title: Pre-exposure prophylaxis

text: While PrEP appears to be extremely successful in reducing HIV infection , there is mixed evidence that there might be a change in use of condoms in anal sex, raising risks of spreading sexually transmitted infections other than HIV. In a meta-analysis of 18 studies, researchers found that rates of new diagnoses of STIs among MSM (men who have sex with men) given PrEP were 25.3 times greater for gonorrhea, 11.2 times greater for chlamydia and 44.6 times greater for syphilis, compared with the rates among MSM not given PrEP. Unlike HIV, these three STIs can be cured with antibiotics. However, the increased rates of such infections and their treatment can lead to antibiotic-resistant mutations of the pathogens; antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea is already a major concern.


title: Pre-exposure prophylaxis

text: A systematic review conducted in 2019 was unable to find conclusive evidence that PrEP use increases sexual risk behaviors, and found that PrEP may provide an opportunity for MSM to access sexual health care, testing, treatment and counselling services.


title: Pre-exposure prophylaxis

text: Although HIV PrEP medications are only available in oral tablet and injectable formulations, other formulations are being developed and studied. The emerging treatments expand HIV prevention strategies for women. For example, a vaginal gel formulation of tenofovir and an intravaginal ring releasing dapivirine are under investigation for efficacy. Out of three completed trials evaluating safety and efficacy of tenofovir vaginal gel, only the CAPRISA 004 trial showed the drug to be efficacious in decreasing the risk of HIV infection. However, the demonstrated effectiveness of tenofovir vaginal gel was deemed not significant enough to move forward with the product. In contrast, the ASPIRE study and The Ring Study evaluating the dapivirine-releasing intravaginal ring have demonstrated efficacy in reducing incidence of HIV infection. In addition to these two treatments, an injectable form of cabotegravir is being evaluated for efficacy in the HPTN 03 and HPTN 04 trials.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Richard John Parfitt, (12 October 1948 24 December 2016) was an English musician, best known as a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist with rock band Status Quo.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Parfitt began his career in the early 1960s, playing in pubs and holiday camps. He joined Status Quo in 1967 when they were looking for an additional singer. He wrote songs for the band and remained with them for 49 years. He occasionally guested with other bands, and recorded an unreleased solo album in 1985. In 2016, Parfitt temporarily retired from touring with the band due to ill health, and died in December of that year. His only solo album, "Over and Out", was released posthumously in 2018.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Richard John Parfitt was born in Woking, Surrey on 12 October 1948. His father Richard was an insurance salesman "who was a drinker and a gambler", and his mother Lillian worked in cake shops. He described his upbringing as "wonderful", and described his childhood-self as a "typical naughty boy". He first started to learn to play the guitar at the age of 11.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: In 1963 Parfitt was playing guitar and singing in The Prince of Wales Feathers, a pub on Warren Street in Camden, London, when his father was approached by an agent from Sunshine Holiday Camp on Hayling Island, who gave Parfitt a performing job. At the camp Parfitt joined Jean and Gloria Harrison – performing as the double act The Harrison Twins – to form a cabaret trio called The Highlights. Following the season, the Harrison Twins' manager Joe Cohen – who had been one of the Keystone Cops – arranged for The Highlights to perform at Butlins in Minehead. Here, Parfitt met future Status Quo partner Francis Rossi, who was playing with Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan in a band called The Spectres (soon to be renamed Traffic Jam) – a forerunner to Status Quo. "I remember wandering over there one afternoon for the first time and watching them rehearse," Parfitt recalled. "I may still have been in my silver lamé suit, which I used to wear all the time. They were playing "[Chuck Berry's]" 'Bye Bye Johnny' and it sounded absolutely fantastic."


title: Rick Parfitt

text: After Parfitt befriended the band, their manager Pat Barlow invited him to join, as they needed another singer.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: In 1967, Traffic Jam changed their name to The Status Quo (they soon dropped the definite article and later still would often be known simply as 'Quo'), beginning Parfitt's almost 50-year career in the band. Early successes came with the Rossi-penned hit "Pictures of Matchstick Men". The single became the group's only Top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100. Though the follow-up was the unsuccessful single, "Black Veils of Melancholy", they had a hit again the same year with a Marty Wilde and Ronnie Scott song, "Ice in the Sun", which climbed to number eight. The band's 1972 album "Piledriver", which reached number 5, spent a total of 37 weeks on the UK Albums Chart.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: The band's more popular songs during the early 1970s include "Paper Plane" (no 42 in the German music chart) (1972), "Caroline" (no 36 in the German music chart) (1973), "Down Down" (no 14 in the Austrian music chart) (1975), "Rain" (no 27 in the German music chart) (1976), "Rockin' All Over the World" (No 29 in the New Zealand music chart) (1977) and "Whatever You Want" (no 24 in the Australian Music Chart) (1979). "Down Down" topped the UK Singles Chart in January 1975, becoming their only UK number one single to date. In 1976, they signed a pioneering sponsorship deal with Levi's.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: The 1976 hit "Mystery Song", co-written with Bob Young, was composed after Rossi had laced Parfitt's tea with amphetamine sulphate during the sessions for the "Blue for You" album. Rossi later said: "He was playing the riff when we left the studio, and he was still playing it when we came back the next day!"


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Quo were highly successful in Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand throughout the 1980s and 90s, and were the opening act for 1985's Live Aid, and they continued to be successful to the present day. By February 2015 they had sold over 118 million records worldwide. In 2013 and 2014, Parfitt and Rossi reunited temporarily with original Quo bandmates Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan for a series of reunion concerts on what would be called the "Frantic Four" tour.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Parfitt and Rossi were appointed Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year Honours 2010.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: At the time of Parfitt's death, he was the longest lasting member of Status Quo aside from Francis Rossi; who co-founded the band in 1962. He wrote some of their greatest hits, also in collaboration with the group's keyboard player Andy Bown, among them "Whatever You Want", "Again and Again", and "Rain".


title: Rick Parfitt

text: In 1984, the year before Quo would open Live Aid, Parfitt and Rossi appeared on the Band Aid charity single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?". Bob Geldof asked Parfitt and Rossi to take part, knowing that although the group were from an entirely different musical era and background, their consistent chart success and fame would bring a certain amount of credibility to the project from the rock fraternity and ensure that the group's loyal following of fans (the "Quo Army") would support the cause and buy the record in large numbers.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Parfitt played guitar on the song "It's an Illusion" recorded for the 1984 album "Strange Frontier" by Roger Taylor.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Parfitt wrote and recorded a solo album "Recorded Delivery" in 1985, but it was never released. Among the musicians on the record were bassist John "Rhino" Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich, formerly with the Climax Blues Band and Judie Tzuke. Edwards and Rich were subsequently invited by Parfitt to join Status Quo.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: In 2006 Parfitt released his guitar refacing overlay invention, the "guitar facelift", which was licensed by guitar manufacturer Fender.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: In December 2009, Parfitt teamed up with Rolf Harris for the single "Christmas in the Sun", following on from the 2008 Status Quo hit "It's Christmas Time" which Parfitt wrote with Wayne Morris.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: In 2013, Parfitt and Rossi starred as themselves in "Bula Quo!", a comedy film in which the duo find themselves becoming accidentally involved with mafia operations on Fiji. The film was generally poorly-received by critics. An album was released alongside the film.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: In April 2015, in partnership with Julian Hall and his wife Lyndsay, Parfitt set up "Status Homes", a real estate company based in Marbella, Spain.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: On 1 December 2017, a press release from the earMusic record label on Status Quo's website announced that "Over and Out", a solo album planned by Parfitt, would be released posthumously on 23 March 2018. Parfitt had worked on the album during his hiatus from the band following a heart attack in 2016, completing vocal and guitar tracks, but dying before he had had an opportunity to produce it. Guest musicians helping to complete the album included Brian May of Queen, Chris Wolstenholme of Muse, former Status Quo bassist Alan Lancaster and current bassist John "Rhino" Edwards and co-produced by Parfitt's son Rick Parfitt Jnr. The album entered the UK charts in its first week of release at number 3 and the German album charts at number 10.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: One of Parfitt's guitars, the one synonymous with his legendary image was a white 1965 Fender Telecaster. Prior to acquiring this instrument, he played a late 1967 Fender Custom Telecaster in Ice Blue Metallic finish, with a rosewood fretboard. In his career, he also played a Gibson SG Junior, a 1981 Zemaitis tuned to a B, a Schecter Telecaster, a Fender Esquire, a custom-made Fender Telecaster Thinline, a Gibson Melody Maker and a Chet Atkins acoustic guitar. He also used Status Slipstream guitars in different configurations. For amplification, Parfitt used Marshall JCM800kk (Kerry King signature) or JCM900 amplifiers with 4x12 cabinets, combined with VOX AC30 amplifiers and a Roland GP8 signal processor and a Boss GE-7 as his clean boost pedal.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Following a heart attack, Parfitt had a quadruple heart bypass in 1997, when he was told by doctors that he could die "at any time" unless he changed his lifestyle of drugs, smoking and heavy drinking. At the height of the band's fame, Parfitt and his long-time Status Quo partner Francis Rossi were notorious for drinking and drug use, with Parfitt claiming to have been spending up to £1,000 a week on cocaine, and up to £500 a week on vodka. In his later life, following several health issues, Parfitt led a more sober life, stating in a 2014 interview that he had not smoked cannabis for 27 years and had not used cocaine for 10 years.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: He had a throat cancer scare in December 2005. He suffered a heart attack in December 2011 and underwent surgery on the following day.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: On 1 August 2014, while on a European tour with Status Quo, Parfitt was hospitalised in Pula, Croatia, forcing the cancellation of six shows on the tour. He had suffered a heart attack while on his tour bus after performing a concert in Austria, and had a stent inserted.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: On 14 June 2016, after playing with the band in Antalya, Turkey, he suffered another heart attack and was hospitalised again. His management described his condition as serious. Parfitt was clinically dead for several minutes, resulting in mild cognitive impairments. The band announced that their ongoing tour would continue with Freddie Edwards, son of bassist John "Rhino" Edwards, as a temporary replacement. On 22 June it was announced that Parfitt had been flown home to the UK and was described as "comfortable" in hospital in London, where he was undergoing more tests. He had a defibrillator fitted into his chest. In September 2016 it was announced that he would not be well enough to tour in the autumn, and he did not intend to tour with the band for the foreseeable future.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: In 1973, Parfitt married his first wife, Marietta Boeker, and in 1974 they had their first son, Richard, better known as Rick Parfitt Jr., a sports car racer and musician. The couple also had a daughter, Heidi, who drowned in the family swimming pool at the age of two.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: This tragedy, combined with Parfitt's alcohol abuse and cocaine habit, led to the couple divorcing. Parfitt was linked romantically to Page 3 girl and glamour model Debee Ashby in the mid-1980s. He went on to marry his second wife and former girlfriend, Patty Beeden, in 1988. They had a son, Harry, in 1989. They divorced eight years later in 1996 when Rick Parfitt had an affair with Marietta Boeker. Patty wrote a book about their life together in 1998 entitled "Laughing All Over the World: My Life Married to Status Quo."


