title: Riddle

text: In the twentieth century, thousands of riddles and similar enigmas have been collected, capitalising on the large number of homophones in Chinese. Examples of folk-riddles include:


title: Riddle

text: Quite similar to its English counterpart, the riddle in the Philippines is called "Bugtong". It is traditionally used during a funeral wake together with other games such as "tong-its" or the more popular "sakla", later generations use "Bugtong" as a form of past time or as an activity. One peculiarity of the Filipino version is the way they start with the phrase "Bugtong-bugtong" before saying the riddle, usually it is common to create riddles that rhyme.


title: Riddle

text: Further south, in Sulawesi, Indonesia, among the Pendau, riddles are also used at funeral gatherings.


title: Riddle

text: Anthropological research in Africa has produced extensive collections of riddles over the last century or so. Riddles have been characterised as "one of the most important forms of oral art in Africa"; Hamnett analyzes African riddling from an anthropological viewpoint; Yoruba riddles have enjoyed a recent monograph study. Wambi Cornelius Gulere wrote his doctoral project at Makerere University, titled "Riddle Performance and Societal Discourses: Lessons from Busoga". He argues for recognition of the importance of the riddling act, not merely gathering and studying lists of riddles. Grivas Muchineripi Kayange has seen African riddles as a window into African philosophy.


title: Riddle

text: Riddles in the Americas are of particular interest to scholarship because it was long thought that native American cultures had no autochthonous riddle traditions (as opposed to riddles inspired by European culture, as with the twenty-two Aztec riddles collected by Bernardino de Sahagún in the sixteenth century, in the famous Florentine codex). If so, this would have suggested that riddles are not a universal art form. However, Hieronymus Lalemant gave a fairly detailed account of a riddle-contest among the Huron around 1639 as part of a healing ritual.


title: Riddle

text: Someone will say, "What I desire and what I am seeking is that which bears a lake within itself;" and by this is intended a pumpkin or calabash. Another will say, "What I ask for is seen in my eyes—it will be marked with various colors"; and because the same Huron word that signifies "eye" also signifies "glass bead", this is a clue to divine what he desires—namely, some kind of beads of this material, and of different colors.


title: Riddle

text: Accordingly, during the twentieth century, progressively more substantial collections of Native American riddles were made, including from the Alaskan Athabaskans (Ten'a) people in British Columbia; Amuzgo people in Central America; and Quechua people in South America. Thus, while data remains rather thin, it seems clear that riddling did exist in the Americas independently of European culture.


title: Riddle

text: One form of riddle features in "payada de contrapunto" ("counterpoint payada"), a Rioplatense musical genre in which guitar players compete in a symbolic duel. Two guitar players challenge each other in song by asking a riddle-like question and/or answering the opponent's questions. This is performed through several successive rounds of witty exchanges which may include banter and even insults—typically with a humorous intent. The most famous literary example of counterpoint payada comes from Martín Fierro, Part 2, Song 30, verses 6233–6838.


title: Riddle

text: The Riddle Game is a formalized guessing game, a contest of wit and skill in which players take turns asking riddles. The player that cannot answer loses. Riddle games occur frequently in mythology and folklore as well as in popular literature.


title: Riddle

text: It is important to understand that in many cultures or contexts, people are not actually expected to guess the answers to riddles: they may be told by the riddler, or learn riddles and their answers together as they grow up. Thus riddle-contests are not the only or even necessarily the main forum for the expression of riddles.


title: Riddle

text: The unsolvable riddle with which literary characters often win a riddle-contest is sometimes referred to as neck-riddle.


title: Riddle

text: It seems that in ancient Greece, riddle-competitions were popular as an intellectual entertainment at symposia. A key source for this culture is Athenaeus.


title: Riddle

text: Elaborate and unusual riddle-games took place in the culture of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Finnish-language riddles. For example, Elias Lönnrot observed customary riddle-contests in nineteenth-century Finland:


title: Riddle

text: It took place without teams, but was a kind of a contest: a member of the group would be sent out of the room, the others agreed on the riddle to be posed; for three failures to divine the answer, the riddlee would have to drop out of the game, to step aside, and to "buy" with a token the right to participate again.


title: Riddle

text: In older texts, riddle-contests frequently provide the frame stories whereby riddles have been preserved for posterity. Such contests are a subset of wisdom contests more generally. They tend to fall into two groups: testing the wisdom of a king or other aristocrat; and testing the suitability of a suitor. Correspondingly, the Aarne–Thompson classification systems catalogue two main folktale-types including riddle-contests: AT 927, Outriddling the Judge, and AT 851, The Princess Who Can Not Solve the Riddle.


title: Touch typing

text: Touch typing (also called blind typing, or touch keyboarding) is a style of typing. Although the phrase refers to typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys—specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through muscle memory—the term is often used to refer to a specific form of touch typing that involves placing the eight fingers in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard (the "home row") and having them reach for specific other keys. (Under this usage, typists who do not look at the keyboard but do not use home row either are referred to as hybrid typists.) Both two-handed touch typing and one-handed touch typing are possible.


title: Touch typing

text: Frank Edward McGurrin, a court stenographer from Salt Lake City, Utah who taught typing classes, reportedly invented home row touch typing in 1888.


title: Touch typing

text: On a standard QWERTY keyboard for English speakers the home row keys are: "ASDF" for the left hand and "JKL;" for the right hand. Most modern computer keyboards have a raised dot or bar on the home keys for the index fingers to help touch typists maintain and rediscover the correct positioning of the fingers on the keyboard keys.


title: Touch typing

text: Original layouts for the first few mechanical typewriters were in alphabetical order (ABCDE etc.) Changes were made, mostly responding to suggestions from telegraphists that were among the first users. Common letters were moved towards the center and into the upper row. Z and S are close to each other because the American Morse codes of Z and a common digram SE (both ) are near the same, so the telegraphist often needs to wait for more signals before understanding the content. The view that the layout was intentionally redesigned to slow down the operator, to prevent jamming the mechanism, is widespread but not correct.


title: Touch typing

text: The calculations for keyboard layout were based on the language being typed and this meant different keyboard layouts would be needed for each language. In English-speaking countries, for example, the first row is QWERTY, but in French-speaking countries it is AZERTY. Though mechanical typewriters are now rarely used, moves to change the layout to increase speed have been largely ignored or resisted due to familiarity with the existing layout among touch typists.


title: Touch typing

text: On July 25, 1888, an American man, Frank Edward McGurrin, who was reportedly the only person using touch typing at the time, won a decisive victory over Louis Traub (operating Caligraph with eight-finger method) in a typing contest held in Cincinnati. The results were displayed on the front pages of many newspapers. McGurrin won US$500 (equivalent to $13,304 in 2019 USD) and popularized the new typing method.


title: Touch typing

text: Whether McGurrin was actually the first person to touch type or simply the first to be popularly noticed, is disputed. Speeds attained by other typists in other typing competitions at the time suggest that they must have been using similar systems.


title: Touch typing

text: In 1889, Bates Torrey coined the words "writing by touch" in his article. In 1890, Lovisa Ellen Bullard Barnes defined the words "write by touch" in her book as follows:


title: Touch typing

text: In 1985, Touch Typist Typing Tutor, developed and released by Sector Software is an early example of typing tutor software.


title: Touch typing

text: Touch typing is contrasted to "search and peck", also known as "hunt-and-peck" or "two-fingered typing". Instead of relying on the memorized position of keys, the typist finds each key by sight and moves their finger over to press it, usually the index finger of their dominant hand. This method is considered inferior as not only is it slower than touch typing, the typist would have to have their fingers travel a greater distance.


title: Touch typing

text: Various other styles in between those two exist—for example, using a "search-and-peck" method, but with an increased number of fingers; typing without looking at the keyboard, but using fewer than the eight fingers that the home row method uses (commonly, the omission of the little finger as the weakest finger that many will find difficult to hit keys with due to either less strength, less dexterity, or both); moving their entire hand to reach for the desired key; or only moving when a key needs to be pressed instead of always returning to home row after every keystroke.


title: Touch typing

text: Touch type training can improve an individual's typing speed and accuracy dramatically. Speeds average around 30–40 WPM (words per minute), while a speed of 60–80 WPM is the approximate speed to keep up with one's thoughts. A Microsoft survey suggested that many managers expect employees to be able to type at a minimum of 50 WPM. Professional career typists can exceed 100 WPM repeatedly and continuously (secretarial, data entry, etc.). Routine practice is required to maintain a high typing speed and accuracy.


title: Touch typing

text: A touch typist does not need to move the sight between the keyboard (that is obscured with fingers and may be poorly lit) and other areas that require attention. This increases productivity and reduces the number of errors.


title: Touch typing

text: Touch typing helps improve posture and reduce neck pain by keeping one's eyes focused on the display and avoiding a constant need to glance at the keyboard.


title: Touch typing

text: There are many other typing styles in between novice-style "hunt and peck" and touch typing. For example, many hunt-and-peck typists have the keyboard layout memorized and are able to type while focusing their gaze on the screen. One study examining 30 subjects, of varying different styles and expertise, has found minimal difference in typing speed between touch typists and self-taught hybrid typists. According to the study, "The number of fingers does not determine typing speed... People using self-taught typing strategies were found to be as fast as trained typists... instead of the number of fingers, there are other factors that predict typing speed... fast typists... keep their hands fixed on one position, instead of moving them over the keyboard, and more consistently use the same finger to type a certain letter." To quote doctoral candidate Anna Feit: "We were surprised to observe that people who took a typing course performed at similar average speed and accuracy as those that taught typing to themselves and only used 6 fingers on average". However, the study has been criticised for only selecting subjects with average typing speeds up to 75 words per minute, thus lacking generalizability for faster typist.


