title: Craig Gordon

text: During the summer of 2010, Gordon had surgery on his broken arm to remove a metal plate. He returned to training days later, but he fractured his arm again during a training session. It was confirmed he would miss the start of the 2010–11 Premier League campaign, with Sunderland's new goalkeeper Simon Mignolet deputising. When Gordon returned from injury, Mignolet remained the first choice goalkeeper. On 9 November 2010, Gordon made his first appearance of the season away at Tottenham Hotspur. The game ended in a 1–1 draw. Gordon also starred in Sunderland's 3–0 win over Chelsea. On 18 December 2010, Gordon made a stunning reflex save to deny Zat Knight in a 1–0 win against Bolton Wanderers. In 2012, this effort was voted as the best save in the 20-year history of the Premier League.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Injury struck again when he suffered a tendon injury in his knee, resulting in him being replaced by Mignolet. Luckily for Gordon, the knee tendon problem allowed him to be the substitute goalkeeper, despite not being fully fit. On 19 April 2011, it was revealed that Gordon had undergone knee surgery to repair his knee tendon and an anterior cruciate ligament injury he had suffered. The recruitment of Coventry City goalkeeper Keiren Westwood added further doubt about the Scotsman's future. Gordon was linked with Arsenal and Celtic amongst other clubs in August 2011. Gordon rejected a loan move to another club to continue his rehabilitation on Wearside. He made his return on 4 January 2012 for the Sunderland reserve team, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory against Arsenal reserves. He returned to first team action on 28 April against Bolton Wanderers, but he was one of nine players released by Sunderland on 19 May 2012.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon was linked with a move to Celtic in 2011 and 2012, but he did not sign with another club for two years as he continued to be troubled by knee injuries. He regularly did television work during his time out of football. After meeting Ian Murray while doing television work, Gordon did some coaching work for Dumbarton on a casual basis. Gordon then admitted it was highly unlikely that he would play during 2012–13 and that he was considering becoming a coach. Gordon trained with Rangers during the 2013–14 season, but was not offered a contract. In March 2014, Gordon said that he had fully recovered from his injuries and was looking to resume his playing career. In June, Celtic confirmed that Gordon had been training with them and that they were in signing talks with him.


title: Craig Gordon

text: In July 2014, Gordon signed for Celtic. He made his first appearance for Celtic on 19 July, playing in the first half of a pre-season friendly against Dynamo Dresden. Gordon made several saves in his 45-minute appearance, and said afterwards "It was good to get back playing. From a personal point of view, it's been a long time out. So it was good to get out there and to play for 45 minutes and get a clean sheet in the first half. I have to be happy with that." Fraser Forster was transferred to Southampton for a reported £10 million transfer fee in August, clearing the way for Gordon to become first choice goalkeeper. Gordon made his first competitive appearance in over two years on 13 August 2014, a 3–0 win against St Johnstone.


title: Craig Gordon

text: After only three games for Celtic, an impressive start to the season earned Gordon a recall to the Scotland national team in August 2014. His good form for Celtic continued both domestically and in Europe especially, with strong displays against Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb and Astra Giurgiu, helping Celtic qualify for the UEFA Europa League knockout stages. His performances drew praise from his teammates, club coaches, national coach, supporters and observers. Many believed he was finally over his long-term injury problems and back to his best. He was already being tagged as one of Celtic's greatest bargains. Gordon also shut out his former team Hearts twice in cup matches.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon kept eight successive clean sheets between December and February, which almost became nine until a 72nd minute St Johnstone goal ended the run on 14 February 2015. An outstanding double save near the end ensured a 2–1 win for Celtic. Gordon endured a torrid night in the Europa League against Inter Milan on 19 February 2015, being culpable for Inter's opening goal and at fault for their third before half-time; Celtic rallied to square the match at 3–3 with an injury time goal, and Gordon went some way to redeeming his earlier errors by pulling off an outstanding save from Xherdan Shaqiri's free kick in what proved to be the last action of the game. In the second leg at the San Siro, Gordon kept 10-man Celtic in the tie with a number of excellent saves until the 87th minute when Fredy Guarín scored with a powerful strike to give Inter a 1–0 win on the night and a 4–3 aggregate victory. One of Gordon's saves away against Inter was compared to Gordon Banks' save against Pele in 1970.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon won his first silverware with Celtic after they defeated Dundee United 2–0 in the Scottish League Cup Final on 15 March 2015. He kept a clean sheet in every round of the competition, which included playing in the first Old Firm game for three years. According to "The Scotsman" in March 2015, Gordon was attracting the attention of Chelsea. He made his 50th Celtic appearance in a 2–1 league win at Dundee on 22 April 2015. A day after shutting out Dundee in a 5–0 home win, Celtic became league champions after Aberdeen lost at Dundee United on 2 May 2015. It was his first league title as a player. Gordon played 52 times and kept 28 clean sheets in his first season at Celtic.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon was voted Player of the Year by the Scottish Football Writers' Association, and was selected in the PFA Scotland Premiership Team of the Year. He was omitted from the PFA Players' shortlist, despite having been touted amongst the favourites to win it.


