One of the items listed is "Jerked Quisling (by the neck)".


title: Quisling

text: In the early 21st century, the term demonstrated continued currency as it was used by some American writers to describe President Donald Trump and his associates based on the theory that Russia interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. For example, in a June 2018 "New York Times" column, Paul Krugman called US President Trump a "quisling", in reference to what Krugman described as Trump's "serv[ing] the interests of foreign masters at his own country's expense" and "defend[ing] Russia while attacking our closest allies". Other publications also applied the term. For instance, Joe Scarborough in "The Washington Post" ("These are desperate times for the quislings of Trump"), Rich Lowry in "Politico" ("The GOP elite... is the quisling establishment"), former United States Mint director Philip N. Diehl in "The Hill" ("The historical reference that more aptly applies to pro-Trump Republicans is that of the Quislings"), David Driesen in "History News Network" ("Trump seeks a government of quislings"), Dick Polman on NPR station WHYY-FM ("Ever since last summer, most Republicans have marinated in their cowardice... The next step toward home-grown tyranny – the quisling phase – has already begun"), and so forth.


title: Quisling

text: On 7 July 2020, Lord Chris Patten, former governor of Hong Kong, described Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong as a “lamentable Quisling figure in Hong Kong's history”. On 10 February 2022, Patten expanded his use of the term "Quislings" to describe Lam, the Hong Kong Police Force, and the Judiciary of Hong Kong, during a debate on Nationality and Borders Bill.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: Debt-trap diplomacy is an international financial relationship where a creditor country or institution extends debt to a borrowing nation partially, or solely, to increase the lender's political leverage. The creditor country is said to extend excessive credit to a debtor country with the intention of extracting economic or political concessions when the debtor country becomes unable to meet its repayment obligations. The conditions of the loans are often not publicized. The borrowed money commonly pays for contractors and materials sourced from the creditor country.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: The term was coined by Indian academic Brahma Chellaney to describe how the Chinese government leverages the debt burden of smaller countries for geopolitical ends. Other analysts have described the idea of a Chinese debt trap as a "myth" or "distraction".


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: The term was coined by Brahma Chellaney in 2017 to describe what he called China's predatory lending practices, which overwhelm poor countries with unsustainable loans and force them to cede strategic leverage to China. According to Chellaney, "It's clearly part of China's geostrategic vision." The Chinese government is requiring secret negotiations and non-competitive pricing on projects in which bidding is closed and contracts must go to Chinese state-owned or state-linked companies which charge above-market prices. The idea was advanced by two Harvard University graduate students in a paper which called it Chinese "debt book diplomacy". The paper was cited by "The Guardian", "The New York Times" and other major media outlets as academic evidence of China's intentions and spread through the media, intelligence circles and Western governments within a year.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: Its original meaning has expanded to include other parts of the world. In 2018, "The Guardian" reported that some Belt and Road Initiative countries have begun reconsidering the project, with eight countries at risk of default. According to Jonathan Hillman, director of the Reconnecting Asia Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, there is more to these projects than financial strategy; "[i]t's also a vehicle for China to write new rules, establish institutions that reflect Chinese interests, and reshape 'soft' infrastructure." The term was further defined in a 2018 report by the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, which described debt-trap diplomacy in the context of Chinese geostrategic interests.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: Western, Indian, and African media outlets have criticized the terms of Chinese state loans and their high interest rates. One example was a 2006 loan to Tonga to rebuild infrastructure. In 2013 and 2014, Tonga experienced a debt crisis when the Exim Bank of China (its creditor) did not write them off; the loans cost 44 percent of Tonga's gross domestic product (GDP). According to some analysts, such practices highlight China's hegemonic intentions and its challenges to state sovereignty.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: In March 2022, Bloomberg News reported that despite China making western countries uncomfortable with its large infrastructure projects in Africa, a deeper look into the evidence showed that the accusations towards China on doing debt-trap diplomacy in the continent, was "unfounded".


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: In August 2018, a bipartisan group of 16 U.S. senators said that China engages in debt-trap diplomacy. In an October 2018 speech, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that China's loans are facilitated with bribes. A number of U.S. government documents refer to debt-trap diplomacy, including the 2020 Department of State report "The Elements of the China Challenge". According to senior U.S. government officials, Beijing "encourages dependency using opaque contracts [...] that mire nations in debt and undercut their sovereignty".