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Parfitt subsequently became engaged to fitness instructor Lyndsay Whitburn, whom he married in 2006 after a three-month courtship. The couple remained married for the remainder of Parfitt's life, and had twins Tommy and Lily in 2008, although by the time of Parfitt's death, the couple had been separated for several months.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Parfitt died in a Marbella hospital at lunchtime on 24 December 2016 from sepsis, after being admitted on Thursday evening, 22 December, following an infection of a pre-existing shoulder injury. His funeral was held at Woking Crematorium on 19 January 2017.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: Following the news of his death, friends and associates of the band took to social media to express their condolences. Among these were Brian May of Queen, The Who, Peter Frampton and broadcaster Chris Tarrant, on whose show – "Tiswas" – Status Quo appeared. Former and current bandmates including drummer Jeff Rich also offered condolences. A tribute page dedicated to Parfitt appeared on the band's official website including messages from Francis Rossi and manager Simon Porter, as well as on the website of former Quo drummer John Coghlan. Coghlan personally paid tribute to Parfitt at a concert with his spin-off band, John Coghlan's Quo, at The Half Moon, Putney on 30 December 2016, during which he read out a poem by a fan entitled "The Rhythm King". Parfitt was cremated on 19 January 2017.


title: Rick Parfitt

text: In June 2017, a blue plaque to Parfitt was unveiled on Jubilee Square, in his hometown of Woking. Among the attendees were Coghlan, and Parfitt's son Rick Parfitt Jr.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: Stephen Donald Black (born July 28, 1953) is an American white supremacist. He is the founder and webmaster of the anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi, white supremacist, Holocaust denial, homophobic, Islamophobic, and racist Stormfront Internet forum. He was a Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and a member of the American Nazi Party in the 1970s, though at the time he was a member it was known as the "National Socialist White Peoples' Party". He was convicted in 1981 of attempting an armed overthrow of the government in the island of Dominica in violation of the U.S. Neutrality Act.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: Black was born in Athens, Alabama, and became a white supremacy advocate at an early age when he began passing out swastika-adorned pamphlets from the National Socialist White People's Party at his high school, Athens High School, before transferring to Madison Academy in the fall of 1970 in order to avoid attending school with Black students. This led to a decision by the local school board to ban the distribution of political literature. Black countered by mailing literature to student addresses obtained from school handbooks.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: In the summer of 1970, after his junior year at Athens High School, Black traveled to Savannah, Georgia, to work on the gubernatorial campaign of J. B. Stoner, a segregationist and leader of the National States' Rights Party (NSRP). It was in this election that Jimmy Carter won the Georgia governorship. Black was asked to obtain a copy of the NSRP membership list by Robert Lloyd, a leader of the National Socialist White People's Party, formerly known as the American Nazi Party. At the time, Black was a member of the Party's youth branch, the National Socialist Youth Movement.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: Also working on the Stoner campaign was Jerry Ray, brother of James Earl Ray, who committed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. On July 25, 1970, Jerry Ray shot Black (who was 16 at the time) in the chest with a .38-caliber hollow-point bullet to stop him from taking files from Stoner's campaign office. Ray was acquitted of all charges, saying he shot in self-defense after Black reached for what appeared to be a weapon.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: Black finished his senior year at Madison Academy, a private school in Huntsville. Then after high school, Black graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1975. In the early 1970s, Black traveled on a road trip to an American Nazi Party conference in Virginia with fellow white supremacists David Duke and Joseph Paul Franklin (the latter of who was later convicted of multiple acts of racial and antisemitic terrorism and executed for serial murder).


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: Black joined the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in 1975, one year after David Duke took over the organization. He moved to Birmingham to become the group's state organizer. After the resignation of Duke in 1980, Black became Grand Wizard, or national director, of the Klan. In 1979, he ran for mayor of Birmingham, receiving 2.5% of the vote. Richard Arrington Jr. won the mayoral election, becoming Birmingham's first African American mayor.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: On April 27, 1981, Black and nine other would-be mercenaries – many recruited from Klan affiliated organizations – were arrested in New Orleans as they prepared to board a boat stocked with weapons and ammunition to invade the island nation Dominica in what they would call Operation Red Dog. Local media labeled the botched attempt the "Bayou of Pigs", a play on words for the unsuccessful 1961 "Bay of Pigs Invasion" of Cuba.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: Black later explained the invasion as an attempt to set up an anti-communist regime, saying, "What we were doing was in the best interests of the United States and its security in the hemisphere, and we feel betrayed by our own government." The invasion was intended to restore former prime minister Patrick John to the mostly black Caribbean island. Prosecutors said the real purpose for the invasion would have been to set up tourism, gambling, offshore banking, and timber logging operations on the impoverished island.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: In 1981, Black was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the attempted invasion and his violation of the Neutrality Act. Black, Federal Bureau of Prisons #16692-034, was released on November 15, 1984. During his time in federal prison Black took computer programming classes which led him to establish Stormfront on the Internet years later.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: In 1995, Black founded Stormfront, which was the Internet's first significant website espousing racial hate. It remains among the most popular online resources for those drawn to racist ideologies. The site has featured the writings of William Luther Pierce and David Duke as well as works by the Holocaust denying Institute for Historical Review and the "Culture of Critique" series. At first, along with these articles, Stormfront housed a library of white pride, neo-Nazi and white power skinhead graphics for downloading, and a number of links to other white nationalist websites.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: In a 1998 interview for the alternative weekly newspaper "Miami New Times", Black said: "We want to take America back. We know a multicultural Yugoslav nation can't hold up for too long. Whites won't have any choice but to take military action. It's our children whose interests we have to defend."


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: In 1999, Black created the website "martinlutherking.org", which is administered by Stormfront. This website was created to malign the character of Dr King. In January 2018, the site remained online and surpassed sites containing reliable content in Google search results.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: In 2008, Black said that the establishment of white pride as a special interest group within the Republican Party is crucial. Asked by an interviewer for Italian newspaper "la Repubblica" if Stormfront was not just the new Ku Klux Klan, Black responded affirmatively, though he noted that he would never say so to an American journalist.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: On May 5, 2009, it was announced that Black was one of 22 on a British Home Office list of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom for "promoting serious criminal activity and fostering hatred that might lead to inter-community violence".


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: The Stormfront forum acts as one of the largest online gatherings of racism and Holocaust deniers in the world, with threads on this theme gaining hundreds of thousands of views. A number of radio shows published by Black's web site have featured Holocaust denial.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: In 2008, various media outlets reported that Black's wife, Chloe, worked as an executive assistant for sugar baron José Fanjul who runs the Florida Crystals company and owns a real estate business in Latin American countries. In particular, her job duties included acting as the spokesperson for a charter school "to lift underprivileged black and Hispanic children out of poverty." The story resulted in Black being criticized by some other white nationalists. Chloe was previously married to David Duke.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: In August 2008, Black's 19-year-old son Derek Black was elected to one of 111 seats on the Palm Beach County, Florida, Republican committee, with 167 of 287 votes. The committee however, refused to seat Black, citing a loyalty oath he failed to sign before registering his candidacy. The oath states candidates must refrain from activities "likely to injure the name of the Republican Party." He hosted the "Derek Black Show" weekdays on a local West Palm Beach, Florida, AM radio station, WPBR, to which Don Black paid $600 a week to broadcast content on. The radio show ended in January 2013, with Derek Black appearing on few episodes over the last year.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: By summer 2013, Derek Black had called into question his racist ideologies, and he began to renounce white supremacism and issued an apology to those harmed by his previous actions and beliefs. His renunciation reportedly shocked his father and like-minded people.


title: Don Black (white supremacist)

text: By 2016, Derek Black had fully renounced his white nationalist views and was actively speaking out against such views in the press. "Washington Post" staff writer Eli Saslow detailed the ideological transformation of Derek which began with the rejection of his family, moving to Michigan and assuming a new name and eventually becoming a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago, studying Medieval Islam.


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation as the twelfth incarnation of Hanna-Barbera's "Scooby-Doo" animated series. In the show, the "Scooby-Doo" gang decide to travel during their last summer break together, encountering havoc-wreaking monsters along the way. Described as having a more comedic tone than its previous incarnation, "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated", the show employs character traits from the original 1969 series on top of redesigned character models.


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: The series was announced in March 2014 to premiere on Cartoon Network. However, a promotional image at the 2015 upfront announced the show to air on Boomerang and the news was later confirmed on June 29, 2015. It was originally scheduled to air on Boomerang, but the series instead premiered on Cartoon Network on October 5, 2015. On March 7, 2017, it was announced that the remaining unaired episodes would be released on Boomerang's video on demand streaming service. The final eleven episodes premiered on the Boomerang television network in March 2018 and were added to the Boomerang streaming service on September 26, 2018.