title: Craig Gordon

text: For the 2015–16 season, Gordon was assigned the number 1 shirt to wear, replacing the number 26 shirt he wore when he was signed. In July 2015, Gordon signed a new contract with Celtic until 2018. His first match of season 2015–16 was the 2–0 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round first leg win at home to Stjarnan on 15 July 2015. Celtic progressed 6–1 on aggregate. The 1–0 win against Qarabağ, in the third qualifying round first leg at home, was his 30th clean sheet in 55 appearances for Celtic. Celtic advanced 1–0 on aggregate. Gordon also started the league campaign with consecutive clean sheets against Ross County and Partick Thistle. However, Gordon's form at this time was generally poorer than the previous season, in part due to Celtic struggling to find a settled defensive line-up following the departures of centre-halves Virgil van Dijk and Jason Denayer.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon saved a penalty in a 2–0 second leg defeat at Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the UEFA Champions League play-off round, with Celtic progressing to the group stage after a three-year absence 5–4 on aggregate. He made his first ever appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage in a 3–3 home draw with Manchester City on 28 September 2016.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon won his second League Cup with the club without conceding a goal in the competition (just like in 2014–15), after Celtic beat Aberdeen 3–0 in the final, as the club won its 100 major trophy on 28 November 2016.


title: Craig Gordon

text: He kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 home win against St Johnstone on 25 January 2017, a result which meant that Celtic equalled a 50-years-old club record 26 match unbeaten start to a domestic season (a record set by the Lisbon Lions in 1966–67). Gordon shut out his former club Hearts four days later, in a 4–0 home win, as Celtic broke the Lisbon Lions' unbeaten record.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Premier League club Chelsea made an approach for Gordon during the January 2017 transfer window, which Celtic rejected. In March 2017, Gordon signed a contract with Celtic that ran until 2020. Gordon again shut out Hearts, in a 5–0 victory at Tynecastle on 2 April 2017, with the club clinching the Scottish Premiership title for the sixth successive season in record time with eight matches remaining. The team also broke a 100-years-old club record for an unbeaten start to a domestic season (36 matches in-a-row in 1916–17), with this win being their 37th domestic match unbeaten.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon was also in goal for Celtic in the 5–1 league win at Rangers on 29 April 2017, which was the club's biggest victory at Ibrox since 1897 (4–0 in 1897). On 21 May 2017, he kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 home win over Hearts in the final league match of the season, a result which meant Celtic completed a 38-match league season without losing a match, the first team to go an entire Scottish league season without a defeat since season 1898–99. He also won the Scottish Cup, after he played in the 2–1 final win against Aberdeen on 27 May 2017, which saw the club complete the domestic treble and finish a full 47-match domestic season without losing.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Celtic topped the list for the most shut-outs in the SPFL with 19 clean sheets and held the joint best record with Hibernian for goals conceded in the SPFL with 25.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Celtic again won domestic trebles in 2017–18 and in 2018–19. This meant they had won all three competitions for three consecutive years, a feat known as the "treble treble". Gordon played regularly during that time but occasional high profile mistakes, such as in the UEFA Europa League against Fenerbahçe in 2015 and Red Bull Salzburg in 2018, posed doubts as to his reliability; he lost his place to Fraser Forster (returning from Southampton on loan) in 2019–20, and made only six first team appearances during that season. He decided to leave Celtic in June 2020, despite having been offered a new contract, as he wanted to play more regularly.


title: Craig Gordon

text: After leaving Celtic, Gordon signed a two-year contract with Heart of Midlothian in June 2020. He made a good start to his second spell with Hearts, helping them reach the 2020 Scottish Cup Final by making key saves in a semi-final win against Hibs. Against Ayr United, Gordon captained the team on his 200th appearance for the club. He became the 75th Hearts player to reach that milestone. A 3–0 win marked his 66th Hearts shut out. He finished the season with eight consecutive clean sheets. Gordon lost out to team mate Liam Boyce for Championship Player of the Year, but did make Team of the Year for the division.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Ahead of the 2021–22 season Gordon became the Hearts club captain, following the retirement of previous captain Steven Naismith. He signed a new contract in December 2021, which is due to keep him at the club until 2024. In November 2021 he broke the record, previously held by Steven Pressley, for most international appearances made while with Hearts. Gordon was shortlisted for PFA Scotland Player of the Year for the first time in 2021–22 and made the divisional Team of the Year category again. Despite missing out on the PFA award (to Callum McGregor), the SFWA voted him their Footballer of the Year for a record third time.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon made his debut for the Scotland under-21 team on 4 September 2002 at Hamilton in a 2–1 win versus Israel. Over the next year he played a further four times for the under-21 team.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon made his full international Scotland debut in a 4–1 victory versus Trinidad and Tobago at Easter Road on 30 May 2004. Scotland started their qualifying campaign for the 2006 World Cup on 8 September 2004 versus Slovenia at Hampden Park. Gordon played in goal and kept a clean sheet, although Scotland performed poorly in a goalless draw. Having been given his debut by Berti Vogts, Gordon established himself as the Scotland first-choice goalkeeper throughout the campaign and under Vogts' successor Walter Smith, playing in all ten of Scotland's qualifying matches. BBC pundit and former player Allan Preston saw him as a potential Scottish great, describing him as "one of the best goalkeepers in Europe". After a 1–1 draw versus Italy, Gordon obtained praise from the opposition goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who said he could be one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Gordon kept clean sheets as Scotland won 1–0 twice versus France in UEFA Euro 2008 qualification. He also registered an assist in the Parc de Princes, after McFadden controlled Gordon's punt, turned his marker and smashed home from 35 yards. Gordon had attained a total of 40 caps by November 2010 but his injury problems prevented him from adding to this total for the next four years.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Following his comeback with Celtic, Gordon was recalled to the Scotland squad in September 2014 for a Euro 2016 qualification match against Germany. Gordon eventually obtained his 41st cap, ending a four-year absence from international football, when he came on as a half-time substitute in a friendly defeat to England on 18 November 2014. Gordon started his first Scotland match in almost five years in a friendly win versus Northern Ireland in March 2015