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: In 2021, the Trinidad and Tobago government defended its decision to accept a multi-million dollar loan from China rather than from the IMF by saying that (unlike the IMF) Beijing was not demanding any "stringent conditions" for its loans. Minister of Finance Colm Imbert said at a news conference,


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: A May 2018 paper by Sam Parker and Gabrielle Chefitz from the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs posited three strategic goals behind China's lending: "filling out a 'String of Pearls' to solve its 'Malacca Dilemma' and project power across vital South Asian trading routes; undermining and fracturing the US-led regional coalition contesting Beijing's South China Sea claims; and enabling the People's Liberation Army Navy to push through the 'Second Island Chain' into the blue-water Pacific."


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: A March 2018 report released by the Center for Global Development said that between 2001 and 2017, China restructured or waived loan payments for 51 debtor nations (most of the BRI's participants) without seizing state assets. In September 2018, W. Gyude Moore, a former Liberian public works minister and senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, said, "The language of 'debt-trap diplomacy' resonates more in Western countries, especially the United States, and is rooted in anxiety about China's rise as a global power rather than in the reality of Africa." Moore stated in 2021 that "China has been a net positive partner with most African countries."


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: An August 2018 China Africa Research Initiative report authored by Deborah Bräutigam, Janet Eom, and Lina Benabdallah said, "Chinese loans are not currently a major contributor to debt distress in Africa." According to the report, China was at the time "the most significant contributor to high risk of/actual debt distress" to three African countries: Zambia, Djibouti, and Congo.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: In April 2019, the Rhodium Group said that China's leverage in debt was limited in power. According to a May 2019 "Sydney Morning Herald" article, accusations of "debt trap diplomacy" were being questioned by new research; an analysis of 40 Chinese debt re-negotiations by the Rhodium Group found "asset seizures are a very rare occurrence", and debt write-off is the most common outcome. The article also reported the views of Australian National University senior lecturer Darren Lim, who (referring to the Rhodium Group study) said that much of the leverage shifts to the borrower rather than the lender after the loan has been made. Lim also said that although the debt-trap diplomacy theory was never credible, the Trump administration embraced it. La Trobe University head of humanities and social sciences Nick Bisley said that China aimed to build political capital through the BRI, but asset seizures would not achieve that end.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: An October 2019 report by the Lowy Institute said that China had not engaged in deliberate actions in the Pacific which justified accusations of debt-trap diplomacy (based on contemporaneous evidence), and China had not been the primary driver behind rising debt risks in the Pacific; the report expressed concern about the scale of the country's lending, however, and the institutional weakness of Pacific states which posed the risk of small states being overwhelmed by debt. A 2020 Lowy Institute article called Sri Lanka's Hambantota International Port the "case par excellence" for China's debt-trap diplomacy, but called the narrative a "myth" because the project was proposed by former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, not Beijing. The article added that Sri Lanka's debt distress was not caused by Chinese lending, but by "excessive borrowing on Western-dominated capital markets".


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: Deborah Bräutigam, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, described debt-trap diplomacy as a "meme" which became popular due to "human negativity bias" based on anxiety about the rise of China. According to a 2019 research paper by Bräutigam, most of the debtor countries voluntarily agreed to the loans and had positive experiences working with China and "the evidence so far, including the Sri Lankan case, shows that the drumbeat of alarm about Chinese banks' funding of infrastructure across the BRI and beyond is overblown ... a large number of people have favorable opinions of China as an economic model and consider China an attractive partner for their development." Bräutigam and Meg Rithmire said that the theory lacked evidence, and criticized the media for promoting a narrative that "wrongfully misrepresents the relationship between China and the developing countries that it deals with." According to their research, China had never actually seized an asset from any country.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: Gelpern et al. (2021) analyzed 100 contracts across 24 countries and found that "Chinese contracts contain unusual confidentiality clauses that bar borrowers from revealing the terms or even the existence of the debt", "Chinese lenders seek advantage over other creditors", and "cancellation. . . clauses in Chinese contracts potentially allow the lenders to influence debtors’ domestic and foreign policies."


