title: Glastonbury

text: Glastonbury Methodist Church on Lambrook Street was built in 1843 and has a galleried interior, typical of a non-conformist chapel of that period, but an unusual number of stained glass windows. Close by the front of the church is an ancient pond, which was later covered to form a brick-arched reservoir. This is mentioned in property deeds of 1821, and is still accessible, containing approximately 31,500 gallons of water.


title: Glastonbury

text: The Methodist Church on Lambrook street was originally the Glastonbury Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. A Primitive Methodist Chapel was built on Northload Street in 1844, with an adjoining house added for a minister in 1869. This chapel was closed in 1968, since which time it has had a number of different uses, being described in 2007 as the Maitreya Monastery, prior to which it had been the Archangel Michael Soul Therapy Centre.


title: Glastonbury

text: The Bove Town Gospel Hall has been a place of worship in the town since at least 1889, when it was listed as a mission of the Plymouth Brethren. Jehovah's Witnesses originally occupied a Kingdom Hall on Archer's Way from 1942. This transferred to Church Lane in 1964, and subsequently to its present site on Old Wells Road. The Gospel Hall was registered for the solemnizing of marriages in 1964


title: Glastonbury

text: The Catholic Church of Our Lady St Mary of Glastonbury was built, on land near to the Abbey, in 1939. A statue based on a 14th-century metal seal was blessed in 1955 and crowned in 1965 restoring the Marian shrine that had been in the Abbey prior to the reformation. The Shrine is now the home of the Community of Our Lady of Glastonbury, a Catholic Benedictine Monastery founded in August 2019.


title: Glastonbury

text: Sufism has been long established in Glastonbury. Zikrs are held weekly in private homes, and on the first Sunday of every month a zikr is held at St Margaret's Chapel in Magdalene Street. A Sufi charity shop was established in Glastonbury in 1999, and supports missionary work in Africa. This shop was opened after Sheikh Nazim came to Glastonbury to visit the Abbey. Here he declared, "This is the spiritual heart of England ... It is from here that the spiritual new age will begin and to here that Jesus will return".


title: Glastonbury

text: The pagan Glastonbury Goddess Temple was founded in 2002 and registered as a place of worship the following year. It is self-described as the first temple of its kind to exist in Europe in over a thousand years.


title: Glastonbury

text: In April 2012, it was reported by The Guardian newspaper that, according to the Pilgrim Reception Centre in the town, Glastonbury had around seventy different faith groups. Some of these groups attended a special ceremony to celebrate this diversity, held in the Chalice Well Gardens on 21 April of that year.


title: Glastonbury

text: The 22nd Jagannatha Ratha-yatra Krishna Festival took place in Glastonbury on Sunday 4 October 2015. Devotees of the Krishna Consciousness movement travelled to the town from London, Bath, Bristol and elsewhere to join with locals in a procession and Kirtan.


title: Glastonbury

text: Glastonbury also headquarters the British Orthodox Church which is independent Oriental Orthodox denomination since 2015


title: Glastonbury

text: Glastonbury has a particular significance for members of the Baháʼí Faith in that Wellesley Tudor Pole, founder of the Chalice Well Trust, was one of the earliest and most prominent adherents of this faith in the United Kingdom.


title: Glastonbury

text: The local football team is Glastonbury F.C. They joined the Western Football League in 1919 and have won the Western Football League title three times in their history. The club are now playing in the Somerset County Football League.


title: Glastonbury

text: Glastonbury Cricket Club previously competed in the West of England Premier League, one of the ECB Premier Leagues, the highest level of recreational cricket in England and Wales. The club plays at the Tor Leisure Ground, which used to stage Somerset County Cricket Club first-class fixtures.


title: Glastonbury

text: In a 1904 novel by Charles Whistler entitled "A Prince of Cornwall" Glastonbury in the days of Ine of Wessex is portrayed. It is also a setting in the Warlord Chronicles, a trilogy of books about Arthurian Britain written by Bernard Cornwell. Modern fiction has also used Glastonbury as a setting including The Age of Misrule series of books by Mark Chadbourn in which the Watchmen appear, a group selected from Anglican priests in and around Glastonbury to safeguard knowledge of a gate to the Otherworld on top of Glastonbury Tor. John Cowper Powys's novel "A Glastonbury Romance" is set in Glastonbury and is concerned with the Grail. The historical mystery novel "Grave Goods" by Diana Norman (writing under the pen name Ariana Frankin) is set in Glastonbury just after the abbey fire and concerns the supposed graves of Arthur and Guinevere, as well as featuring other landmarks such as the Tor.


title: Glastonbury

text: The Children's World charity grew out of the festival and is based in the town. It is known internationally (as "Children's World International"). It was set up by Arabella Churchill in 1981 to provide drama participation and creative play and to work creatively in educational settings, providing social and emotional benefits for all children, particularly those with special needs. Children's World International is the sister charity of Children's World and was started in 1999 to work with children in the Balkans, in conjunction with Balkan Sunflowers and Save the Children. They also run the Glastonbury Children's Festival each August.


title: Glastonbury

text: Glastonbury has been described as a New Age community where communities have grown up to include people with New Age beliefs.


title: Glastonbury

text: The first Glastonbury Festivals were a series of cultural events held in summer, from 1914 to 1926. The festivals were founded by English socialist composer Rutland Boughton and his librettist Lawrence Buckley. Apart from the founding of a national theatre, they envisaged a summer school and music festival based on utopian principles. With strong Arthurian connections and historic and prehistoric associations, Glastonbury was chosen to host the festivals.


title: Glastonbury

text: The more recent Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts, founded in 1970, is now the largest open-air music and performing arts festival in the world. Although it is named after Glastonbury, it is actually held at Worthy Farm between the small villages of Pilton and Pylle, east of the town of Glastonbury. The festival is best known for its contemporary music, but also features dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and many other arts. For 2005, the enclosed area of the festival was over , had over 385 live performances and was attended by around 150,000 people. In 2007, over 700 acts played on over 80 stages and the capacity expanded by 20,000 to 177,000. The festival has spawned a range of other work including the 1972 film "Glastonbury Fayre" and album, 1996 film "Glastonbury the Movie" and the 2005 DVD "Glastonbury Anthems".


title: Glastonbury

text: Glastonbury has been the birthplace or home to many notable people. Peter King, 1st Baron King was the recorder of Glastonbury in 1705. Thomas Bramwell Welch the discoverer of the pasteurisation process to prevent the fermentation of grape juice was born in Glastonbury in 1825. The judge John Creighton represented Lunenburg County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1770 to 1775. The fossil collector Thomas Hawkins lived in the town during the 19th century.


title: Glastonbury

text: The religious connections and mythology of the town have also attracted notable authors. The occultist and writer Dion Fortune (Violet Mary Firth) lived and is buried in Glastonbury. Her old house was home to the writer and historian Geoffrey Ashe, who was known for his works on local legends. Frederick Bligh Bond, archaeologist and writer. Eckhart Tolle, a German-born writer, public speaker, and spiritual teacher lived in Glastonbury during the 1980s. Eileen Caddy was at a sanctuary in Glastonbury when she first claimed to have heard the "voice of God" while meditating. Her subsequent instructions from the "voice" directed her to take on Sheena Govan as her spiritual teacher, and became a spiritual teacher and new age author, best known as one of the founders of the Findhorn Foundation community.


title: Glastonbury

text: Popular entertainment and literature is also represented amongst the population. English composer Rutland Boughton moved from Birmingham to Glastonbury in 1911 and established the country's first national annual summer school of music. Gary Stringer, lead singer of rock band Reef, was a local along with other members of the band. The juggler Haggis McLeod and his late wife, Arabella Churchill, one of the founders of the Glastonbury Festival, lived in the town. The conductor Charles Hazlewood lives locally and hosts the "Play the Field" music festival on his farm nearby. Bill Bunbury moved on from Glastonbury to become a writer, radio broadcaster, and producer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.


title: Glastonbury

text: Athletes and sports players from Glastonbury include cricketers Cyril Baily in 1880, George Burrough in 1907, and Eustace Bisgood in 1878. The footballer Peter Spiring was born in Glastonbury in 1950. Formula 1 driver Lando Norris grew up in Glastonbury.