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon made his first start for Scotland in a competitive match in seven years in a 2018 World Cup qualifier against England in November 2016, and retained his place in the team for the 1–0 home win versus Slovenia in March 2017. On 5 October 2017, Gordon obtained his 50th cap versus Slovakia at Hampden Park to enter Scotland's Roll of Honour.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon was not selected by Scotland manager Steve Clarke during his first year in charge as he had lost his first team place at Celtic. After a good start to his second stint with Hearts, Gordon was recalled to the national squad in November 2020. The call up included the defeat of Serbia in the UEFA Nations League play-off final to qualify for UEFA Euro 2020, the Scotland men's team's first major tournament in 23 years. He also gained his 55th cap, a 1–0 away defeat by Slovakia in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, set a new record for the longest-spanning international career for a Scottish player (16 years 5 months and 17 days). This beat a mark set by his rival for the position David Marshall just three days earlier, which itself had overtaken a record dating back to 1903 by fellow goalkeeper Ned Doig.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon was picked in the Scotland squad for Euro 2020, but was an unused substitute during the tournament as Marshall played in all of Scotland's three matches. Gordon became the first choice goalkeeper again in September 2021, as Marshall was no longer playing for his club. In November 2021 he saved a penalty during a 2–0 win in Moldova that clinched a place in the World Cup qualifying playoffs. Teammate Callum McGregor said Gordon was "like Peter Pan" after that game, a reference to the longevity of his performances.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon was shortlisted for SFWA International Player of the Year in 2021–22, an award he had already won in 2009–10.


title: Craig Gordon

text: On 14 June 2022, he gained his 70th Scotland cap in a 4–1 Nations League victory over Armenia, becoming only the seventh player in history to hit 70 caps for the Scottish men's team. In his 73rd cap against Ukraine (0–0), Gordon recorded his 30th cleansheet, which ensured promotion to Group A of the UEFA Nations League for the first time and a play-off spot for UEFA Euro 2024.


