title: Nebivolol

text: Nebivolol is a beta blocker used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. As with other β-blockers, it is generally a less preferred treatment for high blood pressure. It may be used by itself or with other blood pressure medication. It is taken by mouth.


title: Nebivolol

text: Common side effects include dizziness, feeling tired, nausea, and headaches. Serious side effects may include heart failure and bronchospasm. Its use in pregnancy and breastfeeding is not recommended. It works by blocking β1-adrenergic receptors in the heart and dilating blood vessels.


title: Nebivolol

text: Nebivolol was patented in 1983 and came into medical use in 1997. It is available as a generic medication in the United Kingdom. In 2020, it was the 239th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 1million prescriptions.


title: Nebivolol

text: Nebivolol is used in the treatment of angina, to decrease the heart rate and contractile force. This is relevant in patients who need to decrease the oxygen demand of the heart so that the blood supplied from stenosed or constricted arteries is adequate.


title: Nebivolol

text: ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor antagonists, calcium-channel blockers, and thiazide diuretics are generally preferred over beta blockers for the treatment of primary hypertension in the absence of co-morbidities.


title: Nebivolol

text: Beta blockers help patients with cardiovascular disease by blocking β1 receptors, while many of the side-effects of these medications are caused by their blockade of β2 receptors. For this reason, beta blockers that selectively block β1 adrenergic receptors (termed cardioselective or β1-selective beta blockers) produce fewer adverse effects (for instance, bronchoconstriction) than those drugs that non-selectively block both β1 and β2 receptors.


title: Nebivolol

text: In a laboratory experiment conducted on biopsied heart tissue, nebivolol proved to be the most β1-selective of the β-blockers tested, being approximately 3.5 times more β1-selective than bisoprolol. However, the drug's receptor selectivity in humans is more complex and depends on the drug dose and the genetic profile of the patient taking the medication. The drug is highly cardioselective at 5 mg. In addition, at doses above 10 mg, nebivolol loses its cardioselectivity and blocks both β1 and β2 receptors, while the recommended starting dose of nebivolol is 5 mg, sufficient control of blood pressure may require doses up to 40 mg. Furthermore, nebivolol is also not cardioselective when taken by patients with a genetic makeup that makes them "poor metabolizers" of nebivolol (and other drugs) or with CYP2D6 inhibitors. As many as 1 in 10 Caucasian people and even more black people are poor CYP2D6 metabolizers and therefore might benefit less from nebivolol's cardioselectivity although currently there are no directly comparable studies.


title: Nebivolol

text: Nebivolol while selectively blocking beta(1) receptor acts as a beta(3)-agonist. β receptors are found in the gallbladder, urinary bladder, and in brown adipose tissue. Their role in gallbladder physiology is unknown, but they are thought to play a role in lipolysis and thermogenesis in brown fat. In the urinary bladder it is thought to cause relaxation of the bladder and prevention of urination.


title: Nebivolol

text: Due to enzymatic inhibition, fluvoxamine increases the exposure to nebivolol and its active hydroxylated metabolite (4-OH-nebivolol) in healthy volunteers.


title: Nebivolol

text: Nebivolol is unique as a beta-blocker. Unlike carvedilol, it has a nitric oxide (NO)-potentiating, vasodilatory effect via stimulation of β3 receptors. Along with labetalol, celiprolol and carvedilol, it is one of four beta blockers to cause dilation of blood vessels in addition to effects on the heart.


title: Nebivolol

text: Nebivolol lowers blood pressure (BP) by reducing peripheral vascular resistance, and significantly increases stroke volume with preservation of cardiac output. The net hemodynamic effect of nebivolol is the result of a balance between the depressant effects of beta-blockade and an action that maintains cardiac output. Antihypertensive responses were significantly higher with nebivolol than with placebo in trials enrolling patient groups considered representative of the U.S. hypertensive population, in black people, and in those receiving concurrent treatment with other antihypertensive drugs.


title: Nebivolol

text: Nebivolol plasma protein binding is approximately 98%, mostly to albumin and its half-life of low doses is 12 hours in extensive CYP2D6 metabolizers and 19 hours in poor metabolizers.


title: Nebivolol

text: Side effects might include headache, tiredness, dizziness, lightheadedness, reduced blood flow to extremities, bradycardia.


title: Nebivolol

text: Several studies have suggested that nebivolol has reduced typical beta-blocker-related side effects, such as fatigue, clinical depression, bradycardia, or impotence. However, according to the FDABystolic is associated with a number of serious risks. Bystolic is contraindicated in patients with severe bradycardia, heart block greater than first degree, cardiogenic shock, decompensated cardiac failure, sick sinus syndrome (unless a permanent pacemaker is in place), severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh > B) and in patients who are hypersensitive to any component of the product. Bystolic therapy is also associated with warnings regarding abrupt cessation of therapy, cardiac failure, angina and acute myocardial infarction, bronchospastic diseases, anesthesia and major surgery, diabetes and hypoglycemia, thyrotoxicosis, peripheral vascular disease, non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers use, as well as precautions regarding use with CYP2D6 inhibitors, impaired renal and hepatic function, and anaphylactic reactions. Finally, Bystolic is associated with other risks as described in the Adverse Reactions section of its PI. For example, a number of treatment-emergent adverse events with an incidence greater than or equal to 1 percent in Bystolic-treated patients and at a higher frequency than placebo-treated patients were identified in clinical studies, including headache, fatigue, and dizziness.


title: Nebivolol

text: In late August 2008, the FDA issued a Warning Letter to Forest Laboratories citing exaggerated and misleading claims in their launch journal ad, in particular over claims of superiority and novelty of action.


title: Nebivolol

text: Mylan Laboratories licensed the U.S. and Canadian rights to nebivolol from Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. in 2001. Nebivolol is already registered and successfully marketed in more than 50 countries, including the United States where it is marketed under the brand name Bystolic from Mylan Laboratories and Forest Laboratories. Nebivolol is manufactured by Forest Laboratories.


title: Nebivolol

text: In India, nebivolol is available as Nebula (Zydus Healthcare Ltd), Nebizok (Eris life-sciences), Nebicip (Cipla ltd), Nebilong (Micro Labs), Nebistar (Lupin ltd), Nebicard (Torrent), Nubeta (Abbott Healthcare Pvt Ltd – India), and Nodon (Cadila Pharmaceuticals).


title: Nebivolol

text: In the Middle East, Russia and in Australia, it is marketed under the name Nebilet and in Pakistan it is marketed by The Searle Company Limited as Byscard.


title: Salalah

text: Salalah () is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani governorate of Dhofar. Its population in 2009 was about 197,169.


title: Salalah

text: Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest city in the Dhofar Province. Salalah is the birthplace of the former sultan, Qaboos bin Said. Salalah attracts many people from other parts of Oman and the Persian Gulf region during the monsoon/"khareef" season, which spans from June to September. The climate of the region and the monsoon allows the city to grow some vegetables and fruits like coconut and bananas. There are many gardens within the city where these vegetables and fruits grow.


title: Salalah

text: Salalah was the traditional capital of Dhofar, which reached the peak of prosperity in the 13th century thanks to the incense trade. Later it decayed, and in the 19th century it was absorbed by the Sultanate of Muscat.


title: Salalah

text: Between 1932 and 1970, Salalah was the residence of Said bin Taimur, the Sultan of Sultanate of Oman Sultan Qaboos acceded to his father's throne in 1970, and decided to move his capital to Muscat, the largest city in Oman, where he lived until he quietly left for treatment in Germany. His absence was much regretted in Salalah, where his palace was always kept ready to receive him. His Majesty's last visits were in 2006 to meet influential tribal and local leaders, and in 2010 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his accession with a massive parade watched for several hours by an estimated hundred thousand spectators.


title: Salalah

text: Despite the Sultan's generally benevolent government running Oman without national taxation thanks to its vast mineral resources, and with all menial work done by Asian labourers, Salalah saw peaceful protests for a few months in 2011 in the domino effect of the Arab Spring. Some Omani protesters requested the dismissal of current ministers, better job opportunities, salary increases, a solution to the increasing cost of living, or the establishment of Islamic banks.


title: Salalah

text: The city has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification "BWh"), although summers are cooler than in more northern or inland parts of Oman. Salalah is very cloudy and foggy during the monsoon months of July and August, even though relatively little rain falls. Khareef means "autumn" in Arabic but it refers to monsoon when describing the region around Salalah. During this time, the brown landscape of Salalah and its surroundings is completely transformed to a beautiful and lush greenery.


title: Salalah

text: Cyclone Mekunu, which originated over the Arabian Sea, became an extremely severe cyclone before hitting the Salalah city on 25 May 2018. 200 kmph was the recorded windspeed, and the city of Salalah was pounded with over of rainfall, which is almost 5 years of Oman's average rainfall.


title: Salalah

text: The city, like many other in Arab states of the Arabian peninsula, has a relatively large expatriate community, mainly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Philippines.


title: Salalah

text: The majority of the Omani population (98.9%) in Salalah is Muslim. There is also a considerable population of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and Sikhs in the expatriate community.


title: Salalah

text: Arabic is the official language. The unofficial, unwritten language known as Jeballi is the second most spoken language and the mother tongue of many in Salalah and its surrounding areas, with 25,000 estimated speakers as of 1993.


title: Salalah

text: English is the official foreign language and the most spoken language of the expats. Malayalam is another popular language and together with Tamil, Telugu, along with Hindi and Somali are widely spoken language among expatriates.


title: Salalah

text: APM Terminals, part of the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group of Denmark, manages the Port of Salalah; one of the largest ports on the Arabian Peninsula which is an important transshipment hub for container shipping in the area. The Port of Salalah is also one of the most vital ports on the peninsula connecting together Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. But the port is outside the city, to the south. It is also the largest private employer in the Dhofar region. The Salalah Free Zone, situated right beside the port, is emerging as a new center for heavy industries in the Middle East.