title: Glastonbury

text: This award was created in 2022 by the Glastonbury Town Council. The first recipient was Prem Rawat, international peace advocate and author, who spoke at the Glastonbury Festival in 1971.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: "For All Time. Always." is the sixth episode and season finale of the first season of the American television series "Loki", based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Loki. It follows alternate versions of the character as they attempt to discover who created the mysterious Time Variance Authority (TVA). The episode is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. It was written by head writer Michael Waldron and Eric Martin, and directed by Kate Herron.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki from the film series, while Sophia Di Martino stars as a female version of the character named Sylvie. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Eugene Cordero, Tara Strong, Jonathan Majors, and Owen Wilson also star in the episode. Waldron was hired in February 2019 to serve as head writer of the series, with Herron joining in August. Filming took place at Pinewood Atlanta Studios, with location filming in the Atlanta metropolitan area.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: "For All Time. Always." was released on Disney+ on July 14, 2021. The episode was praised for its introduction of Majors as He Who Remains, an alternate version of Kang the Conqueror, with praise going towards Majors' performance.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Loki and Sylvie enter the Citadel at the End of Time where they are greeted by Miss Minutes. She relays an offer from her master, "He Who Remains", to return them to the Sacred Timeline while offering him sovereignty and her happiness. However, the duo reject the offer. At the Time Variance Authority (TVA) headquarters, Judge Ravonna Renslayer receives information sent by He Who Remains via Miss Minutes. Mobius M. Mobius confronts Renslayer and both accuse each other of betrayal. Renslayer leaves to search for "free will" after overcoming Mobius' attempt at pruning her. In 2018 Fremont, Ohio, Hunter B-15 is pursued by other TVA Minutemen until she reveals a variant of Renslayer, a school vice-principal, to prove that the TVA employees are variants.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Meanwhile, He Who Remains greets Loki and Sylvie, who are both surprised that he is "just a man". Using a TemPad to avoid Sylvie's attacks, He Who Remains reveals he can anticipate their actions because he has foreseen the past, present, and future and that he guided them to him. He also reveals that he created the TVA after several variants of himself discovered alternative universes and contacted each other in the 31st century. Several of them tried to conquer other universes, leading to a multiversal war. He Who Remains harnessed the creature Alioth to end it, isolate his timeline, and create the TVA to prevent further branches. As he has grown weary, he offers Loki and Sylvie a choice—kill him, end the singular timeline, and risk another multiversal war sparked by his variants, or succeed him in leading the TVA and managing the timeline.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: As the timeline begins to diverge, He Who Remains finds he can no longer anticipate the future and Sylvie tries to kill him. Loki fights her, fearing He Who Remains might be right and pleading that he wants to keep her safe. They kiss, but Sylvie uses the TemPad to send Loki back to the TVA headquarters and kills a surrendering He Who Remains, unleashing a multiverse with timelines that cannot be pruned. Loki tries to warn B-15 and Mobius about He Who Remains' variants, but they do not recognize him. Loki then discovers that a statue of one of the variants has replaced those of the Time-Keepers.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: By September 2018, Marvel Studios was developing a limited series starring Tom Hiddleston's Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films. "Loki" was confirmed to be in development by Disney CEO Bob Iger in November. Kate Herron was hired to direct the series in August 2019. Herron and head writer Michael Waldron executive produce alongside Hiddleston and Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Stephen Broussard. The sixth episode, titled "For All Time. Always.", was written by Waldron and Eric Martin. The episode's mid-credits scene confirmed the series' renewal for a second season. "For All Time. Always." was released on Disney+ on July 14, 2021.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Waldron called Miss Minutes "really scary" when she becomes evil in the episode, despite her previous "sing-songy and sort of non-threatening" way of talking. Herron described her as a "devil on the shoulder" for Loki and Sylvie, and originally had planned for Miss Minutes to fight the pair in the Citadel at the End of Time. The production break allowed the creatives to reexamine Miss Minutes' role in the episode, resulting in creating a deeper, "protective" relationship between her and He Who Remains than was initially conceived. Tara Strong wanted "to play her angry after starting at this place of very cute and cautious of how much you know about her, to finally let her emotions really come out", and enjoyed "play[ing] her to this next level in this maximum capacity".


title: For All Time. Always.

text: He Who Remains is revealed to be the "man behind the curtain" of the Time Variance Authority (TVA), played by Jonathan Majors, who is set to appear in the film "" (2023) as Kang the Conqueror, a variant of He Who Remains. He Who Remains, who is a separate character in the comics, was altered for the MCU to be a variant of Kang, and was also partially inspired by Immortus. Kang was always intended to be a part of the series, since Waldon believed the character fit in a story which involved time travel and the multiverse. Waldron felt it made "so much sense" to introduce Majors in the series, since Kang is "a time-traveling, multiversal adversary" and thought to be "the next big cross-movie villain". In writing the character, Waldron hoped to "really hint at that terrifying evil within", while still portraying his other variants as more evil than he is. Herron called He Who Remains "the one that brings" the series together since he was "the theme of our show", demonstrating that "no one is completely good or completely bad, and people do fall into that gray area". He Who Remains' solitude also resonated with Herron's experience during the COVID-19 lockdown. When Ravonna Renslayer learns that the TVA is a lie and its agents are variants, she decides that she wants to stay in power and "reacts more in anger", instead of questioning her life's purpose as Mobius M. Mobius had done. Gugu Mbatha-Raw said that Renslayer "wants revenge with whoever put this whole facade together", with Waldron adding she wants to find "who pulled the wool over her eyes".


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Discussing Sylvie's decision to kill He Who Remains and betray Loki, Sophia Di Martino noted that in that moment Sylvie believes killing him "is going to make her feel better", and that feeling, which is fueled by anger built up since her childhood, "is stronger than any feelings she has for Loki". Di Martino also believed having Sylvie hear from Loki that he wants her to be okay was "such a nice thing" considering how damaged she is, adding, "It sort of breaks her heart a little bit because she just wants herself to be OK as well. For someone else to acknowledge that, and to see her in that way and to just see her, is so powerful." Herron compared Sylvie's situation in the scene to Loki's characterization in "Thor" (2011), with Sylvie being "driven by revenge, pain, and anger", and with Loki understanding her feelings due to his own experience. Herron felt that although Sylvie's betrayal was "a horrible goodbye, [...] the feelings were real" in their final confrontation. Di Martino added that, despite going through with killing He Who Remains, Sylvie remains unfulfilled without getting "the relief that she's been waiting for her whole life".


title: For All Time. Always.

text: The ending of the episode, which sees the Sacred Timeline broken, Loki at a TVA in a different timeline, and a statue of Kang replacing those of the Time Keepers, had different variations, with this one chosen while the production was on its COVID-19 hiatus. Waldron believed that the ending they settled on felt "right" and was able to close "one chapter of the story" while providing "thrilling propulsive energy into whatever happens next". Once it was known that a second season would happen, elements were added to the ending to make it a cliffhanger. Herron added that it was always known that the season would end with the rebirth of the multiverse. She also felt it was important to show that Loki "still has a fight in his heart" in the scenes in the Time Theater after Sylvie sends him away, even though he has reached his lowest point. Hiddleston added that Loki's confusion in that moment, processing Sylvie's betrayal after he "made a brave choice", was "unprecedented and it shatters him internally". The final line of the episode from Mobius, "Who are you?", mimics the first line from the first episode and was "the question of the whole first season".


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Herron added that a mid-credits scene for the episode was never considered as the creatives "always just were thinking just of the story and where we knew we wanted it to end", although the announcement of a second season was included mid-credits as "a fun nod to something that Marvel does so well".


title: For All Time. Always.

text: The episode stars Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Eugene Cordero as Hunter K-5E, Tara Strong as the voice of Miss Minutes, Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains, and Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius. Also appearing is Neil Ellice as Hunter D-90. Waldron was glad Majors' appearance in the episode did not leak ahead of time, noting many viewers suspected a version of Kang could appear in a post-credits scene, but would likely not have been a large part of the episode as Majors was.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Production designer Kasra Farahani took inspiration from the comics for the Citadel at the End of Time, having the Citadel be carved "in situ" from the asteroid, similar to Petra in Jordan, with it made from "this black stone with gold vein embellishments"; the gold was meant to represent "an unknowable kind of technology" since scientific discoveries have shown that asteroids are able to contain "unfathomable cache of precious metals and rare elements". Inside, the Citadel is mostly abandoned, except for He Who Remains' office, as a way to reflect "this sad, lonely figure rattling around a big empty space" who has decided to inhabit only his office. Leading to his office, Farahani constructed 13-foot-tall sculptures, sentinels of time that each hold half of an hourglass, followed by "an elaborate timekeeping apparatus where the room itself serves as the clock"; these touches were meant to slowly reveal who was in the Citadel without explicitly stating it to the audience. He Who Remains' office was a challenge for Farahani and his team to add light sources in the room since it was supposed to have been formed "in situ", ultimately suggesting a nebula outside the window to provide an outside light, along with the glow of the fireplace. The architecture of the Citadel was inspired by Hearst Castle, with Farahani believing He Who Remains had built it, pulling from "assorted grand architectural styles" to create it. Herron compared Farahani's design to a "Sunset Boulevard kind of dusty, dilapidated space".


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Herron felt the Citadel set helped Majors' performance of presenting He Who Remains as "the extrovert, but also the introvert of someone that would be living by themselves and only talking to a cartoon clock". He Who Remains' costume was constructed from elements throughout time, such as a Victorian era cape, shoes from Genghis Khan, and Mongolian pants, with a chest piece meant to evoke Immortus. Herron likened his costume to pajamas, given their "comfy" nature. For the TVA in the new timeline, Farahani made sure it looked the same as the one featured in all the previous episodes, to help "delay the audience and Loki's understanding that they were in a different place". This TVA also has a statue of Kang the Conqueror in place of the three Time Keepers, with Farahani working with the visual development team to create the character's look and design.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Filming took place at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, with Herron directing, and Autumn Durald Arkapaw serving as cinematographer. Location filming took place in the Atlanta metropolitan area, including at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, which was used for the Time Variance Authority's (TVA) headquarters. Loki's scenes in the Time Theater after Sylvie sends him away were the first to be shot when production resumed from their hiatus, with Hiddleston believing these scenes were an "intense" place to restart. Majors filmed his part during the final week of shooting for the series, coordinating with his commitments for the film "The Harder They Fall" (2021), which was filming in New Mexico. Majors felt it was difficult to prepare for "Loki" while being the lead actor of "The Harder They Fall". To help Majors, Herron had line readings between him, Hiddleston, and Di Martino over Zoom. Herron also allowed Majors to improvise elements of his performance, such as certain lines or movements.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Di Martino felt Sylvie's fight with Loki was "far more emotive" than their fight earlier in the season, believing it felt like a "breakup scene", saying, "It was the fight that you have when you are leaving someone. And it's so painful because you care about this person, but you just can't be with them for whatever reason." The end of the episode with Loki realizing he is in a different TVA was a reference to the ending of "Planet of the Apes" (1968).


title: For All Time. Always.

text: The episode opens with a sequence that features various archival audio from past MCU projects, including audio of Sam Wilson, Hope van Dyne, T'Challa, Scott Lang, Natasha Romanoff, Peter Quill, Thor, Steve Rogers, Hank Pym, Carol Danvers, Loki, Korg, Classic Loki, Vision, and Sylvie, as well as audio of Alan Watts, Neil Armstrong, Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Maya Angelou; this was an homage to the film "Contact" (1997). Two black holes featured in the sequence were also inspired by "Contact". Herron called the sequence "ever evolving" and initially had suggested "sounds of the Earth" be used at the end of the sequence when the visual is entering the timeline along with "a few quotes from time". This version was shown to Feige and the other Marvel Studios executives, who enjoyed the ending with the sounds, with Feige noting that the studio had never included MCU voices in their opening before. This led to Herron and her sound team finding the quotes for the opening, matched to when their character appears, with the sounds expanding to the whole sequence as a way to "hand off to the previous phase" and be "a summary of the chaos of the universe that He Who Remains is surrounded by". Herron worked with the Disney Diversity Team to select the real-world voices. The timeline, originally presented as a straight line in the series, is revealed to be circular at the end of the sequence, a revelation that Herron compared to the Earth now being considered to be spherical rather than flat, since "the TVA's knowledge of the timeline has always been [as] a straight line".