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: The "Scooby-Doo" gang decide to travel in the Mystery Machine, seeking fun and adventure during what could possibly be their last summer break together. However, havoc-wreaking monsters seem to be drawn to them, appearing almost every stop of the way. Nonetheless, they do not let it prevent them from completing their journey, and while they are at it, they solve every mystery they encounter.


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!" was announced in March 2014, along with other reboots of Warner Bros. classics, such as "The Tom and Jerry Show" and "Wabbit".


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: Sam Register, promoted to president of Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Digital Series a month prior, is its supervising producer. The animation direction is performed by Shaunt Nigoghossian, with Richard Lee overseeing art direction.


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: The twelfth series in the "Scooby-Doo" franchise, the show was previewed in an article from a Comic-Con edition of "TV Guide", writing that it would be less dark than its previous incarnation, "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated".


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: Zac Moncrief, a producer, called it "a more comedic ensemble", with character traits extracted from the original 1969 series.


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: Scooby-Doo has limited dialogue. Meanwhile, Fred has upgraded the Mystery Machine with modern appliances.


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: In addition, the series employs redesigned character models for the gang, retaining their original clothes, with a few design tweaks. Moncrief described this as a "simplistic, edgy design to match the comedic styling of this latest version." However, he denied it as "a campy or meta version" of "Scooby-Doo".


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: This marks the first "Scooby-Doo" television series not to feature Casey Kasem in any capacity; Kasem, who voiced Shaggy from 1969 to 2009, retired from voice acting due to declining health during the production of "Mystery Incorporated" (in which he portrayed Shaggy's father) and died on June 15, 2014. Kasem's death leaves Frank Welker as the only surviving original cast member still with the franchise. It is also the first series since "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" where Velma is voiced by an actress other than Mindy Cohn, and marks the debut of Kate Micucci as the character's voice actress.


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!" made its worldwide debut on October 4, 2015, on Boomerang in the United Kingdom and Ireland and premiered on Teletoon in Canada on October 8. The series premiered on Boomerang in Australia on December 28. The series also aired in 2019 on e.tv.


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: This season premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on October 5, 2015. After airing twenty out of the twenty-six episodes from the first season, the series was put on a long hiatus following the premiere of "Giant Problems" on March 12, 2016. The final six episodes of the first season were aired on Cartoon Network's sister station Boomerang in an overnight graveyard slot on June 20, 2017.


title: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

text: On March 7, 2017, it was announced that the rest of "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!" would be premiering exclusively on the streaming service for Boomerang, a sister channel of Cartoon Network. The season premiered on the streaming service on September 28, 2017. Despite this, the final eleven episodes of the season premiered on the Boomerang television network. The season concluded on March 18, 2018.


title: Hargeisa

text: Hargeisa (; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland. It is located in the Maroodi Jeex region of the Horn of Africa. It succeeded Burco as the capital of the British Somaliland Protectorate in 1941. Hargeisa is the largest city in Somaliland, and also served as the capital of the Isaaq Sultanate during the mid-to-late 19th century.


title: Hargeisa

text: Hargeisa was founded as a watering and trading stop between the coast and the interior by the Isaaq Sultanate. Initially it served as a watering Well for the vast livestock of the Eidagale clans that inhabited in that specific region and later were joined by the current clans of Hargeisa. In 1960, the Somaliland Protectorate gained independence from the United Kingdom and as scheduled united days later with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic on July 1.


title: Hargeisa

text: Hargeisa is situated in a valley in the Galgodon (Ogo) highlands, and sits at an elevation of . Home to rock art from the Neolithic period, the city is also a commercial hub for precious stone-cutting, construction, retail services and trading, among other activities.


title: Hargeisa

text: The town evolved in the latter half of the 1800s as a Qadiriyya settlement established by Sheikh Madar, near a water-stop used by nomadic stock-herders on the way to the town of Harar. It proposes a possible derivation of the name "Hargeisa" from the sobriquet "Harar as-sagir", meaning "Harar the little" According to historian Norman Bennett, Madar named the settlement Hargeisa or "Little Harar" since he aspired for it to emulate the city of Harar as a center for Islamic teachings. Another etymological root for Hargeisa's name derives from the towns connection to the skins trade. Hargeisa has been a watering and trading stop between the coast and the interior, and chief amongst the goods traded were the hide skins procured from the interior to be processed in the settlement. In this etymological version, ‘Hargeisa’ is derived from "hargageys", which means "place to sell hides and skins” in Somali.


title: Hargeisa

text: Numerous cave paintings from the Neolithic period are found in the Laas Geel complex, on the outskirts of Hargeisa. During November and December 2002, an archaeological survey was carried out in the area by a French team of researchers. The expedition's objective was to search for rock shelters and caves containing stratified archaeological infills capable of documenting the period when production economy appeared in this part of Somaliland (circa 5th and 2nd millennium BCE). During the course of the survey, the French archaeological team discovered the Laas Geel rock art, encompassing an area of ten rock alcoves (caves). In an excellent state of preservation, the paintings show human figures with their hands raised and facing long-horned, humpless cattle.


title: Hargeisa

text: The rock art had been known to the area's inhabitants for centuries before the French discovery. However, the existence of the site had not been broadcast to the international community. In November 2003, a mission returned to Laas Geel and a team of experts undertook a detailed study of the paintings and their prehistoric context.


title: Hargeisa

text: Somaliland generally is home to numerous such archaeological sites, with similar rock art and/or ancient edifices such as the Dhambalin rock art. However, many of these old structures have yet to be properly explored, a process which would help shed further light on local history and facilitate their preservation for posterity.


title: Hargeisa

text: According to traditional poetic (gabay) oral accounts, Hargeisa was founded by the Eidagale clan as a watering and trading stop for passing nomads and caravans. It is also believed that in addition to the Eidagale, the Arap and Habr Yunis subclans were also amongst the early settlers of Hargeisa. Hargeisa continued to grow with the arrival of Sheikh Madar Shirwa, widely considered to be the founder of Hargeisa religious commune and the modern iteration of the settlement.


title: Hargeisa

text: Madar Shirwa was born in Berbera and belonged to the Nuh Ismail subdivision of the Sa’ad Musa Habr Awal clan. Madar arrived in Harar to study the Islamic Sciences under the top ulema of Harar, which consisted of Harari and Somali scholars. Sheikh Khalil, one of the ulema of Harar, advised Sheikh Madar to establish a Qadiriyya tariqa commune in present-day Hargeisa and spread the teachings he was taught, which lead Sheikh Madar and his companions to found the Big Commune (Jama’a weyne) of Little Harar (Hargeisa) in circa 1860. Somali pastoralists heavily follow rain and pastures this would change with the agricultural and stationary lifestyle Madar would introduce on the back of large sorghum plantations. This was to maintain self-sufficiency and Sheikh Madar and the other Mullahs would take care of the sick and elderly inhabitants of the growing settlement. Lastly, Sheikh Madar pushed towards a common religious identity rather than identifying solely by tribe. Stone houses and other structures would be built and Hargeisa would develop into a large permanent settlement irrespective of the caravan trade that defined it in decades prior. Sheikh Madar met with the 4th Isaaq grand sultan Deria Hassan outside Hargeisa in a famous 1870 "shir" (meeting) to discuss issues regarding the new town of Hargeisa and agreed that poaching and tree cutting in the vicinity should be banned.


title: Hargeisa

text: H. Swayne, a British soldier and explorer who traversed the Somali peninsula between the 1880-1890s wrote about Hargeisa in his journals:


title: Hargeisa

text: This town is built some five hundred yards from the right bank of the Aleyadera nala, and at an elevation of thirty or forty feet above it. Round the place is a patch of jowari (sorghum) cultivation, two and a half miles long and a quarter of a mile broad. Quantities of livestock of all kinds graze on the low undulating hills for half a mile from the Aleyadera nala on either bank. Hargeisa is situated on two important caravan routes, one from Ogaden and the other from Harar. There are good direct camel-roads to Berbera and Bulhar. Supplies of rice, tobacco, and dates can sometimes be bought here in the trading season. Some four hundred people are employed looking after the jowari fields, and may be seen sitting on platforms, shouting and throwing stones to scare birds from the crops. There is abundance of good water in the bed of the river, and a masonry well has been built, and is kept in order by an Arab from Aden. The town is full of blind and lame people, who are under the protection of Sheikh Mattar and his mullahs.


title: Hargeisa

text: In 1888, after signing successive treaties with the then ruling Somali Sultans and chiefs, the British established a protectorate in the region referred to as British Somaliland with Berbera becoming the capital. The British garrisoned the protectorate from Aden in present-day Yemen, and administered it from their British India until 1898. British Somaliland was then administered by the Foreign Office until 1905 and afterwards by the Colonial Office.


title: Hargeisa

text: The capital was moved from Berbera to Hargeisa, and the city was granted capital status in 1941. During the East African Campaign, the protectorate was invaded by Italy in August 1940, but recaptured by the British in March 1941. In 1945 the British administration had grown weary of the influence "wadaads" had wielded in the protectorate and moved to arrest several in Hargeisa. They had been deemed nuisances to implementing 'modern education' and agricultural reforms in Somaliland. Following their arrests on June 4, a mob formed and temporarily freed the imprisoned "wadaads" who were recaptured the next day. Religious leaders motivated the city's inhabitants and a crowd of several thousand rioters marched on the Hargeisa District Headquarters determined to free the imprisoned "wadaads". They were fired upon by the District Commissioner's troops with one dying and dozens imprisoned for trying to free the Sheikhs.


title: Hargeisa

text: The protectorate gained its independence on 26 June 1960 as the State of Somaliland, before uniting as planned days later with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic.


title: Hargeisa

text: In the post-independence period, Hargeisa was administered as the capital of the Woqooyi Galbeed province of Somalia. Numerous new development projects were subsequently launched in the city by the Somali government. Among these initiatives was the creation of the Hargeisa Provincial Museum. It was the first museum to be established in Somalia since independence in 1960. The Hargeisa International Airport was also renovated and modernized, with the ultimate aim of equipping the facility to accommodate larger aircraft and offer more flight destinations.