title: Touch typing

text: A touch typist starts by placing their fingers on the "start position" in the middle row and knows which finger to move and how much to move it for reaching any required key. Learning typically includes first printing exercises containing only letters on or near the standard position and then gradually mastering other rows. It is important to learn placing fingers into the start position blindly as the hands are frequently raised from the keyboard to operate the line feed lever (in the past) or (more recently) the computer mouse. The keys F and J frequently contain some surface features that allow the typist to recognize them by touch alone, thus removing the need to look down at the keys to reset the fingers at the home row.


title: Touch typing

text: The typing speed can be increased gradually and speeds of 60 WPM or higher can be achieved. The increase in speed varies between individuals. Many websites and software products are available to learn touch typing and many of these are free. Learning touch typing can be stressful both to the fingers as well as the mind in the beginning, but once it is learned to a decent level, it exerts minimal stress on the fingers. For individuals with past typing experience, learning to touch type is particularly difficult due to motivational reasons: the initial performance level in touch typing is far lower than in visually guided typing; therefore it does not initially seem worthwhile to study touch typing.


title: Touch typing

text: Typing speed generally improves with practice. While practicing, it is important to ensure that there are no weak keys. Typing speed is typically determined by how slow these weak keys are typed rather than how fast the remaining keys are typed. If a stage is reached where irrespective of the amount of practice, typing speed is not increasing, it is advisable to let some time pass and continue serious practice thereafter as typing speeds typically tend to increase with time even when no serious practice is done.


title: Touch typing

text: The "home row" is the center row of keys on a typewriter or computer keyboard. On the most common type of English language keyboard, the QWERTY layout, " " and " " are the home keys on the home row.


title: Touch typing

text: The middle row of the keyboard is termed "home row" because typists are trained to keep their fingers on these keys and return to them after pressing any other key that is not on the home row.


title: Touch typing

text: Some keyboards have a small bump on certain keys of the home row. This helps returning the fingers to the home row for touch typing.


title: Touch typing

text: For instance, to type the word "poll" on a QWERTY keyboard, one would place all of one's fingers on the home row. (The right hand should be covering " " with the right thumb on the while the left hand covers " " with the left thumb on the .) The typist will then use their little finger to reach for the "" key located just above the semicolon and then return the little finger back to the semicolon key from which it originated. The ring finger, located on the "" key will be moved directly upwards to press the "" key and then back. Finally, the same ring finger will remain on the "" key and press it twice. Experienced typists can do this at speeds of over 100 words per minute.


title: Touch typing

text: A method taught since the 1960s (and perhaps earlier): The left little finger is used for the keys , the ring finger for , the middle — , the left index finger is responsible for and . On the right side of the keyboard: index — and , middle — , ring — and the little — all other keys on the right side of the upper row. These two methods likely reflect the layout of the typewriters from early days when some of them had no and/or keys.


title: Touch typing

text: There exist special ergonomic keyboards designed for both typing methods. The keyboard is split between the keys and or and .


title: Touch typing

text: Some specialized high-end computer keyboards are designed for touch typists. For example, many manufacturers provide blank mechanical keyboards. A trained touch typist should not mind using a blank keyboard. This kind of keyboard may force hunt and peck users to type without looking, similar to Braille keyboards used by the visually impaired.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Mohammad Asif (Urdu: , born 20 December 1982) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played for the Pakistani national cricket team between 2005 and 2010.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Asif was born in Sheikhupura, and has played first-class cricket for Khan Research Labs, the National Bank, Quetta, Sheikhupura, Sialkot and Leicestershire. He made his Test match debut for the Pakistan cricket team against Australia in January 2005. In 2010, Asif was ranked second leading Test bowler, just behind Dale Steyn.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: In 2006, Asif was involved in controversy after he tested positive for anabolic steroid Nandrolone, leading to the imposition of a ban which was later overturned on appeal. He was later withdrawn from Pakistan's World Cup squad with an unrelated injury. Further cricket controversy followed when he was detained in Dubai suspected of having drugs on his person and was then found to have tested positive for a banned substance during the Indian Premier League. In August 2010 he was accused by the News of the World of deliberately bowling no-balls in return for payment from a betting syndicate. On 5 February 2011 a 3-man tribunal, appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) gave the verdict that he was to be banned for 7 years, with 2 of those suspended if no further offences were committed. In November 2011, Asif was convicted, along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir, of conspiracy charges relating to spot-fixing. On 3 November 2011, Asif was given a one-year prison sentence for his role in the scandal.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 19 August 2015, the ICC suspended its previous orders and allowed Asif to play all formats of the game, effective as of 2 September 2015. He played in his first match after the ban when he represented Water and Power Development Authority in the third round of the 2016–17 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in October 2016.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Public and media reports in Pakistan surfaced that Asif had married Pakistani actress and model Veena Malik, on 28 May 2009, in a private ceremony in London. However it was denied later that the marriage had taken place.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: In April 2010, Veena Malik filed a complaint against Asif claiming that he threatened to harm her if she did not stop pursuing her demand that he return the loan of around Rs 14 million he had taken from her. Later, she served a legal notice on Asif, after two cheques he gave her to settle the outstanding amount were bounced.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 2 March 2010, Asif announced his engagement to Sania Hilal in Lahore. The couple wed on 1 October 2010, and Asif was reported as stating that he hoped marriage would change his life in a positive way. Attendees included Pakistan Test cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: A right hand medium fast bowler with a smooth action and short run up. Asif was able to swing the ball both ways without much change in his bowling action. He also would be able to create sharp seam movement which he was able to do by alternation off fingers whilst releasing the ball. He was able to confuse batsmen as to which way the ball would move and would use his skills to a devastating effect. He was regarded by several batsman as one of the toughest fast bowler ever faced. Great batsmen such as: AB de Villiers, Kevin Pietersen and Hashim Amla have regarded him amongst their toughest bowlers ever faced. England pace bowler James Anderson complimented Asif as key to his development of his seam movement, saying he watched Asif bowl his "Wobble Seam" method.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: After impressing in domestic Pakistani cricket, Asif was fast tracked into the Pakistan test squad and made his first appearance against Australia in January 2005. He bowled 18 overs without taking a wicket and Australia won by 9 wickets.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Asif was subsequently dropped from the side but he returned a year later in January 2006 for the home tour against India. In the second Test, Asif bowled 34 overs and took the wicket of Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh. It was the third Test in Karachi, however, where Asif would make headlines. After a poor batting display by Pakistan, Asif took 4 for 78 in the first innings, including the wickets of V. V. S. Laxman, Rahul Dravid and, once again, Yuvraj Singh, to help Pakistan take a six-run lead. Asif returned in the second innings with three clean bowled wickets of Virender Sehwag, Laxman, and Sachin Tendulkar to lead Pakistan to victory. His series against the Indians was blighted by a fine imposed by match referee Chris Broad for over-appealing and premature celebration of a wicket.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Asif followed up his match-winning efforts against India in Pakistan's next tour in Sri Lanka, where he took a career-best 11 for 70 in the 2nd Test, in another come-from-behind victory.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: In November 2005, Leicestershire announced the signing of Asif for the 2006 season after he had played a game for their second XI in 2004. Leicestershire's chairman Neil Davidson described him as a "bowler with the ability to generate great pace". Asif did relatively well picking up 25 wickets in 7 first-class games before leaving to join the Pakistan squad for their tour of England. Asif was due to line up again with Leicestershire for the 2007 season but due to injury problems was asked not to play by the PCB.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Asif missed the first three Tests in Pakistan's tour to England in the summer of 2006, but returned to the side for the fourth Test and immediately made an impact, picking up four wickets (Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen) in the first innings at the Oval, and another in the second (Marcus Trescothick).


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: He became the first bowler to bowl a maiden over in Twenty20 cricket. Additionally, he picked up two wickets during the over, with the first being Kevin Pietersen for a golden duck and the second being Andrew Strauss, also without scoring. Kevin Pietersen remembers Asif's spell and recently in talking with Twitter wrote " I think there’s plenty batters around the world that were happy he got banned! He was the best I faced! I had no idea against him!"


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Asif claimed 19 wickets abroad in Pakistan's test series against South Africa in 2007. This feat lifted him to eighth in the LG ICC Test player rankings after only nine appearances – equalling the record for the fewest matches taken by a Pakistan bowler to reach the top 10, shared by Waqar Younis and Pervez Sajjad. His spell was of 5 for 76 named as the third-best Test bowling performance of the year by ESPNCricinfo voters.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Following the 2–1 test series loss against South Africa, Pakistan captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq praised Asif's performance, "Asif has immaculate length control and a natural ability to swing the ball both ways. He is also quick to spot a weakness in batsmen and work on it." Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer added, "He [Asif] is a modern-day fast bowler based on the likes of [Shaun] Pollock and [Glenn] McGrath. He gives you control and has the ability to hit the seam and make the ball move both ways. In Pakistan terms he is more Sarfraz Nawaz than Imran Khan.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan agreed with the assessment of Asif's progress, saying: "Asif is well on his way to become one of the greats. If he gains a little bit of pace through weight training he can be more lethal."