title: Salalah

text: Salalah has an international tourist economy with many Middle Eastern tourists during the Khareef season from June to September. In this season the mountains turn green, and there are many waterfalls to visit, such as at Wadi Darbat, Ain Athum, Ain Tubrook, and Ain Khor. There are four reputed tombs of Islamic prophets: Nabi Imran, possibly the Virgin Mary's father but more likely a local prophet; Nabi Ayoob, the biblical Job; Nabi Houd; and Nabi Salih. The city received more than 600,000 tourists during the khareef season in 2017.


title: Salalah

text: Amongst the Dhofar Governorate's cultural attractions is the Salalah carnival, which includes the usual rides, family activities, concerts, cultural events and vendors.


title: Salalah

text: Salalah is known as the home of some of the best football clubs in Oman. In total, Salalah has four sport clubs based in the city: Salalah Club, Al-Ittihad, Al-Nasr, and Dhofar (the most successful club in the League with 11 trophies).


title: Salalah

text: Dhofar F.C. have been nicknamed as ""Al-Zaeem"", or "The Leaders", due to their enormous success in both the Omani League, and in the Sultan Qaboos Cup. Dhofar have also have an adequate number of trophies in sports like volleyball, and handball. Al-Nasr have also been known for their great success in football, winning the Omani League five times, and the Sultan Qaboos Cup 4 times. Al-Nasr, like Dhofar, have also been successful in other sports such as hockey, basketball, volleyball, and handball.


title: Salalah

text: Salalah currently has two stadiums, the Salalah Sports Complex (also known as the "Youth Sports Complex"), which is the only multi-purpose stadium in Salalah. The newer, Al-Saadah Stadium is the newly built stadium in Al-Saada district of Salalah devoted to football. Incorporated in the walls of the sports complex apart from the football stadium is a hockey field, tennis court, Olympic swimming pool, and indoor volleyball/basketball court. Al-Saada Stadium is the venue where Saudi national football team, and the Omani national team first met in Salalah on August 12, 2009.


title: Salalah

text: The most popular sport played among the youth is by far football. It is very normal to see a group of boys and young men from around the area playing in makeshift fields in parking lots, or in a large open area. Beach football is also a common sight to see along the beach in the Al-Haffa district. Another popular sport in Salalah is volleyball. Although not as popular as football the game is frequently played, special in the beach of Salalah.


title: Salalah

text: Currently Salalah has two colleges, the Salalah College of Technology and Salalah College of Applied Science, both of which are government owned and sponsored.


title: Salalah

text: The Salalah College of Applied Sciences incorporates an English Department. Its aim is to offer students a solid grasp of the English language so that they may go on to complete further studies in important sectors such as I.T. and Communication and Design.


title: Salalah

text: Salalah is also home to a private university, Dhofar University which is one of the largest in the region. It has significant shares owned by Mustahil Al-Mashani, uncle of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Recently the university has constructed a new campus worth 25 million OR.


title: Salalah

text: The Indian School Salalah is an Indian-run, self-financing, co-educational institution, primarily established to meet the academic needs of children of Indian expatriates working in Salalah. The Indian School Salalah is the largest English-medium school in Salalah and it also admits children of other nationalities. The school is located in the North Dahariz area, of Salalah town.


title: Salalah

text: Pakistan School Salalah is a Pakistani co-educational high school which was established in the year 1982. The school is situated adjacent to the Indian School in Salalah Dahariz north.


title: Salalah

text: British School Salalah was founded in 1970. The school follows the National Curriculum of England and Wales, and offers schooling to children from Reception to Year 10 (Year 11 from August 2021). It is also situated in Dahariz next to the Indian School and Pakistani School.


title: Salalah

text: Salalah International Airport mainly caters to domestic flights from Muscat and some International flights from India and regional Arab countries such as Qatar, U.A.E, and Saudi Arabia. Oman Air, the national airline operates five flights daily from Salalah to Muscat, the capital city and also two flights to Dubai weekly. Oman Air introduced Oman Air Pass for regular travelers between Salalah and Muscat. Qatar Airways has daily flights from Salalah to Doha connecting to over 130 destinations worldwide. Very convenient connections are available to destinations in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia. There is also a direct weekly flight from and to Kochi, Kozhikode (Calicut), and Thiruvananthapuram operated by Air India Express for the Malayalee expatriates. During the Khareef Season (Monsoons) there are weekly flights to other international destinations including Sweden and Turkey. There are also transit flights to almost all countries. The new International airport opened on 15 June 2015 and the old Airport has since then been converted into a Domestic and emergency Airport.


title: Salalah

text: There is a daily bus service from Deira, Dubai, UAE to Salalah at 3pm. There is daily bus service between Muscat and Salalah from many bus service providers.


title: Salalah

text: Salalah did not have a public transportation system within the city limits until 2018, but in 2019 Sultan Qaboos announced a bus service within the city from Salalah airport to city center and city center to Salalah port.


title: Salalah

text: Oman National Transport Company (Mwasalat) has started daily public bus service in Salalah from December 2018.


title: Salalah

text: Long-distance air-conditioned buses are operated daily from Salalah to Haima, Muscat, Nizwa, Al-Buraimi, Dubai, Al-Ain, Al-Ghaydah, Mukalla, and Seiyun, as well as PDO locations such as Marmul.


title: Salalah

text: Other forms of public transport popular in Salalah are taxis. Generally fares vary from half a Rial to 2 Rials depending on the distance to destination. Taxis are color-coded orange and white and provide semi-personal transportation in the form of both individual hire and the same opportunistic roadway service as Baisa buses, which are not as popular in the city.


title: Salalah

text: Minibuses, colour-coded orange and white, are unmetered like taxis, after several government initiatives to introduce meters were rejected. The fare is set by way of negotiation, although drivers usually adhere to certain unwritten rules for fares within the city. One should always find out the normally accepted fare for one's journey from one's hotel or host before looking for a taxi.


title: Salalah

text: The Port of Salalah is one of the deepwater ports in Oman and also eleventh-busiest transshipment port in the world, second-busiest port in the Middle East, which is located at Port Raysut (Salalah). It can accommodate large vessels up to 18m draft. It is the main container tran-shipment terminal of the region. This port is operated and managed by Salalah Port Services Company (S.A.O.G.). The port also welcomes cruise liners and luxury ships.


title: Salalah

text: The English-language radio stations are Hi FM and Merge, which are the only English-language stations in Oman. There are also a number of Arabic radio channels. In Salalah almost all TV channels are available.


title: Francia Márquez

text: Francia Elena Márquez Mina (born 1 December 1981) is a Colombian human-rights and environmental activist and lawyer, who is the 13th and current Vice President of Colombia. She was born in Yolombó, a village in the Cauca Department. She first became an activist at 13, when construction of a dam threatened her community. After taking office, she became the first Afro-Colombian vice president in the country's history. She is also the second woman to hold the post, after Marta Lucía Ramírez. In August 2020, Márquez announced her candidacy in the 2022 Colombian presidential election and sought the nomination for the Historic Pact for Colombia coalition. She was later chosen by the coalition's nominee, Gustavo Petro, to be his running mate.


title: Francia Márquez

text: In 2018, she was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work to stop illegal gold mining in her community of La Toma and for her community organising. Márquez led a protest march of 80 women who trekked 560 kilometres (350 miles) to the capital city of Bogotá, and demanded the removal of all illegal miners from their community. In 2019, the BBC listed Francia Márquez on their 100 Women list for that year.


title: Francia Márquez

text: Márquez was born on 1 December 1981, in the village of Yolombó, located in the Suárez municipality of the Cauca department. Her parents are miners, although her mother is also a farmer and midwife. Márquez described her childhood as "marked by spending time at my maternal grandparents' house, another time with my mother and the rest with my paternal grandparents".


title: Francia Márquez

text: Márquez is an agricultural technician graduate from the National Learning Service of Colombia. In 2020 she obtained a law degree from the University of Santiago de Cali.


title: Francia Márquez

text: From 1994 to 1997 , Márquez participated in the defence of the Ovejas river, a significant water source for her community. Companies such as Unión Fenosa planned to divert the river toward the Salvajina hydroelectric dam. Her community succeeded in preventing the project.


title: Francia Márquez

text: Other companies, such as AngloGold Ashanti, which intended to mine gold in the region, threatening the river's cleanliness, began to invest in the community by building roads and donating school supplies. Márquez recalls that while some appreciated the company's generosity, others were suspicious, stating "others amongst [us] thought that, 'nothing comes for free; they must have an ulterior motive.' And there was already talk of a mining project, so we listened to our elders, and we said 'no' to AngloGold." The company responded by delivering leaflets to residents' homes, threatening eviction.


title: Francia Márquez

text: During the presidencies of Álvaro Uribe and Juan Manuel Santos, the invitation of international mining companies to extract natural resources in Colombia increased. In 2009, Márquez helped lead protests against attempts by the government to evict Afro-Colombians, especially artisanal miners, from ancestral land near the town of La Toma. The interior ministry had granted companies such as AngloGold the right to mine for gold in the area without consulting residents. Márquez, along with members of the community council of La Toma, filed a lawsuit challenging the decision. During this time, several members of the committee received death threats. Paramilitary groups subsequently targeted the community, killing several artisanal miners on the river banks. Márquez prevailed when the constitutional court ruled in her community's favour.


title: Francia Márquez

text: In 2013, Márquez became a legal representative in La Toma. She also took part in the permanent assembly in Cauca, which advocated for the National Land Agency to protect territory.