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Visual effects for the episode were created by Trixter, Luma Pictures, Cantina Creative, Crafty Apes, Method Studios, Lola Visual Effects, and FuseFX. The episode, and season, was completed on June 20, 2021.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: The opening sequence features "It's Been a Long, Long Time" by Harry James, previously heard in "" (2014) and "" (2019), and the Bollywood song "Swag Saha Nahi Jaye" from "Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi" (2018), sung by Sohail Sen and Neha Bhasin. Composer Natalie Holt's score references Mark Mothersbaugh's "" from "" (2017).


title: For All Time. Always.

text: After the episode's release, Marvel announced merchandise inspired by the episode as part of its weekly "Marvel Must Haves" promotion for each episode of the series, including jewelry, apparel, wall decals, and accessories. Marvel also released a promotional poster for "For All Time. Always.", which featured a quote from the episode.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: According to Samba TV, the episode was viewed in 1.9 million U.S. households from July 14–18, surpassing the finales for "WandaVision" (1.4 million) and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (1.7 million). Over its first five days of release, it also had viewership highs in the United Kingdom (300,000 households), Germany (96,000), and Australia (12,000), which also surpassed the finales for "WandaVision" and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier".


title: For All Time. Always.

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 89% approval rating with an average score of 7.9/10 based on 28 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Anchored by a trio of strong performances, "For All Time. Always." closes "Loki" first chapter with a thrilling finale that has major implications for the multiverse."


title: For All Time. Always.

text: Alan Sepinwall at "Rolling Stone" was "simultaneously thrilled and dismayed" by the appearance of Majors in the episode, noting introducing a series' main villain in the final episode was "bad dramatic structure", and that "it briefly felt as if everything that had been so special and appealing about "Loki" was being brushed aside in order to hype up a new bad guy for the big screen". Additionally, he believed much of the episode should have been "unwatchable" because it had heavy exposition. Yet, Majors' "profoundly weird performance" served the material, making "one hell of a debut" for the character. Sepinwall believed if the finale was examined "as setup for more "Loki", in addition to letting MCU viewers get accustomed to a version of Kang", "For All Time. Always." was "a flawed but often fascinating conclusion to just one chapter of the "Loki" story, rather than the full graphic novel" and "easily the best of this year's three MCU finales". Joanna Robinson of "Vanity Fair" agreed that the episode "pulled off the best finale" of the MCU Disney+ series, and noted the strong allusions to the series "Lost" and the film "Seven" (1995); Sepinwall also had noted the connections to "Lost" in the episode. Like Sepinwall, Robinson also felt the Kang reveal should not have worked and noted the large amount of exposition in the episode, stating "There is absolutely zero chance this episode would have worked were it not for Marvel hiring an actor as watchable and unpredictable as Majors", and likened him to Andrew Scott's Jim Moriarty in "Sherlock". She was also glad the finale focused on "character and emotion, and kept the world-ending stakes surprisingly personal" and did not feature a large CGI action set piece in the third act.


title: For All Time. Always.

text: "IGN"s Simon Cardy gave "For All Time. Always." a 9 out of 10, saying the "season finale has saved the best for last as it sticks its landing, setting big, universe-altering events on a small stage. It's a culmination of themes, character bonds and promise that results in a thoroughly engaging yet unexpectedly understated 40 minutes. Fantastic writing and a standout debut performance combine to create an episode of television that should change a universe (or multiverse) forever." He added that seeing Majors first appear was an "understated but impactful reveal", praising the "stellar writing" and Majors' acting that exuded the "zany energy of Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka with the underlying terror of Denzel Washington's Detective Alonzo in "Training Day"" (2001). Cardy did criticize the TVA material, particularly with Renslayer, feeling she remained "a cryptic character, but not in a particularly fun way". Writing for "The A.V. Club", Caroline Siede said, ""Loki"s first season finale doesn't weave together all the threads of the season so much as throw them out the window and start a new tapestry altogether. It's a bold move that makes for a riveting episode and the most unexpected MCU finale yet—even if it's arguably a wildly unsatisfying non-conclusion to the season of TV we just watched." While Siede noted that viewers who had not been familiar with Majors' casting as Kang would have been confused throughout the episode, she felt it worked for both those viewers and those who were expecting a Kang appearance in some form, with Majors giving a "wonderfully capricious performance"; she gave the episode a "B+".


title: For All Time. Always.

text: "The Hollywood Reporter"s Richard Newby said: "In an episode that both broadens the scope of the narrative possibilities and gets to the core of its central characters, the season one finale manages to strike the perfect balance between comic book weirdness and meaningful character studies." David Opie of "Digital Spy" criticized the introduction of He Who Remains, saying it "came completely out of nowhere" for non-comics readers, feeling that "thematically, another Loki variant would have made for a far more satisfying villain" as that would force Loki "to confront himself and his notions of what it means to be good", opining that characterization was "being overlooked just to move the story along in whatever way Marvel sees fit".


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Vanessa Jane Feltz is an English television personality, broadcaster, and journalist. She has appeared on various television shows, including "Vanessa" (1994–1998), "The Big Breakfast" (1996–1998), "The Vanessa Show" (1999), "Celebrity Big Brother" (2001), "The Wright Stuff" (2003–2005), "This Morning" (2006–present), and "Strictly Come Dancing" (2013).


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Feltz presented an early morning radio show on BBC Radio 2 from 2011 to 2022 and also hosted the "Breakfast Show" on BBC Radio London. Since September 2022, she has presented the weekday drivetime show on Talkradio and TalkTV.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Vanessa Feltz was born in Islington, London, and grew up in Pine Grove, Totteridge. She has estranged her sister, Julia, who is 3 years her junior. On her radio show she frequently refers to Totteridge as "the Beverly Hills of North London" and her middle class Jewish background as like "growing up in "Fiddler on the Roof"". Her father, Norman, was in the lingerie business.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Feltz was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, an independent school in Elstree, Hertfordshire. She then read English at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with a first class honours degree.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Feltz was the first female columnist for "The Jewish Chronicle" and later joined the "Daily Mirror". She wrote her first book at this time entitled "What Are These Strawberries Doing on My Nipples? I Need Them for the Fruit Salad".


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Feltz replaced Paula Yates on Channel 4's morning TV show "The Big Breakfast", presenting a regular item where she interviewed celebrities whilst lying on a bed. She has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Rolf Harris while interviewing him on the programme. In 1997, Feltz was tricked by the spoof TV show "Brass Eye". She also served as a magistrate from the age of 28, but was asked to stand down when she became recognisable by the defendants from her TV appearances.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: She presented the ITV daytime television chat show, "Vanessa", made by Anglia Television. She moved to the BBC to host a similar show, "The Vanessa Show", in 1998 in a reported £2.7 million deal. ITV replaced her show with "Trisha".


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: In 1999, "The Vanessa Show" suffered from bad publicity as some guests were alleged to have been actors. Despite her having had no involvement in the booking of guests, Feltz was seen to be at fault, and the show was cancelled soon after.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: In 2001, Feltz joined the local radio station BBC London 94.9 to present a mid-afternoon phone-in show and it continued to run since then at various times, from 2005 to 2015 at 09.00 to noon. From 2016 it was broadcast from 07.00 to 10.00 Monday to Friday. She hosted her last show for the station on 26 August 2022.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Also in 2001, Feltz was a contestant on the first series of "Celebrity Big Brother". She has appeared on its spin-off shows "Big Brother's Big Mouth", "Big Brother's Little Brother" and "Big Brother's Bit on the Side" on numerous occasions.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: In 2002, she made a cameo appearance in the comedy film "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands". In May 2003, she was voted 93rd on the list of worst Britons in Channel 4's poll of the "100 Worst Britons".