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: In August 2007, he joined the Indian Premier League (IPL) He was subsequently drafted by the Delhi DareDevils for US$650,000.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: In the week before the 2007 Twenty20 world cup match in South Africa, Shoaib Akhtar was rumoured to have hit Asif with a bat, leaving a bruise on his left thigh. According to sources, the two were involved in a dressing room spat which resulted in Asif being struck by a bat on his left thigh. Sources said the fight between the two started after Asif and Shahid Afridi disagreed with Shoaib that he shared the same stature as Imran Khan in Pakistan cricket and even ridiculed him for making such a comparison. The injury was not thought to be anything more serious than a bruise but a team investigation into the matter was pending. After the initial inquiry, it would found that Shoaib was at fault and he was subsequently recalled from the Twenty20 World Cup squad and was sent home. He was also banned for 5 matches by the PCB and a lifetime ban may also seem imminent. Akhtar later claimed that Afridi was responsible for the fight, saying "He made some ill remarks about my family. And I could not tolerate them" Afridi however, denied these allegations adding that Asif would have suffered more injuries but for his intervention. Even Asif chipped in saying that Shoaib was lying and that "Shahid Afridi had nothing to do with the fight." saying that "he has not apologised to me. " His spell of 4 for 18 was named as the second-best T20I bowling performance of the year by ESPNCricinfo voters.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Conversely, Asif jointly holds the Test record with five consecutive ducks, an unfortunate honour he shares with Bob Holland and Ajit Agarkar.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: In August 2010, the English Sunday newspaper "News of the World" published allegations that Asif and fellow bowler Mohammad Amir had deliberately bowled no-balls during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England in return for payment from a betting syndicate, a practice known as spot-fixing.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 1 September 2010, after the warm-up List A game between Pakistan and Somerset, the International Cricket Council announced that they had suspended Asif under the provision of the provisions of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. The statement from the ICC stated that the three players (Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt) were charged "under various offences under Article 2 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code for Players and Player Support Personnel relating to alleged irregular behaviour during, and in relation to, the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's last month".


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: After filing his appeal against the suspension he withdrew it stating that he wanted the Scotland Yard investigation to be completed before he files an appeal against his ban as he knows what the charges levelled against him are In December Salman Butt one of the three cricketers implicated along with Asif and Amir announced that he wanted his hearing to be delayed because he wanted the Scotland Yard investigation to be completed first. Asif and Amir stated they would not take part in the teleconference involving Butt for requesting the delay in the hearing because they wanted their decisions to happen quickly so that they could be selected in Pakistan's provisional world cup squad


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 5 February 2011, the tribunal's decision was handed down. Asif was found guilty of deliberately bowling no-balls, and was banned from the sport of cricket for seven years, the last two of which were suspended should no further offences take place, and Asif take part in a Pakistani Cricket Board anti-corruption program.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 1 November 2011, Asif was convicted at Southwark Crown Court, along with Amir and Butt, of conspiracy to cheat at gambling and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 16 October 2006, Asif was suspended by the PCB along with teammate Shoaib Akhtar, and was pulled from the Champions Trophy after the pair failed drug tests for the performance-enhancing substance Nandrolone.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: England batsman Andrew Strauss said the news had rocked cricket. Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, he said: "When drugs are used in any sport it is not a great day for that sport and this not a great day for cricket."


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 1 November 2006, the PCB handed down a two-year suspension to Shoaib Akhtar and a one-year suspension to Asif, banning them from professional cricket for the duration. Both Asif and Shoaib have been added to Pakistan Olympic Association list of doping offenders. The tribunal set to investigate steroid use revealed that Asif had been using a protein supplement, Promax-50. The panel had reported to have shown a degree of leniency to Asif as they believe that he did not understand what he was taking and stopped at the request of the physiotherapist. Both Akhtar and Asif appealed against the ban. A second tribunal was formed. On 5 December both were acquitted by the tribunal appointed to review their drug ban appeal. The decision was made two to one with Hasib Ahsan and Justice Fakhruddin Ebrahim in favour of the acquittal. Statement by Justice Ebrahim:


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: "This appeal committee [therefore] holds that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will not be deemed to have committed a doping offence," Ibrahim said. "The ban and punishment imposed by the earlier tribunal is hereby set aside as being contrary to the provision of laws."


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: However, the WADA, World Anti-Doping Agency was unhappy with the decision and was to challenge the decision to lift the bans on the fast bowlers, and taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. The ICC, cricket's world governing body, has supported the WADA appeal adding that it was committed to a dope free game.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 6 December 2006, Asif spoke out in his defence in an interview with the BBC. When asked to explain the presence of Nandrolone in his body, Asif cited a lack of awareness in Asian countries and said that he had taken some vitamins and protein supplements during the team's 2006 tour of England, which led to the problem. He also mentioned that medicines are easier to obtain in Pakistan, with little information available about the quality of the medicines.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 1 March 2007, Akhtar and Asif were ruled out of the Pakistani squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup by team officials, minutes before the squad was to depart for the West Indies. The team management along with the PCB said their injuries were too severe to risk taking them to the Caribbean. Since neither of the two had been declared fit they had not undergone official doping tests. However, Pakistani officials told cricket sources off the record that the team management had feared that they would fail the doping tests as it was likely traces of Nandrolone were still present in their system.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: However, on 2 July 2007, the Court of Arbitration for Sport later dropped the case, ruling it had no jurisdiction to challenge the decision made by PCB.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 1 June 2008, Asif was detained at Dubai International Airport on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs. An unknown substance was found in Asif's wallet, and was sent for analysis along with a sample of Asif's urine. The PCB appointed a legal counsel to represent Asif, and sent a senior board official to Dubai to handle the case. Asif was withdrawn from Pakistan's squad for the upcoming tri-series in Bangladesh and replaced by newcomer Sohail Khan.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: On 19 June 2008, the charges against Asif were dropped by the Dubai public prosecutor due to "insignificance." The prosecutor, Mohammad Al Nuaimi, was quoted as saying, "It is definite that he committed the crime as he was caught red-handed ... however in certain cases and for a faster litigation process the Public Prosecution drops a case due to insignificance and deports the suspect."He was banned from entering UAE ever again. Asif returned to Pakistan the following day and thanked those who had aided his release, he also stated, "I did not use any banned substance. During the Indian Premier League, I underwent two doping tests, and cleared both of them...If I had been tested positive, the ICC would not have cleared me." His alleged aiders include the Pakistani actress, Veena Malik, who recently claimed that Asif has not returned her loan amounting to PKR 13 million, which was used for his release.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: In July 2008, soon after his return to Pakistan from Dubai, the IPL revealed that a player had tested positive for banned substances during the tournament and on 14 July, it was revealed that the player in question was Asif.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Asif protested his innocence, and his lawyer announced that his 'B' sample would be analysed as per WADA regulations, and he was later suspended from all cricket indefinitely by the PCB. He does have the right to appeal his suspension. On 11 February 2009, the IPL confirmed that Asif had tested positive for steroids and subsequently imposed a one-year ban on him, ending on 21 September 2009. Shortly before the IPL's announcement, Asif was released of his contract by the Delhi DareDevils.


title: Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

text: Asif was signed for his first acting role for a Malayalam film in 2010, however, he was dropped due to the allegations against him. He was eventually replaced by Pakistani-Canadian actor Abbas Hasan in "Mazhavillinattam Vare" directed by Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri.


title: Slayers

text: "Slayers" inspired several spin-off novel series and has been adapted into numerous manga titles, anime television series, anime films, OVA series, role-playing video games, and other media. Including the spin-off series, the novels have over 20 million copies in print. The anime series is considered to be one of the most popular of the 1990s.


title: Slayers

text: In the "Slayers" universe, the ultimate being is the Lord of Nightmares, the creator of at least four parallel worlds. An artifact known as the Claire Bible contains information about the Lord of Nightmares' task to regain its "true form", which is only attainable by destroying these worlds and returning them to the chaos (sea of darkness) that it itself is. For unexplained reasons, though, the Lord of Nightmares has not acted upon this desire by itself so far. On each of these worlds are gods ("shinzoku", lit. "godly race") and demons ("mazoku", lit. "demon race"), fighting without end. Should the gods win the war in a world, that world will be at peace. Should the monsters win, the world will be destroyed and returned to the Sea of Chaos.


title: Slayers

text: In the world where the "Slayers" takes place, Flare Dragon Ceifeed and the Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu are, respectively, the supreme god and demon. Long ago, their war ended more or less in a stalemate, when Ceifeed was able to split Shabranigdu's existence into seven pieces in order to prevent him from coming back to life, then seal them within human souls. As the souls are reincarnated, the individual fragments would wear down until Shabranigdu himself would be destroyed. However, Ceifeed was so exhausted by this that he himself sank into the Sea of Chaos, leaving behind four parts of himself in the world. A millennium before the events in "Slayers", one of Ruby-Eye's fragments (which was sealed in the body of Lei Magnus, a very powerful sorcerer) revived and began the against one of the parts of Ceifeed, the Water Dragon King, also known as Aqualord Ragradia. Ultimately, the piece of Shabranigdu won, but Aqualord, using the last remnants of her power, sealed him into a block of magical ice within the Kataart Mountains. Nevertheless, Shabranigdu's lieutenants remained at liberty, sealing a part of the world within a magical barrier, through which only demons could pass.


title: Slayers

text: There are four types of magic within the "Slayers" universe: Black, White, Shamanistic, and Holy. Black magic spells, such as the famous Dragon Slave, call directly on the powers of the demons and are capable of causing enormous damage. White magic spells are of an obscure origin and are used for healing or protection. Shamanistic magic is focused on manipulation and alteration of the basic elements of the natural world (earth, wind, fire, water and spirit) and contains spells for both offense and convenience, such as Lei Wing, Fireball, or Elemekia Lance. Holy magic uses the power of the gods, but the aforementioned barrier made its usage impossible for anyone inside before the death of the demon Hellmaster Phibrizzo. As a rule, demons can only be harmed by astral shamanistic magic, holy magic, or black magic which draws power from another demon with greater might than the target.


title: Slayers

text: Above all other magic, however, are the immensely destructive spells drawing power from the Lord of Nightmares. The two spells of this class are the Ragna Blade, capable of cutting through any obstacle or being, and the Giga Slave, which can kill any opponent, but which could also destroy the world itself if the spell is miscast. Some have claimed that these terrible spells, drawing their power directly from the Lord of Nightmares, constitute a fifth form of magic: Chaos magic.