title: Craig Gordon

text: Gordon has two children, Ace Harlow (born 2021) and Axel (born 2022), from a relationship with his partner Summer Harl. Axel was born on the morning of a Scotland international match that his father played in.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: Salvatore Sirigu (, ; born 12 January 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Italian club Napoli and the Italy national team.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: Sirigu began his career with Venezia, and then Palermo. In 2011, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain. Twice voted the Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year, his honours at the club include four consecutive league titles and all four domestic competitions in both the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons. After spending the 2016–17 season on loan to Sevilla and Osasuna, he was signed by Torino in 2017.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: A former Italy youth international, Sirigu made his Italy senior debut in 2010, and was selected for UEFA Euro 2012 (finishing in second place), the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup (finishing in third place), the 2014 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016, and UEFA Euro 2020, winning the latter tournament.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: Born in Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy, Sirigu started his football career in Venezia's youth system playing as a midfielder. He was known for his powerful back heels which he used to take penalty kicks. He had been training as an attacker for a local amateur side, Puri e Forti, at 11 years old, when coaches concluded that his asthma condition would hinder him too much as an outfield player. Instead, observing Sirigu's unusually large hands, they told him to have a go in goal.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: In 2002, he joined Palermo's youth system. In the 2006–07 season made his debut as a starter in a Coppa Italia match against Sampdoria and a UEFA Cup match against Fenerbahçe. Palermo loaned him to Serie C1 club Cremonese on 12 July 2007 to gain some first team experience.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: He spent the 2008–09 season on loan to Serie B side Ancona, but only played 15 games with his club, as Ancona managers Francesco Monaco, and later Sandro Salvioni preferred Brazilian Da Costa over him.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: Sirigu successively returned to Palermo as a second-choice keeper, behind new signing Rubinho, for the 2009–10 season. Following a string of unimpressive performances by Rubinho, Palermo coach Walter Zenga, himself a former goalkeeper who was noted for his ability, elevated Sirigu to the starting role for the Week 6 game, an away match against Davide Ballardini's Lazio on 27 September 2009. The game, which also represented Sirigu's official debut in the Italian Serie A, ended in a 1–1 draw, with the young goalkeeper being nominated Man of the Match due to his numerous saves throughout the match. He was subsequently confirmed for the following game, where Sirigu managed to keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 win against Serie A giants Juventus. Since then, Sirigu was regularly featured in the starting line-up and permanently confirmed as first-choice goalkeeper, leading the club to send Rubinho out on loan to Livorno later in January. Due to his performance during his time at Palermo, Sirigu earned the nickname "Walterino", a reference to his coach Walter Zenga, who is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: On 21 October 2009, Palermo announced to have agreed a contract extension with him, the new contract would have expired in June 2014. His final appearance for Palermo came in the 2011 Coppa Italia Final against Internazionale at Rome's Stadio Olimpico, a 3–1 loss.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: On 28 July 2011, Sirigu signed a four-year contract with French club Paris Saint-Germain for a transfer fee of €3.895 million. Although initially signed as reserve for Nicolas Douchez, Sirigu started all 38 Ligue 1 matches during his first season at the club as PSG finished as runners-up to Montpellier HSC.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: On 27 January 2013, Sirigu broke Bernard Lama's clean-sheet record for a PSG goalkeeper in Ligue 1 (697 minutes). He became the first foreign player to be named UNFP's goalkeeper of the season as PSG won the 2012–13 Ligue 1 championship. Sirigu won the award for the second consecutive year in 2014, with PSG defending their league title and winning the Coupe de la Ligue.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: On 2 August 2014, as PSG won the Trophée des Champions 2–0 against Guingamp at the Workers Stadium in Beijing, Sirigu saved a 32nd-minute penalty kick from Mustapha Yatabaré. He signed a contract extension on 10 September of the same year, lasting until 2018. Sirigu remained PSG's first choice goalkeeper in the 2014–15 season for Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League matches, as the capital club won a domestic treble of the league championship, Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue, as well as reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: After PSG completed the signing of German goalkeeper Kevin Trapp from Eintracht Frankfurt in July 2015, deputy sporting director Olivier Letang announced that the club "would not stand in [Sirigu's] way" if he wished to leave Paris. However, the player's agent denied that the player would leave the club. Sirigu remained PSG's first choice goalkeeper in the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue, winning both titles, with Trapp taking his place as the preferred choice in Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League matches. On 12 February 2016, he announced that he would have left PSG during the previous winter transfer window if "an important proposal had arrived", but ultimately remained with the club for the remainder of the season.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: On 26 August 2016, Sirigu joined La Liga club Sevilla FC on a season-long loan. He made his debut with the club in a 1–1 away draw against Eibar on 17 September. A week later, away to Athletic Bilbao, he was sent off for elbowing Aritz Aduriz, leaving midfielder Vicente Iborra to unsuccessfully face the former's penalty in a 3–1 loss.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: Having made only three appearances for the Andalusians, Sirigu moved to fellow league club, strugglers CA Osasuna on 31 January 2017 for the remainder of the season.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: On 27 June 2017, Torino announced they had signed Sirigu on a free transfer. He made his debut for Torino on 12 August, in a 7–1 home win against Trapani in the Coppa Italia third round, and eight days later made a first Serie A appearance in a 1–1 draw away to Bologna.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: In July 2018, when Sirigu had a year left on his contract, he extended it until June 2022. On 3 March 2019, he recorded his sixth consecutive Serie A clean sheet, thereby surpassing Luciano Castellini's club record of 517 minutes without conceding a goal in Serie A. On 15 July 2021, his contract with Torino was terminated by mutual consent.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: On 21 August 2007, he made his debut with the Italy U-21 squad under manager Pierluigi Casiraghi, in a 2–1 friendly win against France held in La Spezia, coming on as a second-half substitute for Andrea Consigli. He took part at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship as the back up of starter Consigli.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: On 28 February 2010, he received his first call-up for the Italian national team by manager Marcello Lippi for a friendly game versus Cameroon to be played at Stade Louis II, Monaco, but did not play, as Federico Marchetti was chosen to start. In May, he was included in Lippi's 28-man provisional 2010 FIFA World Cup squad, but was not included in the 23-man final squad for the tournament.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: Upon Cesare Prandelli taking the helm as national coach, Sirigu was named in his first squad list for the friendly against Ivory Coast. He made his international debut in that game losing 1–0, on 10 August 2010. On 3 September, on his second cap, he played his first competitive match, a 2–1 away win against Estonia for Euro 2012 qualifying. He was eventually selected to go to UEFA Euro 2012 as the third choice keeper of the Italian team, behind Gianluigi Buffon and Morgan De Sanctis; he did not feature in the tournament as Italy reached the final.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: For the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, he was selected as the second-choice keeper behind Buffon. Shortly before the tournament, on 31 May, he kept his first international clean sheet as Italy beat San Marino 4–0 in a friendly in Bologna. In the final tournament, he once again did not feature as Italy finished in third place.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: Sirigu was selected by Prandelli as his second-choice goalkeeper for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. However, prior to the tournament, the usual starter and captain Buffon received an ankle injury during training and Sirigu played the opening group game against England in Manaus on 14 June. He made several decisive saves which contributed to the 2–1 Italian victory. Buffon returned to the first team for the remaining two group games against Costa Rica and Uruguay, both of which Italy lost 1–0, and as a result, Italy were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: On 31 May 2016, Sirigu was included in Antonio Conte's 23-man Italy squad for UEFA Euro 2016. Due to a bout of fever suffered by starting keeper Buffon, Sirigu made his only appearance of the tournament on 22 June, in his nation's final group match, a 1–0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland. Italy were eliminated from the tournament in the quarter-finals, following a penalty shoot-out loss against Germany.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: In June 2021, he was included in Italy's squad for UEFA Euro 2020 by manager Roberto Mancini. He made his only appearance of the tournament in Italy's final group match against Wales on 20 June, coming on as a late substitute for Gianluigi Donnarumma in the team's 1–0 victory in Rome, which saw them top their group. On 11 July, Sirigu won the European Championship with Italy following a 3–2 penalty shoot-out victory over England at Wembley Stadium in the final, after a 1–1 draw in extra-time.


title: Salvatore Sirigu

text: Regarded as one of the best Italian goalkeepers of his generation, Sirigu was considered in the 2010s as the possible 'heir-apparent' of Gianluigi Buffon as Italy's first-choice goalkeeper, due to his consistency, physical strength, composure, strong mentality, explosive reflexes, and shot-stopping ability between the posts. Although he was frequently compared to Zenga in his youth, his former manager at Cremonese, Emiliano Mondonico, compared him to Dino Zoff because of his calm character under pressure. Former Italy goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi has also praised Sirigu for his goalkeeping technique and ability to come off his line quickly to collect the ball. Sirigu is also known for his professionalism and leadership qualities, as well as his ability to motivate his teammates, and is therefore considered to be an influential dressing room personality, which makes him a popular figure with his teams' fans.