title: Francia Márquez

text: The following year, Márquez's community faced environmental damage from illegal miners drilling boreholes near the Ovejas river, poisoned due to mercury use. Márquez again sought legal action and worked with other community members to combat environmental damage caused by illegal miners. However, in October 2014, Márquez was forced to flee to Cali with her children after receiving threats from paramilitary groups.


title: Francia Márquez

text: Facing increased threats from illegal mining, Márquez organised a 350-kilometre long march from Cauca to Bogotá in 2014. The March, which consisted of 80 Afro-Colombian women, saw an increase in attention to illegal mining in Cauca, as well as the social and environmental destruction the community and suffering the illegal mining had caused. The party arrived in Bogotá ten days later and began to protest, demanding an end to the illegal mining.


title: Francia Márquez

text: After protesting for 22 days, Márquez, along with other representatives of La Toma, reached an agreement with the Colombian government. Government officials decided to take action against illegal mining and established a task force in 2015 to deal with the issue, a first in Colombian history. The Colombian security forces then began to remove and disassemble illegal mining machinery, and by the conclusion of 2016, all illegal mining apparatuses were no longer present in La Toma. Márquez's efforts and later successes earned her praise internationally and helped inspire other communities in the region to combat illegal mining. As a result of her efforts, Márquez was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018.


title: Francia Márquez

text: In December 2014, Márquez travelled to Havana, Cuba, to participate in the peace negotiations between the administration of president Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Whilst there, Márquez highlighted how the conflict had disproportionately affected Afro-Colombians and particularly black women. She also emphasised that ethnic minority groups needed to take part in the peace dialogue to ensure the preservation of lasting peace and stability.


title: Francia Márquez

text: In June 2020, Márquez was elected to the National Peace and Co-existence council, established in May 2017, to monitor compliance with the peace agreement. She served as the council's president in 2021.


title: Francia Márquez

text: Francia Márquez announced her candidacy for the 2022 presidential election in April 2021, during the National Feminist Convention. The Estamos Listas movement and fellow primary candidate Angelá María Robledo offered their support for Marquez's campaign.


title: Francia Márquez

text: In her campaign, she has advocated for women, Afro-Colombians and indigenous communities; who have been largely excluded from Colombian politics.


title: Francia Márquez

text: In December 2021, after her campaign could not collect the necessary signatures to be an independent candidate, the Alternative Democratic Pole party endorsed Márquez's campaign.


title: Francia Márquez

text: In the March 2022 primary elections for the Historic Pact nomination, Márquez reached a historical result of 783,160 votes. This result placed her in second place after Gustavo Petro – with the second-highest vote total out of all the primary candidates.


title: Francia Márquez

text: On 23 March 2022, she accepted the nomination for vice president on the ticket for the Historic Pact, joining Gustavo Petro. Márquez subsequently promised that if elected, she would move the vice president's office from Bogotá to Medellín. Petro announced that if victorious, Márquez's role as vice president would include bolstering equality for ethnic groups and regions facing exclusion. Petro pledged to establish the ministry of equality, which Márquez would lead.


title: Francia Márquez

text: In early May 2022, Márquez accused the United States and the U.S. ambassador to Colombia, Philip Goldberg, of attempting to interfere with the elections. Goldberg responded by expressing concern about "the possible intervention of other countries". Márquez's claim arose after Goldberg alleged that Venezuela and Russia would try to interfere in the elections. She further expressed, "Although he (Goldberg) did not mention the Historical Pact or Gustavo Petro, it is obvious that he was referring to our candidacy and our political bet." Despite this, Márquez assured that if victorious, a potential Petro administration would not cut ties with the United States.


title: Francia Márquez

text: During the campaign, Márquez and Gustavo Petro faced numerous death threats. In one instance, while campaigning, Márquez was targeted by laser beams from a nearby building, prompting security guards to shield her from what appeared to be an assassination attempt. In response to this and many other similar situations, 90 elected officials and prominent individuals from over 20 countries signed an open letter expressing concern and condemnation of attempts of political violence against Márquez and Petro. The letter also highlighted the assassination of over 50 social leaders, trade unionists, environmentalists and other community representatives in 2022. Signatories of the letter included former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa and American linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky.


title: Francia Márquez

text: On election day, which occurred on 29 May, Márquez's Historic Pact ticket placed first, advancing to the runoff, since no candidate received over 50% of the vote. Márquez and Petro faced Rodolfo Hernández and Marelen Castillo. Shortly after the first round, Márquez and Petro received the endorsement of Luis Gilberto Murillo for the second round. Murillo had been the running of Sergio Fajardo in the Hope Center Coalition, which did not qualify for the runoff. Márquez and Petro went on to defeat Hernández and Castillo in the second round held on 19 June. Upon her electoral triumph, Márquez proclaimed that the Petro administration would not "expropriate anyone". She said the most significant challenge she faced whilst on the campaign trail was racist attacks. Márquez's inauguration as vice president occurred on 7 August 2022. On the other hand, due to the approval needed by Congress to establish the ministry of equality, Márquez may not assume the leadership of the proposed department until mid-way through her term as vice president.


title: Alabama 3

text: Alabama 3 are a British/English musical group founded in Brixton, London in 1995. They are best known for their track "Woke Up This Morning", which was used for the opening credits of the TV series "The Sopranos". In the United States, the band is known as A3, to avoid legal conflict with the country music band Alabama.


title: Alabama 3

text: The band formed when Jake Black (born in Glasgow, Scotland; 27 April 1960 – 21 May 2019) met Rob Spragg (from Wales)at a rave in Peckham. They decided that a fusion of country music with acid house was a musical possibility. Other members of the band were added later: Nick Reynolds is the son of one of the Great Train Robbers; Rob Spragg was at university with Piers Marsh, the harmonica player and synthesiser programmer for the band; while Orlando Harrison, the group's keyboardist, used to live with Jake Black.


title: Alabama 3

text: Forming initially under the name the First Presleyterian Church of Elvis the Divine (UK), and after having been dismissed by the mainstream media as a novelty act, the group switched names to Alabama 3. As with their performances under the previous name, their sound fuses electronic pop with elements of country and blues styles. They signed with One Little Indian Records in 1997 for the release of their debut album, "Exile on Coldharbour Lane". Every member of the group has an alias, the band's founding members adopting the personas Larry Love (Rob Spragg) and The Very Reverend Dr. D. Wayne Love (Jake Black). Their second album, "La Peste", featured bassist John "Segs" Jennings of the Ruts under the stage name Frank Zappatista.


title: Alabama 3

text: In August 2007, the group toured under the name of Alabama 3: Acoustic and Unplugged, with Harpo Strangelove and Devlin Love, to promote new album "M.O.R.". Bassist John "Segs" Jennings left the band, saying he was "busy elsewhere and [he doesn't] have the time". "M.O.R." included a cover of Jerry Reed's 1970s hit "Amos Moses", and features The Proclaimers on the track "Sweet Joy". Having recorded and toured with the band in the early days, Aurora Dawn rejoined the band in 2009. Between late 2010 and early 2011, programmer, harmonicist and founding member Piers Marsh left the band.


title: Alabama 3

text: Jake Black, a founding band member and songwriter died of Addison's disease on 21 May 2019, several days after falling ill during a show at Highest Point Festival in Lancashire. He was 59.


title: Alabama 3

text: Mountain of Love is a dubtronica group formed by two of the original three members of Alabama 3, Piers Marsh and Sir Eddie Real, in 2011 in Brixton, London. The band's eponymous first album was released in 2013 on Cooked Griffin Records.


title: Alabama 3

text: Alabama 3's sound is a blend of country, blues, and acid house. The band's songs have sampled Jim Jones in "Mao Tse Tung Said" and Birmingham Six survivor Patrick Hill in "The Thrills Have Gone." Trouser Press reviewer Jason Reeher wrote that A3's "debut is brilliant and shambolic...owing huge debts to both Hank Williams and Happy Mondays."


title: Alabama 3

text: The band's music has been featured in numerous films, TV shows and video games, along with being sampled by other musicians, most famously through The Sopranos.


title: Swanson

text: Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner business is currently owned by Conagra Brands, while the broth business is currently owned by the Campbell Soup Company. TV dinner products currently sold under the brand include Swanson's Classics TV dinners and pot pies, and the current broth lineup includes chicken broth and beef broth.


title: Swanson

text: Carl A. Swanson (1879–1949) was a Swedish immigrant who worked on a farm in Blair, Nebraska, until he moved to Omaha. There, he worked in a grocery store where he came into contact with John O. Jerpe, who owned a small commission company, in which Swanson would become a partner in 1899. Initially, the Jerpe Commission Company purchased eggs and cream from local farmers. In turn, they processed the eggs, made butter from the cream, and sold these products to distributors and charged a commission to the farmers. With Swanson as a partner in the company, it began to expand. The Jerpe Commission Company began to sell chicken, turkey, and other meat. Swanson would eventually buy the company from Jerpe and rename it C.A. Swanson and Sons, as his sons Gilbert and Clarke had joined the business.


title: Swanson

text: The frozen food industry began to dramatically change surrounding the time of World War II. As men were required on the battlefield, women became more needed in the workforce. This limited the amount of available time women could spend preparing meals for their children. Women began to rely on TV dinners post-war for greater convenience, and to save time.