title: Hargeisa

text: On 31 May, at 2:15 a.m, the Somali National Movement (shortened SNM) attacked Hargeisa. With two Habar yunis leaders , one in burco and the other in the capital city Hargeisa. The SNM force attacking Hargeisa was estimated at 500 men equipped with 84 vehicles, of whom only 14 were left due to vehicles being sent to the front in Adadley. The SNM captured the headquarters of the 26th Division, as well as capturing the Birjeex arms depot where the SNM collected ammunition. An SNM fighter who partook in the Hargeisa offensive described Somali troops dropping their uniforms on the ground and fleeing. The SNM encountered stiff resistance from the Somali Army as they surrounded Radio Hargeisa's headquarters. Due to heavy bombardment from Somali heavy artillery and tanks, the SNM force tasked with capturing Hargeisa airport fell back and retreated to Adadley.


title: Hargeisa

text: By 1 June, with the exception of Hargeisa Airport, the SNM overran the city. During the Somali army counterattack the SNM line of defense in the city was behind Hargeisa's radio station.


title: Hargeisa

text: Dictator Siad Barre's response to the SNM attacks was of unparalleled brutality, with explicit aims of handling the "Isaaq problem", he ordered "the shelling and aerial bombardment of the major cities in the northwest and the systematic destruction of Isaaq dwellings, settlements and water points. The Siad Barre regime targeted civilian members of the Isaaq group specifically, especially in the cities of Hargeisa and Burco and to that end employed the use of indiscriminate artillery shelling and aerial bombardment against civilian populations belonging to the Isaaq clan.


title: Hargeisa

text: After the collapse of the Somali central government and the unilateral declaration of independence of the Republic of Somaliland, a slow process of infrastructural reconstruction subsequently began in Hargeisa and other towns in the country.


title: Hargeisa

text: Since 1991, Hargeisa has undergone a large-scale facelift. The renovations have been largely financed by local entrepreneurs, as well as Somali expatriates sending remittance funds to relatives in the region through some of the various Somali-owned money transfer operators. Most of the destroyed residential and commercial buildings have since been reconstructed, with many newer structures erected. Single-story buildings downtown are also progressively giving way to multi-story high-rises.


title: Hargeisa

text: Hargeisa has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen: "BSh"). The city generally features very warm winters and hot summers. However, despite its location in the tropics, due to the high altitude Hargeisa seldom experiences either very hot or very cold weather, a trait rarely seen in semi-arid climates. The city receives the bulk of its rain between the months of April and September, averaging just over of rainfall annually. Average monthly temperatures in Hargeisa range from in the months of December and January to in the month of June.


title: Hargeisa

text: Situated in the Maroodi Jeh region of Somaliland, Hargeisa is the seat of the parliament, the presidential palace and government ministries.


title: Hargeisa

text: The first Mayor of Hargeisa in 1960 was Ismail Ubuli. He held the position for 3 years. However, the current municipal administration is led by Abdikarim Ahmed Mooge. A member of the Waddani party, he is now The Mayor on 17 June 2021 after being elected in the 2021 Somaliland municipal elections.


title: Hargeisa

text: The Hargeisa municipality is divided into five districts; Gaan Libah, 26 June, Ibrahim Kodbur, Mohamed Haybe and Ahmed Dhagah. Each district contains sub-districts, or sectors that fall under it. According to "Hargeisa - First steps towards strategic urban planning" the districts are further divided into the following sectors:


title: Hargeisa

text: In 2005 according to the UNDP the city had a population of 560,028, while according to CIA factbook, Hargeisa has estimated population of around 760,000 as of 2015. As of 2019, it is estimated that Hargeisa has a population of 1.2 million The urban area occupies , with a population density of .


title: Hargeisa

text: Hargeisa is the financial hub to many entrepreneurial industries ranging from finance, retail, imports/export warehouses to gem cutters, construction, food processing, textiles and livestock trading.


title: Hargeisa

text: In June 2012, the Partnership Fund for the private sector in Somaliland was launched at Hargeisa's Ambassador Hotel. Part of the larger Partnership for Economic Growth program, the initiative will see $900,000 USD allocated to 13 private local businesses, as well as the creation of 250 new full-time jobs, half of which are to be earmarked for youth and one third for women. The fund is expected to improve job opportunities for 1,300 entrepreneurs through ameliorated product distribution and investment in new technologies and processing facilities. Eligibility is determined through a competitive and transparent selection process overseen by the Partnership program, the Somaliland Chamber of Commerce, and government officials.


title: Hargeisa

text: Buses are the most commonly used form of public transportation in Hargeisa. They travel on a number of routes serving nearly all of the city's districts. Intercity bus services are also available, which connect Hargeisa to other major cities and towns across Somaliland, including Burao, Berbera and Borama.


title: Hargeisa

text: Hargeisa Taxi is another of the recent taxi firms based in Hargeisa. It has a fleet of four small compact cars and seven passenger minivans, in addition to around 19 other vehicles. GPS devices installed by the Sahal Technology firm allow the cab company's dispatch office to monitor its taxis to ensure that they travel within the speed limit. The office can also disable the vehicles online in the event of theft. Other new taxi firms serving Hargeisa include Dalhis Taxi and Marodi Jeh Taxi. Fares are inexpensive, costing between 15,000 and 18,000 Somaliland shillings ($2–$3 USD) per ride, the US dollar is also widely accepted alongside the local currency.


title: Hargeisa

text: For air transportation, the city is served by the Hargeisa International Airport. The Somali-owned private carriers Daallo Airlines and Jubba Airways offers flights from the facility to various other towns in neighbouring Somalia, such as Mogadishu, Bosaso and Galkayo. Trips to international destinations are also available, including to Djibouti and Dubai. It has recently gained more airlines such as Ethiopian Airlines and flydubai.


title: Hargeisa

text: Various primary schools and nurseries are dispersed throughout Hargeisa. There are also several state-run and privately owned secondary and high schools in the city. Among these are the SOS Sheikh Secondary School and Abaarso School of Science and Technology, the latter of which is the pre-eminent secondary institution in the area. Abaarso School is located about west of Hargeisa.


title: Hargeisa

text: In terms of post-secondary education, the city is home to a number of colleges and universities. The main institutions of higher learning include the University of Hargeisa, Admas University College, Somaliland University of Technology, Gollis University, New Generation University, Hope University and Marodijeh International University. Additionally, the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital offers nursing programmes to students. The Institute for Practical Research and Training specializes in (applied) research and training.


title: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

text: John Beaufort, 1st Marquess of Somerset and 1st Marquess of Dorset, later only 1st Earl of Somerset, (c. 1373 – 16 March 1410) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the first of the four illegitimate children of John of Gaunt (1340–1399) (third surviving son of King Edward III) by his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he later married in 1396.


title: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

text: The Beaufort children were declared legitimate twice by parliament, first during the reign of King Richard II, in 1397, which was confirmed by Henry IV, as well as by Pope Boniface IX in September 1396. Even though they were the grandchildren of Edward III and next in the line of succession after their father's legitimate children by his first two wives, the Beauforts were barred from succession to the throne by their half-brother Henry IV.


title: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

text: Beaufort's surname (properly "de Beaufort", "from Beaufort") probably reflects his birthplace at his father's castle and manor of Beaufort ("beautiful stronghold") in Champagne, France. The Portcullis heraldic badge of the Beauforts, now the emblem of the House of Commons, is believed to have been based on that of the castle of Beaufort, now demolished.


title: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

text: Between May and September 1390, Beaufort saw military service in North Africa in the Barbary Crusade led by Louis II, Duke of Bourbon. In 1394, he was in Lithuania serving with the Teutonic Knights.


title: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

text: John was created Earl of Somerset on 10 February 1397, just a few days after the legitimation of the Beaufort children was recognized by Parliament. The same month, he was also appointed Admiral of the Irish fleet, as well as Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports. In May, his admiralty was extended to include the northern fleet. That summer, the new earl became one of the noblemen who helped Richard II free himself from the power of the Lords Appellant. As a reward, he was created Marquess of Somerset and Marquess of Dorset on 29 September, and sometime later that year he was made a Knight of the Garter and appointed Lieutenant of Aquitaine. In addition, two days before his elevation as a Marquess he married the king's niece, Margaret Holland, sister of Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey, another of the counter-appellants. John remained in the king's favour even after his older half-brother Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV) was banished from England in 1398.


title: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

text: After Richard II was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke in 1399, the new king rescinded the titles that had been given to the counter-appellants, and thus John Beaufort became merely Earl of Somerset again. Nevertheless, he proved loyal to his half-brother's reign, serving in various military commands and on some important diplomatic missions. It was Beaufort who was given the confiscated estates of the Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr in 1400, although he would not have been able to take possession of these estates unless he had lived until after 1415. In 1404, he was named Constable of England.


title: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

text: John Beaufort and his wife Margaret Holland, the daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and Alice FitzAlan, had six children. His granddaughter Lady Margaret Beaufort married Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, the son of Dowager Queen Catherine of Valois by Owen Tudor.


title: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

text: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, died in the Hospital of St Katharine's by the Tower. He was buried in St Michael's Chapel in Canterbury Cathedral.


title: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

text: As a legitimised grandson of King Edward III, Beaufort bore that king's royal arms, differenced by a "bordure gobony argent and azure".


title: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

text: Arms of Beaufort, legitimised progeny of John of Gaunt, 3rd surviving son of King Edward III: "Royal arms of King Edward III within a bordure compony argent and azure" (see Royal arms of England). The arms were updated when the Kings of England adopted France modern, having been adopted by the King of France in 1376. Charles, an illegitimate son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset (1436–1464), took the surname "Somerset" together with the Beaufort arms and was created Baron Herbert (1461) and Earl of Worcester (1513). In 1682 his descendant Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester (1629–1700), was created Duke of Beaufort. These arms are thus used by Beaufort, Duke of Somerset (extinct) and Somerset, Duke of Beaufort (extant).