title: Rebecca Mader

text: Rebecca Leigh Mader (born 24 April 1977) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Charlotte Lewis in the ABC series "Lost", and as Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West, on ABC's "Once Upon a Time", for which she garnered critical acclaim.


title: Rebecca Mader

text: Mader was born in 1977 in Cambridge, England. She worked as a model in New York City for a year, appearing in adverts for L'Oréal, Colgate and Wella Hair. She began her television career on the ABC daytime soap operas "All My Children" as Morgan Gordon, and "One Life to Live" as Margaret Cochran. She also appeared on the soap opera "Guiding Light" in 2003.


title: Rebecca Mader

text: Mader has made a number of guest appearances on television shows. In 2006, she had a series regular role on the short-lived Fox legal drama "Justice". In 2008, Mader began starring as anthropologist Charlotte Lewis on ABC series "Lost". She appeared in the show from 2008 to 2009 and in two episodes in 2010. In 2011, she had a recurring role on "No Ordinary Family", and in 2012, she made a guest starring appearance on the Fox science-fiction series "Fringe" as Jessica Holt. Also in 2012, Mader starred in the short-lived ABC comedy series "Work It".


title: Rebecca Mader

text: In June 2013, Mader made her stage debut in the role of Barrie in the one-act comedy "The Third Date" at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.


title: Rebecca Mader

text: In December 2013, Mader was cast as the Wicked Witch of the West, a new antagonist for the second half of the third season of "Once Upon a Time". She also made guest appearances during the second half of the fourth season and was later promoted to a series regular for the fifth and sixth seasons. In May 2017, Mader announced that she would not be returning for the seventh season of the show due to a creative decision by the showrunners. However, in September 2017, it was announced that Mader would be reprising her role as Zelena in a recurring capacity for the second half of the seventh season. In all, she made seven appearances in the seventh season, including the series finale "Leaving Storybrooke".


title: Rebecca Mader

text: In May 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown in California, Mader created the "At Home with Sean and Bex" interview series on YouTube with "Once Upon a Time" co-star Sean Maguire.


title: Rebecca Mader

text: On 29 December 2014, Mader announced her engagement to producer Marcus Kayne. The two were married on 23 November 2016 and she gave birth to their first child Milo, a son, in November 2019. Mader announced on 7 April 2021 that she was expecting her second child, a girl. Mader announced the birth of her second child, a girl, Bailey, who was born September 2, 2021.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing, commonly known as the Dartford Crossing and until 1991 the Dartford Tunnel, is a major road crossing of the River Thames in England, carrying the A282 road between Dartford in Kent in the south and Thurrock in Essex in the north. It consists of two bored tunnels and the cable-stayed Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. The only fixed road crossing of the Thames east of Greater London, it is the busiest estuarial crossing in the United Kingdom, with an average daily use of over 130,000 vehicles. It opened in stages: the west tunnel in 1963, the east tunnel in 1980 and the bridge in 1991. The crossing, although not officially designated a motorway, is considered part of the M25 motorway's route, using the tunnels northbound and bridge southbound. Described as one of the most important road crossings in Britain, it suffers from heavy traffic and congestion.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The crossing's development started in the late 1930s, but was interrupted due to the Second World War and resumed in the 1950s. The original tunnel catered for a single lane of traffic in each direction, but rising traffic levels required the second tunnel to be built. The M25 connected to the tunnels at both ends when completed in 1986, and the increased traffic put pressure on the tunnels' capacity. A private finance initiative scheme was started in 1988 to build the bridge. The combined crossing now handles four lanes of traffic in each direction.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The crossing has always been tolled, and though the cost of construction has since been paid back, the toll was retained, and rebranded as a congestion pricing scheme from 1 April 2003. Since 2008 it has been free from 10 pm to 6 am. An automatic number plate recognition charging scheme named the "Dart Charge" began in November 2014. As a result, the booths on the Kent side were removed and the charge is now only payable online, by post, or in certain participating retail outlets. A residents' scheme is available, offering discounts for people living near the crossing.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The crossing spans the River Thames between Dartford, Kent, to the south and Thurrock, Essex, to the north. It is about east of the centre of London, outside the Greater London boundary. The two tunnels are long, while the cable-stayed bridge is high with a main span of . A speed limit is in place in both directions. North of the river, the rail line High Speed 1 (between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet International Stations) passes under the approach roads at a near right angle.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The design capacity is 135,000 vehicles per day, but in practice the crossing carries around 160,000. It has been described by the Highways Agency as "a vital transport link for the national and South East economies", by the former Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, as "a crucial part of the country's strategic road network", and by the local Thurrock Council as "one of Europe's most heavily used crossings and complex traffic management systems". It is signed as a major destination on London's orbital route, the M25, though the crossing and its approach road are an all-purpose road (the A282), allowing some (though not all) non-motorway traffic to use it. Southbound traffic crosses the four-lane bridge, while northbound traffic uses both of the two-lane road tunnels. The bridge can be closed due to high winds or maintenance. On these occasions, traffic uses the tunnels in both directions. The crossing and its approaches, like most UK urban motorways, are equipped with lane control and variable message signs to manage traffic.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The next nearest vehicle crossings to the west of Dartford are the Woolwich Ferry and the Blackwall Tunnel, both well within East London. When the bridge is closed in high winds and for maintenance, no convenient diversion exists through London for the higher-limit southbound vehicles. Those over are diverted around the far side of the M25.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: A number of new crossings have been proposed as relief for the Dartford Crossing. The proposed Thames Gateway Bridge to the west was provisionally supported in 2004, but was cancelled in November 2008 when Boris Johnson became Mayor of London. Johnson subsequently proposed the Gallions Reach Ferry, a ferry crossing in the same location, as an alternative. The Lower Thames Crossing is a proposed tunnel to the east between Shorne, Kent and South Ockendon, Essex. Thurrock Council suggest that this crossing will be essential for managing congestion. A public consultation on the scheme ended in March 2016, with the route announced in April 2017,