title: Swanson

text: Carl Swanson died in 1949, and his sons Gilbert C. and W. Clarke took over the company. One year later, in 1950, the Swanson brothers initially began manufacturing frozen oven-ready chicken and turkey pot pies in aluminum trays. They branched into full meals after Swanson executive Gerry Thomas visited the distributor of a company that specialized in preparing food for airlines. The company packed the food in aluminum trays which could be heated in a conventional oven. Thomas proposed this idea to the Swanson brothers, suggesting they create an aluminum tray with three compartments: one compartment for frozen turkey slices and the other two for side dishes. The Swanson Company's first frozen dinner was a turkey dinner; eventually, the company added chicken and beef entrées. With over half of American households owning televisions by the 1950s, the Swanson brothers called their frozen meals "TV dinners," suitable for eating on a folding tray in one's living room while watching television.


title: Swanson

text: The Swanson & Sons' TV dinner branded frozen meal, sold 5,000 units when it was first introduced in 1953; just one year later, the company had sold over 10,000,000 TV dinners. The company discontinued its successful butter and margarine business to concentrate on a poultry-based line of canned and frozen products. In April 1955, Swanson's 4,000 employees and 20 plants were acquired by the Campbell Soup Company. By 1956, the Swanson brothers were selling 13 million TV dinners annually.


title: Swanson

text: For the majority of its run, Swanson sponsored the game show, "The Name's the Same", with Robert Q. Lewis, alternating sponsorship with the Bendix Home Appliance division of Avco, and then Johnson's Wax. In a few 1980s and 1990s commercials for the TV dinner, the announcer was Mason Adams.


title: Swanson

text: When Swanson's TV dinners launched in the 1950s, the product competed primarily with home-cooked food, and was developed with a relatively low price point for the consumer. By the 1970s, the increasing number of two-income families and single working parents shifted competition to restaurant food, either eaten at the restaurant or ordered to take home. During this period, American consumers were increasingly exposed to a greater variety of international cuisines and more sophisticated flavors, and the consumer was also growing more nutrition-conscious and discerning. Competing in this new environment required more expensive ingredients, but Swanson was slow to change its traditional menus, and slow to recognize the increasing importance of the microwave oven in the heat-and-eat food market. It continued to use non-microwaveable foil trays long after competitors had adopted microwaveable paper and plastic trays. Swanson eventually introduced a new line of frozen dinners called "Le Menu" in the 1980s which featured more sophisticated menus on undivided plastic microwavable plates with lids. But by then, the company was competing with many other strong brands, such as Stouffer's. Stouffer's had also begun targeting the diet market with its reduced-calorie Lean Cuisine frozen meal line. Swanson trailed behind these developments.


title: Swanson

text: In March 1998, Campbell Soup spun-off the Swanson frozen meal business along with several other brands, including Vlasic, to a company called Vlasic Foods International; the company was re-branded Pinnacle Foods in 2001. In the spin-off, Campbell Soup granted Pinnacle a ten-year license to use the Swanson name on frozen meals and pot pies. That agreement expired in mid-2009, just before Pinnacle purchased Birds Eye Foods. Pinnacle continued to produce frozen meals, but it discontinued the use of the Swanson name in favor of the Hungry-Man brand; however, it remained in use for pot pies. Swanson's frozen breakfast line was re-branded Aunt Jemima several years before. On June 27, 2018, Conagra Brands announced the acquisition of Pinnacle Foods for $8.1 billion. The acquisition closed on October 26, 2018.


title: Swanson

text: Adolf Ho Ping-yau, managing director for the Campbell Soup Company in Hong Kong, introduced the Swanson brand to Hong Kong in 1987. Ho introduced Swanson chicken broth to the Hong Kong market following a visit to a Campbell's factory in the United States, in which he saw excess chicken soup created during the production of TV dinners going to waste due to a lack of demand for chicken broth in the US. As of 2004, Swanson chicken broth is Campbell's best-selling product in Hong Kong, and the Swanson line of soup products have a market share of 90% in Hong Kong.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: "State Sponsors of Terrorism" is a designation applied by the United States Department of State to countries which the Department alleges to have "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism". Inclusion on the list imposes strict unilateral sanctions.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: The State Department is required to maintain the list under section 1754(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: As of 2021, the list consists of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria. Countries formerly on the list were Iraq, Libya, South Yemen, and Sudan.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Cuba was added to the list on March 1, 1982, on the basis that it has a history of supporting revolutionary movements in Spanish-speaking countries and Africa.Havana openly advocates armed revolution as the only means for leftist forces to gain power in Latin America, and the Cubans have played an important role in facilitating the movement of men and weapons into the region. Havana provides direct support in the form of training, arms, safe havens, and advice to a wide variety of guerrilla groups. Many of these groups engage in terrorist operations.Cuba "encouraged terrorism in the hope of provoking indiscriminate violence and repression, in order to weaken government legitimacy and attract new converts to armed struggle." In 1992, after the Soviet collapse, Fidel Castro stressed that his country's support for insurgents abroad was a thing of the past.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: On December 17, 2014, an agreement to restore relations with Cuba was reached; the President instructed the Secretary of State to immediately launch a review of Cuba's inclusion on the list, and provide a report to the President within six months regarding Cuba's alleged support for international terrorism. President Barack Obama announced on April 14, 2015, that Cuba was being removed from the list. Cuba would not come off the list until after a 45-day review period, during which the U.S. Congress could try blocking Cuba's removal via a joint resolution. Congress did not act, and Cuba was officially removed from the list on May 29, 2015.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Cuba was readded to the list on January 12, 2021, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo citing "repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism" by harboring U.S. fugitives as well as Colombian rebel leaders. Cuba's support for Nicolás Maduro in the presidential crisis alleging the Maduro administration created "a permissive environment for international terrorists to live and thrive within Venezuela" was another reason for the redesignation. The redesignation came just eight days before Donald Trump's presidency ended on January 20 at noon.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Mike Pompeo issued an official statement as the US Secretary of State on 12 January 2021, stating, "al-Qaeda has a new home base: it is the Islamic Republic of Iran."


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: North Korea was added in 1988, following the 1987 bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 near Myanmar and re-listed again in 2017.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: On June 26, 2008, President George W. Bush announced that he would remove North Korea from the list. On October 11, the country was officially removed from the list for meeting all nuclear inspection requirements.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: North Korea was initially added because it sold weapons to terrorist groups and gave asylum to Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction members. The country is also responsible for the Rangoon bombing.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Terrorology specialist Gus Martin writes in his "Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, perspectives and issues" that "it is important to note that the State Department's list includes countries that have significantly reduced their involvement in terrorism, such as North Korea and Cuba. For example, North Korea was at one time quite active in attacking South Korean interests. In November 1987, North Korean operatives apparently destroyed Korean Airlines Flight 858, which exploded in Myanmar (Burma). The North Korean government has since renounced its sponsorship of terrorism."


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: The U.S State Department said it made the decision as Pyongyang had agreed to the verification of all of its nuclear programs, etc.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: On April 13, 2008, Pyongyang agreed to dismantle the Yongbyon facility as part of an aid-for-disarmament deal, and in response, the U.S. removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist. Despite requests from the South Korean government to put North Korea back on the list after it sank the Navy ship the ROKS "Cheonan" in 2010, the Obama administration stated that it would not do so because the act was conducted by only the North Korean military and was thus not an act of terror. However, following the incident, the Obama administration also stated that it would then closely monitor North Korea for signs for a return to international terrorism. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J Crowley also said that returning North Korea to the list was under continual review.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that she was considering renaming North Korea on the List of State Sponsors of Terrorism. , North Korea, unlike the other countries removed and the designated state sponsor of terrorism Sudan, is still listed as not fully cooperating with the United States to reduce terrorism.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: In February 2017, following the alleged state-sponsored murder of Kim Jong-nam (Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother) using the VX (banned under the international Chemical Weapons Convention, a convention which the North Korean government has not signed), pressure was placed on the Trump administration to revoke Bush's lifting of sanctions. In April 2017, U.S. Congress backed a bill to reinstate North Korea as a state sponsor of terror following the 2017 Shayrat missile strike in Syria, which North Korea had condemned vehemently. In August of the same year, the nation launched a missile that flew over Hokkaido, Japan, promoting severe condemnation from other states. In September, the parents of Otto Warmbier, who had died after being imprisoned in the nation, stated that they want North Korea to be relisted for his apparent murder.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: On November 20, 2017, President Trump officially announced the re-listing of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Syria was added to the list on December 29, 1979. It is the only country from the original 1979 list to remain on the list, following Libya's removal in 2006.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced the introduction of the resolution calling on the Biden administration to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism for its war on Ukraine and conduct elsewhere under Vladimir Putin. "Putin is a terrorist, and one of the most disruptive forces on the planet is Putin's Russia," said Graham, introducing the resolution.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Iraq was added to the list on December 29, 1979, but was removed in February 1982 to allow US aid to Iraq while it was fighting Iran in the Iran–Iraq War. It was re-added on September 13, 1990, following its Invasion of Kuwait. The State Department's reason for including Iraq was that it provided bases to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), and the Abu Nidal organization (ANO). It was again removed following the 2003 US-led invasion and the overthrow of the government of Saddam Hussein. Following the invasion, US sanctions applicable to "state sponsors of terrorism" against Iraq were suspended on May 7, 2003, and Iraq was removed from the list on October 20, 2004.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Libya was added on December 29, 1979. Then under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, it was branded a sponsor of terrorism due to its support for several left-wing militant groups, such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the Basque Fatherland and Liberty, the Umkhonto We Sizwe, the Polisario Front, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, the Palestine Liberation Organization, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Free Aceh Movement, Free Papua Movement, Fretilin, Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, Republic of South Maluku and the Moro National Liberation Front of the Philippines. On May 15, 2006, the United States announced that Libya would be removed from the list after a 45-day wait period. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice explained that this was due to "...Libya's continued commitment to its renunciation of terrorism".