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Between 2003 and 2005, Feltz made regular appearances on five's The Wright Stuff, but then had to depart the show because the timing clashed with her new radio show.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: In 2004, she made an appearance in a sketch in the first episode of the second series of BBC comedy sketch show "Little Britain", playing a spokeswoman for fictional slimming club Fat Fighters. Also in that year she appeared in the second series of reality TV show "Celebrity Fit Club" in a bid to lose weight.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Feltz has also appeared on three different episodes of "The Weakest Link". In two episodes she made it to the final round but lost to Sue Perkins on one occasion and to Tony Slattery on the other. The third episode she appeared on was the Special 1,000 Celebratory episode to celebrate 1,000 episodes of "The Weakest Link" being made. She was the 6th one voted off.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: In 2010, Feltz and Ofoedu won their episode of the Virgin 1 show "A Restaurant in our Living Room", preparing a dinner at their home for 25 people.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Feltz returned to the Big Brother house on 3 September 2010 during "Ultimate Big Brother", the last series to be broadcast on Channel 4. She was evicted from the house on 8 September, two days before the final.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Feltz took on a greater workload of radio and TV presenting in 2011. She took over the BBC Radio 2 "Early Breakfast Show" on 17 January 2011 broadcasting from 05:00 until 06:30 each weekday in the slot formerly occupied by Sarah Kennedy. Writing of her Radio 2 debut, "The Daily Telegraph" radio critic, Gillian Reynolds described Feltz's voice as "like lemon tea with honey". From January 2021, her show was extended by an hour and began at the earlier time of 04:00. She often covered Jeremy Vine's news and current affairs show on Radio 2 when Vine was away. During this time her early breakfast show was covered by another presenter, usually Nicki Chapman. Feltz announced on 28 July 2022 that she would leave the show the following day, and Radio 2 after 2 weeks of covering for Jeremy Vine on 26 August.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: On 7 March 2011, Channel 5 moved "The Vanessa Show" to an afternoon slot at 14:15 following disappointing ratings for the morning slot. The move allowed Feltz to appear in live editions of her TV show after her morning radio commitments. Ratings eventually improved and a second series of the show was planned to commence in September 2011 but it never went ahead. "The Guardian"s "Media Monkey" blog dubbed Feltz "officially the hardest working woman in broadcasting" due to her weekday broadcasting commitments.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: On 7 September 2013, she re-entered the "Celebrity Big Brother" house to take part in a task. She left the house the same day.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: In July 2019, the BBC Annual Report recorded that Feltz was one of three women, along with Claudia Winkleman and Zoe Ball, amongst the ten highest paid BBC presenters, with a salary of £355,000.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: Feltz married surgeon Michael Kurer in 1983; they divorced in 2000. In December 2006, Feltz became engaged to singer Ben Ofoedu. They originally planned to marry the following year but they have remained engaged since then.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: She has two daughters and four grandchildren. Her elder daughter is Allegra Benitah, a former tax lawyer who is now a television baker and chef.


title: Vanessa Feltz

text: She lives with Ofoedu in St John's Wood, London, in a house which was previously owned by Charles Saatchi, and which was featured in Sir John Betjeman's documentary "MetroLand" (1973).


title: Sean Kinney

text: Sean Howard Kinney (born May 27, 1966) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Alice in Chains. Kinney also founded the short-lived supergroup Spys4Darwin, and has collaborated with other artists such as Johnny Cash and Metallica. He played drums for his Alice in Chains bandmate, Jerry Cantrell's first solo album, "Boggy Depot" (1998). Since 2009, Kinney has been co-owner of the Crocodile club in Seattle. He was a guest drummer on NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in September 2018. Kinney has earned nine Grammy Award nominations as a member of Alice in Chains.


title: Sean Kinney

text: Sean Howard Kinney was born in Renton, Washington, on May 27, 1966. His father was a police officer and his mother was a city official.


title: Sean Kinney

text: Kinney's interest in music was developed at an early age. He got his first drum kit when he was 5 years old. By the age of 9, he was the drummer for his grandfather's band, "The Cross Cats", and was traveling the Northwest playing small venues. Kinney grew up in Renton, where he attended Liberty Senior High School in the Issaquah School District.


title: Sean Kinney

text: Kinney met singer Layne Staley around 1985, when Staley's band Sleze was playing at Alki Beach. Kinney revealed to "Guitar Legends" magazine that in their first meeting he told Staley that he was cool but his band sucked, and that he should get a different drummer, so Kinney suggested himself. Kinney did not have a phone at the time, so he gave Staley a piece of paper with his girlfriend's number.


title: Sean Kinney

text: Kinney met up with Alice in Chains in 1987, when guitarist Jerry Cantrell wanted to form a new band after his band Diamond Lie broke up, so his roommate Layne Staley gave him the phone number of Kinney's girlfriend, Melinda Starr, so that Cantrell could talk to Kinney and set up a meeting. Kinney and his girlfriend went to the Music Bank in Seattle where Cantrell was living and listened to his demos. Cantrell mentioned that they needed a bass player to jam with them, and he already had someone in mind: Mike Starr, with whom Cantrell had played in a band in Burien called Gypsy Rose. Kinney then mentioned that his girlfriend was actually Starr's sister, and that he had been playing in bands together with Starr since they were kids. Kinney called Starr and a few days later he started jamming with him and Cantrell at the Music Bank, but they didn't have a singer. Cantrell, Starr and Kinney wanted Staley to be their lead singer, so they started auditioning terrible lead singers in front of Staley to send a hint. The last straw for Staley was when they auditioned a male stripper – he decided to join the band after that. Starr was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Mike Inez in 1993.


title: Sean Kinney

text: Kinney almost didn't play on Alice in Chains' debut album, "Facelift". He had broken his hand and the band started rehearsing with Greg Gilmore, the drummer from Mother Love Bone. Kinney explained in the 2009 book "Grunge is Dead":


title: Sean Kinney

text: Since the band's inception, Kinney has been the only drummer. He also played piano and sang chorus vocals through a megaphone on the hidden song from "Sap" entitled "Love Song". The album was named after a dream Kinney had about the band recording some light acoustic songs for an album they name Sap, because it's "sappy.".


title: Sean Kinney

text: Kinney was featured in the 1992 movie "Singles", along with the other members of Alice in Chains performing the songs "It Ain't Like That" and "Would?".


title: Sean Kinney

text: In 1996, Kinney joined singer Johnny Cash, guitarist Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, and bassist Krist Novoselic of Nirvana for a cover of Willie Nelson's "Time of the Preacher", featured on the tribute album "Twisted Willie", which also had Kinney playing drums for Jerry Cantrell's cover of "I've Seen All This World I Care to See". In the same year, Kinney played drums for Cantrell's first original solo song, "Leave Me Alone", featured on the soundtrack of the 1996 film "The Cable Guy".


title: Sean Kinney

text: In 1998, Kinney played drums for Cantrell's first solo album, "Boggy Depot", and percussion in the song "Tuesday's Gone", a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd released on Metallica's 1998 album "Garage Inc.", also featuring Cantrell on guitar.


title: Sean Kinney

text: After they toured as part of Cantrell's solo band in 1998, Kinney and Queensrÿche guitarist Chris DeGarmo formed a new band called Spys4Darwin in 1999. Alice in Chains' bassist Mike Inez and Sponge lead vocalist Vin Dombroski joined the band soon after. The band released their first and only album on May 18, 2001, a 6-track EP entitled "Microfish", and made their live debut at Endfest in Seattle on August 4, 2001.


title: Sean Kinney

text: Since 2009, Kinney co-owns the club The Crocodile in Seattle along with Alice in Chains' manager Susan Silver, Capitol Hill Block Party co-founder Marcus Charles, Peggy Curtis, and Portugal. The Man guitarist Eric Howk. In 2013, Rolling Stone named The Crocodile as one of the best clubs in America, ranked at #7.


title: Sean Kinney

text: Soundgarden lead vocalist Chris Cornell personally asked Kinney to join him, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin and Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan in the tribute show to the band Mad Season at Seattle's Benaroya Hall on January 30, 2015. Kinney played bongo for the song "All Alone" while a track with Layne Staley's original vocals were played. The performance was released as a live album in August 2015, entitled "Mad Season / Seattle Symphony: Sonic Evolution / January 30, 2015 / Benaroya Hall".


title: Sean Kinney

text: Alice in Chains was inactive from 1996 onwards due to Layne Staley's drug issues, which resulted in his death in April 2002. In 2005, Kinney came up with the idea of reuniting with the other two surviving members of Alice in Chains, Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez, to perform at a benefit concert for the victims of the tsunami disaster that struck South Asia in 2004. Kinney made calls to his former bandmates, as well as friends in the music community, such as former Alice in Chains manager Susan Silver. Kinney was surprised by the enthusiastic response to his idea, and the band performed for the first time in 10 years at the "K-Rock Tsunami Continued Care Relief Concert" in Seattle on February 18, 2006, featuring guest vocalists singing Staley's parts.


title: Sean Kinney

text: On March 6, 2006, the band performed together again at VH1's Decades Rock Live concert, honoring fellow Seattle musicians Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson of Heart. That night they played "Rooster" with Comes with the Fall vocalist William DuVall and Ann Wilson. DuVall joined Alice in Chains as lead singer shortly thereafter. The band has toured extensively worldwide since then.


title: Sean Kinney

text: The album "Black Gives Way to Blue", the first without Staley, was released on September 29, 2009, featuring DuVall as the new vocalist. The album was totally funded by Kinney and Cantrell, as the band did not have a record label at the time. Their fifth studio album, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here", was released on May 28, 2013.


title: Sean Kinney

text: In 2013, Kinney added the initials "LSMS" on his drum kit, a tribute to Alice in Chains' late members Layne Staley and Mike Starr.


title: Sean Kinney

text: Alice in Chains' sixth studio album (and the third with DuVall), "Rainier Fog", was released on August 24, 2018.


title: Sean Kinney

text: Kinney plays a large role in the presentation of the band, having helped design artwork, T-shirts and stage setups for most of the band's albums and tours.


title: Sean Kinney

text: In 1995, Alice in Chains was contemplating making a third studio album. When it was official, Kinney drew out artwork for the cover and liner notes. The cover features a three-legged dog, reason being, according to band lore, there was a three-legged dog named Tripod that used to terrorize Kinney and chase him around during his paper-work duty when he was a kid. The music video for the album's first single, "Grind", shows a three legged dog (similar to the one that allegedly used to chase Kinney) walking up a stairway with an elderly man.


title: Sean Kinney

text: The cover art of "Black Gives Way to Blue" (2009), an illustration of a heart surrounded by a black background, was Kinney's basic concept.