title: Dartford Crossing

text: A free-flow electronic charging system called Dart Charge began in November 2014 based on automatic number plate recognition. The charge can be paid online or phone, in advance or by midnight the day after crossing, but can no longer be paid in cash at the site since the old toll booths have been removed. However, cash payments are accepted at some Payzone retail outlets. Reminder signs and variable message signs on approaches to the crossing say "Dart charge – find us online. Pay by midnight tomorrow." Vehicles have to pay the charge if they use the crossing between 6 am and 10 pm seven days per week, and this is indicated on signs. Daily charges for the crossing since October 2018 are:


title: Dartford Crossing

text: Various categories of vehicles are exempt from the charge, including emergency services vehicles, military vehicles and those exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty on the grounds of disability.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The charges vary according to the type of vehicle. Motorcycles are free but there are standard charges for cars, two-axle goods vehicles and larger vehicles with more than two axles. Drivers who fail to pay the charge are issued with a penalty charge notice. There are no signs warning of penalty charges.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: Since 2008, a local residents' scheme gives 50 crossings to car drivers resident in the Dartford and Thurrock council areas for an annual registration fee of £10, with additional crossings at 20p each. On 1 March 2014, this scheme was extended to include privately owned two-axle goods vehicles. A further option was introduced giving unlimited crossings for £20 annually. Around 44,000 drivers take advantage of this scheme each year. Although the website for paying the charge is operated by the UK Government, the day-to-day operations are run by French public roads operator Société des Autoroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France (SANEF).


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The idea of a tunnel crossing was first proposed by the Ministry of Transport in 1924. Initial reports at the start of the year suggested a crossing between Tilbury and Gravesend, replacing a ferry service, but this had been rejected by July in favour of a route further upstream, near Dartford. By 1929, the total cost of building the tunnel had been estimated at £3 million (equivalent to £ million in ). The tunnel was planned to be part of a general orbital route around London and was provisionally known as part of the "South Orbital Road". The Dartford Tunnel Act 1930 authorised the construction of the tunnel, and set tolls to be charged for its use. It was amended by the Dartford Tunnel Act 1937 to adjust the design and increase the permitted tolls.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The first engineering work to take place was a compressed air driven pilot tunnel, which was drilled between 1936 and 1938. Work on the tunnel was delayed due to World War II, and resumed in 1959, using a Greathead Shield, similar to the work on the Blackwall Tunnel some 60 years earlier. The delay in work due to the war allowed the tunnel's design to be improved, which included a better ventilation system. After negotiations with the Ministry of Transport, Kent and Essex county councils obtained government approval to increase the previously set tolls in 1960, before opening. The two-lane bore tunnel opened to traffic on 18 November 1963; the total project cost was £13 million (equivalent to £ million in ) and it initially served approximately 12,000 vehicles per day.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The toll was originally two shillings and sixpence, equivalent to 12.5p post-decimalisation, and approximately equivalent in purchasing power to £ in . The Dartford Tunnel Act 1967 gave a joint committee of Kent and Essex county councils (the Dartford Tunnel Joint Committee) the authority to increase the tolls, and in December 1977, the toll was raised from 25p to 35p for cars, 40p to 55p for two-axle goods vehicles, and 60p to 85p for HGVs. By 1984, the toll for cars had risen to 60p.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The first tunnel was expected to carry two million vehicles a year but by 1970 was carrying over eight million. That year, Michael Heseltine, then a junior transport minister, announced that a second tunnel would be built in conjunction with the North Orbital Road, later to become the M25.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: Construction was approved in April 1971, with an initial expected opening date in 1976. Work was delayed due to a lack of funds, which was resolved by EEC funding granted in 1974. The second tunnel opened in May 1980, allowing each tunnel to handle one direction of traffic, by which time the joint capacity of the two tunnels had increased to 65,000 vehicles per day. Connection of the crossing to the M25 was completed on the northerly Essex side in September 1982 (Junction 31), and to the southerly Kent side in September 1986 (Junction 1a). Following the completion of the M25 in 1986, the daily demand had grown to 79,000 vehicles.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: During the early 1980s, it was anticipated that traffic through the tunnel would rise on the completion of the M25 in 1986. At the time, the expectation was that other routes in London would be improved instead, diverting 15% of traffic away from the tunnel. In 1985, the Transport Minister, Lynda Chalker, announced that the number of toll booths would be increased to 12 each way, but concern grew that two tunnels would not be able to cope with the full demands of a completed M25.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: Between September 1985 and December 1986, proposals for improvements to the Dartford Crossing underwent several changes, and in 1986, a Trafalgar House consortium won a bid to build a new bridge at Dartford crossing, valued at £86 million (£ million in ). At the time there were several other privately financed projects planned or under construction in the UK, including the Second Severn Crossing. From 1981 until the establishment of the private finance initiative (PFI) regime in the late 1980s, private investment projects were governed by the Ryrie Rules which dictated that "any privately-financed solution must be shown to be more cost-effective than a publicly-financed alternative, and that privately-financed expenditure by nationalised industries could not be additional to public expenditure provision" [annual budget], "which would be reduced by the amount of private finance borrowed."