title: Slayers

text: The protagonist of "Slayers" is Lina Inverse, a teenage wandering genius sorceress with many nicknames and much infamy attached to her that she refuses to acknowledge. Lina narrates (within the novels) the history of her various adventures, ranging from whimsical and silly to dramatic to even outright world-threatening crises, in which she becomes involved along with her traveling companions everywhere she goes.


title: Slayers

text: The first "Slayers" light novel was written by Hajime Kanzaka for entrance into Fujimi Fantasia Bunko's first annual in 1989. After it won, the new author was asked to create a follow-up. Kanzaka initially thought this was an impossible task as the characters had already defeated the Dark Lord. He called the second book a turning point for him and said it was initially very difficult to write. However, as soon as he added the "spike-wolves and stuff", from his love of yōkai and kaiju, the "words just flew off the page". Kanzaka set the second book in a city so that Lina could not solve the story by simply casting one big spell. He said that this taught him how using circumstances and setting could change the "flavor" of a story. The author also said that the second book is intentionally "heavier" than the first.


title: Slayers

text: Kanzaka described his writing process as like trying to put together puzzle pieces that have been scattered about, figuring stuff out as he goes instead of following an outline written beforehand. As a new author, he said he was not good at submitting plot summaries to his supervisor, who wanted them before he started writing. When the supervisor passively accepted the plot summary of the third "Slayers" novel, but was then ecstatic with the finished book, he stopped asking for plot summaries. Kanzaka assumed that he had finally realized that the finished story was always going to widely diverge from the initial summary. The first three books were written as the author thought up stories, but volume four on tell a grander epic. Because the first novel was written as a one-off before evolving into a series, there are some inconsistencies with the later installments. A few of these inconsistencies were corrected in the 2008 reprints.


title: Slayers

text: Kanzaka makes references to people and events not depicted in the novels, such as Lina's older sister and Gourry Gabriev's first visit to Sairaag, which he referred to as "flavor" to stimulate the reader's imagination and clarified that they are not foreshadowing. He explained that the fictional world would feel smaller if everything that appears in the story is explained; something he learned from a teacher's comment in design school. Although some of these he has not even thought about, like Gourry's visit to Sairaag, others he has created a backstory to, such as Lina's sister. Zuma's backstory was omitted because the novels are told from Lina's first-person perspective, but Kanzaka gave some of the material to the staff of "Slayers Revolution" so it could be included in the anime.


title: Slayers

text: "Slayers" began serialization in "Dragon Magazine" in 1989 as a short story series written by Hajime Kanzaka and with artwork by Rui Araizumi. The chapters were then published as light novels under the Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint across 15 volumes from January 17, 1990 to May 10, 2000. Although the original story ended with the 15th volume in 2000, Kanzaka began a new arc 18 years later in the May 2018 issue of "Dragon Magazine", which was published in March 2018, to celebrate the magazine and Fujimi Fantasia Bunko's 30th anniversary. He described it as "kind of a reunion" and said he had not decided to relaunch the series yet. Volume 16 was published on October 20, 2018. A third story arc began in the November 2019 issue of the magazine, released in September 2019. The author described this as "Rather than an official history, the third arc is going to be more like one of the possibilities, a parallel existence to the TRY TV anime and the Water Dragon King manga, I guess." Volume 17 was published on October 19, 2019.


title: Slayers

text: On September 7, 2004, Tokyopop began publishing the novels in English, ending with the release of volume 8 on January 2, 2008. On July 3, 2020, J-Novel Club announced their rescue license of the series at Anime Expo Lite. They first release the novels digitally, with the first chapter uploaded to their website that day. Their physical release of "Slayers" began in July 2021 and is a 3-1 hardcover omnibus edition based on Japan's 2008 revised edition that featured new illustrations and covers.


title: Slayers

text: Between July 26, 2008 and March 2009, a new manga series entitled "Slayers Light Magic" (スレイヤーズ ライト・マジック) was serialised in Kadokawa Shoten's "Kerokero Ace". The series was written by Yoshijirō Muramatsu and illustrated Shin Sasaki, and set in a technological world instead of a fantasy world.


title: Slayers

text: In July 1998, Central Park Media announced they had licensed the manga for distribution in North America. On June 15, 1999, "Slayers: Medieval Mayhem" was released. The four-volume series "Slayers Special" was published between October 12, 2002, and June 25, 2003. A seven-volume series "Super-Explosive Demon Story" followed between July 9, 2002 and December 1, 2004. Finally, "Slayers Premium" was published in North America on July 5, 2005.


title: Slayers

text: However, a fourth season, "Slayers AGAIN", was rumored following the success of "TRY", but early scheduling conflicts caused interest in the project to dissipate.


title: Slayers

text: A fourth anime series, "Slayers Revolution", premiered in Japan on July 2, 2008. Megumi Hayashibara, the voice actress for main character Lina Inverse, performed both the opening and ending theme songs. The new plot is told across two 13-episode arcs and follows an original storyline that has subplots based on events in the novels, with series director Takashi Watanabe and production studio J.C.Staff reprising their duties from the three original TV series. A fifth "Slayers" series titled "Slayers Evolution-R" is the second 13-episode arc of "Slayers Revolution" and was aired on AT-X starting on January 12, 2009 in Japan.


title: Slayers

text: Central Park Media licensed and distributed the anime in North America under the Software Sculptors label on VHS and Laserdisc between 1996 and 1998, collected in eight volumes. It was a commercial success for Central Park, which led them to license "Slayers NEXT" and "Slayers TRY"; "NEXT" was first shipped from April 1999 in a similar format. A box set of the first four volumes was released in July 1999, and a box set of the second four volumes in October. "Slayers TRY" was released later in 2000. The first three seasons were subsequently re-released on DVD (in season box sets). Months before Central Park's license for the anime properties expired, FUNimation Entertainment was able to obtain the license and it aired as part of the new owner's programming block on CoLours TV, as well as the FUNimation Channel. The first bilingual DVD box set after FUNimation's rescue of the license was released on August 27, 2007 retaining the Software Sculptors-produced English dub. A boxset of "Slayers", "NEXT" and "TRY" was released by Funimation on August 4, 2009.


title: Slayers

text: Fox Kids won the rights to broadcast "Slayers" but eventually did not air the anime since it would be too heavy to edit it for content. The first North American television broadcast of "The Slayers" was February 17, 2002 on the International Channel. In 2009, MVM Films began releasing the series in the United Kingdom on a monthly basis. The first series was released on four DVDs between January 5, and April 6, 2009. The first volume of "Slayers NEXT" was released on May 11, 2009. Episodes have also been made available on the streaming video sites Hulu, YouTube, Crackle, Anime News Network, Netflix, and Funimation's website.


title: Slayers

text: FUNimation licensed both "Slayers Revolution" and "Slayers Evolution-R" for American release; the episodes in Japanese with English subtitles were uploaded to YouTube, as well as Funimation's website in July 2009. Funimation contracted NYAV Post to produce the English version of the series, with dialogue being recorded in both New York City and Los Angeles. NYAV Post was able to reunite most of the original Central Park Media main character cast for the new season. However, Michael Sinterniklaas replaced David Moo as Xellos. Other notable characters, such as Sylphiel, Prince Phil, and Naga the Serpent were also recast with new voice actors. In December 2009, Funimation announced that the first "Slayers Revolution" boxset would be released on March 16, 2010. Funimation released the first four English-dubbed episodes of "Slayers Revolution" to YouTube on January 19, 2010. They have also uploaded the first two English-dubbed episodes of "Evolution-R" to YouTube and released "Evolution-R" on DVD in June 2010. Funimation released both "Slayers Revolution" and "Evolution-R" on Blu-ray on September 21, 2010 Both seasons were later re-released together in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack. Both "Revolution" and "Evolution-R" made their North American television debut when they began airing on the FUNimation Channel on September 6, 2010.


title: Slayers

text: In North America, "Slayers Special" was initially sold as two separate titles, "Slayers: Dragon Slave" and "Slayers: Explosion Array" on VHS by licensee ADV Films. All three episodes were later compiled into "Slayers: The Book of Spells", shipped on November 21, 2000. ADV Films released all the OVAs to VHS and DVD in both North America and the UK.


title: Slayers

text: Most of the films were produced by J.C.Staff and licensed for home video release in North America by ADV Films. "Slayers Premium" was animated by Hal Film Maker.


title: Slayers

text: A collectible card game (CCG), "Slayers Fight" (スレイヤーズふぁいと), was developed by ORG and published by Kadokawa Shoten between 1999 and 2001.


title: Slayers

text: A series of five "Slayers" role-playing video games were released exclusively in Japan between 1994 and 1998. Two different 16-bit games titled simply "Slayers" (including the one for the Super Famicom) were released in 1994. Three 32-bit / CD-ROM games followed in the late 1990s: "Slayers Royal" in 1997 and "Slayers Royal 2" and "Slayers Wonderful" in 1998. In addition, Lina and other "Slayers" main characters have been featured in several other video games in crossover and guest appearances, in particular in mobile games since the late 2010s.


title: Slayers

text: Including the spin-off series, the "Slayers" novels had 18 million copies in print by 2015. As of 2018, this number had grown to over 20million copies. Writing in 2020, Iyane Agossah from DualShockers opined "Slayers" "is still rarely equaled 30 years later, with an incredible mix of comedy and tragedy, an intricate amount of world-building, great story developments and iconic characters."


title: Slayers

text: Of the various media which make up the "Slayers" franchise, the anime has by far reached the largest audience and is considered to be one of the most popular series of the 1990s, both in Japan and abroad. As it is a parody of the high fantasy genre, the series' driving force lies in comic scenarios alluding to other specific anime, or more general genre tropes and clichés. Its focus on humor and entertainment and "old school" anime feel make it a nostalgic classic to many. According to Anime News Network's Daryl Surat, 1996 was the best year of "Slayers" anime with the releases of "Next" and "Return". "Slayers Next" took the third place as the overall best anime of 1996 in the Anime Grand Prix '97 awards (in addition to winning in the category best female character), while the next year's series "Slayers Try" placed second but technically also third (the first place was a tie between the films "Mononoke Hime" and "The End of Evangelion") in 1998.