title: Sean Kinney

text: Kinney uses a drum kit made by Drum Workshop (DW Drums) with Remo heads and cymbals by Sabian. He uses Vater Percussion drumsticks.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Islamic–Jewish relations started in the 7th century CE with the origin and spread of Islam in the Arabian peninsula. The two religions share similar values, guidelines, and principles. Islam also incorporates Jewish history as a part of its own. Muslims regard the Children of Israel as an important religious concept in Islam. Moses, the most important prophet of Judaism, is also considered a prophet and messenger in Islam. Moses is mentioned in the Quran more than any other individual, and his life is narrated and recounted more than that of any other prophet. There are approximately 43 references to the Israelites in the Quran (excluding individual prophets), and many in the Hadith. Later rabbinic authorities and Jewish scholars such as Maimonides discussed the relationship between Islam and Jewish law. Maimonides himself, it has been argued, was influenced by Islamic legal thought.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Because Islam and Judaism share a common origin in the Middle East through Abraham, both are considered Abrahamic religions. There are many shared aspects between Judaism and Islam; Islam was strongly influenced by Judaism in its fundamental religious outlook, structure, jurisprudence and practice. Because of this similarity, as well as through the influence of Islamic culture and philosophy on the Jewish populations in the Muslim world, there has been considerable and continued physical, theological, and political overlap between the two faiths in the subsequent 1,400 years. Notably, the first Islamic Waqf was donated by a Jew, Rabbi Mukhayriq. And in 1027, a Jew, Samuel ibn Naghrillah, became top advisor and military general of the Taifa of Granada.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: The term "Semitic" is due to the legendary derivation of the peoples so called from Shem, son of Noah (Gen. x, 1). Hebreaic and Arabian peoples are generally classified as Semitic, a racialist concept derived from Biblical accounts of the origins of the cultures known to the ancient Hebrews. Those closest to them in culture and language were generally deemed to be descended from their forefather Shem, one of the sons of Noah. Enemies were often said to be descendants of his cursed nephew Canaan, grandson of Noah, son of Ham. Modern historians confirm the affinity of ancient Hebrews and Arabs based on characteristics that are usually transmitted from parent to child, such as genes and habits, with the most well-studied criterion being language. Similarities between Semitic languages (including Hebrew and Arabic) and their differences with those spoken by other adjacent people confirm the common origin of Hebrews and Arabs among other Semitic nations.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Around the 12th century BC, Judaism developed as a monotheistic religion. According to Jewish religious tradition, the history of Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham, who is considered a Hebrew. (The first Hebrew being Eber, a forefather of Abraham.) The Hebrew Bible occasionally refers to "Arvi" peoples (or variants thereof), translated as "Arab" or "Arabian" deriving from "Arava" plain, the dwellers of plains. Some Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula are considered descendants of Ismael, the first son of Abraham. While the commonly held view among historians is that Islam originated in Arabia in the 7th century AD, in Islam's view, Adam was the first Muslim (in the sense of believing in Allah and surrendering to Allah's commands). Islam also shares many traits with Judaism (as well as with Christianity), like the belief in and reverence for common prophets, such as Moses and Abraham, who are recognized in all three Abrahamic religions.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Judaism and Islam are known as "Abrahamic religions". The first Abrahamic religion was Judaism as practiced in the wilderness of the Sinai peninsula subsequent to the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt and continuing as the Hebrews entered the land of Canaan to conquer and settle it. The kingdom eventually split into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah prior to the Babylonian Exile, at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. The firstborn son of Abraham, Ishmael, is considered by Muslims to be the "Father of the Arabs". Abraham's second son Isaac is called "Father of the Hebrews". In Islamic tradition Isaac is viewed as the grandfather of all Israelites and the promised son of Ibraham from his barren wife Sarah. In the Hadith, Muhammad says that some twenty five thousand prophets and messengers came from Abraham's seed, most of these being from Isaac, and that the last one in this line was Jesus. In the Jewish tradition Abraham is called "Avraham Avinu" or "Our Father Abraham". For Muslims, he is considered an important prophet of Islam (see "Ibrahim") and the ancestor of Muhammad through Ishmael. Ibrahim is regarded as one of the prophets of Islam alongside Noah, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, among others. The narrative of his life in the Quran is similar to that seen in the Tanakh.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: As in Judaism and Christianity, Moses is regarded in Islam as one of the most prominent prophets. His story is frequently recounted in both the Meccan and Medinan chapters, some of which are long. Although there are differences in the Quranic and Biblical accounts, the remaining narratives are similar. They agree on the events of Moses' infancy, exile to Midian, plagues and miracles, deliverage of the Israelites, parting of the Red Sea, the revelation of the tablets, the incident of the Golden Calf and the 40 years of wandering.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: According to Noegel and Wheeler some scholars think there is a parallel between the status of Aaron in Moses' narrative and Umar in the narrative of Muhammad. In both the Biblical and Quranic accounts, Moses is accompanied by Aaron. In both accounts Moses is portrayed more actively. The Quranic and Biblical accounts differ on the nus of responsibility for the Golden Calf incident. The Bible accuses Aaron, whereas the Quranic narrative defends him.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: In the course of Muhammad's proselytizing in Mecca, he initially viewed Christians and Jews (both of whom he referred to as "People of the Book") as natural allies, sharing the core principles of his teachings, and anticipated their acceptance and support. Ten years after his first revelation in Mount Hira, a delegation consisting of the representatives of the twelve important clans of Medina pledged to physically protect Muhammad and invited him as a neutral outsider to Medina to serve as chief arbitrator for the entire community, which had been fighting with each other for around a hundred years and was in need of an authority.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Among the things Muhammad did in order to settle down the longstanding grievances among the tribes of Medina was drafting a document known as the Constitution of Medina. The community defined in the Constitution of Medina had a religious outlook but was also shaped by the practical considerations and substantially preserved the legal forms of the old Arab tribes. Muhammad also adopted some features of the Jewish worship and customs such as fasting on the Yom Kippur day. According to Alford Welch, the Jewish practice of having three daily prayer rituals appears to have been a factor in the introduction of the Islamic midday prayer, but Muhammad's adoption of facing north toward Jerusalem, Islam's first Qiblah or direction of prayer (later changed to facing toward the Kabah in Mecca), when performing the daily prayers, was practiced among other groups in Arabia.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Many Medinans converted to the faith of the Meccan immigrants, particularly pagan and polytheist tribes, but there were fewer Jewish converts. The Jews rejected Muhammad's claim to prophethood, and further argued that some passages in the Qur'an contradicted the Torah. Their opposition was due to political as well as religious reasons, as many Jews in Medina had close links with Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy, who was partial to the Jews and would have been Medina's prince if not for Muhammad's arrival.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Mark Cohen adds that Muhammad appeared "centuries after the cessation of biblical prophecy" and "couched his message in a verbiage foreign to Judaism both in its format and rhetoric." Maimonides, a Jewish scholar, referred to Muhammad as a false prophet. Moreover, Maimonides asserted that Muhammad's claim to prophethood was in itself what disqualified him, because it contradicted the prophecy of Moses, the Torah and the Oral Tradition. His argument further asserted that Muhammad being illiterate also disqualified him from being a prophet.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: In the Constitution of Medina, Jews were given equality to Muslims in exchange for political loyalty and were allowed to practice their own culture and religion. A significant narrative symbolising the inter-faith harmony between early Muslims and Jews is that of the Rabbi Mukhayriq. The Rabbi was from Banu Nadir and fought alongside Muslims at the Battle of Uhud and bequeathed his entire wealth to Muhammad in the case of his death. He was subsequently called "the best of the Jews" by Muhammad. Later, as Muhammad encountered opposition from the Jews, Muslims began to adopt a more negative view on the Jews, seeing them as something of a fifth column. Jewish violations of the Constitution of Medina, by aiding the enemies of the community, finally brought on major battles of Badr and Uhud which resulted in Muslim victories and the exile of the Banu Qainuqa and Banu Nadir, two of the main three Jewish tribes from Medina, and the mass slaughtering of all male adults of Banu Qurayza.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Both teach that Eber, Job, and Joseph were prophets. However, according to one sage in Judaism the whole story attributed to Job was an allegory and Job never actually existed. Rashi, a Jewish commentator on the Hebrew Scriptures, quotes a text dating to 160 AD, which is also quoted in the Talmud, in his commentary on Genesis 10 to show that Eber was a prophet.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Jews have often lived in predominantly Islamic nations. Since many national borders have changed over the fourteen centuries of Islamic history, a single community, such as the Jewish community in Cairo, may have been contained in a number of different nations over different periods.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: In the Iberian Peninsula, under Muslim rule, Jews were able to make great advances in mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, chemistry and philology. This era is sometimes referred to as the Golden age of Jewish culture in the Iberian Peninsula.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Traditionally Jews living in Muslim lands, known (along with Christians) as dhimmis, were allowed to practice their religion and to administer their internal affairs but subject to certain conditions. They had to pay the jizya (a per capita tax imposed on free, adult non-Muslim males) to the Muslim government but were exempted from paying the zakat (a tax imposed on free, adult Muslim males). Dhimmis were prohibited from bearing arms or giving testimony in most Muslim court cases, for there were many Sharia laws which did not apply to Dhimmis, who practiced Halakha. A common misconception is that of the requirement of distinctive clothing, which is a law not taught by the Qur'an or hadith but allegedly invented by the Abbasid Caliphate in early medieval Baghdad. Jews rarely faced martyrdom or exile, or forced compulsion to change their religion, and they were mostly free in their choice of residence and profession. They did, however, have certain restrictions placed upon them, listed in the Pact of Umar. The Pact of Umar was a set of guidelines placed upon Jews in Islamic territories, many of them being very restrictive and prohibitive. However, compared to Jews of Western Christendom at the time, Jews under Islamic rule were generally treated with more compassion and understanding, rather than violence and abhorrence. This period of relative tolerance, political advancement and cultural peacefulness is a time that is referred to as a golden age. As Jews advanced the social ladder, they also gained economic status and power. Many Jews had their own businesses and were even ranking officials within the government. However, Jews still experienced tense and violent times – they were often discriminated against and, as a result, were often the recipient of many violent acts placed upon them. The notable examples of massacre of Jews include the killing or forcible conversion of them by the rulers of the Almohad dynasty in Al-Andalus in the 12th century. Notable examples of the cases where the choice of residence was taken away from them includes confining Jews to walled quarters (mellahs) in Morocco beginning from the 15th century and especially since the early 19th century. Most conversions were voluntary and happened for various reasons. However, there were some forced conversions in the 12th century under the Almohad dynasty of North Africa and al-Andalus as well as in Persia.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: The medieval Volga state of Khazaria converted to Judaism, whereas its subject Volga Bulgaria converted to Islam.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: According to Judaism, Jews that voluntarily convert to Islam commit a treacherous act of heresy in abandoning the Torah. There is a view, held by the Radvaz and Ritva, that a Jew should be prepared to take his own life rather than convert to another religion, but the Rambam, also known as Maimonides, expresses that it is not necessary that a Jew take his own life if he is forced to convert but privately follows the Torah.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: In modern times, some notable converts to Islam from a Jewish background include Muhammad Asad (b. Leopold Weiss), Abdallah Schleifer (b. Marc Schleifer), Youssef Darwish, Layla Morad and Maryam Jameelah (b. Margret Marcus). More than 200 Israeli Jews converted to Islam between 2000 and 2008.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Historically, in accordance with traditional Islamic law, Jews generally enjoyed freedom of religion in Islamic states as People of the Book. However, certain rulers did historically enact forced conversions for political reasons and religious reasons in regards to youth and orphans. A number of groups who converted from Judaism to Islam have remained Muslim, while maintaining a connection to and interest in their Jewish heritage. These groups include the "anusim" or Daggataun of Timbuktu who converted in 1492, when Askia Muhammed came to power in Timbuktu and decreed that Jews must convert to Islam or leave, and the "Chala", a portion of the Bukharan Jewish community who were pressured and many times forced to convert to Islam.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: In Persia, during the Safavid dynasty of the 16th and 17th centuries, Jews were forced to proclaim publicly that they had converted to Islam, and were given the name "Jadid-al-Islam" (New Muslims). In 1661, an Islamic edict was issued overturning these forced conversions, and the Jews returned to practicing Judaism openly. Jews in Yemen also had to face oppression, during which persecution reached its climax in the 17th century when nearly all Jewish communities in Yemen were given the choice of either converting to Islam or of being banished to a remote desert area, and which later became known as the Mawza Exile. Similarly, to end a pogrom in 1839, the Jews of Mashhad were forced to convert "en masse" to Islam. They practiced Judaism secretly for over a century before openly returning to their faith. At the turn of the 21st century, around 10,000 lived in Israel, another 4,000 in New York City, and 1,000 elsewhere. (See Allahdad incident.)