title: Dartford Crossing

text: On 31 July 1988, a private finance initiative concession was enabled under the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Act 1988, which transferred control of the crossing from Kent and Essex county councils to Dartford River Crossing Limited, a private company managed by Rodney Jones. The company would also bear the debt of the bridge, then under construction, "financed 100% by debt, with no equity contribution". The private company was at risk of not recuperating their costs, but ultimately the Dartford scheme demonstrated that the Ryrie Rules were no longer a barrier to the private financing of public infrastructure projects. The concession was scheduled for 20 years from the transfer date, with a stipulation that it could end when debts had been paid off, which was agreed to have been achieved on 31 March 2002. According to the "International Handbook on Public-Private Partnership", the chief financing for the project came from a "20-year subordinated loan stock, 16-year loan stock and £85 million (£ million in ) as a term loan from banks". The construction contract was let to a joint venture of Kværner, Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company and the Cementation Company.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: Construction of the bridge started immediately after the creation of the PFI in 1988. It was designed by German civil engineer , with the UK's Halcrow Group acting as category 3 check engineer, employer's agent and engineering adviser. The two main caissons supporting the bridge piers were constructed in the Netherlands. Each caisson was designed to withstand a bridge strike of a ship weighing up to 65,000 tonnes and travelling up to The bridge deck is about high, and it took a team of around 56 to assemble its structure. During construction of the approach road, a World War II bomb was found in its path, which required closure of the entire crossing.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The bridge was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 30 October 1991. The total cost of construction was £120 million (£ in ), including £30 million (£ million in ) for the approach roads. The proposed name had been simply the Dartford Bridge, but Thurrock residents objected and suggested the Tilbury Bridge, leading to a compromise. At the time of opening, it had the longest cable-stayed span of any bridge in Europe. It is the only bridge across the Thames downstream of Central London to be opened since Tower Bridge in 1894.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: In 2000, the European Union issued a directive that value-added tax should be charged on all road tolls, including the Dartford Crossing. The Government opposed the directive and said it would bear the additional cost. It was anticipated that the tolls would be removed on 1 April 2003 under the original PFI scheme contract. However, the Highways Agency decided that the tolls would become a "charge", under legislation introduced by the Transport Act 2000 to introduce charging schemes on any trunk road bridge or tunnel at least in length.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: Under the 2000 Transport Act, the A282 Trunk Road (Dartford-Thurrock Crossing charging scheme) Order 2002 allowed the continuation of the crossing fee, which officially became a charge and not a toll on 1 April 2003. Management of the crossing was contracted to Le Crossing Company Limited on behalf of the Highways Agency. In September 2009 the Highways Agency made a new contract with Connect Plus (M25) Limited. As well as maintaining the crossing, the contract required the company to widen around 40 miles of the M25 and to refurbish a tunnel on the A1(M) at Hatfield. In October 2009, the Government announced its intention to sell the crossing as part of a public sector deficit reduction strategy. The announcement was unpopular with local residents, who encouraged drivers to sound their horns in protest when using the crossing. After the change of government following the 2010 general election, the new prime minister David Cameron announced that the crossing might still be sold, despite local opposition, particularly from Gareth Johnson, Member of Parliament (MP) for Dartford. Subsequently, the chancellor George Osborne announced that charges would be increased instead to cover the budget deficit. Pre-pay accounts for the crossing were introduced around this time; drivers held an electronic device called a DART-Tag in the vehicle that automatically deducted the charge at payment booths. This was abolished when the Dart Charge was introduced in 2014.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: Under the 2008 Charging Order introduced on 15 November 2008, charges between 10 pm and 6 am were discontinued, but standard daytime rates increased, starting at £1.50 for cars. On 7 October 2012 the charges increased to £2 for cars, £2.50 for 2 axle goods vehicles and £5 for multi-axle goods vehicles. By 2012, local businesses were complaining that the crossing's charge booths were impeding local growth. The government announced that a new electronic charging system would be introduced in 2014. Drivers would be able to pay by phone, text, online or in shops. The charge was proposed to increase to £2.50 for cars, £3 for two-axle goods vehicles and £6 for multi-axle vehicles. Drivers not exempt and not paying the charge within 28 days are charged £105.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: Preparation work on the free-flow scheme started in April 2014. Concerns were raised about reliability, with a Highways Agency report predicting that it could lose up to £6m of unpaid charges per year. In September, the Highways Agency announced that the new scheme would start to operate at the end of November, though related works to remove barriers would continue until April 2015. Subsequently, the date for removal of the booths was confirmed as 30 November.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The Dart Charge scheme was considered a success by the project management, who claimed it has reduced peak-time round trips over the crossing by 15 minutes. The Automobile Association said the scheme had faults, while a BBC report showed 1.8 million fines had been issued for failure to pay in the year since the charge was set up.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: a total of 1,537,084,159 journeys had been made. The highest recorded daily usage was 181,990 on 23 July 2004; since then traffic levels have decreased. The total income for the financial year ended 31 March 2012 was £72,147,091, while the corresponding figure for the following financial year was £80,331,662. A 2016 report by Highways England suggested the crossing is used around 50 million times a year.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: There is currently one bus service that uses the crossing, the X80 operated by Ensignbus which runs between Lakeside Shopping Centre and Bluewater.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: Bicycles are not permitted on the crossing, but cyclists can be carried across the crossing by the transport authority. Section 27 of the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Act 1988 requires that this service be provided free of charge. Cyclists report to the crossing control offices on either side, using a free telephone service. The transfer takes around 15 to 30 minutes.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: In October 1963, the Dartford Tunnel Joint Committee ordered five double-decker buses based on the Ford Thames Trader chassis for special duties, taking cyclists through the Dartford Tunnel. These had a lower deck purpose-built for carrying bicycles, with upper deck seats for cyclists. Access was via a stairwell to the upper deck starting several feet above the level of the road, accessible from special platforms built at either end of the tunnel; there was also a ladder built into the side of the bodywork for access elsewhere. The design was criticised for failing to protect any passenger from falling off the vehicle, and running costs were estimated at £2,550 per month, with only £45 revenue. The joint committee contracted London Transport to operate the buses on their behalf. The service was reduced to one bus in April 1964 and then cancelled in 1965, to be replaced by the current transfer service using a vehicle with a rear cycle rack. One of these buses has been preserved.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The transport of hazardous goods through the crossing is governed by the European ADR Agreement. The Dartford Crossing is class C, which restricts transporting goods such as nitrates and flammable liquids. The introduction of the ADR scheme initially caused confusion, and for a short time, transporting aerosols through the tunnel was banned. Certain hazardous goods vehicles, together with some oversize and abnormal loads (if permitted), may require escorting by National Highways traffic officers. The crossing authority must hold exercises in conjunction with the emergency services. In 2006 Exercise Orpheus was held, involving the closure of both road tunnels for five hours.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The tunnel is patrolled by National Highways traffic officers. Officers may stop and direct traffic on the crossing and its approach roads, and must be in uniform to exercise their powers. The crossing's speed limit is enforced by speed cameras; between October 2012 and June 2014, 24,229 drivers were caught speeding, with some travelling as fast as . A spokesman for Highways England said the cameras were "helping us improve safety and make journeys more reliable". The bridge also has a reduced speed limit of when crosswind is above or headwind above , and is closed entirely if Britain's national weather service, the Met Office, predicts crosswind above or headwind above .