title: Lady Leshurr

text: Melesha Katrina O'Garro (born 15 December 1987), known professionally as Lady Leshurr (), is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and producer. She is known for her "Queen's Speech" series of freestyles, the fourth of which became popular in 2016. Her subsequent freestyle, "Queen's Speech 5", was called "brilliant" and "2015's crowning freestyle" by "Spin". In 2021, she entered the Channel 4 series "The Celebrity Circle" for Stand Up to Cancer, catfishing as Big Narstie, and won. She also competed in the thirteenth series of "Dancing on Ice", where she reached the semi-final.


title: Lady Leshurr

text: Melesha Katrina O'Garro was born on 15 December 1987 to Kittitian parents. She became interested in poetry and writing at age six, but decided that writing music would bring her to a wider audience. She released her first mixtape at age fourteen. In her words:


title: Lady Leshurr

text: Leshurr played one of the lead female roles in Vertigo Films' 2009 film "1 Day". In 2010 Leshurr's first television music video appearance came in the music video "'Game Over Female Takeover"', featuring Amplify Dot, Mz Bratt, Ruff Diamondz and others. The music video was directed by Nick Donnelly and produced by Carla Marie Williams. Leshurr won second place in the Best Female category of the Official Mixtape Awards 2011. To complement the music releases, she has designed a range of merchandise, the "Friggin L" clothing line named after her 2011 mixtape "Friggin L".


title: Lady Leshurr

text: In 2016, she won the MOBO Award, celebrating excellence in black music, for Best Female Act. In 2019, she won the award for "Best Rap / Grime Act" and in 2020 she won "Best Solo Female" at the Birmingham Music Awards. In 2019, Leshurr performed at The Nicki Wrld Tour in Birmingham and Manchester as a special guest for rapper Nicki Minaj.


title: Lady Leshurr

text: She was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.


title: Lady Leshurr

text: In 2020, she appeared in a commercial advertising for beauty brand Olay and became the first Black British woman to lead a campaign for the company.


title: Lady Leshurr

text: In late 2020, it was announced that Lady Leshurr would be joining the line-up at BBC Radio 1Xtra with her own Saturday afternoon radio show.


title: Lady Leshurr

text: In 2021, she appeared as a contestant on the thirteenth series of "Dancing on Ice", partnered with Brendyn Hatfield. After surviving three skate-offs during the competition, Leshurr was eliminated in the semi-final, leaving her in fourth place. She also won "The Celebrity Circle" for Stand Up to Cancer.


title: Lady Leshurr

text: In 2021, Leshurr announced a partnership with Kamo Premium Vodka, through which she became a co-owner.


title: Lady Leshurr

text: Leshurr has named Ashley Walters, Eminem, Busta Rhymes, Ms. Dynamite, Missy Elliott and Lil Wayne as her primary influences. Nia Kay, a competitor on "The Rap Game" season 2, stated that Leshurr was one of her influences due to her uniqueness and rap skill.


title: Lady Leshurr

text: In late 2019 Leshurr took time out from her music career following the death of her sister from breast cancer.


title: Lady Leshurr

text: On 22 October 2022, Leshurr and Sherelle Smith allegedly assaulted Leshurr's ex-girlfriend and the woman's new girlfriend. She was charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and Smith was charged with one count of the same offence. Both women pleaded not guilty to their charges and were bailed.


title: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal

text: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal (; born 2 March 1980) is a Norwegian actress. She started her career with the 2005 short film "Limbo". Her first leading role was in the Norwegian slasher film "Cold Prey", released in October 2006. She has since appeared in over fourteen films, including "Chernobyl Diaries", "", and "Hercules". Since 2016, she has played the role of Armistice in the HBO series "Westworld".


title: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal

text: Berdal is the recipient of the Amanda Award (the Norwegian Film Award) for Best Actress for the film "Cold Prey". She was also nominated for Best Actress for "Cold Prey 2" two years later. She hosted the Norwegian Film Awards (The Amanda Awards) in 2010 and 2012. In January 2011, she opened her monologue "Frøken Else" at The Norwegian Theatre, receiving positive reviews.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: Chandrikapersad "Chan" Santokhi (Sarnami: चान संतोखी; ; born 3 February 1959) is a Surinamese politician and former police officer who is the 9th president of Suriname, since 2020. After winning the 2020 elections, Santokhi was the sole nominee for president of Suriname. On 13 July, Santokhi was elected president by acclamation in an uncontested election. He was inaugurated on 16 July.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: Chandrikapersad Santokhi was born on 3 February 1959, into an Indo-Surinamese Hindu family in Lelydorp, in district Suriname (now known as district Wanica). He grew up in the countryside as the youngest in a family of nine children. His father worked at the harbor of Paramaribo and his mother worked as a shop assistant in Lelydorp.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: After Santokhi obtained his VWO diploma at the Algemene Middelbare School in Paramaribo, he received a scholarship to study in the Netherlands. From 1978 till 1982 he studied at the Police Academy of the Netherlands in Apeldoorn. After completing his study he returned to Suriname in September 1982 to work for the police. Since the age of 23, Santokhi worked as a police inspector in Geyersvlijt and Wanica until he was appointed in 1989 as head of the national criminal investigation department. In 1991 he was appointed commissioner of police.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: In September, 2005, Santokhi was sworn in as Minister of Justice and Police on behalf of the Progressive Reform Party. His period in office was marked by a heavy crackdown on crime, in particular drug trafficking, and a strict, no-nonsense enforcement of law and order. This earned him the nickname "sheriff", which he got from Dési Bouterse.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: Santokhi who, as police commissioner, led the investigation of the December murders done at the start of his ministership so that the December murders trial could finally commence. Exclusive for the December murders trial he had a heavily secured courtroom built in Domburg, Wanica.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: Because Santokhi was the impulse behind the trial, he became a much discussed matter of the main suspect in that trial, Dési Bouterse. Bouterse said on 26 November 2007, four days before the commencement of the trial, that Santokhi wanted to "imprison and kill him". Bouterse adduced that numerous previous attempts to "take him out" all failed and warned Santokhi to be cautious with his "intentions to eliminate Bouterse". On 29 November 2019, the Court of Appeal reached a verdict in the December murders trial, and Bouterse had been convicted to 20 years' imprisonment.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: On 10 September 2008, Santokhi sued Bouterse for insult, slander and defamation, because Bouterse had alleged that Santokhi had ties to drug dealers and other criminals. On 23 September 2008, the court ruled that the allegations were unproven, ordered Bouterse to publish a rectification, and a penalty payment of SRD100,000 for each day Bouterse failed to execute the sentence. The same day, Bouterse placed a rectification in "De West" where he admitted that the statements were untrue.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: In the 2010 Surinamese general election, Santokhi received the highest number of votes after Dési Bouterse, despite being placed relatively low on the party list of the Progressive Reform Party. In July of that year, he was appointed as presidential candidate on behalf of the ruling political alliance New Front for Democracy and Development. Santokhi's opponent in the presidential elections was Dési Bouterse. Since Bouterse (NDP) cooperated with Ronnie Brunswijk (ABOP) and Paul Somohardjo (PL), his political alliance had a total of 36 seats, while the New Front only had fourteen. Consequently, Bouterse was elected the eighth President of Suriname.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: Santokhi, who for fifteen years was the official representative of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), was chosen on 6 December 2010, as president of this organization for one year. CICAD is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States, that coordinates the drug policy of the Western Hemisphere. In 2009, Santokhi was, also for one year, the vice-president of this organization.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: On 3 July 2011, Santokhi was elected as chairman of the "Vooruitstrevende Hervormings Partij" (VHP) (Progressive Reform Party). The Progressive Reform Party, which was once an Indo-Surinamese party, has grown, since the appointment of Santokhi as chairman, into a multi-ethnical party which, according to current statistics, is the second-biggest political party in Suriname. With eight seats in the parliament, the VHP was the biggest opposition party until 2020.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: On 26 May 2020, the preliminary results of the 2020 Surinamese general election showed that the VHP was the largest party, and that Chan Santokhi was the most likely candidate to become the ninth President of Suriname. On 30 May, Chan Santokhi announced his candidacy for President of Suriname. On 29 June, the VHP nominated Chan Santokhi as their candidate for the Presidency. On 7 July, the coalition nominated Chan Santokhi as President of Suriname and Ronnie Brunswijk as Vice-President of Suriname. No other candidates had been nominated on 8 July 2020, 15:00 (UTC−3), and on 13 July Santokhi was elected as president by acclamation in an uncontested election. He was inaugurated on 16 July on the Onafhankelijkheidsplein in Paramaribo in ceremony without the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He took his oath reciting Hindu Sanskrit shloks and mantras in his oath ceremony. Santokhi's inauguration was also blessed by several Christian religious leaders.


title: Chan Santokhi

text: In September 2021, Santokhi visited the Netherlands and became the first Surinamese president to do so since 2008, after diplomatic relations between the two countries had cooled down. Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte referred to the rapprochement as "historic".


title: Chan Santokhi

text: On 19 July 2020, Chan Santokhi married his long-term partner, Mellisa Kavitadevi Seenacherry. The marriage took place in a private ceremony. Mellisa is a lawyer by profession. He also has two adult children (a daughter and a son) from a previous marriage.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: The Battle of Mosul (, "Ma'rakat al-Mawṣil"; , "Şeriy Mûsil") was a major military campaign launched by the Iraqi Government forces with allied militias, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and international forces to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIL), which had seized the city in June 2014. The battle was the world's single largest military operation since the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was considered the toughest urban battle since World War II.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: The offensive, dubbed Operation "We Are Coming, Nineveh" (; "Qadimun Ya Naynawa"), began on 16 October 2016, with forces besieging ISIL-controlled areas in the Nineveh Governorate surrounding Mosul, and continued with Iraqi troops and Peshmerga fighters engaging ISIL on three fronts outside Mosul, going from village to village in the surrounding area in the largest deployment of Iraqi troops since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: At dawn on 1 November 2016, Iraqi Special Operations Forces entered the city from the east. Met with fierce fighting, the government advance into the city was slowed by elaborate defenses and by the presence of civilians, but the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared "full liberation of eastern side of Mosul" on 24 January 2017. Iraqi troops began their offensive to recapture western Mosul on 19 February 2017.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 9 July 2017, the Iraqi Prime Minister arrived in Mosul to announce the victory over ISIL, and an official declaration of victory was proclaimed on 10 July. However, heavy clashes continued in a final pocket of ISIL resistance in the Old City, for almost another 2 weeks. It was estimated that removing the explosives from Mosul and repairing the city over the next 5 years would require $50 billion (2017 USD), while Mosul's Old City alone would cost about US$1 billion to repair.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: The Battle of Mosul was concurrent with the Battle of Sirte (2016) in Libya and the Raqqa campaign (2016–17) conducted by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against ISIL's capital city and stronghold in Syria.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: Mosul is Iraq's second most populous city. It fell to 800–1,500 ISIL militants in June 2014, because of the largely Sunni population's deep distrust of the primarily Shia Iraqi government. It was in the Great Mosque in Mosul that ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the beginning of ISIL's self-proclaimed "caliphate" which spans Iraq and Syria. The original population of 2.5 million fell to approximately 1.5 million after two years of ISIL rule. The city was once extremely diverse, with ethnic minorities including Armenians, Yazidis, Assyrian, Turkmen, and Shabak people, all of whom have suffered under the (majority Sunni Arab) Islamic State. Mosul was the last stronghold of ISIL in Iraq, and the anticipated offensive to reclaim it was promoted as the "mother of all battles."