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: In June 2022, according to a report by researchers from Columbia University and the University of Oxford, "the debt-trap narrative is a function of China-US strategic and ideological rivalry rather than a reflection of African realities or perspectives." While China is Africa's biggest bilateral creditor, most of the African debt is held by private Western holders, specifically American and European investors. Chinese debt is not the most rapidly growing segment of debt, whereas African debt owned by investors from America and Europe is the fastest growing segment of African debt in the last few years. At the end of 2019, Africa's total debt was equal to US$964 billion and the total debt owed to Chinese entities was equal to US$78 billion, which is equal to about 8 per cent of the region's total debt. In response to US criticism, Chinese institutions made many goodwill gestures by postponing debt repayments worth roughly $750 million. The study said, “contrary to the debt-trap narrative, if a wave of African defaults materializes in the near future, as International Financial Institutions officials have been fearing since at least 2015, it will be catalyzed more by private-sector maneuvering and intransigence than by Chinese scheming."


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: Both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have been accused of predatory lending practices to keep emerging economies in debt, including: demanding structural adjustment programmes as a condition for loans, often to governments who see these loans as a last resort, pressuring for privatization and exerting undue influence over central banks. The founder of the activist network Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt wrote: "The World Bank and the IMF have systematically made loans to states as a means of influencing their policies." The IMF has used geopolitical considerations, rather than exclusively economic conditions, to decide which countries received loans.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: In the book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, whistle blower John Perkins accused international lenders, including the World Bank and the IMF of persuading leaders of underdeveloped countries to accept loans for large development projects. Working as a consultant, Perkins was involved in misrepresenting the profitability of the development projects so that they appeared to be to be self-financing.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: In 2020, Oxfam reported that the IMF was "using its power" through COVID-19 pandemic relief loans to impose austerity on poor countries. IMF conditions have forced recipients to cut healthcare spending, hampering their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: African countries rapidly increased their borrowing from China between 2000 and 2014 (totaling US$94.5 billion) as they sought to end their dependence on the IMF and World Bank, which demand market liberalisation in exchange for loans. Johanna Malm wrote that Chinese loans have been an alternative to IMF loans. IMF loans are lower-cost and financed by limited government income; Chinese loans are more expensive, but secured by high-revenue projects. China is a major project stakeholder in the economies of many African countries, significantly influencing the continent's affairs. According to 2015 and 2017 World Bank records, several African countries owe large debts to China and other creditor nations. Private-sector interest rates of about 55 percent prompted some African countries to go to China, which charges about 17 percent, for loans. Debts from African countries to China paid for the investment in sectors needing critical development.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: According to research conducted as part of the Jubilee Debt Campaign in October 2018, African debt to China rose from $10 billion in 2010 to more than $30 billion in 2016. China loaned a total of $143 billion to African governments and state-owned enterprises between 2000 and 2017. In 2020, the African countries with the largest Chinese debt were Angola ($25 billion), Ethiopia ($13.5 billion), Zambia ($7.4 billion), the Republic of the Congo ($7.3 billion), and Sudan ($6.4 billion).


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: In August 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China announced that it would forgive 23 interest-free loans that matured at the end of 2021 to 17 unspecified African countries.


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: Trade between African countries and China has also affected ties between Africa and other continents, especially Europe and North America. According to Deborah Brautigam, Chinese loans are prone to misuse and have encouraged corruption and power struggles in African countries. She also published her findings in a 2020 article for Johns Hopkins’ China Africa Research Initiative, titled “Debt Relief with Chinese Characteristics". Her analysis investigated Chinese loans in Ethiopia, Angola and the Republic of Congo, and “found no ‘asset seizures’. They also found that Beijing cancelled at least $3.4 billion and had restructured or refinanced around $15 billion of debt in Africa between the dates of 2000 and 2019. And at least 26 individual loans to African nations had been renegotiated. Writing in The Atlantic, Bräutigam stated that the debt-trap narrative is “a lie, and a powerful one" and that her research shown that "Chinese banks are willing to restructure the terms of existing loans and have never actually seized an asset from any country".


title: Debt-trap diplomacy

text: Despite criticism that Chinese firms emphasize Chinese labor, Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Africa primarily employ African workers. A 2017 McKinsey report on Sino-African economic relations found that Africans made up 89 percent of labor on the projects surveyed, and job training and local workers were regularly included in contract negotiations between the Exim Bank of China and African countries.