title: Slayers

text: "Slayers" was sometimes compared with "Record of Lodoss War", another hit Japanese fantasy franchise that began around the same time. In "Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know", Gilles Poitras wrote: "More humorous and less serious looking than the characters in the "Lodoss War" series, the stars of "Slayers" provide action and laughs." In "", Helen McCarthy similarly called it "the antidote to the deadly serious "Record of Lodoss War", with a cynical cast modeled on argumentative role-players. (...) Ridiculing its own shortcomings, "Slayers" has successfully kept a strong following that watches for what some might call biting satire, and others bad workmen blaming their tools." Joseph Luster of "Otaku USA" called it "the very definition of an all-encompassing media franchise. (...) "Slayers" certainly has that in its memorable lineup, and they'll likely cast some sort of spell on you, regardless of age." Paul Thomas Chapman from the same magazine voiced a more reserved opinion on the "franchise whose remarkable longevity and popularity is matched only by its remarkable averageness," especially regarding various aspects of the TV series, to which nevertheless he returned for "light entertainment".


title: Sukhoi Su-30MKM

text: The Sukhoi Su-30MKM (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a supermaneuverable fighter of the Royal Malaysian Air Force. It is a variant of the Su-30 series fighters, with many significant improvements over the original Su-30MK export version. The Su-30MKM was developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and is based on the Su-30MKI of the Indian Air Force. Both aircraft have common airframe, thrust vectoring engines and digital fly-by-wire system, however the MKM version differs from the MKI mainly in the composition of the onboard avionics. It can carry up to payload over a un-refueled combat radius.


title: Sukhoi Su-30MKM

text: In 2003, the Su-30MKM was selected by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). In August 2003, during the course of President Vladimir Putin's official visit to Malaysia, the contract for the Su-30MKM aircraft was signed. Except for Russian MiG-29s, the RMAF has previously operated aircraft of Western origin. At the time of delivery the Su-30MKMs were the most advanced and heavy fighters in Southeast Asia.


title: Sukhoi Su-30MKM

text: In August 2003, Malaysia signed a US$900 million contract with Irkut Corporation for 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKMs. Malaysia operates eight legacy F/A-18D Hornet, and was offered Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, but the Royal Malaysian Air Force chose the Su-30MKM instead. The Su-30MKM is an advanced variant, with considerable performance related improvements over its Su-30MK/MKK counterparts. Irkut Corporation subcontracted the task of manufacturing the canards, stabilizers and fins to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. As part of the contract agreement, Russia sent the first Malaysian cosmonaut to the International Space Station. It was a project initiated under the government-to-government offset agreement through the purchase of Su-30MKM fighter jets for the Royal Malaysian Air Force. Under this agreement the Russian Federation bore the cost of training two Malaysians for space travel and for sending one to the International Space Station (ISS) in October 2007 under the Angkasawan program.


title: Sukhoi Su-30MKM

text: The first two aircraft were handed over to the RMAF in May 2007 at Irkut's aircraft manufacturing facility at Irkutsk, Russia. The two aircraft were later delivered to RMAF Gong Kedak, Malaysia in June 2007 by an An-124-100 transport aircraft. By December 2007, seven months after the delivery of the first two aircraft, the RMAF had taken delivery of six Su-30MKMs. The eighteenth and last aircraft arrived at RMAF Gong Kedak in August 2009.


title: Sukhoi Su-30MKM

text: In 2016, Su-30MKM successfully dropped a GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided bomb in a firing exercise. An aircraft registered number M52-08 successfully dropped the bombs at Kota Belud firing range in Sabah on 27 November 2016. This makes the first Russian-made Sukhoi combat aircraft that can use the American-made weapon.


title: Sukhoi Su-30MKM

text: According to Malaysian defense Minister Mohamad Sabu, Malaysia has grounded 14 of 18 Su-30MKM due to engine problems and unavailability of spare parts in 2018. To overcome this problem and increase the readiness of the Su-30MKM fleets, Malaysia has approved the budget worth RM2.2 billion for the Su-30MKM to be upgrade locally by Aerospace Technology Systems Corporation. The first upgraded aircraft was received in 2019 in LIMA 2019 exhibition.


title: Sukhoi Su-30MKM

text: The Su-30MKM was developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and is based on the Su-30MKI. The MKM version differs from the MKI mainly in the composition of its onboard avionics. Thales supplies the Head-up display (HUD), navigational forward-looking IR system NAVFLIR and the Damocles targeting pod. The aircraft carries missile approach warning sensor (MAWS) and laser warning sensor (LWS) manufactured by Avitronics (South Africa). It can carry up to 8,000 kg/ 17,650 lb of weapons and payloads over 700 nmi unrefueled combat radius.


title: Sukhoi Su-30MKM

text: "The Su-30MKM can legitimately claim super-maneuverability via digital fly-by-wire, canards", and two Saturn AL-31FP engines with thrust vectoring "producing 27,500 lb thrust each with afterburners. This gives them an edge in close-in dogfights, allowing the pilot to rapidly point the plane at potential targets to draw them within the AA-11/R-73 Archer’s wide infrared seeker cone, then launch and quickly change energy state and direction".


title: Sukhoi Su-30MKM

text: The electronic warfare (EW) systems, phased array radars, optical-location systems with laser rangefinder were all produced by leading Russian manufacturers. At that time, officers from RMAF formed a Su-30MKM Project Team which was based in Moscow; the team had actively participated in the integration of all the avionics systems. The aircraft is capable of conducting SEAD missions when being equipped with two KNIRTI SAP-518 jamming pods and Kh-31P anti-radiation missiles. The KNIRTI SAP-518 covers NATO surface-to-air and air-to-air threats in the G-J bands. It is equipped with NIIP N011M phased array radar for long range aerial combat which can track up to 15 targets and engage 4 targets simultaneously. It can also be equipped with a Thales Damocles Laser Designation Pod (Thales) surveillance & targeting pod for precision ground attack. It has a rear-facing radar, HUD (Thales), NAVFLIR (Navigation Forward Looking Infra-red) (French). Missile Approaches Warning System (MAWS) & laser warning sensor (LWS) supplied by Saab Avitronics of South Africa.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Home Secretary since 2021, and previously from 2011 to 2015. She served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2008 to 2009 and Work and Pensions Secretary from 2009 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, previously Pontefract and Castleford, since 1997.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: One of 101 female Labour MPs elected at the 1997 general election, Cooper was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at three departments under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1999 to 2005. She was promoted to Minister of State for Housing and Planning in 2005, and was retained in the role when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007. In 2008, she was appointed to Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, before being promoted to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2009. After Labour lost the 2010 general election, Cooper served in Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2010 to 2011. In 2011, her husband Ed Balls was promoted to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer; Cooper replaced Balls as Shadow Home Secretary and served until Labour lost the 2015 general election.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: On 13 May 2015, Cooper announced she would run to be Leader of the Labour Party in the leadership election following the resignation of Miliband. Cooper came third with 17.0% of the vote in the first round, losing to Jeremy Corbyn. Cooper subsequently resigned as Shadow Home Secretary in September 2015. Cooper was the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee from 2016 to 2021. As a backbencher, Cooper repeatedly sought to extend Article 50 to delay Brexit. She became Shadow Home Secretary again in Keir Starmer’s November 2021 reshuffle.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Cooper was born on 20 March 1969 in Inverness, Scotland. Her father is Tony Cooper, former General Secretary of the Prospect trade union, a former non-executive director of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and a former Chairman of the British Nuclear Industry Forum. He was also a government adviser on the Energy Advisory Panel. Her mother, June, was a maths teacher.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: She was educated at Eggar's School, a comprehensive school in Holybourne, and Alton College, both in Alton, Hampshire. She read Philosophy, politics and economics at Balliol College, Oxford, and graduated with a first-class honours degree. She won a Kennedy Scholarship in 1991 to study at Harvard University, and she completed her postgraduate studies with an MSc in Economics at the London School of Economics.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Cooper began her career as an economic policy researcher for Shadow Chancellor John Smith in 1990 before working in Arkansas for Bill Clinton, nominee of the Democratic Party for President of the United States, in 1992. Later that year, she became a policy advisor to then Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Harriet Harman.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: At the age of 24, Cooper developed chronic fatigue syndrome, which took her a year to recover from. In 1994 she moved to become a research associate at the Centre for Economic Performance. In 1995, she became the chief economics correspondent of "The Independent", remaining with the newspaper until her election to the House of Commons in 1997.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Cooper was selected to contest the safe Labour seat of Pontefract and Castleford at the 1997 general election, after Deputy Speaker Geoffrey Lofthouse announced his retirement. She retained the seat for Labour with a majority of 25,725 votes, and made her maiden speech in the Commons on 2 July 1997, speaking about her constituency's struggle with unemployment. She served for two years on the Education and Employment Select Committee.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: In 1999, she was promoted as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health. As a health minister, Cooper helped implement the Sure Start programme. In this post, she was also the first British government minister in history to take maternity leave. From 2002 to 2003, Cooper was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: In 2003, she became Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regeneration in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with the responsibility of coalfield regeneration. Following the 2005 general election she was promoted to Minister, as Minister of State for Housing and Planning based in the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2006.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: After Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, Cooper was invited to attend cabinet meetings as Housing Minister. Shortly after taking the job, she was required to introduce the HIPS scheme. According to Conservative columnist Matthew Parris, Cooper conceived HIPS but avoided direct criticism for its problems because of her connection with Brown.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: The Labour government under Brown had identified affordable housing as one of its core objectives. In July 2007, Cooper announced in the House of Commons that "unless we act now, by 2026 first-time buyers will find average house prices are ten times their salary. That could lead to real social inequality and injustice. Every part of the country needs more affordable homes – in the North and the South, in urban and rural communities".