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: In Turkey, the claimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi was forced to convert to Islam in 1668. Most of his followers abandoned him, but several thousand converted to Islam as well, while continuing to see themselves as Jews. They became known as the Dönmeh (a Turkish word for a religious convert). Some Dönmeh remain today, primarily in Turkey.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Judaism does not proselytize, and often discourages conversion to Judaism; maintaining that all people have a covenant with God, and instead encourages non-Jews to uphold the Seven Laws which it believes were given to Noah. Conversions to Judaism are therefore relatively rare, including those from the Islamic world. One famous Muslim who converted to Judaism was Ovadyah, famous from his contact with Maimonides.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Reza Jabari, an Iranian flight attendant who hijacked the air carrier Kish Air flight 707 between Tehran and the resort of Kish Island in September 1995, and landed in Israel converted to Judaism after serving four-and-a-half years in an Israeli prison. He settled among Iranian Jews in the Israeli Red Sea resort town of Eilat. Another such case includes Avraham Sinai, a former Hezbollah fighter who, after the Israel-Lebanon War ended, fled to Israel and converted from Islam to become a religious and practicing Jew.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Iran contains the largest number of Jews within predominantly Muslim countries and Uzbekistan and Turkey have the next largest communities. Iran's Jewish community is officially recognized as a religious minority group by the government, and, like the Zoroastrians, they were allocated a seat in the Iranian parliament. In 2000 it was estimated that at that time there were still 30,000–35,000 Jews in Iran; other sources put the figure as low as 20,000–25,000. They cannot emigrate out of Iran, since the government only allows one family member to leave and be out of the country at a time. A Jewish businessman was hanged for helping Jews emigrate.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: In present times, the Arab–Israeli conflict is a defining event in the relationship between Muslims and Jews. The State of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948, one day before the expiry of the British Mandate of Palestine. Not long after, five Arab countries—Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq—attacked Israel, launching the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. After almost a year of fighting, a ceasefire was declared and temporary borders, known as the Green Line, were instituted. Jordan annexed what became known as the West Bank and Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip. Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations on 11 May 1949. During the course of the hostilities, 711,000 Arabs, according to UN estimates, fled or were expelled. The following decades saw a similar Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries where 800,000–1,000,000 Jews were forcibly expelled or fled from Arab nations due to persecution.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek has argued that the term "Judeo-Muslim" to describe the middle-east culture against the western Christian culture would be more appropriate in these days, claiming as well a reduced influence from the Jewish culture on the western world due to the historical persecution and exclusion of the Jewish minority. (Though there is also a different perspective on Jewish contributions and influence.)


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: A "Judaeo-Christian-Muslim" concept thus refers to the three main monotheistic religions, commonly known as the Abrahamic religions. Formal exchanges between the three religions, modeled on the decades-old Jewish–Christian interfaith dialogue groups, became common in American cities following the 1993 Israeli–Palestinian Oslo accords.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: The governments of Jordan and Qatar have been particularly active in fostering dialogue between Muslims and Jews, through conferences and institutes.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Following 9/11, there was a breakdown in interfaith dialogue that included mosques, due to the increased attention to Islamic sermons in American mosques, that revealed "anti-Jewish and anti-Israel outbursts by previously respected Muslim clerics and community leaders."


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: One of the country's most prominent mosques is the New York Islamic Cultural Center, built with funding from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia. Its imam, Mohammad Al-Gamei'a, disappeared two days after 9/11.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Since 2007, the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, led by Rabbi Marc Schneier and Russell Simmons has made improving Muslim-Jewish Relations their main focus. They have hosted the National Summit of Imams and Rabbis in 2007, the Gathering of Muslim and Jewish Leaders in Brussels in 2010 and in Paris in 2012, and three Missions of Muslim and Jewish Leaders to Washington D.C.. Each November the Foundation hosts the Weekend of Twinning which encourages Muslims and Jews, Imams and Rabbis, Mosques and synagogues, and Muslim and Jewish organizations to hold joint programming inspired by the commonalities between Muslims and Jews.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: The interview was published 4 October on a Web site affiliated with Cairo's Al-Azhar University, Islam's most respected theological academy. Immediately after 9/11, Imam Al-Gamei'a had presided over an interfaith service at his mosque. At the service the imam was quoted as saying, "We emphasize the condemnation of all persons, whoever they be, who have carried out this inhuman act." The Reverend James Parks Morton, president of the Interfaith Center of New York, who attended the service, called Imam Al-Gamei'a's subsequent comments "astonishing." "It makes interfaith dialogue all the more important," Reverend Morton said.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Post 9/11 remarks made by Muslim leaders in Cleveland and Los Angeles also led to the suspension of longstanding Muslim-Jewish dialogues. Some Jewish community leaders cite the statements as the latest evidence that Muslim-Jewish dialogue is futile in today's charged atmosphere. John Rosove, senior rabbi of Temple Israel of Hollywood, and other Jewish participants withdrew from the three-year-old Muslim-Jewish dialogue group after one of the Muslim participants, Salam al-Marayati of MPAC, suggested in a radio interview that Israel should be put on the list of suspects behind the 11 September attacks. However, in January 2011, MPAC member Wa’el Azmeh and Temple Israel engaged in an interfaith dialogue.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: In Cleveland, Jewish community leaders put Muslim-Jewish relations on hold after the spiritual leader of a prominent mosque appeared in (a 1991) videotape ...aired after 9/11 by a local TV station. Imam Fawaz Damra calls for "directing all the rifles at the first and last enemy of the Islamic nation and that is the sons of monkeys and pigs, the Jews." The revelation was all the more shocking since Imam Damra had been an active participant in local interfaith activities.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Good Jewish-Muslim relations continue in Detroit, which has the nation's largest Arab-American community. Jewish organizations there have established good relations with a religious group called the Islamic Supreme Council of North America.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: In Los Angeles there has been a formation of an interfaith think tank through the partnership of neighboring institutions the University of Southern California, The Hebrew Union College, and Omar Foundation. The Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement has an extensive online resource center with scholarly works on similar topics from Muslim and Jewish perspectives. The Center of Muslim-Jewish Engagement has begun to launch an interfaith religious text-study group to build bonds and form a positive community promoting interfaith relations.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Islam and Judaism share the idea of a revealed scripture. Even though they differ over the precise text and its interpretations, the Hebrew "Torah" and the Muslim "Qur'an" share a lot of narrative as well as injunctions. From this, they share many other fundamental religious concepts such as the belief in a day of Divine Judgment. Reflecting the vintage of the religions, the Torah is traditionally in the form of a scroll and the Qur'an in the form of a codex.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Muslims commonly refer to Jews (and Christians) as fellow "People of the Book": people who follow the same general teachings in relation to the worship of the one God worshipped by Abraham. The "Qur'an" distinguishes between "People of the Book" (Jews and Christians), who should be tolerated even if they hold to their faiths, and idolaters (polytheists) who are not given that same degree of tolerance (See Al-Baqara, 256). Some restrictions for Muslims are relaxed, such as Muslim males being allowed to marry a woman from the "People of the Book", or Muslims being allowed to eat Kosher meat.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: The Quranic account and Islamic sources explain that the Torah has undergone extensive corruption through textual alteration and contextomy. Various Jewish factions had sparred in the Hasmonean era of who the most notable were the Pharisees and Sadducees. The modern Jewish tradition originates from the Pharisaic school which has dominated Jewish theology since the end of the Second Temple period. The Pharisees and Sadducees had differed over the interpretation of the Biblocal canon. The Sadducees adopted a stricter literal interpretation of the Bible against the Pharisaic stress on the Oral Torah and a non-literal interpretation of the written Torah with the usage of the oral Torah. Such interpretation advanced far beyond the literal interpretations. Later the sages of the Mishnah and Talmud continued with constructing a framework of interpreting the Torah homiletically. This framework was sketched out early in the Talmud and this framework is attributed to R.Hillel, R.Ishmael b. Elisha and R. Eli'ezer b.R. Yossey of the Galilee. The Bablylonian Talmud documents seventy incidents where the sages interpreted the Bible by chainging a word or more. This came about by processes such as changing the vocalisation of verbiage, because Hebrew alphabet is consonantal, to suit a particular interpretation. At other times Talmudic sages would split words into two. With this evidence, Mazuz points out that the Quranic charge of the Torah's corruption was not misleading but was a rejection of the homiletic methodology in the Talmud.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: The most obvious common practice is the statement of the absolute unity of God, which Muslims observe in their five times daily prayers (salat), and Jews state at least twice (Shema Yisrael), along with praying 3 times daily. The two faiths also share the central practices of fasting and almsgiving, as well as dietary laws and other aspects of ritual purity.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Under the strict dietary laws, lawful food is called "Kosher" in Judaism and "Halal" in Islam. Both religions prohibit the consumption of pork. Halal restrictions are similar to a subset of the Kashrut dietary laws, so all kosher foods are considered halal, while not all halal foods are Kosher. Halal laws, for instance, do not prohibit the mixing of milk and meat or the consumption of shellfish, each of which are prohibited by the kosher laws, with the exception that in the Shia Islam belief shellfish, mussels, and similar sea foods and fish without scales are not considered halal.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Sacred texts of both religions ban homosexuality and forbid human sexual relations outside of marriage and necessitate abstinence during the wife's menstruation. Both Islam and Judaism practice circumcision of males.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Islam and Judaism both consider the Christian doctrine of the trinity and the belief of Jesus being God as explicitly against the tenets of monotheism. Idolatry and the worship of graven images is likewise forbidden in both religions. Both have official colors (Blue in Judaism and Green in Islam). Both faiths believe in angels, as servants of God and share a similar idea of demons ("Jinn" and "Shedim"); Jewish demonology mentions ha-Satan and Muslim demonology mentions Al-Shai'tan both rejecting him as an opponent of God. Many angels also possess similar names and roles in both Judaism and Islam. Neither religion subscribes to the concept of original sin and both religions traditionally view homosexuality as sinful. Narrative similarities between Jewish texts and the Hadith have also been noted. For example, both state that Potiphar's wife was named Zuleika.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: There is a small bone in the body at the base of the spinal column called the Luz bone (known by differing traditions as either the coccyx or the seventh cervical vertebra) from which the body will be rebuilt at the time of resurrection, according to Muslims and Jews who share the belief that this bone does not decay. Muslim books refer to this bone as "^Ajbu al-Thanab" (عَجْبُ الذَّنَب). Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananiah replied to Hadrian, as to how man revived in the world to come, "From Luz, in the back-bone".