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: In the weeks leading up to the ground offensive, the US-led CJTF–OIR coalition bombed ISIL targets, and the Iraqi Army made gradual advances on the city. Royal Air Force's Reaper drones, Typhoons, and Tornados targeted "rocket launchers, ammunition stockpiles, artillery pieces and mortar positions" in the 72 hours before the ground assault began. Leaflets dropped on the city by the Iraqi military advised young male residents to "rise up" against ISIL when the battle began. To prepare defenses against the assault, ISIL operatives dug four-square-metre holes around the city, which they planned to fill with burning oil to reduce visibility. They also built hundreds of elaborate tunnels in the villages surrounding Mosul, rigged with explosives and booby-traps, and laid improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines along the roads. There was considerable concern that ISIL might employ chemical weapons against soldiers and civilians.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: According to Iraqi sources, the assault towards Mosul was being waged from Al-Khazer axis (east of Mosul), Mosul Dam (northern axis), Baashiqa axis (eastern axis), Al-Qayyarah axis (southern axis) and Talul el-Baj- Al-Khadr axis (southwestern axis).


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: About 3,000–5,000 ISIL fighters were estimated to be in Mosul city, according to the United States Department of Defense. Other estimates ranged as low as 2,000 and high as 12,000 ISIL fighters. "Mosul Eye" estimated approximately 8,000–9,000 fighters loyal to ISIL, with "half of them... highly trained, and the rest... either teenagers or not well trained. About ten percent of the fighters are foreign (Arabs and non-Arabs). The rest are Iraqis. Most are from Nineveh's townships and districts." Prior to the start of the battle, in late September 2016, it was estimated that around 20,000 ISIL fighters were living in Mosul, many of whom later fled the city to Syria and Ar-Raqqah, when Iraqi forces began to besiege Mosul.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: The Iraqi-led coalition was initially estimated by CNN to have 94,000 members, but this number was later revised upward to 108,500; 54,000 to 60,000 Iraqi security forces (ISF) soldiers, 16,000 Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighters (also referred to as PMU), and 40,000 Peshmerga (including approximately 200 Iranian Kurdish female fighters from the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK)) were deployed in the battle. The Iraqi and Peshmerga forces deployed for the Mosul operation were estimated to have outnumbered the ISIL militants present by 10-to-1.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: Among the PMF units, the Nineveh Plain Protection Units composed of Assyrians were among the paramilitary forces in the government coalition. Shia militias, including several brigades of the paramilitary organization Hashd al-Shaabi, the Peace Companies, Kata'ib Hezbollah, the League of the Righteous, the Badr Organization, Saraya Ashura, Saraya Khorasani, Kata'ib al-Imam Ali, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Turkmen Brigades also took part. The Ezidi community of the Sinjar region contributed the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ) and Êzîdxan Women's Units (YJÊ), which operated in concert with Sunni Arab Shammar tribal militias and People's Defence Forces (HPG) of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Other Assyrian forces involved in the planned offensive included the Nineveh Plain Forces (NPF) and Dwekh Nawsha, who are allied to the Peshmerga.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: An international coalition of 60 nations, led by the United States, supported Iraq's war against ISIL, providing logistical and air support, intelligence, and advice. The international coalition forces were headquartered south of Mosul at Qayyarah Airfield West (or Q-West) in Qayyarah, which was retaken from ISIL in June. About 560 U.S. troops from the 101st Airborne Division were deployed to Q-West for the battle, including command and control elements, a security detachment, an airfield operations team, and logistics and communications specialists. The U.S. deployed HIMARS rocket launchers and M777 howitzers, manned by the 101st's 2nd Brigade Combat Team and the Golf Company, 526th Brigade Support Battalion. The British deployed several elements of the United Kingdom Special Forces as well as several L118 light guns. The French army deployed four CAESAR howitzers and 150 to 200 soldiers at Qayyarah, with 600 more French troops announced at the end of September. An additional 150 French soldiers were in Erbil, east of Mosul, training Peshmerga. The aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle", with a squadron of 24 Rafale M jets, was deployed from Toulon to the Syrian coast to support the operation against ISIL through airstrikes and reconnaissance missions; 12 other Rafale jets operated out of French Air Force bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Eighty Australian special forces soldiers and 210 Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) soldiers were also deployed to assist the Peshmerga. In addition, the Canadian Forces 21 Electronic Warfare Regiment was also reported to be in the area, working to intercept and relay ISIL communications, while a Role 2 Canadian Army field hospital with 60 personnel was set up to treat Peshmerga casualties.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: The Ba'ath loyalists group, known to be led by Saddam Hussein's former vice president Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, issued a statement before the start of operations calling for the people of the city to start an uprising against ISIL and announced that they will fight the "terrorist organization."