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: South Yemen was added to the list on December 29, 1979. It had been branded a sponsor of terrorism due to its support for several left-wing terrorist groups. South Yemen was dropped from the list in 1990 after it merged with the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen), to become Yemen.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Sudan was added to the list on August 12, 1993. American officials alleged that Sudan harbored members of the Abu Nidal Organization, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: In October 2020, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would remove Sudan from the list following the ousting and subsequent removal of President Omar Al-Bashir, and an agreement with the new transitional government to pay $335 million in compensation to the families of victims of the 1998 United States embassy bombings.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Michael F. Oppenheimer, professor at New York University's Center for Global Affairs, considers the State Sponsors of Terrorism list as a "negotiating tool" that, in the case of Iran, serves as a "bargaining chip," where the United States would "take them off as part of process of alleviating sanctions against Iran in exchange for what we're asking for in the nuclear agenda." Oppenheimer continues:


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Countries that wind up on that list are countries we don't like [...] Other countries and outside powers support terrorism, and objectively speaking are terrorists, and the ones we don't like are on the list, and the ones we're allied with are not on the list. It's all about double standards.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky wrote that Iraq was removed from the list in 1982 "in order to permit the US to join the UK and others in providing badly needed aid for Saddam Hussein, continuing without concern after he carried out his most horrifying crimes." About Syria being in the list, Chomsky writes:


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: Returning to Iraq, when Saddam was removed from the list of states supporting terrorism, Cuba was added to replace it, perhaps in recognition of the sharp escalation in international terrorist attacks against Cuba in the late 1970s, including the bombing of a Cubana airliner killing 73 people and many other atrocities. These were mostly planned and implemented in the US [...] Washington was officially condemning the terrorist acts while harbouring and protecting the terrorist cells on US soil in violation of US law.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: David Gewirtz, executive director of the US Strategic Perspective Initiative and a cyber-warfare adviser for the International Association of Counterterrorism & Security Professionals writes:


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: The U.S. Country Reports on Terrorism also describes "Terrorist safe havens" which "described in this report include ungoverned, under-governed, or ill-governed physical areas where terrorists are able to organize, plan, raise funds, communicate, recruit, train, transit, and operate in relative security because of inadequate governance capacity, political will, or both". In the U.S. Annual report published in July 2017, which was mandated by the Congress titled "Country Report on Terrorism", the State Department listed numerous regions as "Terrorist safe havens."


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: In Africa, Somalia was listed as a country where Al-Shabaab finds safe haven, particularly in the Jubba River valley. The poorly-governed regions in the Trans-Sahara, in particular in Mali, is where terrorist groups have used territory to "organize, plan, raise funds, communicate, recruit, train, and operate in relative security." In Libya, porous borders and poorly cohesive security forces along with a large area of ungoverned territory have allowed for a "permissive environment" in which several terrorist groups can operate, such as Ansar al-Sharia, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Al-Mourabitoun, and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant can operate.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: In the Middle East, parts of the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, operations against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Sinai Province have made the northern part of the peninsula off-limits to tourists. In southern Lebanon, the government was reported not be in control off "all regions" of the country, nor its borders with Israel and Syria, creating a space for Hezbollah to operate with "relative impunity," and the government has been noted to have made no attempt to disarm the group. Other groups such as the Al-Nusra Front and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have been noted to operate in mountainous regions of the country. In Yemen, numerous groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, ISIL operate due to a "political and security vacuum," and have been able to exploit the country's sectarian divide to gain support among Sunnis.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: In South-East Asia, several islands in the Sulawesi Sea and Sulu Archipelago, difficult to govern lands have provided terrorist groups the ability to operate under the cover of "traditional smuggling and piracy groups." Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters also operate in difficult to govern regions on the Mindanao island in the Philippines.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: In South Asia, the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan are labeled "ungoverned areas" which terrorists have been able to exploit in order to conduct terrorist activities in both countries. The State Department stated that terror groups like the LeT and JeM continue to operate, train, organize, and fundraise openly inside Pakistan in 2016. Though the LeT is officially banned in Pakistan, its Jama'at-ud-Da'wah and Falah-e-Insaniat wings are not, although the JuD is "under observation" in accordance with the country's Schedule Two of the Anti-Terrorism Act.


title: State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)

text: In the Western hemisphere, Colombia's dense rainforests and weak government presence along its international borders were noted to have allowed safe havens for terrorist groups such as the FARC to operate. "Credible reports" have stated that neighboring Venezuela has maintained a "permissive environment" for the activities of "known terrorist groups." In particular, they blame Nicolás Maduro and associates of using "criminal activities" to foster a "permissive environment" for known terrorist groups, including FARC, Hezbollah, and the National Liberation Army.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: Furnace Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States. The population was 136 at the 2020 census, up from 24 at the 2010 census. The elevation of the village is below sea level. Furnace Creek holds the record for the highest recorded air temperature on Earth at 134 °F (56.7 °C) on July 10, 1913. Furnace Creek also holds the record for the highest recorded natural ground surface temperature on Earth at 201 °F (93.9 °C) on July 15, 1972, and also holds some other temperature records.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: The visitor center, museum, and headquarters of the Death Valley National Park are located at Furnace Creek.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, Furnace Creek has a total area of , over 99% of it being land.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: Springs in the Amargosa Range created a natural oasis at Furnace Creek, which has subsequently dwindled due to diversion of this water to support the village.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: Summers are extraordinarily hot and long, while winter is very warm. Daytime temperatures range from roughly in December to in July, while overnight lows typically oscillate from to . From 1911 through 2006, a period of 95 years, Furnace Creek had an average high temperature of and an average low temperature of . During that time period, the hottest month was July, with an average daily high temperature of , and the driest month was June, with an average monthly precipitation of . Furnace Creek holds the record for the most consecutive days above : 43 days, from 6 July through 17 August 1917. The average temperature of July 2018 was , which is the highest temperature of any month for any place in the world.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: Furnace Creek holds the record for the highest recorded temperature in the world, reaching on July 10, 1913. Some meteorologists dispute the accuracy of the 1913 temperature measurement.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: In addition, a ground temperature of was recorded in Furnace Creek on July 15, 1972; this may be the highest natural ground surface temperature ever recorded. (Temperatures measured directly on the ground may exceed air temperatures by 50 to 90 °F (30 to 50 °C).) The former world record for the highest overnight low temperature was , set on 5 July 1918, in Furnace Creek.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: The William Tell Coleman Borax Company established Greenland Ranch in 1883, named after the green alfalfa fields which they planted there. They established a weather station at the ranch in 1891. Greenland Ranch was renamed Furnace Creek Ranch in 1933.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: The Timbisha tribe currently live at the Death Valley Indian Community reservation here. They provided many of the artisans and builders to construct the original Fred Harvey Company resort buildings, the Indian Village, and Park Service structures. They compose the majority of residents of Furnace Creek's permanent population at the tribe's reservation. Furnace Creek was formerly the center of Death Valley mining and operations for the Pacific Coast Borax Company and the historic 20 Mule Teams hauling wagon trains of borax across the Mojave Desert.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: The 2010 United States Census reported that Furnace Creek had a population of 24. The population density was 0.8 people per square mile (0.3/km). The racial makeup was six (25.0%) White, 16 (66.7%) American Indian, and two (8.3%) from two or more races.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: The Census reported that 24 people (100% of the population) lived in households. There were 15 households, out of which two (13.3%) had children under age 18, four (26.7%) were married couples living together, four (20.0%) had a female householder with no husband present. Eight households (53.3%) were made up of individuals, and three (20.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 1.60. There were seven families (46.7%), and the average family size was 2.29. The population consisted of two people (8.3%) under 18, two (8.3%) aged 18 to 24, five (20.8%) aged 25 to 44, nine (37.5%) aged 45 to 64, and six (25.0%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 52.0 years.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: There were 15 occupied housing units at an average density of 0.6 per square mile (0.2/km), of which 11 (73.3%) were owner-occupied, and four (26.7%) were occupied by renters.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: The village is surrounded by a number of National Park Service public campgrounds. The Ranch at Death Valley is located there, part of the Oasis at Death Valley, one of the park's major tourist facilities. The Furnace Creek Golf Course attached to the ranch claims to be the lowest in the world at below sea level. Some lodging is closed in the summer when temperatures can exceed , but the golf course remains open; the resort established a summer tournament in 2011 called the Heatstroke Open which drew a field of 48. There is also a restaurant, café, store, and gas station in Furnace Creek village. The Furnace Creek Airport is located about west of the park headquarters.


title: Furnace Creek, California

text: Near Furnace Creek is California Historical Landmark number 442, Death Valley '49ers Gateway, assigned on October 24, 1949. The marker is at the corner of State Route 190 and Badwater Road.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: The (Italian for 'Basilica of the Holy Cross') is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls. It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, the poet Foscolo, the philosopher Gentile and the composer Rossini, thus it is known also as the Temple of the Italian Glories ().