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: The Islamic Hadith and Jewish Talmud have also often been compared as authoritative extracanonical texts that were originally oral transmissions for generations before being committed to writing.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: "One of the most important early Jewish philosophers influenced by Islamic philosophy is Rav Saadia Gaon (892–942). His most important work is Emunoth ve-Deoth (Book of Beliefs and Opinions). In this work Saadia treats of the questions that interested the Mutakallimun so deeply—such as the creation of matter, the unity of God, the divine attributes, the soul, etc.—and he criticizes the philosophers severely."


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: The 12th century saw the apotheosis of pure philosophy. This supreme exaltation of philosophy was due, in great measure, to Ghazali (1058–1111) among the Arabs, and to Judah ha-Levi (1140) among the Jews. Like Ghazali, Judah ha-Levi took upon himself to free religion from the shackles of speculative philosophy, and to this end wrote the "Kuzari", in which he sought to discredit all schools of philosophy alike.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Maimonides endeavored to harmonize the philosophy of Aristotle with Judaism; and to this end he composed the work, "Dalalat al-Ḥairin" ("Guide for the Perplexed")—known better under its Hebrew title "Moreh Nevuchim"—which served for many centuries as the subject of discussion and comment by Jewish thinkers. In this work, Maimonides considers creation, the unity of God, the attributes of God, the soul, etc., and treats them in accordance with the theories of Aristotle to the extent in which these latter do not conflict with religion. For example, while accepting the teachings of Aristotle upon matter and form, he pronounces against the eternity of matter. Nor does he accept Aristotle's theory that God can have a knowledge of universals only, and not of particulars. If He had no knowledge of particulars, He would be subject to constant change. Maimonides argues: "God perceives future events before they happen, and this perception never fails Him. Therefore there are no new ideas to present themselves to Him. He knows that such and such an individual does not yet exist, but that he will be born at such a time, exist for such a period, and then return into non-existence. When then this individual comes into being, God does not learn any new fact; nothing has happened that He knew not of, for He knew this individual, such as he is now, before his birth" ("Moreh", i.20). While seeking thus to avoid the troublesome consequences certain Aristotelian theories would entail upon religion, Maimonides could not altogether escape those involved in Aristotle's idea of the unity of souls; and herein he laid himself open to the attacks of the orthodox.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: A series of eminent men—such as the Tibbons, Narboni, and Gersonides—joined in translating the Arabic philosophical works into Hebrew and commenting upon them. The works of Ibn Roshd especially became the subject of their study, due in great measure to Maimonides, who, in a letter addressed to his pupil Joseph ben Judah, spoke in the highest terms of Ibn Roshd's commentary.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: The Ishmaelites are not at all idolaters; [idolatry] has long been severed from their mouths and hearts; and they attribute to God a proper unity, a unity concerning which there is no doubt. And because they lie about us, and falsely attribute to us the statement that God has a son, is no reason for us to lie about them and say that they are idolaters ... And should anyone say that the house that they honor [the Kaaba] is a house of idolatry and an idol is hidden within it, which their ancestors used to worship, then what of it? The hearts of those who bow down toward it today are [directed] only toward Heaven ... [Regarding] the Ishmaelites today—idolatry has been severed from the mouths of all of them [including] women and children. Their error and foolishness is in other things which cannot be put into writing because of the renegades and wicked among Israel [i.e., apostates]. But as regards the unity of God they have no error at all.


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: Saadia Gaon's commentary on the Bible bears the stamp of the Mutazilites; and its author, while not admitting any positive attributes of God, except these of essence, endeavors to interpret Biblical passages in such a way as to rid them of anthropomorphism. The Jewish commentator, Abraham ibn Ezra, explains the Biblical account of Creation and other Scriptural passages in a philosophical sense. Nahmanides (Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman), too, and other commentators, show the influence of the philosophical ideas current in their respective epochs. This salutary inspiration, which lasted for five consecutive centuries, yielded to that other influence alone that came from the neglected depths of Jewish and of Neoplatonic mysticism, and which took the name of "Kabbalah".


title: Islamic–Jewish relations

text: In the early days of Islam, according to Islamic sources, a Jewish tribe of Arabia (see Banu Qurayza) was alleged to have broken the peace treaty with the early Muslims, resulting in the execution of over 700 Jews. The children and women were subsequently taken by Muslim soldiers; one of these, Safiyya bint Huyayy whose husband Kenana ibn al-Rabi had also been killed, was taken by Muhammad as his wife. There were notable persecutions of Jews such as the 1033 Fez massacre, 1066 Granada massacre and 1834 looting of Safed. In the late 19th century, the Zionist movement sought to re-establish a Jewish homeland in historic Israel, within the historical territory of Palestine, also known as Zion, also known as the Holy Land. This created tensions between the Palestinian Jews and Palestinian Arabs, leading to, beginning in 1947, a civil war and the subsequent exodus of many Palestinian Arabs and many Jews from Muslim countries. In 1948, the state of Israel was declared, and shortly after its declaration of independence, the Arab States declared war on Israel, in which the Israelis were victorious. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, twelve more wars were fought between the Arab States and Israel. The Arab–Israeli conflict has weakened Islamic–Jewish relations severely.


title: Digital television

text: Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advancement and represented the first significant evolution in television technology since color television in the 1950s. Modern digital television is transmitted in high-definition television (HDTV) with greater resolution than analog TV. It typically uses a widescreen aspect ratio (commonly 16:9) in contrast to the narrower format of analog TV. It makes more economical use of scarce radio spectrum space; it can transmit up to seven channels in the same bandwidth as a single analog channel, and provides many new features that analog television cannot. A transition from analog to digital broadcasting began around 2000. Different digital television broadcasting standards have been adopted in different parts of the world; below are the more widely used standards:


title: Digital television

text: Digital television's roots are tied to the availability of inexpensive, high performance computers. It was not until the 1990s that digital TV became a real possibility. Digital television was previously not practically feasible due to the impractically high bandwidth requirements of uncompressed video, requiring around 200Mbit/s for a standard-definition television (SDTV) signal, and over 1Gbit/s for high-definition television (HDTV).


title: Digital television

text: In the mid-1980s, Toshiba released a television set with digital capabilities, using integrated circuit chips such as a microprocessor to convert analog television broadcast signals to digital video signals, enabling features such as freezing pictures and showing two channels at once. In 1986, Sony and NEC Home Electronics announced their own similar TV sets with digital video capabilities. However, they still relied on analog TV broadcast signals, with true digital TV broadcasts not yet being available at the time.


title: Digital television

text: A digital TV broadcast service was proposed in 1986 by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication (MPT) in Japan, where there were plans to develop an "Integrated Network System" service. However, it was not possible to practically implement such a digital TV service until the adoption of motion-compensated DCT video compression formats such as MPEG made it possible in the early 1990s.