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 16 October 2016, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the beginning of the assault to recapture the city of Mosul. Officials reported howitzers firing on ISIL targets later that day. The main assault began on 17 October at approximately 6a.m., local time, with shelling and the arrival of armored vehicles to the front lines. The Peshmerga in the Khazir region, east of Mosul, started the ground assault by advancing on ISIL-held villages from three fronts, while Iraqi security forces advanced from the south. Iraqi troops advanced on the Bartella area east of Mosul while ISIL fighters fired mortars at Peshmerga. The President of KRG, Massoud Barzani, said that Peshmerga and Iraqi government fighters retook from ISIL on the first day of fighting. Iraqi government officials reported inflicting severe casualties and destruction of equipment on ISIL forces in the Hamdaniya district southeast of Mosul. Wounded ISIL fighters reported to have been transferred to their de facto capital Raqqa, in Syria, for medical aid. Some ISIL fighters were reported shaving their beards and getting rid of their Afghan uniforms. Mosul's "Freedom Bridge" was destroyed in the fighting.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 18 October, the Iraqi government declared to have captured 20 villages from ISIL within 24 hours of fighting. On the southern front, Iraqi troops retook several villages near Qayyarah, including al-Sirt, Bajwaniya, al-Hud and al-Mashraf, and parts of the al-Hamdaniya District southeast of Mosul, as well as the al-Shura District. Iraqi Federal Police also regained control of 56 oilfields in the Qayyarah district. According to reports, the Peshmerga met little resistance on the eastern front, while Iraqi and PMF fighters coming from the south faced tougher resistance from ISIL. Iraqi Army forces stormed Qaraqosh (Bakhdida), once the largest Assyrian town in Iraq, and fought with ISIL fighters who remained holed up, while also nearing Hammam al-'Alil. The Iraqi and Peshmerga advance had been slowed down during the same day due to suicide bombers, roadside IEDs and oil fires, and the allied forces were carrying out street-by-street search operations to clear out ISIL forces from the outskirts of Mosul city. The Peshmerga later paused their advance while the Iraqi Army continued its advance.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: At this point in time, the Coalition strategy was reported to be to encircle Mosul completely, after which Iraqi troops would advance into the city center. As the Iraqi Army advanced on Mosul, rebellion against ISIL broke out in the city, though ISIL forces put down the revolts within a couple of days.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: The Iraqi Army resumed fighting on 19 October, surrounding Qaraqosh, while ISIL deployed snipers and car bombs. Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Maliki declared that Iraqi forces had captured 13 villages north and northeast of Al Quwayr, south of Mosul, and the Iraqi Army was reported to be within of the outskirts of Mosul city. The village of Kani Harami was captured after heavy fighting in the morning with the militants retreating to Abbasiyah. A total of 22 towns were reported to have been captured, with 12 by the Peshmerga and 10 by the ISF. Nofal Hammadi, governor of the Nineveh Governorate, declared that 40% of the province had been retaken from ISIL.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: The offensive to retake the town of Bashiqa northeast of Mosul was delayed due to lack of logistical support. The international coalition's commander Gary Voelsky also stated that a majority of ISIL leaders were fleeing Mosul, and predicted that foreign fighters would form the majority of militants remaining in the city.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: The fighting intensified on 20 October. A large convoy of Golden Division arrived at positions retaken by the Peshmerga forces, and they also captured Bartella. According to Maj. Gen. Maan al-Saadi of the Iraqi Army, 200 ISIL fighters were killed in the fight for Bartella. The Peshmerga and NPF announced a "large-scale operation" to the north and northeast of Mosul, to retake the Assyrian towns of Tesqopa and Bashiqa. During the day, the Peshmerga captured six villages, including four on the Bashiqa front line and two on the Nawaran front, while entering another four villages. The Peshmerga briefly captured the village of Tiz Khirab but were forced to withdraw. On the southern front, Iraqi forces resumed their push north after a brief pause and recaptured six villages east of Qayyarah.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: ISIL also set the Al-Mishraq sulfur plant on fire, causing two deaths and nearly 1,000 hospitalizations from sulfur fume inhalation. The group was also reported to be digging trenches to slow the advancement of coalition troops.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 21 October, ISIL launched multiple attacks in Kirkuk to divert military resources. Multiple explosions and gun battles were reported in the city, mostly centered on a government compound, and a senior Peshmerga commander said that the attackers had entered by posing as IDPs. Meanwhile, Iraqi government forces reported that they had retaken 2 more villages south of Mosul and killed 15 militants.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 22 October, Iraqi police declared that ISIL's attack on Kirkuk had been repelled and that all the attackers had been killed or had blown themselves up. Iraqi officials also stated that 80 people were killed in Kirkuk, primarily Kurdish security forces, and about 170 wounded; 56 ISIL militants were also killed. A reporter of Türkmeneli TV also died in the attack, while at least seven journalists were wounded. On the same day, Iraqi forces launched a large-scale offensive began to retake the Assyrian town of Bakhdida, which had remained under ISIL control after several days of fighting. Iraqi troops also advanced on the town of Tel Keppe, to the north of Mosul. On 23 October, the Peshmerga General Command also stated that the Peshmerga had cordoned off eight villages and had secured a significant stretch of the Bashiqa-Mosul highway, coming within of the city. ISIL increased its counter-attacks in order to distract the pro-government advancing towards Mosul. In addition to the attack on Kirkuk on 21 October, ISIL fighters struck Ar-Rutbah in Anbar Province, as well as Sinjar.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: By 24 October, nearly 800 ISIL fighters had been killed while 78 villages were reported to have been retaken from the group. The attack on Kirkuk was also brought to an end on the same day, with 74 militants being killed and others, including the leader of the attackers, being arrested. On 25 October, Iraqi Special Operations Forces came within of the city and paused their advance to wait for reinforcements. On 26 October, Iraqi forces faced heavy resistance from ISIL as they attempted to clear the militants from villages in Shora, south of Mosul. Hundreds of ISIL suicide bombers were also reported to have been sent from Syria to defend Mosul. Meanwhile, Peshmerga forces captured the village of Derk, northeast of Mosul, where they discovered a large ISIL tunnel containing a large cache of weapons. On 27 October, the head of the United States Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, estimated that 800–900 ISIL militants had been killed in the battle. On 28 October, Iraqi forces recaptured the town of Al-Shura, south of Mosul, while joint Iraqi-Peshmerga forces captured Fadiliya, which lies just four kilometres away from Mosul. Meanwhile, the UN stated that ISIL had taken tens of thousands of civilians to use as human shields in Mosul, including at least 5,000 families from around Al-Shura and 2,210 families from the Nimrud area of Hamdaniya. Those who refused to go were executed.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 29 October, the PMF launched an offensive towards the west of Mosul, with the aim of capturing the villages west of Mosul and reaching the town of Tal Afar, in order to prevent ISIL fighters from retreating into neighboring Syria or reinforcing their defense of Mosul. The PMF had been tasked with recapturing around 14,000 square kilometres of territory from ISIL, though they stated that they would not enter Mosul city itself. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Army and PMF captured 15 villages from ISIL.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 30 October, the Peshmerga had captured six more villages to north and east of Mosul, and had seized control of several major roads and landmarks, and they declared to have captured 500 square kilometres of territory since the operation began. On the same day, the PMF stated that they had captured eight more villages to the southwest of Mosul. On 31 October, a major Iraqi operation was launched on Bazwaya, to the east of Mosul, capturing the town along with several nearby villages, after coming under heavy fire. After capturing Bazwaya, ISOF were less than from Mosul. Several Iraqi military officials stated that ISOF would soon begin its push into Mosul city. Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition stated that they would target ISIL militants from the air if they attempted to flee the city, though the U.S. Department of Defense stated that hundreds of militants were believed to have already escaped. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi meanwhile called on ISIL fighters in Mosul to surrender.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 1 November, the operation to enter Mosul city began at dawn. The allied forces began their assault in Mosul's eastern Karama district, with artillery, tank and machine-gun fire on ISIL positions as they prepared the larger push into the city. Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition targeted ISIL positions, and ISIL started tire fires to reduce visibility. Heavy fighting occurred in the Gogjali district, at the gate of the entrance to eastern Mosul, where ISIL militants used car bombs and sniper fire to try to halt the advance. The Golden Division entered Mosul's city limits that afternoon, engaging in street fights with ISIL militants. Shortly afterward, the Iraqi Army announced that they had captured Mosul's state television building on the city's left bank. The Gogjali district was reported to be under Iraqi government control by the evening, while the Iraqi Army's 9th Division and 3rd Brigade had entered the neighborhood of Judaydat al-Mufti on the left bank. The Iraqi war media office stated that Iraqi government forces suffered no casualties during the assault. Meanwhile, Iraqi government forces captured two villages on the northern front.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 2 November, ISOF continued fighting the remaining ISIL fighters in the eastern section of Gogjali, though Iraqi troops were forced to hold their positions in eastern Mosul, as poor weather conditions were limiting visibility for drones and aircraft, preventing them from advancing. Meanwhile, eight militants were killed in Mosul by Iraqi forces. On the same day, the PMU announced that it had captured 115 square kilometres that day after fierce fighting with ISIL, including six villages, and had surrounded three ISIL-held villages. They also claimed that they had reached a highway to the southwest of Mosul and had cut the first supply line to Mosul from Raqqa. In the southern front, the Iraqi Army launched an offensive in the morning to recapture Hamam al-Alil and engaged in heavy fighting with ISIL, while the Iraqi Federal Police captured two villages in the south.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 3 November, the Iraqi Army's 9th Armored Division was reported to have entered the neighborhood of al-Intisar in eastern Mosul. while Mosul's Fifth Bridge, located over the Tigris river, was destroyed by airstrikes. U.S. and Iraqi authorities stated the offensive was "ahead of schedule", while Brigadier Saad Maan stated that the priority of protecting civilian lives and infrastructure would possibly slow their advance into the city. On 4 November, the Iraqi Army recaptured six districts in Mosul, including 90% of the eastern district of al-Zahra. However, they were forced to withdraw from Karama district because of heavy resistance. Clashes continued into 5 November, with clashes being the most intense in the neighborhood of al-Bakr. The eastern neighborhoods of Kirkukli and al-Zahra in the east and Al-Tahrir in the northeast were under Iraqi control, while the southern neighborhoods of Qudes and Karama reportedly remained under ISIL control. Fighting resumed in the Gogjali district, after ISIL militants emerged from tunnels during the night. The Iraqi Army continued its assault on three fronts to Hamam al-Alil, with Iraqi forces retaking the town by nighttime, though fighting would continue for another two days. On 6 November, Iraqi forces in the southwestern front stated that they were from Mosul International Airport, after taking control of Hamam al-Alil on the previous day. They also stormed the Al-Sada district, their first entrance into northern Mosul.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 7 November, the Peshmerga, backed by coalition airstrikes, launched an offensive from three fronts in the morning to take the town of Bashiqa, which was still held by ISIL and had been surrounded for about two weeks. About 100 to 200 ISIL militants were estimated to be left in the town. In the early afternoon, the Iraqi troops also advanced on the town of Tel Keppe, north of Mosul, besieging the town. The town of Bashiqa was reported to be fully under Peshmerga control, though an ISIL pocket remained under siege in the town until the end of the month. On the southern front, Hamam al-Alil was fully captured by pro-government forces, after two days of clearing out the remaining ISIL fighters. In eastern Mosul, the ISOF surrounded the neighborhoods of Karama, Malayyin al-Salasa, Shquq Khazraa, Zahra, Karkuli, Aden and Zahabi. The Iraqi Army's 9th armored division and the 3rd Brigade captured the village of Manarat Shabak, east of the city, and made an incursion into the eastern Mosul neighborhoods of Hay Intisar, Judaydah al-Mufti, and Hay Shaima. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Federal Police captured two villages near Hammam Al-Alil. On 8 November, on the western front, PMU forces were reported to have advanced to a distance of 25 km towards the strategically important Tal Afar military airbase, south of the city of Tal Afar. On 9 November, the ISOF captured the majority of the Intisar district in southern Mosul, while ISIL had reportedly deployed armed child soldiers in Mosul. On 10 November, in eastern Mosul, the Golden Division, as well as elements of the 9th Division, were reported to be regrouping and clearing neighborhoods once occupied by ISIL, as well as screening residents fleeing from Mosul for any militants hiding among them. On the southern front, pro-government forces advanced towards the ancient city of Nimrud.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 11 November, Iraqi forces on the southern front were preparing to advance up the western bank of the Tigris river toward Mosul International Airport. In eastern Mosul, Iraqi forces launched a new offensive to regain control of the neighborhood of Karkukli, while Iraqi anti-terror units entered the Qadesiyya neighborhood. On 12 November, heavy clashes broke out in the al-Salam neighborhood of east Mosul. Iraqi Army announced that it had captured al-Arbajiya district and was clearing the adjacent al-Qadisiya al-Thaniya district. They also reached the Palestine neighborhood in southeast Mosul and were engaged in battle with ISIL in the Quds neighborhood. The PMU announced that the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ), an allied group, had started the operation to capture the villages south of Sinjar from ISIL. On 13 November, Iraqi forces recaptured the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, as well as the adjacent modern town. Iraqi force also captured the Karkojli neighborhood in eastern Mosul. On 14 November, thirty ISIL fighters, including senior leaders, were killed as PMU forces captured the village of al-Abbas; the PMU also captured two more villages. Pro-government forces on the southern front captured the village of Bo Youssef and were from Mosul airport. Meanwhile, ISIL launched three mustard gas attacks on Qayyarah, killing seven people.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 15 November, troops of the Golden Division began storming areas in northern and eastern Mosul, including the neighborhoods of al-Akhaa, al-Bakr, and al-Hadbaa. On the Western front, the Badr Organization announced that it had captured two villages and advanced ten kilometres in the western axis of the offensive. On 16 November, the PMF took control of Tal Afar military airbase, to the northwest of Mosul city. On 18 November, the PMU attacked more villages in the vicinity of Tal Afar, in an area infamous for Sunni Islamist militancy and outstanding support for ISIL among the population. PMF control had already captured over 16 villages in the surrounding area, during preceding days. On 22 November, four of the five Tigris bridges in Mosul were struck by Coalition airstrikes within the past 48 hours. On the same day, U.S. Special Forces captured four Islamic State commanders near the town of Al-Ba'aj, far to the west, near the Syrian border.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 23 November, to the west of Tal Afar, the PMF reported cutting the road between Sinjar and Tal Afar, with their Shi'a component groups advancing from the South linking up with the Sinjar Resistance Units and Êzîdxan Women's Units to the North, thus completing the encirclement of the Mosul pocket. On 30 November, the PMF said that they captured 12 villages from ISIL in the Tal Afar area, within the past five days. By 30 November, the Peshmerga had cleared the remaining ISIL snipers from the town, though they continued to clear the mines and explosives left behind by ISIL.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: At the end of November, the Iraqi military assessed that it had taken control of 19 neighborhoods in eastern Mosul during the month, about somewhat less than 30 percent of the area of Mosul east of the Tigris. While the "Golden Division" Special Operations Forces persistently advanced into East Mosul, the 9th Division took one neighborhood in the southeast, the 16th Division had not yet breached the Mosul city limits from the north, and the 15th Division, advancing from the southwest, was still several kilometres away from western Mosul.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: Twenty airstrikes by the US-led coalition were heard on the morning of 6 December, following an assault on the city's strategic main (old) bridge that was held by ISIL. In the overnight hours, ISIL launched a counter-attack in the southeastern area of Mosul, near al-Salam. On the same day, the PMU stated that it had captured the southern section of Tal Abta. Following the overnight ISIL attack, Iraqi forces continued to secure the al-Salam area on 7 December, capturing al-Salam hospital. However, ISIL recaptured the hospital after a counter-attack, which destroyed or disabled 20 Iraqi vehicles. On 9 December, Iraqi Joint Operations Command announced that they had captured the three east Mosul districts of Saha, Adel, and Tahrir, adding that Iraqi forces had captured 27 districts of Mosul, with clashes ongoing in 4 districts. On 11 December, the CTS forces mentioned that they had the al-Nour neighborhood of east Mosul.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 13 December, CTS commander Abdul Wahab al-Saedi stated that there were only 6 districts left to be captured by the CTS forces in East Mosul, and that they had already captured 32 of them. While the PMF to the west continued clearing villages in the desert region of the ISIL heartland in the Nineveh Governorate, it was reported on the same day that the Badr militia was targeting villages around Tal Afar to "surround Daesh and tighten the noose around them", while Kata'ib Hezbollah advanced further west towards the Syrian border. On 15 December, CTS commander Abdul Ghani al-Assadi announced that the first phase of retaking the eastern shores of the city was completed, with CTS forces capturing 40 out of the 56 eastern districts.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 16 December, the PMF captured the Tel Abtah district, home to almost 50,000 people and a major strategic ISIL stronghold, and advanced on more villages to the south and southwest of Tal Afar. On 18 December, the 9th Division, with the assistance of CTS, started attacking al-Wehda district of east Mosul, in order to regain control of al-Salam hospital. On 19 December, Iraqi forces stormed into the al-Mazare' area, after retaking large parts of al-Wahda in southeastern Mosul, and also killed 14 ISIL fighters, including four suicide bombers. On 21 December, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Matthew Isler announced that pro-government forces had entered a planned operational refit, which included repairing vehicles, re-supplying ammunition and preparing for the next stage of the battle. He also stated that they had captured more than a quarter of the city.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 23 December, the Iraqi Army captured the Mosul Police Academy headquarters in Al-Qahira district, which was their first major advance since the suspension of military operations a week earlier. On 24 December, U.S. Army Colonel Brett G. Sylvia stated that American soldiers assisting Iraqi forces would be embedded more extensively and would partner with additional formations. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stated that Iraqi forces were in control of over a third of Mosul, while Iraqi Joint Operations Command spokesperson Yahia Rasoul stated that Iraqi forces controlled 44% of Nineveh Governate. He added that CTS forces controlled 40 districts in east Mosul, while the Iraqi Army's 9th Battalion held six districts. On 25 December, the CTS reportedly stormed into the Al-Quds district, later in the day. On 26 December, Commander of Nineveh Operations Major General Najim al-Jabouri announced that new military reinforcements had arrived in the Mosul neighborhoods retaken by Iraqi forces. On 27 December, the ISIL-run Amaq News Agency stated that the anti-ISIL coalition had destroyed the Old Bridge, the last functioning bridge in Mosul. The US-led Coalition stated that it had disabled a Mosul bridge with airstrikes, without providing further details.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 29 December, Iraqi forces launched the second phase of the battle, pushing from three directions into the remaining eastern Mosul districts. Iraqi soldiers and Federal Police entered about half a dozen southeastern districts, while the CTS advanced in the al-Quds and Karama districts. In the third front, Iraqi soldiers also pushed toward the northern city limits. An ISIL headquarters in al-Thobat district was reportedly destroyed in coalition airstrikes, killing 12 militants. Later in the day, the commander of the operation declared that they had captured 2 villages to the north of Mosul, killing 70 militants. Iraqi forces had captured half of the al-Quds district by early afternoon. On 30 December, Iraqi security forces advanced in several areas. In the northern front, the 16th Division stormed the Habdaa district while also trying to cut off the supply lines to Tel Kayf. Ammar al-Haweidi, who was an elite leader of ISIL, was reported to have been killed by the Iraqi Federal Police. On 31 December, heavy clashes occurred at the southeastern and northern fronts of Mosul. An Iraqi Army officer deployed in the southeastern front reported that their advances had slowed down, due to heavy clashes and difficulty in differentiating between civilians and militants. Iraqi forces on the northern front advanced towards the periphery of Mosul, with an officer stating that heavy clashes were ongoing in the Argoob area. The CTS destroyed four VBIEDs, when ISIL tried to attack them in the street linking al-Ta'mim neighborhood and the garage area in east Mosul.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: Iraqi forces continued their advance on 1 January 2017, capturing a part of the Karama district, taking near complete control of Intissar and Siha districts, and clearing the Salam district. The CTS linked up with Rapid Response Division during the day at the edge of al-Intissar and al-Quds, capturing more than 60% of east Mosul. Later that day, Iraqi forces captured the Yunus al-Sabaawi and Yafa districts in the southeastern part of the city, and also completely captured al-Intissar, as well as the districts of al-Malayeen, al-Kindi, and al-Arabi al-Thania. Iraqi Federal Police also captured the Gogjali-Intsar road and the strategic No. 60 Street to the southeast of Mosul. On 3 January, Iraqi forces stormed three districts. Iraqi Air Force airstrikes destroyed the office of ISIL's hisbah police located on Mosul-Tel Afar road, and several warfare utilities of the group. The Iraqi Federal Police also destroyed the headquarters of Jund al-Khilafa (Soldiers of the Caliphate), an ISIL explosives factory, and a drone headquarters in al-Mithaq district. Later that day, the CTS captured the Karama industrial neighborhood, the Industrial district, the Karama Silo (a flour mill), and a Mercedes Company building. Iraqi forces later captured the area of exhibitions and the commercial complex to the south of the Ta'mim district, along with the Al-Hay al-Senai and al-Mithaq districts, as well as the Maaridh area to the east of Mosul. On 4 January, Iraqi forces cleared the Mithaq district and advanced in al-Wahda. The United Nations stated that civilian casualties had started increasing as Iraqi forces advanced in the city. The Federal Police and 9th Division captured Wahda after heavy clashes, bringing them closer to the city center, while ISIL counter-attacks in southeastern Mosul were repelled. Iraqi forces later captured the al-Moallemin and Sumer districts, as well as the Mosul-Kirkuk road. On the same day, the United States Department of Defense and the anti-ISIL Coalition stated that American advisers had entered Mosul with Iraqi forces.