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: The basilica is the largest Franciscan church in the world. Its most notable features are its sixteen chapels, many of them decorated with frescoes by Giotto and his pupils, and its tombs and cenotaphs.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: Legend says that Santa Croce was founded by St Francis himself. The construction of the current church, to replace an older building, was begun on 12 May 1294, possibly by Arnolfo di Cambio, and paid for by some of the city's wealthiest families. It was consecrated in 1442 by Pope Eugene IV. The building's design reflects the austere approach of the Franciscans. The floorplan is an Egyptian or Tau cross (a symbol of St Francis), 115 metres in length with a nave and two aisles separated by lines of octagonal columns. To the south of the church was a convent, some of whose buildings remain.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: The Primo Chiostro, the main cloister, houses the Cappella dei Pazzi, built as the chapter house, completed in the 1470s. Filippo Brunelleschi (who had designed and executed the dome of the Duomo) was involved in its design which has remained rigorously simple and unadorned.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: In 1560, the choir screen was removed as part of changes arising from the Counter-Reformation and the interior of this area was rebuilt by Giorgio Vasari. As a result, there was damage to the church's decoration and most of the altars previously located on the screen were lost. The Bardi Chapel which contained a cycle of frescoes of the life of St Francis was plastered over, at the behest of Cosimo I, and Vasari placed some new altars against the walls, causing considerable damage to the frescoes.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: The bell tower was built in 1842, replacing an earlier one damaged by lightning. The neo-Gothic marble façade dates from 1857 to 1863. The Jewish architect Niccolo Matas from Ancona, designed the church's façade, working a prominent Star of David into the composition. Matas had wanted to be buried with his peers but because he was Jewish, he was buried under the threshold and honoured with an inscription.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: In 1866, the complex became public property, as a part of government suppression of most religious houses, following the wars that gained Italian independence and unity.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: Among the 19th-century restorations, the 16th-century altars and plaster were removed from the Bardi Chapel, revealing Giotto's frescoes of the Life of St Francis, which include the "Death of St. Francis". This painting, missing sections where an altar had been attached to the wall, was heavily restored in the 19th century. These restorations were later removed to reveal those areas which are definitively Giotto's, leaving portions of the painting missing.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: The Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce is housed mainly in the refectory, also off the cloister. A monument to Florence Nightingale stands in the cloister, in the city in which she was born and after which she was named. Brunelleschi also built the inner cloister, completed in 1453.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: In 1940, during the safe hiding of various works during World War II, Ugo Procacci noticed the Badia Polyptych being carried out of the church. He reasoned that this had been removed from the Badia Fiorentina during the Napoleonic occupation and accidentally re-installed in Santa Croce. Between 1958 and 1961, Leonetto Tintori removed layers of whitewash and overpaint from Giotto's Peruzzi Chapel scenes to reveal his original work.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: In 1966, the Arno River flooded much of Florence, including Santa Croce. The water entered the church bringing mud, pollution and heating oil. The damage to buildings and art treasures was severe, taking several decades to repair.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: Today the former dormitory of the Franciscan friars houses the Scuola del Cuoio (Leather School). Visitors can watch as artisans craft purses, wallets, and other leather goods which are sold in the adjacent shop.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: The basilica has been undergoing a multi-year restoration program with assistance from Italy's civil protection agency. On 20 October 2017, the property was closed to visitors due to falling masonry which caused the death of a tourist from Spain. The basilica was closed temporarily during a survey of the stability of the church. The Italian Ministry of Culture said that "there will be an investigation by magistrates to understand how this dramatic fact happened and whether there are responsibilities over maintenance."


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: Once present in the church's Medici Chapel, but now split between the Florentine Galleries and the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum in Milan, is a polyptych by Lorenzo di Niccolò, whilst the Novitiate Altarpiece by Filippo Lippi and a predella by Pesellino was painted for the church's Novitiate Chapel.


title: Santa Croce, Florence

text: The basilica became popular with Florentines as a place of worship and patronage and it became customary for greatly honoured Florentines to be buried or commemorated there. Some were in chapels "owned" by wealthy families such as the Bardi and Peruzzi. As time progressed, space was also granted to notable Italians from elsewhere. For 500 years monuments were erected in the church including those to:


A United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party, commonly abbreviated TACP, is an individual or team of United States Air Force Special Warfare Airmen with AFSC 1Z3X1, who are aligned with conventional, Special Operation Forces, and Tier 1 combat maneuver units. They provide precision terminal attack control and terminal attack guidance of U.S. and coalition fixed- and rotary-wing close air support aircraft, artillery, and naval gunfire; establish and maintain command and control (C2) communications; and advise ground commanders on the best use of air power.


title: United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party

text: TACPs are Special Warfare airmen who operate in multiple contexts. Most commonly, TACPs serve as the principal Air Force liaison element to the United States Army (USA), where they align with combat maneuver echelons from Corps to Battalion level. The TACP provides its aligned Army unit with expertise in planning and executing airpower in support of the land component commander's scheme of maneuver. In special operations settings, TACPs deploy with "white" SOF units, including Air Force Special Tactics, Army Special Forces, and Navy SEAL teams, as well with Army Rangers and Joint Special Operations Command Special Mission Units, acting primarily as precision airstrike controllers, communications, and command-and-control experts.


text: The USAF TACP, when operationally employed as an element of the Theater Air Control System (TACS), is subordinate to the Air Support Operations Center (ASOC), which in turn is subordinate to the Air Operations Center (AOC). The AOC is the senior TACS agency responsible for the centralized control and decentralized execution of airpower in support of the Joint Force Commander. The USAF/USA Memorandum requires the USAF to provide Air Liaison Officers, Battalion Air Liaison Officers, enlisted technicians (1Z3X1s) skilled in planning, requesting, and managing airpower resources, and 1Z3X1 Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs). JTACs are specially trained and certified airmen who provide terminal control of airpower, usually in the form of Close Air Support missions. The TACP also provides USAF Intelligence, Space, Electronic Warfare, Weather, and other liaisons to the Army. These liaisons serve as USAF subject-matter experts within their areas of expertise and assist in planning and integrating these functions with their aligned Army unit. All of these USAF liaison personnel are assigned to a USAF Air Support Operations Squadron. Operationally, liaisons serve within a TACP aligned with an Army Brigade Combat Team (BCT), Division, or Corps. 1Z3X1s and Air Liaison Officers serve in TACPs at Army echelons from battalion through corps.


text: Until 2015, initial AFSC training for TACP Candidates took place at Hurlburt Field, FL, an annex of Eglin Air Force Base and home to Air Force Special Operations Command. Training was subsequently moved to the Medina Annex of Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX, where the initial selection and training for all Air Force Special Warfare career fields now takes place. Graduates of the TACP schoolhouse (AFSC 1Z3X1) attend USAF Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) School at Fairchild AFB, WA, and Basic Airborne School at Ft. Benning, GA, and the Joint Terminal Attack Controller Qualification Course at Nellis AFB, NV, after which they are assigned to a TACP unit to undergo initial mission readiness training and skill level upgrade.


text: Most TACP personnel are assigned to Air Support Operations Squadrons (ASOS), which are organized, trained and equipped to perform one of two functions, that of a Tactical Air Control Party or an Air Support Operations Center (ASOC). 1Z3X1s are experts on man-portable, vehicle-mounted, and field-expedient communications and are trained in weapons and fieldcraft, including navigation, individual and crew-served weapons systems, small unit tactics, demolitions, and Close Air Support tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).


text: The USAF Air Support Operations Squadron (ASOS), which derives its name from the Close Air Support that TACPs specialize in, is usually located on an Army installation. An ASOS is commanded by an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who also serves as the senior Air Liaison Officer for an Army Division. The TACP mission is to support the host Army division and its subordinate brigade combat teams (BCTs), which are the basic deployable unit in the US Army. TACPs are located on nearly all major Army installations, and 1Z3X1s are primarily assigned to various ASOSs on Army installations throughout the U.S and overseas during their careers. As an unstated prerequisite to a career as a 1Z3X1, it is understood that 1Z3X1s live, train and deploy with U.S. Army combat units worldwide under some of the most demanding and difficult conditions in often very austere environments. Additionally, there are numerous ASOSs within the Air National Guard that have actively participated in combat operations worldwide supporting the Global War on Terror since 9/11.


text: When assigned to a TACP, the mission of the 1Z3X1 is to advise and assist Army ground commanders and fire support officers in planning, integrating, requesting, and employing airpower consistent with Joint Army, and Air Force doctrine and tactics, techniques, and procedures. Because of their unique position in the USAF, which places enlisted airmen in positions of authority and responsibility normally placed on commissioned officers, 1Z3X1s must be thoroughly proficient in their specialty and experts on airpower and joint operations, while also possessing the skills and training necessary to seamlessly fit in with the joint service unit to which they are assigned. During a TACP assignment, 1Z3X1s must continually possess a high degree of self-motivation, enthusiasm and a willingness to operate often as the lone airman in a joint team. Though challenging, a TACP assignment has its rewards: 1Z3X1s are uniquely afforded the opportunity to increase their knowledge, skills, and operator capabilities by attending Military Freefall, Air Assault, Pathfinder, Ranger, and Special Forces Combat Diver schools.


text: The Air Support Operations Center (ASOC) is an element of the Theater Air Control System (TACS) aligned with the senior Army maneuver unit (Division or Corps/Corps equivalent) in theater and directly subordinate to the Air Operations Center, which is the senior TACS agency in a theater. Organizationally, ASOCs are also Air Support Operations Squadrons and named as such, but organized and equipped as an ASOC. ASOCs are commanded by an Air Force Lt Col. The ASOC manages allotted air resources and executes missions supporting its aligned Army units. 1Z3X1s assigned to an ASOC fill a vital role by receiving air support requests from forward deployed JTACs. Once an air support request is received, the air support request is either approved or disapproved by the ground commander's land component chain of command. If approved, immediate requests to support urgent, troops-in-contact situations may result in strike aircraft being sent by the ASOC to the JTACs location for terminal control of immediate close air support. Approved, but non-urgent, air support requests submitted after the cut-off time for inclusion on the next Air Tasking Order will become scheduled missions on the subsequent Air Tasking Order. If an air support request is disapproved, the disapproved request should be sent back to the requesting unit with reasons for disapproval. Approval and disapproval authority of air support requests is the responsibility of the Army / Land Component being supported.