title: Digital television

text: In the mid-1980s, as Japanese consumer electronics firms forged ahead with the development of HDTV technology, and as the MUSE analog format was proposed by Japan's public broadcaster NHK as a worldwide standard. Japanese advancements were seen as pacesetters that threatened to eclipse US electronics companies. Until June 1990, the Japanese MUSE standard—based on an analog system—was the front-runner among the more than 23 different technical concepts under consideration.


title: Digital television

text: Between 1988 and 1991, several European organizations were working on DCT-based digital video coding standards for both SDTV and HDTV. The EU 256 project by the CMTT and ETSI, along with research by Italian broadcaster RAI, developed a DCT video codec that broadcast SDTV at 34Mbit/s and near-studio-quality HDTV at about 70140Mbit/s. RAI demonstrated this with a 1990 FIFA World Cup broadcast in March 1990. An American company, General Instrument, also demonstrated the feasibility of a digital television signal in 1990. This led to the FCC being persuaded to delay its decision on an advanced television (ATV) standard until a digitally based standard could be developed.


title: Digital television

text: In March 1990, when it became clear that a digital standard was feasible, the FCC made a number of critical decisions. First, the Commission declared that the new TV standard must be more than an enhanced analog signal, but be able to provide a genuine HDTV signal with at least twice the resolution of existing television images. Then, to ensure that viewers who did not wish to buy a new digital television set could continue to receive conventional television broadcasts, it dictated that the new ATV standard must be capable of being simulcast on different channels. The new ATV standard also allowed the new DTV signal to be based on entirely new design principles. Although incompatible with the existing NTSC standard, the new DTV standard would be able to incorporate many improvements.


title: Digital television

text: The final standard adopted by the FCC did not produce a universal standard for scanning formats, aspect ratios, or lines of resolution. This outcome resulted from a dispute between the consumer electronics industry (joined by some broadcasters) and the computer industry (joined by the film industry and some public interest groups) over which of the two scanning processes—interlaced or progressive—is superior. Interlaced scanning, which is used in televisions worldwide, scans even-numbered lines first, then odd-numbered ones. Progressive scanning, which is the format used in computers, scans lines in sequences, from top to bottom. The computer industry argued that progressive scanning is superior because it does not flicker in the manner of interlaced scanning. It also argued that progressive scanning enables easier connections with the Internet, and is more cheaply converted to interlaced formats than vice versa. The film industry also supported progressive scanning because it offers a more efficient means of converting filmed programming into digital formats. For their part, the consumer electronics industry and broadcasters argued that interlaced scanning was the only technology that could transmit the highest quality pictures then (and currently) feasible, i.e., 1,080 lines per picture and 1,920 pixels per line. Broadcasters also favored interlaced scanning because their vast archive of interlaced programming is not readily compatible with a progressive format.


title: Digital television

text: DirecTV in the US launched the first commercial digital satellite platform in May 1994, using the Digital Satellite System (DSS) standard. Digital cable broadcasts were tested and launched in the US in 1996 by TCI and Time Warner. The first digital terrestrial platform was launched in November 1998 as ONdigital in the UK, using the DVB-T standard.


title: Digital television

text: Digital television supports many different picture formats defined by the broadcast television systems which are a combination of size and aspect ratio (width to height ratio).


title: Digital television

text: With digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting, the range of formats can be broadly divided into two categories: high-definition television (HDTV) for the transmission of high-definition video and standard-definition television (SDTV). These terms by themselves are not very precise, and many subtle intermediate cases exist.


title: Digital television

text: One of several different HDTV formats that can be transmitted over DTV is: pixels in progressive scan mode (abbreviated "720p") or pixels in interlaced video mode ("1080i"). Each of these uses a aspect ratio. HDTV cannot be transmitted over analog television channels because of channel capacity issues.


title: Digital television

text: SDTV, by comparison, may use one of several different formats taking the form of various aspect ratios depending on the technology used in the country of broadcast. NTSC can deliver a resolution in 4:3 and in , while PAL can give in and in . However, broadcasters may choose to reduce these resolutions to reduce bit rate (e.g., many DVB-T channels in the UK use a horizontal resolution of 544 or 704 pixels per line).


title: Digital television

text: Each commercial broadcasting terrestrial television DTV channel in North America is allocated enough bandwidth to broadcast up to 19 megabits per second. However, the broadcaster does not need to use this entire bandwidth for just one broadcast channel. Instead, the broadcast can use Program and System Information Protocol and subdivide across several video subchannels (a.k.a. feeds) of varying quality and compression rates, including non-video datacasting services.


title: Digital television

text: A broadcaster may opt to use a standard-definition (SDTV) digital signal instead of an HDTV signal, because current convention allows the bandwidth of a DTV channel (or "multiplex") to be subdivided into multiple digital subchannels, (similar to what most FM radio stations offer with HD Radio), providing multiple feeds of entirely different television programming on the same channel. This ability to provide either a single HDTV feed or multiple lower-resolution feeds is often referred to as distributing one's "bit budget" or multicasting. This can sometimes be arranged automatically, using a statistical multiplexer (or "stat-mux"). With some implementations, image resolution may be less directly limited by bandwidth; for example in DVB-T, broadcasters can choose from several different modulation schemes, giving them the option to reduce the transmission bit rate and make reception easier for more distant or mobile viewers.


title: Digital television

text: There are several different ways to receive digital television. One of the oldest means of receiving DTV (and TV in general) is from terrestrial transmitters using an antenna (known as an "aerial" in some countries). This way is known as Digital terrestrial television (DTT). With DTT, viewers are limited to channels that have a terrestrial transmitter in range of their antenna.


title: Digital television

text: Other ways have been devised to receive digital television. Among the most familiar to people are digital cable and digital satellite. In some countries where transmissions of TV signals are normally achieved by microwaves, digital MMDS is used. Other standards, such as Digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) and DVB-H, have been devised to allow handheld devices such as mobile phones to receive TV signals. Another way is IPTV, that is receiving TV via Internet Protocol, relying on digital subscriber line (DSL) or optical cable line. Finally, an alternative way is to receive digital TV signals via the open Internet (Internet television), whether from a central streaming service or a P2P (peer-to-peer) system.


title: Digital television

text: Some signals carry encryption and specify use conditions (such as "may not be recorded" or "may not be viewed on displays larger than 1 m in diagonal measure") backed up with the force of law under the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WIPO Copyright Treaty) and national legislation implementing it, such as the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Access to encrypted channels can be controlled by a removable smart card, for example via the Common Interface (DVB-CI) standard for Europe and via Point Of Deployment (POD) for IS or named differently CableCard.


title: Digital television

text: Digital television signals must not interfere with each other, and they must also coexist with analog television until it is phased out.


title: Digital television

text: The following table gives allowable signal-to-noise and signal-to-interference ratios for various interference scenarios. This table is a crucial regulatory tool for controlling the placement and power levels of stations. Digital TV is more tolerant of interference than analog TV, and this is the reason a smaller range of channels can carry an all-digital set of television stations.


title: Digital television

text: People can interact with a DTV system in various ways. One can, for example, browse the electronic program guide. Modern DTV systems sometimes use a return path providing feedback from the end user to the broadcaster. This is possible with a coaxial or fiber optic cable, a dialup modem, or Internet connection but is not possible with a standard antenna.


title: Digital television

text: Some of these systems support video on demand using a communication channel localized to a neighborhood rather than a city (terrestrial) or an even larger area (satellite).


title: Digital television

text: 1seg (1-segment) is a special form of ISDB. Each channel is further divided into 13 segments. Twelve are allocated for HDTV and the other for narrow-band receivers such as mobile televisions and cell phones.


title: Digital television

text: DTV has several advantages over analog TV, the most significant being that digital channels take up less bandwidth, and the bandwidth needs are continuously variable, at a corresponding reduction in image quality depending on the level of compression as well as the resolution of the transmitted image. This means that digital broadcasters can provide more digital channels in the same space, provide high-definition television service, or provide other non-television services such as multimedia or interactivity. DTV also permits special services such as multiplexing (more than one program on the same channel), electronic program guides and additional languages (spoken or subtitled). The sale of non-television services may provide an additional revenue source.


title: Digital television

text: Digital and analog signals react to interference differently. For example, common problems with analog television include ghosting of images, noise from weak signals, and many other potential problems which degrade the quality of the image and sound, although the program material may still be watchable. With digital television, the audio and video must be synchronized digitally, so reception of the digital signal must be very nearly complete; otherwise, neither audio nor video will be usable. Short of this complete failure, "blocky" video is seen when the digital signal experiences interference.


title: Digital television

text: Analog TV began with monophonic sound, and later developed multichannel television sound with two independent audio signal channels. DTV allows up to 5 audio signal channels plus a subwoofer bass channel, with broadcasts similar in quality to movie theaters and DVDs.


title: Digital television

text: Digital TV signals require less transmission power than analog TV signals to be broadcast and received satisfactorily.


title: Digital television

text: DTV images have some picture defects that are not present on analog television or motion picture cinema, because of present-day limitations of bit rate and compression algorithms such as MPEG-2. This defect is sometimes referred to as "mosquito noise".


title: Digital television

text: Because of the way the human visual system works, defects in an image that are localized to particular features of the image or that come and go are more perceptible than defects that are uniform and constant. However, the DTV system is designed to take advantage of other limitations of the human visual system to help mask these flaws, e.g. by allowing more compression artifacts during fast motion where the eye cannot track and resolve them as easily and, conversely, minimizing artifacts in still backgrounds that may be closely examined in a scene (since time allows).


title: Digital television

text: Broadcast, cable, satellite, and Internet DTV operators control the picture quality of television signal encodes using sophisticated, neuroscience-based algorithms, such as the structural similarity (SSIM) video quality measurement tool, which was accorded each of its inventors a Primetime Emmy because of its global use. Another tool, called Visual Information Fidelity (VIF), is a top-performing algorithm at the core of the Netflix VMAF video quality monitoring system, which accounts for about 35% of all US bandwidth consumption.