title: Yvette Cooper

text: In 2008, Cooper became the first woman to serve as Chief Secretary to the Treasury where she was involved with taking Northern Rock into public ownership. As her husband, Ed Balls, was already a cabinet minister, her promotion meant that the two became the first married couple ever to sit in the cabinet together.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: In 2009, Cooper was appointed as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and took over leading on the Welfare Reform Act 2009 which included measures to extend the use of benefit sanctions to force unemployed people to seek work. Many campaigners – including the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) – urged Cooper to rethink Labour's approach, arguing instead that increasing support for job seekers was vital to eradicating child poverty.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: In May 2009, the "Daily Telegraph" reported that Cooper had changed the designation of her second home twice in two years. Following a referral to the parliamentary standards watchdog, Cooper and her husband Ed Balls were exonerated by John Lyon, the Standards Commissioner. He said they had paid capital gains tax on their homes and were not motivated by profit. Cooper and Balls bought a four-bedroom house in Stoke Newington, North London, and registered this as their second home (rather than their home in Castleford, West Yorkshire); this qualified them for up to £44,000 a year to subsidise a reported £438,000 mortgage under the Commons Additional Costs Allowance, of which they claimed £24,400. An investigation in MPs' expenses by Sir Thomas Legg found that Cooper and her husband had both received overpayments of £1,363 in relation to their mortgage. He ordered them to repay the money.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: After Labour were defeated at the 2010 general election, Cooper and her husband Ed Balls were both mentioned in the press as a potential leadership candidates when Gordon Brown resigned as Leader of the Labour Party.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Before Balls announced his candidacy, he offered to stand aside if Cooper wanted to stand, but Cooper declined for the sake of their children, stating that it would not be the right time for her. She later topped the 2010 ballot for places in the Shadow cabinet, and there was speculation that the newly elected Labour Leader Ed Miliband would appoint her Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. She instead became Shadow Foreign Secretary.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: When Alan Johnson resigned as Shadow Chancellor on 20 January 2011, Cooper was appointed Shadow Home Secretary. Her husband, Ed Balls, replaced Johnson as Shadow Chancellor. Cooper also served as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities from October 2010 to October 2013.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: On 20 January 2011, she took the position of Shadow Home Secretary amidst a shadow cabinet reshuffle. In this position, Cooper shadowed Theresa May at the Home Office. She labelled the government's vans displaying posters urging illegal immigrants to go home a "divisive gimmick" in October 2013.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: In February 2013, she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by "Woman's Hour" on BBC Radio 4, although not in the top 20.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: In 2013, she proposed the appointment of a national commissioner for domestic and sexual violence. She spoke at the Labour Party Conference in 2014 about eastern Europeans who were mistreated by employers of migrant labour.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Cooper was strongly critical of the cuts to child tax credit announced by George Osborne in the July 2015 Budget; she authored the following statement in the "New Statesman":


title: Yvette Cooper

text: In 2015, she was nominated as one of four candidates for the Labour leadership following the party's defeat at the 2015 general election and the resignation of Ed Miliband. Cooper was nominated by 59 MPs, 12 MEPs, 109 CLPs, two affiliated trade unions and one socialist society. "The Guardian" newspaper endorsed Cooper as the "best placed" to offer a strong vision and unite the party while the "New Statesman"'s endorsement praised her experience. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly endorsed Cooper as his first choice for leader, as did former Home Secretary Alan Johnson.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: During the campaign, Cooper supported reintroducing the 50p income tax rate and creating more high-skilled manufacturing jobs. She proposed the introduction of a living wage for social care workers and the construction of 300,000 houses every year. Cooper disagreed that Labour spent too much whilst in government.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Following the 2015 Labour Party leadership election, Cooper returned to the back benches, after nearly 17 years on the front bench. Building on her existing work on the European refugee crisis, Cooper was appointed chair of Labour's refugee taskforce, working with local authorities, community groups and trade unions to develop a sustainable and humanitarian response to the crisis. She spoke about the issue at Labour's annual conference in 2016.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: After a vote of MPs on 19 October 2016, Cooper was elected chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, gaining more votes than fellow candidates, Caroline Flint, Chuka Umunna and Paul Flynn. As chair, Cooper launched a national inquiry into public views on immigration and, after an emergency inquiry into the Dubs scheme for child refugees, criticised the government's decision to end the programme in February 2017.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Cooper was critical of the May government's infrastructure plans' focus on big cities, and was formerly the chair of Labour Towns, a group of Labour MPs, councillors and mayors of towns seeking to promote investment in them – publishing a town manifesto in 2019.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: During the Brexit process, Cooper consistently fought against a no-deal Brexit, tabling one of the main amendments in January 2019; others to table amendments were Caroline Spelman, Graham Brady, Rachel Reeves, Dominic Grieve and Ian Blackford.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: In April, Cooper tabled a private members' bill, again with the intended effect of preventing a "no-deal" Brexit. The Bill was voted to be discussed as an important bill using processes often used for issues of national security. MPs voted 312 to 311 in favour of allowing her bill to be fast-tracked, and it was made law on 8 April 2019.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Cooper was reappointed as Shadow Home Secretary on 29 November 2021 by Keir Starmer, replacing Nick Thomas-Symonds in a shadow cabinet reshuffle.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Cooper is concerned over Home Secretary, Suella Braverman breaching the ministerial code through sending secure information with her private email. Cooper wants possible security implications investigated. Cooper wrote to Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case "I am urging you and the Home Office to now urgently undertake such an investigation [into possible security breaches] as the public has a right to know that there are proper secure information procedures in place to cover the person who has been given charge of our national security." Cooper also said Sunak and Braverman cannot continue avoiding these issues and it raised doubts about the Prime Minister's judgement. She said that people need to be able to trust the Home Secretary with highly sensitive information and national security.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Cooper said Rishi Sunak made Gavin Williamson a cabinet minister though Sunak had been warned Williamson was being investigated over allegations he bullied Wendy Morton. Cooper said the cases of Braverman and Williamson look like “grubby political deals that aren’t in the national interest.” Cooper also said “[Sunak] has also appointed [Williamson] to the Cabinet Office, which supports the national security council, even though Gavin Williamson was previously sacked by Theresa May for leaking from the national security council.” Cooper maintains under the Conservatives there is a lack of ethics and of proper standrds.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Cooper married Ed Balls on 10 January 1998 in Eastbourne. Her husband was Economic Secretary to the Treasury in the Tony Blair government and Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families under Gordon Brown, then in opposition was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and a candidate in the 2010 Labour Party leadership election. The couple have two daughters and one son.


title: Yvette Cooper

text: Cooper has published two books, entitled "She Speaks: The power of Women's voices" and "She Speaks: Women's Speeches That Changed the World, from Pankhurst to Greta", released in November 2019 and October 2020 respectively.


title: Ammonia production

text: Ammonia is one of the most highly produced inorganic chemicals. There are numerous large-scale ammonia plants worldwide, producing a grand total of 144 million tonnes of nitrogen (equivalent to 175 million tonnes of ammonia) in 2016. This has increased to 235 million tonnes of ammonia in 2021. China produced 31.9% of the worldwide production, followed by Russia with 8.7%, India with 7.5%, and the United States with 7.1%. 80% or more of the ammonia produced is used for fertilizing agricultural crops. Ammonia is also used for the production of plastics, fibres, explosives, nitric acid (via the Ostwald process), and intermediates for dyes and pharmaceuticals.


title: Ammonia production

text: Before the start of World War I, most ammonia was obtained by the dry distillation of nitrogenous vegetable and animal products; by the reduction of nitrous acid and nitrites with hydrogen; and also by the decomposition of ammonium salts by alkaline hydroxides or by quicklime, the salt most generally used being the chloride (sal-ammoniac).


title: Ammonia production

text: Adolph Frank and Nikodem Caro found that Nitrogen could be fixed by using the same calcium carbide produced to make acetylene to form calcium-cyanamide, which could then be divided with water to form ammonia.


title: Ammonia production

text: While not strictly speaking a method of producing ammonia, nitrogen can be fixed by passing it (with oxygen) through an electric spark.


title: Ammonia production

text: Heating metals such as magnesium in an atmosphere of pure nitrogen produces the nitride, which when combined with water produce the metal hydroxide and ammonia.


title: Ammonia production

text: Today, most ammonia is produced on a large scale by the Haber process with capacities of up to 3,300 tonnes per day. In this process, N and H gases are allowed to react at pressures of 200 bar. Ammonia is also processed by coal. The American Oil Co in the mid-1960s positioned a single-converter ammonia plant engineered by M. W. Kellogg at Texas City, Texas, with a capacity of 544 m.t./day. The single-train design concept was so thoroughgoing that it received the “Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award” in 1967. The plant used a four-case centrifugal compressor to compress the syngas to a pressure of 152 bar, and final compression to an operating pressure of 324 bar occurred in a reciprocating compressor. Centrifugal compressors for the synthesis loop and refrigeration services were also implemented, which provided significant cost.


title: Ammonia production

text: Almost every plant built between 1964 and 1992 had large single-train designs with synthesis gas manufacturing at 25–35 bar and ammonia synthesis at 150–200 bar. Another variation by Braun (now KBR) offered slight tempering to the plain design. The Braun Purifier process plants utilized a primary or tubular reformer with a low outlet temperature and high methane leakage to reduce the size and cost of the reformer. Excess air was added to the secondary reformer to reduce the methane content of the primary reformer exit stream to 1–2%. Excess nitrogen and other impurities were erased downstream of the methanator. Because the synthesis gas was essentially free of impurities, two axial-flow ammonia converters were used to attain a high ammonia conversion. In early 2000 Uhde developed a new process which enables plant capacities of 3300 mtpd and more. The key innovation of Uhde's dual-pressure process is a single-flow synthesis loop at medium pressure in series with a conventional high-pressure synthesis loop.