text: The US Special Operations Command was established in 1987 at MacDill AFB, FL. One MSgt. 1Z3X1 (then AFSC 275X0) was assigned to the command as a liaison, but the position was disestablished in approximately 1991. In 1997, two MSgt. JTAC-qualified 1Z3X1s assigned to the 17th ASOS at Ft. Benning, GA were selected for assignment to two of the Air Force Special Operations Command's Special Tactics Squadrons. TACP flights have been co-located with each Army Special Forces Group, each of the 75th Ranger Regiment's three battalions, and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). TACPs deployed with Operational Detachment Alpha teams from multiple Special Forces groups and with the 75th Ranger Regiment in both Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Additionally, in OIF, a small number of TACP personnel were assigned to the US Air Force's 24th Special Tactics Squadron (STS), the Air Force's Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) special mission unit, and to a time-sensitive targeting (TST) cell dedicated to prosecuting high-value targets and targets of opportunity in support of JSOC's special mission units and their objectives.


text: In 2008, following its transfer from Air Combat Command to Air Force Special Operations Command, the 17th ASOS (Ft. Benning, GA), which provided JTACs and ALOs to the 75th Ranger Regiment and its three line battalions, was redesignated the 17th Special Tactics Squadron. JTAC-qualified 1Z3X1s at the "5" or "Journeyman" skill level may apply for a Special Tactics assignment within Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). TACP personnel at the 17th STS (and, in smaller numbers, at the four remaining active-duty CONUS Special Tactics Squadrons), provide terminal attack control and fire support expertise for the 75th Ranger Regiment's three Ranger Battalions and Regimental Reconnaissance Company, all seven Army Special Forces Groups, and multiple Navy SEAL Teams. TACPs who have successfully undergone screening and selection are also currently serving as Tier 1 operators with the 24th STS.


text: The USAF TACP Officer or TACPO (formerly Air Liaison Officer) is assigned to an ASOS or ASOC as the USAF airpower advocate, subject-matter expert, and advisor to his or her aligned Army or Marine staff. Until 2009, this USAF officer was a rated officer. In 2005, then Captain Mark R. Wisher submitted an Innovative Development through Employee Awareness (IDEA) Report submission through the Air Force's IDEA program office based on his 2004 Master's Thesis which proposed the creation of a brand new non-rated ALO career field. The IDEA program submission was staffed at Headquarters AF (HAF/A3O) for consideration and ultimately resulted in a HAF-funded RAND Report that was completed in 2008. The RAND report relied heavily on the previous research of Wisher, John Olivero, and Raymond Knox. The RAND report ultimately concurred with Wisher's recommendation to create a non-rated ALO career field. The following year, the USAF created a new non-rated Air Liaison Officer AFSC, 13L, to form a career force of professional Air Liaison Officers and the AF began the first beta class of non-rated ALOs in the summer of 2009. Upon completion of initial qualification training, these non-rated officers are awarded the 13L AFSC. Sometime in 2019, the Air Force changed the name of the 13L AFSC from Air Liaison Officer to TACP Officer.


text: Potential 13Ls will first attend a two phase assessment and selection process before attending their initial skills training. Phase I involves completing an application and PAST that is submitted to a review board of TACP Officers. If the review board sees potential in a candidate, they will invite the candidate to Phase II, also called TOPT (TACP Officer Phase Two). TOPT involves one week of extensive testing and evaluation by TACP Cadre to see if candidates are capable of operating in the rigorous TACPO career field. Events at TOPT include numerous written and psychological tests and interviews, Group Leadership Problems (GLPs), long distance runs and ruck marches with combat gear and rigorous physical training. If candidates are selected they will attend the TACP Officer Prep Course followed by the TACP Officer Basic Course based at Lackland AFB, TX; the Joint Firepower Course (JFC) and Basic ALO Skills Course (BASC) at Nellis AFB, NV; and finally Air Force SERE School at Fairchild AFB, WA.


text: The TACPO represents the Joint/Combined Forces Air Component Commander as a member of the Army commander's special staff at the Battalion through Corps echelons in a coalition, joint, or interagency force. He or she provides subject matter expertise to lead, plan, and manage Command-and-Control and terminal execution of Air, Space, and Cyber operations in direct support of land component forces. The TACPO assists in developing fire support coordination plans to include Close Air Support (CAS), Air Interdiction (AI), Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Electronic Warfare (EW), and Suppression/Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD/DEAD). The TACPO may engage enemy forces using advanced technologies and weapon systems to direct lethal and non-lethal fires and effects in close proximity to friendly forces as a Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC). Additional TACPO training may include, but are not limited to:


text: In 1979, the black beret was authorized for wear by enlisted personnel in the Tactical Air Control Party. In 1984, two airmen from Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina submitted the current flash and crest design. It was approved for all TACP airmen in 1985. Tactical Air Control Party specialists (AFSC 1Z3X1) are currently the only United States Air Force specialty allowed to wear the coveted black beret as part of their daily duty uniform wear. TACP Officers (TACPOs) are also authorized to wear the black beret after they graduate from the Basic ALO Skills Course (BASC), conducted at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.


text: The US Air Force ordinary holds the position of honor at the top of the crest. It is supported by the erect wings, which symbolize the combat ready United States Air Force and the Theater Air Control System. At the bottom of the wings rests the TACP ordinary, representing the most forward element of the Theater Air Control System. The sword symbolizes the strength and firepower controlled by the TACP, while the lightning bolt represents a modern-day standard for communications, the backbone of the TACP. The eight-point omni-directional star symbolizes the worldwide mobility commitment of the TACP, as well as his ability to navigate over all terrain. The scarlet border of the cloth flash symbolizes the immense firepower that can be brought to bear when Air Force and Army assets are combined. The red dovetail divider symbolizes the strong interlocking relationship between the Army, the field of green, and the Air Force, the field of blue, created by the liaison functions of the TACP.


text: After graduating Basic Military Training, all enlisted 1Z3X1 candidates are sent to Medina Annex of Lackland AFB, TX to attend a five-day indoctrination course. Those candidates who successfully complete indoctrination attend the 85-day 1Z3X1 3-level (Apprentice) initial qualification training course at Lackland AFB, TX. The 3-level course was held at Hurlburt Field, Florida for 36 years prior to the July 2015 move to Texas. Those who successfully complete the initial training course are awarded the "3" or "apprentice" skill level and then attend the USAF Survival School at Fairchild AFB, WA. Not including the TACP Preparatory Course, the attrition rate of the 1Z3X1 3-level course has been approximately 70%, with some classes reaching a 90% attrition rate. This relatively high rate is primarily attributed to the constant physical demands students face throughout the entire length of the course, with the difficulty level increasing until graduation. The relentless physical demands combined with a challenging academic curriculum require constant focus on attention to detail. After completing initial training and arriving at the first duty station, training continues with the goal of obtaining Combat Mission Readiness. After one year of maintaining Combat Mission Ready (CMR) status and possessing the "5" or "journeyman" skill level, 1Z3X1s are eligible to attend the Joint Terminal Attack Controller qualification course at Nellis AFB, or if stationed in Germany or Italy, the USAFE Air-Ground Operations School. Course attendance is based on training NCO and commander recommendation and is not guaranteed.


text: Enlisted 1Z3X1 candidates and 13L TACPO candidates will attend a 5-day indoctrination course at Medina Annex immediately following basic military training and completion of special warfare prep. The course educates candidates on the TACP career field and also identifies candidates unsuitable for the AFSC. An entry-level Physical Abilities and Stamina Test (PAST) test and a 4-mile timed ruck march must be successfully completed to pass the Indoctrination course and progress to the Initial Qualification Course at Lackland Air Force Base.


text: Field training exercise, day and night land navigation, vehicle navigation, convoy training, and small unit tactics. Also including training in bivouac setup, site selection, and patrolling methods.


text: Methods and means of requesting close air support, weapons effects and utilization, and other coordination procedures.


text: This course teaches basic survival techniques for remote areas using minimal equipment. This includes instruction of principles, procedures, equipment and techniques that help individuals to survive regardless of climatic conditions or unfriendly environments, and return with honor.


text: Students learn the basic parachuting skills required to infiltrate an objective area by static line airdrop. This course includes ground operations week, tower week, and "jump week" when participants make five parachute jumps. Personnel who complete this training are awarded the basic parachutist rating and are allowed to wear the Parachutist Badge.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: , was an inventor and businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. He is known as the inventor of instant noodles (ramen noodles) and the creator of the brands Top Ramen and Cup Noodles.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: Ando was born Go Pek-Hok () in 1910 into a wealthy family of Hoklo Chinese ethnicity in Chiayi County, when the island of Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule. He was raised by his grandparents within the city walls of Tainan following the deaths of his parents. His grandparents owned a small textiles store, which inspired him, at the age of 22, to start his own textiles company, using 190,000 yuan, in Tōa-tiū-tiâⁿ, Taipei.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: In 1933, Ando traveled to Osaka, where he established a clothing company while studying economics at Ritsumeikan University. He became a naturalized Japanese citizen after World War II.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: Ando was convicted of tax evasion in 1948 and served two years in jail. In his biography, Ando said he had provided scholarships for students, which at the time was a form of tax evasion. After he lost his company due to a chain-reaction bankruptcy, Ando founded what was to become Nissin in Ikeda, Osaka, Japan, starting off as a small family-run company producing salt.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: With Japan still suffering from a shortage of food in the post-war era, the Ministry of Health tried to encourage people to eat bread made from wheat flour that was supplied by the United States. Ando wondered why bread was recommended instead of noodles, which were more familiar to the Japanese. The Ministry's response was that noodle companies were too small and unstable to satisfy supply needs, so Ando decided to develop the production of noodles by himself. The experience convinced him that "Peace will come to the world when the people have enough to eat."