title: Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

text: On 5 January, Lt.-Gen. Talib Shaghati stated that Iraqi forces had captured about 65–70% of east Mosul. An ISIL attack on the PMU near Tal Afar was repelled. The Federal Police announced that 1,700 ISIL fighters had been killed in the second phase. General Raed Shaker Jawdat stated that the group's headquarters in Nineveh province had been destroyed and that Iraqi forces had captured eight districts in the second phase, thus bringing the entire southeastern section of Mosul under their control. He also stated that all the remaining districts in east Mosul had been surrounded and would be stormed soon. On 6 January, the CTS stormed the al-Muthanna district, during an overnight raid across the al-Khawsar river, with the CTS later driving ISIL out of the district. This advance marked the first time that Iraqi forces had entered Mosul from the north. The CTS also launched an assault on the Hadbaa apartment complex on the northern front, sparking heavy clashes. On 7 January, Iraqi forces came within several hundred metres of the Tigris river. The CTS captured al-Gharfan district (previously known as al-Baath) and entered Wahda district, later capturing a hospital complex in Wahda. Meanwhile, a spokesman of the anti-ISIL coalition stated that ISIL had deliberately damaged the fourth bridge in Mosul as Iraqi forces advanced. Iraqi forces also captured ISIL's command center and two prisons, as well as Rifaq, the Atibaa 1st and Atibaa 2nd districts, and the Hadbaa residential complex. On 8 January, ISIL attacked CTS troops advancing towards the Sukkar and Baladiyat districts, though the attacks were repelled with the help of coalition warplanes, killing dozens of militants. The 9th Division and Federal Police had launched an attack on the Sumer and Domiz districts, on the southeastern front. The CTS spokesman said that Iraqi forces had reached the Tigris river for the first time in the offensive, advancing towards the eastern side of the fourth bridge. Brett McGurk, USA's envoy to the anti-ISIL coalition, stated that ISIL's defenses in eastern Mosul were showing signs of collapse. Meanwhile, the PMU repelled an ISIL attack near Adaya, located to the west of Mosul.