title: Ammonia production

text: A typical modern ammonia-producing plant first converts natural gas, liquified petroleum gas, or petroleum naphtha into gaseous hydrogen. The method for producing hydrogen from hydrocarbons is known as steam reforming. The hydrogen is then combined with nitrogen to produce ammonia via the Haber-Bosch process.


title: Ammonia production

text: Starting with a natural gas () feedstock, the different steps used in the process of producing hydrogen are the following:


title: Ammonia production

text: To produce the desired end-product ammonia, the hydrogen is then catalytically reacted with nitrogen (derived from process air) to form anhydrous liquid ammonia. This step is known as the ammonia synthesis loop (also referred to as the Haber-Bosch process):


title: Ammonia production

text: Due to the nature of the (typically multi-promoted magnetite) catalyst used in the ammonia synthesis reaction, only very low levels of oxygen-containing (especially CO, CO and HO) compounds can be tolerated in the synthesis (hydrogen and nitrogen mixture) gas. Relatively pure nitrogen can be obtained by air separation, but additional oxygen removal may be required.


title: Ammonia production

text: Because of relatively low single pass conversion rates (typically less than 20%), a large recycle stream is required. This can lead to the accumulation of inerts in the loop gas.


title: Ammonia production

text: The steam reforming, shift conversion, carbon dioxide removal, and methanation steps each operate at absolute pressures of about 25 to 35 bar, and the ammonia synthesis loop operates at absolute pressures ranging from 60 to 180 bar depending upon the particular method used.


title: Ammonia production

text: Ammonia production depends on plentiful supplies of energy, predominantly natural gas. Due to ammonia's critical role in intensive agriculture and other processes, sustainable production is desirable. This is possible by using non-polluting methane pyrolysis or generating hydrogen by electrolysis of water (or steam) utilizing zero carbon electricity from renewable energy sources or nuclear power. In recent years thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers has expanded its annual production capacity for alkaline water electrolysis to 1 gigawatt of electrolyzer capacity.


title: Ammonia production

text: This would be straightforward in a hydrogen economy by diverting some hydrogen production from fuel to feedstock use. For example, in 2002, Iceland produced 2,000 tons of hydrogen gas by electrolysis, using excess electricity production from its hydroelectric plants, primarily for the production of ammonia for fertilizer. The Vemork hydroelectric plant in Norway used its surplus electricity output to generate renewable nitric acid from 1911 to 1971, requiring 15 MWh/Ton of nitric acid. The same reaction is carried out by lightning, providing a natural source for converting atmospheric nitrogen to soluble nitrates. In practice, natural gas will remain the major source of hydrogen for ammonia production as long as it is the cheapest.


title: Ammonia production

text: Waste water is often high in ammonia. Because discharging ammonia laden water into the environment, even in wastewater treatment plants, can cause problems, nitrification is often necessary to remove the ammonia. This may be a potentially sustainable source of ammonia in the future because of its abundance and the need to remove it from the water anyway. Alternatively, ammonia from waste water is sent into an ammonia electrolyzer (ammonia electrolysis) operating with renewable energy sources (Solar PV and Wind turbine) to produce hydrogen and clean treated water. Ammonia electrolysis may require much less thermodynamic energy than water electrolysis (only 0.06 V in alkaline media).


title: Ammonia production

text: Another option for recovering ammonia from waste water is to use the mechanics of the ammonia-water thermal absorption cycle. Using this option, ammonia can be recovered either as a liquid or as ammonium hydroxide. The advantage of the former is that it is much easier to handle and transport, whereas the latter also has a commercial value when a concentration of 30 percent ammonium hydroxide in solution is produced.


title: Ammonia production

text: Ammonia made from coal is a process mainly practised by China. China produced about 32.6% of the global production in 2014, while Russia, India, and the U.S. produced 8.1%, 7.6%, and 6.4%. Most of their ammonia came from coal. The basic processing in a coal-based ammonia plant consists of an air separation module for the separation of and from air, the gasifier, the sour gas shift module, the acid gas removal module, and the ammonia synthesis module. Oxygen from the air separation module is fed to the gasifier to convert coal into synthesis gas (, CO, ) and . There are many gasifier designs, but most gasifiers are based on fluidized beds that operate above atmospheric pressure and have the ability to utilize different coal feeds.


title: Ammonia production

text: In April 2017, a company to implement a method of ammonia synthesis that could allow economic production at scales 1-2 orders of magnitude below than ordinary plants with utilizing electrochemical catalyst was established in Japan.


title: Ammonia production

text: The company, Tsubame BHB, have implemented the synthesis process into a module, and aiming to be adopted in distributed locations close to ammonia users.


title: Ammonia production

text: One of the main industrial byproducts of ammonia production is CO. In 2018, high oil prices resulted in an extended summer shutdown of European ammonia factories causing a commercial CO shortage, thus limiting production of carbonated drinks such as beer and fizzy soft drinks. This situation repeated in September 2021 due to a 250-400% increase in the wholesale price of natural gas over the course of the year.


title: Leaders of the Ku Klux Klan

text: The national leader of the Ku Klux Klan is called either a Grand Wizard or an Imperial Wizard, depending on which KKK organization is being described.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: "Wish You Were Here" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released as the title track of their 1975 album of the same name. David Gilmour and Roger Waters collaborated to write the music and Gilmour sang the lead vocal.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: The song is popular on classic rock radio stations. It was voted the 18th best rock song of all time by listeners of New York City’s Q104.3 in 2021.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: In the original album version, the song segues from "Have a Cigar" as if a radio had been tuned away from one station, through several others (including a radio play and one playing the opening of the finale of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony), and finally to a new station where "Wish You Were Here" is beginning. The radio was recorded from Gilmour's car radio. He performed the intro on a twelve-string guitar, processed to sound like it was playing through an AM radio, and then overdubbed a fuller-sounding acoustic guitar solo. This passage was mixed to sound as though a guitarist were listening to the radio and playing along. As the acoustic part becomes more complex, the "radio broadcast" fades away and Gilmour's voice enters, while the rest of the band joins in.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: The intro riff is repeated several times before Gilmour plays further solos with scat singing accompaniment. A third verse follows, featuring an increasingly expressive vocal from Gilmour and audible backing vocals. At the end of the recorded song, the final solo crossfades with wind sound effects, and finally segues into the second section of the multi-part suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: Lyrically, the song is often considered to be a direct tribute to Syd Barrett. However, on the documentary "The Story of Wish You Were Here", Gilmour and Waters separately describe the original concept that differs from this interpretation. Waters, who mainly wrote the lyrics complementing Gilmour's initial riff idea and subsequent joint composition, describes the lyrics as being directed at himself, as his lyrics often are. Being present in one's own life and freeing one's self in order to truly experience life is a main topic in this song. Gilmour, on the other hand, recognizes that he never performs the song without remembering Syd Barrett. Waters later adds that the song is nevertheless open to interpretation.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: Both Gilmour and Waters have praised the song as one of Pink Floyd's finest. Waters has noted that the collaboration between himself and Gilmour on the song was "really good. All bits of it are really, really good. I'm very happy about it." Gilmour has playfully called "Wish You Were Here" "a very simple country song" and stated that "because of its resonance and the emotional weight it carries, it is one of our best songs."


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: "Wish You Were Here" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, as part of the sessions for the entire album.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: A noted part of the song was a planned contribution by Stéphane Grappelli. A jazz violinist popular at the time and well known for his collaborations with Yehudi Menuhin, both violinists were recording in a downstairs studio at Abbey Road at the time. Gilmour had suggested that there be a little "country fiddle" at the end of the song and invited them to participate. Grappelli duly obliged (Menuhin declined) on arranging a session fee of £300, equivalent to £ in 2022. Ultimately during mixing it was decided to almost remove his contribution, although it can just be heard around 5:21. According to Waters it was decided that it would be insulting to credit Grappelli in the sleeve notes for something so inaudible, although he did receive the agreed-upon fee.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: In the introduction, Gilmour can be heard coughing followed by some breathing right before the main guitar comes in. Legend has it that he could not hold in the cough due to his heavy smoking at the time. When he heard the final take, he was so disappointed, he quit smoking cold turkey the following day.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: As part of the "Why Pink Floyd...?" campaign, the "Experience" and "Immersion" versions of the "Wish You Were Here" album include an alternative version of the song where Grappelli's part is heard in the instrumental break after the second verse and throughout the third verse before a considerably extended outro. Other less obvious differences are audible, for example at the section leading into the second verse.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: "Wish You Were Here" made its stage debut on the band's 1977 tour, which featured a performance of the entire album at every show. It was not played live by the band for nearly ten years after this (the band's following tour consisted solely of front-to-back performances of "The Wall", and they didn't tour again for six years after that). However, it became a concert staple after its reappearance during their 1987–1990 tour, and was performed at nearly all subsequent Pink Floyd concerts. In the original 1977 concert performances, Gilmour would play his Fender Stratocaster instead of acoustic guitar, while Snowy White played a twelve-string Ovation acoustic guitar. At these shows, Nick Mason tuned an actual transistor radio on stage to a local radio station, seguing into the pre-recorded part from the album to start the song and Richard Wright would perform an extended piano coda as the wind effects played. Waters provided backing vocals for the final verse. A live version is included on "Pulse", arranged more closely to the original album version, with Gilmour playing a Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar and the twelve-string part supplied by touring guitarist Tim Renwick.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: When Pink Floyd were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Gilmour and Wright (Mason was in the audience) performed the song with their presenter Billy Corgan on rhythm guitar. "When I was seventeen years old, my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer…" Corgan recalled. "'Wish You Were Here' seemed to sum up everything that I was feeling. When I couldn't take what was going on in my life with her dying, I listened to that song over and over. And it still makes me cry. It's such a beautiful song… This is why, I think, I'm here at this particular moment: to thank them."