title: Momofuku Ando

text: On August 25, 1958, at the age of 48, and after months of trial and error experimentation to perfect his flash-frying method, Ando marketed the first package of precooked instant noodles. The original chicken flavor is called "Chikin Ramen". It was originally considered a luxury item with its price of ¥35 (US$0.10 in 1958 under the then exchange rate of 360 yen to the dollar but equivalent to ¥608 by 2021 or US$5.69 under the current exchange rate of US$1 =¥106.775 in around six times that of traditional udon and soba noodles at the time. , Chicken Ramen is still sold in Japan and now retails for around ¥120 (US$1.12), or approximately one-third the price of the cheapest bowl of noodles in a Japanese restaurant.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: According to "The Financial Times", Ando's invention of Cup Noodles in 1971, at the age of 61, helped spark the popularity of instant noodles overseas. He had observed that Americans ate noodles by breaking the noodles in half, putting them into a paper cup, and pouring hot water over the noodles. They also ate them with a fork instead of chopsticks. Ando was inspired, and felt that a Styrofoam cup—with a narrower bottom than the top—would be the ideal vessel for holding noodles and keeping them warm. Eating the noodles would then be as easy as opening the lid, adding hot water and waiting. This simplicity, efficiency and low price of Cup Noodles went on to transform Nissin's fortunes.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: Ando began the sales of his most famous product, , on September 18, 1971, with the idea of providing a waterproof polystyrene container. As prices dropped, instant ramen soon became a booming business. Worldwide demand reached 98 billion servings in 2009.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: In 1972, the Asama-Sansō hostage standoff took place in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Widespread coverage of the event, which included repeated images of the prefectural Riot Police Unit eating the noodles on national television, have been conjectured as boosting awareness of the brand.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: In 1964, seeking a way to promote the instant noodle industry, Ando founded the Instant Food Industry Association, which set guidelines for fair competition and product quality, introducing several industry standards such as the inclusion of production dates on packaging and the "fill to" line. He was also the chairman of the International Ramen Manufacturers' Association.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: When Taiwan was handed over to the Republic of China after the end of World War II, Ando had to choose between becoming its citizen or remaining a Japanese subject. Ando chose the former in order to keep his ancestral properties on the island, as all Japanese nationals had to forfeit their properties in Taiwan.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: Nevertheless, in 1966, Ando naturalized through marriage and became a Japanese citizen. "Momofuku" is the Japanese reading of his Taiwanese given name (), while is the last name of his Japanese wife.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: Ando died of heart failure on January 5, 2007, at a hospital in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, at the age of 96.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: Ando was survived by his wife Masako, two sons and a daughter. Ando claimed that the secret of his long life was playing golf and eating Chicken ramen almost every day. He was said to have eaten instant ramen until the day he died.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: On April 8, 2008, Heisei 20th, a ramen summit was held in Osaka and a bronze statue of Ando was unveiled at the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture The statue depicts Ando standing atop a base resembling a cup noodle container while holding a cup noodles container in his right hand. Yasuhiro Nakasone (former Prime Minister of Japan) and Masako Ando (Ando's wife) attended the unveiling ceremony. There is a monument in the museum, written by Nakasone.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: On October 1, 2008, the company's name was changed "NISSIN FOODS HOLDINGS". At the same time, Nissin Foods Products Co., Ltd was founded. In the same year, Project Hyakufukusi was started.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: On March 5, 2015, Google placed a doodle created by Google artist Sophie Diao on its main web page commemorating his birthday.


title: Momofuku Ando

text: Ando was repeatedly honored with medals by the Japanese government and the emperor—including The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, Second Class—in 2002, which is the second-most prestigious Japanese decoration for Japanese civilians.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi (; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after proclaiming the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, King of the Hejaz from 1916 to 1924 and Caliph from 1924 to 1925.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: After the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate he was briefly proclaimed Caliph until the invasion of the Hejaz by the Saudis the following year. He was a 37th-generation direct descendant of Muhammad, as he belonged to the Hashemite family.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: A member of the Dhawu Awn clan of the Qatadid emirs of Mecca, he was perceived to have rebellious inclinations and in 1893 was summoned to Istanbul, where he was kept on the Council of State. In 1908, in the aftermath of the Young Turk Revolution, he was appointed Emir of Mecca by the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: In 1916, with the promise of British support for Arab independence, he proclaimed the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, accusing the Committee of Union and Progress of violating tenets of Islam and limiting the power of the sultan-caliph. Shortly after the outbreak of the revolt, Hussein declared himself "King of the Arab Countries". However, his pan-Arab aspirations were not accepted by the Allies, who recognized him only as King of the Hejaz.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: In the aftermath of World War I, Hussein refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, in protest at the Balfour Declaration and the establishment of British and French mandates in Syria, Iraq, and Palestine. He later refused to sign the Anglo-Hashemite Treaty and thus deprived himself of British support when his kingdom was attacked by Ibn Saud.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: In March 1924, when the Ottoman Caliphate was abolished, Hussein proclaimed himself "Caliph of all Muslims". In October 1924, facing defeat by Ibn Saud, he abdicated and was succeeded as king by his eldest son Ali. His sons Faisal and Abdullah were made rulers of Iraq and Transjordan respectively in 1921. After the Kingdom of Hejaz was invaded by the Al Saud-Wahhabi armies of the Ikhwan, on 23 December 1925 King Hussein bin Ali surrendered to the Saudis, bringing both the Kingdom of Hejaz and the Sharifate of Mecca to an end.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: Hussein bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Abd al-Mu'in bin Awn was born in Istanbul in 1853 or 1854 as the eldest son of Sharif Ali bin Muhammad, who was the second son of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Mu'in, the former Emir of Mecca. As a sharif, he was a descendant of Muhammad through his grandson Hasan ibn Ali and a member of the ancient Hashemite house. His mother Bezm-i Cihan, the wife of Ali, was a Circassian.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: He belonged to the Dhawu Awn clan of the Abadilah, a branch of the Banu Qatadah tribe. The Banu Qatadah had ruled the Emirate of Mecca since the assumption of their ancestor Qatadah ibn Idris in 1201, and were the last of four dynasties of sharifs that altogether had ruled Mecca since the 10th century.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: In 1827 Sharif Muhammad bin Abd al-Mu'in was appointed to the emirate, becoming the first emir from the Dhawu Awn and bringing an end to the centuries-long dominance of the Dhawu Zayd. He reigned until 1851, when he was replaced by Sharif Abd al-Muttalib ibn Ghalib of the Dhawu Zayd. After being deposed he was sent along with his family and sons to reside in the Ottoman capital of Istanbul. It was there that Hussein was born to Muhammad's son Ali in 1270 AH (1853–1854). Muhammad was reappointed to the emirate in 1856, and Hussein, then aged two or three, accompanied his father and grandfather back to Mecca. However, Muhammad died in 1858 and was succeeded by his eldest son Sharif Abd Allah Pasha. A few years later, in 1278 AH (1861–1862), Ali was recalled to Istanbul while Hussein remained in the Hejaz under the care of his uncle Abd Allah.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: Hussein was raised at home unlike other young sharifs, who were customarily sent outside of the city to grow up among the nomadic Bedouin. Reportedly a studious youth, he mastered the principles of the Arabic language and was also educated in Islamic law and doctrine. Among his teachers was Shaykh Muhammad Mahmud at-Turkizi ash-Shinqiti, with whom he studied the seven "Mu'allaqat". With Shaykh Ahmad Zayni Dahlan he studied the Qur'an, completing its memorization before he was 20 years old.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: During Abd Allah's reign, Hussein became familiar with the politics and intrigue surrounding the sharifian court. He also participated in numerous expeditions to Nejd and the eastern regions of the Hejaz to meet with the Arab tribes, over whom the emir exerted a loose form of control. He learned the ways of the Bedouin, including the skills needed to withstand the harsh desert environment. In his travels, he gained a deep knowledge of the desert flora and fauna, and developed a liking for "humayni" verse, a type of vernacular poetry ("malhun") of the Bedouin. He also practiced horse-riding and hunting.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: In 1287 AH (1871–1872) Hussein traveled to Istanbul to visit his father, who had fallen ill. He returned to Mecca after his father's death later that year.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: In 1875, he married Abd Allah's daughter Abdiyah. In 1877 Abd Allah died, and Hussein and his cousin Ali ibn Abd Allah were conferred the rank of pasha.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: Abd Allah was succeeded by his brother, Sharif Husayn Pasha. After Husayn was assassinated in 1880, the Sultan reinstated Abd al-Muttalib of the Dhawu Zayd as Emir. Displeased at the removal of the Dhawu Awn line from the emirate, Hussein traveled to Istanbul with two cousins, Ali and Muhammad, and their uncle Abd al-Ilah. However they were ordered to return to Mecca by the Sultan, whose intelligence services suspected that the sharifs were conspiring with European powers, particularly the British, to return the Sharifate to their clan.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: The emirate returned to the Dhawu Awn in 1882 with the deposition of Abd al-Muttalib and the appointment of Sharif Awn ar-Rafiq Pasha, the next eldest of the remaining sons of Sharif Muhammad.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: Following the removal of his predecessor in October and the sudden death of his successor shortly thereafter, Hussein was appointed grand sharif by official decree of the sultan Abdülhamid on 24 November 1908.


title: Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

text: Though there is no evidence to suggest that Sharif Hussein bin Ali was inclined to Arab nationalism before 1916, the rise of Turkish nationalism under the Ottoman Empire, culminating in the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, nevertheless displeased the Hashemites and resulted in a rift between them and the Ottoman revolutionaries. During World War I, Hussein initially remained allied with the Ottomans but began secret negotiations with the British on the advice of his son, Abdullah, who had served in the Ottoman parliament up to 1914 and was convinced that it was necessary to separate from the increasingly nationalistic Ottoman administration.