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: Gilmour has made the song a part of most of his tours, and included live versions on his "Live in Gdansk" and "Live at Pompeii" albums.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: With the exception of The Wall Live, Waters has performed the song on every one of his tours as a solo act; it is one of only a handful of Pink Floyd songs (including "Time" and "Welcome to the Machine") where Waters sings lead vocals formerly sung by Gilmour himself rather than delegating them to a member of his touring band. Live versions were released on Waters' live albums and concert films "In the Flesh – Live" in 2000 and "" in 2019.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: In 2005, Waters and Eric Clapton performed the song at the Tsunami Aid concert, and in 2005's Live 8, Waters rejoined his former bandmates in London to perform it, along with four other classic Pink Floyd songs. Waters and Gilmour shared lead vocals.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: British artist Ed Sheeran performed a cover of this song with Mason on drums at the Closing Ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with Mike Rutherford on guitar, and Richard Jones on bass.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: On 13 December 2014 Gilmour was a guest performer at a concert by the Bombay Bicycle Club at Earls Court Arena, their concert being the final event ever to take place there before its demolition. Band member Jamie MacColl introduced Gilmour, saying; "This man gave me my first guitar and was one of the first people to play this venue and by my count has played here more than 27 times." Gilmour then played with the band on their song "Rinse Me Down" before a performance of "Wish You Were Here".


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: "Wish You Were Here" appeared as the fifth track on "A Collection of Great Dance Songs" in 1981 (with the radio intro following the end of a heavily edited "Shine On You Crazy Diamond") and as the 23rd track on the "" compilation in 2001 (with the radio intro following "Arnold Layne", and at the end crossfading with "Jugband Blues").


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: A live recording included on the 1995 live album "Pulse" was issued as a single/EP. Its intro replicates the sound of the original, semi-ambient intro. The cover of the EP features two men whose faces are distorted by fish bowls, referring to the line "We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year".


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: The "Experience" edition of "Wish You Were Here" from the 2011 "Why Pink Floyd...?" re-release campaign includes a version of "Wish You Were Here" featuring Stéphane Grappelli on violin much more prominently. The recording of Grappelli, which Mason had thought he might have recorded over in subsequent sessions for "Wish You Were Here", was uncovered in the EMI vaults during re-mastering work for the "Why Pink Floyd...?" campaign. Mason discussed the alternative version on the BBC Radio 4 "Front Row" programme, and revealed that Yehudi Menuhin, who was recording with Grappelli in Abbey Road's Studio Two, was also invited to play on "Wish You Were Here" but declined, as he was not as comfortable as Grappelli at improvising.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: "Wish You Were Here (Live)" is a live recording of Pink Floyd's title track off their ninth studio album "Wish You Were Here", recorded by the band for their third live album, "Pulse". "Wish You Were Here (Live)" was released as a single on 20 July 1995 in the United Kingdom and Europe, notably the last single released by the band until October 2014.


title: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song)

text: "Wish You Were Here" served as the fourth and final single from Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean's second studio album, "" (2001). It was released on 26 November 2001, peaking at number 28 on the UK Singles Chart and reaching the top 50 in Germany, Ireland, Norway, and Switzerland.


title: Dennis Edwards

text: Dennis Edwards Jr. (February 3, 1943 – February 1, 2018) was an American soul and R&B singer who was best known as the frontman in The Temptations, on Motown Records. Edwards joined the Temptations in 1968, replacing David Ruffin and sang with the group from 1968 to 1976, 1980 to 1984 and 1987 to 1989. In the mid-1980s, he attempted a solo career, scoring a hit in 1984 with "Don't Look Any Further" (featuring Siedah Garrett). Until his death, Edwards was the lead singer of The Temptations Review, a Temptations splinter group.


title: Dennis Edwards

text: Edwards was born in Fairfield, Alabama, about eight miles from Birmingham, to Reverend Dennis Edwards Sr. He began singing as a toddler, just two years old, in his father's church. The Edwards family moved to Detroit, Michigan when Edwards was about ten years old, and Edwards would continue to sing in the church pastored by his father, eventually becoming choir director.


title: Dennis Edwards

text: As a teenager, Edwards joined a gospel vocal group called The Mighty Clouds of Joy, and studied music at the Detroit Conservatory of Music. He was not allowed to sing or listen to secular music at home, and his mother disapproved when he began pursuing a career singing rhythm and blues music. In 1961 he organized his own soul/jazz group, Dennis Edwards and the Fireballs. In 1961, Edwards recorded a single for the obscure Detroit label, International Soulville Records, "I Didn't Have to (But I Did)" b/w "Johnnie on the Spot". Following time served in the US military, in 1966 Edwards auditioned for Detroit's Motown Records, where he was signed but placed on retainer. Later that year, he was assigned to join The Contours after their lead singer, Billy Gordon, fell ill. In 1967, the Contours were the opening act for several Temptations concerts, and Temptations members Eddie Kendricks and Otis Williams – who were considering replacing their own lead singer, David Ruffin (who was a personal friend of Edwards), took notice of Edwards and made his acquaintance.


title: Dennis Edwards

text: Later in 1967, Edwards quit the Contours and was placed back on retainer. He attempted to get a release from his contract, as Holland–Dozier–Holland had promised to sign him to their new Invictus Records, but was drafted in late June 1968 to join the Temptations, who had just fired Ruffin from the act. Ruffin had tipped Edwards off that he was being drafted as his replacement, which eased Edwards's conscience in replacing him.


title: Dennis Edwards

text: The Temptations officially introduced Edwards on July 9, 1968 on stage in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. However, Ruffin, who was attempting to make his way back into the group, crashed the stage during Edwards's lead vocal on "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" to significant applause. He continued similar stunts for about a month until, according to Edwards, the group decided to lay-off Edwards — with the promise of a solo deal from Motown — and rehire Ruffin. When Ruffin failed to show for his return engagement in Gaithersburg, Maryland the next night, Edwards was permanently kept on and the Temptations refused to entertain rehiring Ruffin any further. Edwards was the first singer to join the Temptations after their "Classic 5" period. With his rougher gospel-hewn vocals, Edwards led the group through its psychedelic, funk, and disco periods, singing on hits such as "Cloud Nine" (1968), "I Can't Get Next to You" (1969), "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" (1970), "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (1972), and "Shakey Ground" (1975), among others. Two of these songs, "Cloud Nine" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", won Grammy Awards. During this time, Edwards was engaged to Yvonne "Frankie" Gearing, the lead singer of Quiet Elegance, who toured with The Temptations as their backing group.


title: Dennis Edwards

text: Edwards remained in the Temptations until being fired by Otis Williams in 1977 just before the group's departure from Motown to Atlantic Records. After a failed attempt at a Motown solo career, Edwards rejoined the Temptations in 1980, when they returned to Motown. In 1982, Edwards got the chance to sing with Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks as part of the "Reunion" album and tour. Edwards began missing shows and rehearsals, and was replaced in 1984 by Ali-Ollie Woodson. In 1989, Edwards was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Temptations. Edwards was also inducted into Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame with The Temptations in 2013.


title: Dennis Edwards

text: Motown re-launched Edwards's solo career, in 1984 with the hit single "Don't Look Any Further", a duet with Siedah Garrett. The album of the same name reached No. 2 on the R&B charts and included the radio singles "(You're My) Aphrodisiac" and "Just Like You". When problems arose between Woodson and the Temptations in 1987, Edwards was brought back once again.


title: Dennis Edwards

text: He and the group recorded the album entitled "Together Again", featuring the hit single "I Wonder Who She's Seeing Now".


title: Dennis Edwards

text: Edwards toured and recorded with fellow ex-Temptation David Ruffin during the late 1980s as "Ruffin/Kendricks/Edwards, former leads of The Temptations", although nothing was released. The 1998 Street Gold DVD "Original Leads of the Temptations" documents this historic period. After the deaths of Ruffin and Kendricks, Edwards was forced to wrap up the project alone. In 1990, Dennis teamed up with Kendricks to release a dance/club track for A&B Records entitled "Get It While It's Hot". The track was recorded at Fredrick Knight's recording studio in the duo's old home town of Birmingham, Alabama; it was produced and engineered by house music pioneer Alan Steward. The track created a lot of controversy, as it contained a short rap sequence which did not sit very well with die-hard Temptations fans. Edwards's "Don't Look Any Further: the Remix Album" was released in 1998, containing updated dance mixes and the original 1984 track.


title: Dennis Edwards

text: During the 1990s, Edwards began touring under the name "Dennis Edwards & the Temptations", prompting a legal battle between himself and Otis Williams. In January 1999, it was ruled that Edwards was legally barred from using the band's name, which led Edwards's group to be called The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards. Edwards's group included Paul Williams Jr. (son of original Temptations member Paul Williams), David Sea, Mike Patillo, and Chris Arnold. Edwards was portrayed by Charles Ley in the 1998 biographical television mini-series "The Temptations", though he was not heavily focused upon, as the mini-series gave more attention to the Ruffin/Kendricks-era Temptations lineup. The Temptations Review group was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame on October 4, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan, when Edwards was also given the Living Legend Award. His group continues to perform today as Dennis Edwards' Temptations Revue.


title: Dennis Edwards

text: Edwards had a relationship with singer Aretha Franklin, who stated he was the inspiration behind her 1972 soul song "Day Dreaming". Edwards was briefly married to Ruth Pointer, whom he wed in Las Vegas in 1977. The couple had one daughter, Issa Pointer, who became a member of her mother's vocal group, The Pointer Sisters. Edwards moved to Florissant, Missouri in the 1980s to be closer to his mother.