title: Dartford Crossing

text: The crossing is the busiest in the United Kingdom. Because the design capacity has been exceeded, the crossing is subject to major traffic congestion and disruption, particularly when parts are closed because of accidents or bad weather. Though the government was adamant that the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge should be designed to avoid closure due to high winds, the bridge has nevertheless had to close on occasions. On 12 February 2014, during the winter storms, it was closed owing to winds, and again on the evening of 13–14 February 2014.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: At busy times there was significant delay at the payment booths when these existed. Because there are numerous junctions on either side of the crossing, a high proportion of local traffic mixes with long-distance traffic, for example travelling from the North and Midlands onwards to Continental Europe. In 2004, a BBC survey reported that the crossing was "the most stressful section of the M25" while in 2009, the crossing was listed in a Royal Automobile Club report as the fourth most congested road in Britain. Though Highways England have reported greatly improved journey times since automatic charging was introduced, local MP Gareth Johnson claims otherwise and has insisted that the Lower Thames Crossing, along with improved signing around Dartford, are better options to reduce congestion. In 2015, he said the crossing was Britain's worst stretch of motorway. There are agreed plans to create another crossing of the Thames in the East of London to ease congestion at the Dartford Crossing.


title: Dartford Crossing

text: At around 3:50 a.m. on 17 October 2022, two supporters of the Just Stop Oil activist group scaled the bridge's masts, forcing the bridge to close. The two men remained there until they were brought down and arrested at about 5 p.m. the next day.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: Islamic terrorism in Europe has been carried out by the Islamic State (ISIL) or Al-Qaeda as well as Islamist lone wolves since the late 20th century. Europol, which releases the annual EU Terrorism Situation and Trend report (TE-SAT), used the term "Islamist terrorism" in the years 2006–2010, "religiously inspired terrorism" 2011–2014, and has used "jihadist terrorism" since 2015. Europol defines jihadism as "a violent ideology exploiting traditional Islamic concepts".


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In the early 2000s, most of the Islamic terrorist activity was linked to Al-Qaeda and the plots tended to involve groups carrying out co-ordinated bombings. The deadliest attacks of this period were the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which killed 193 civilians (the deadliest Islamist attack in Europe), and the 7 July 2005 London bombings, which killed 52.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: There was a rise in Islamic terrorist incidents in Europe after 2014. The years 2014–16 saw more people killed by Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe than all previous years combined, and the highest rate of attack plots per year. Most of this terrorist activity was inspired by ISIL, and many European states have had some involvement in the military intervention against it. A number of plots involved people who entered or re-entered Europe as asylum seekers during the European migrant crisis, and some attackers had returned to Europe after fighting in the Syrian Civil War. The Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting in May 2014 was the first attack in Europe by a returnee from the Syrian war.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: While most earlier Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe were carried out by groups and involved bombs, most attacks since 2014 have been carried out by individuals using guns, knives and vehicles. A notable exception is the Brussels cell, which carried out two of the deadliest attacks of the period.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: The deadliest attacks of this period have been the November 2015 Paris attacks (130 killed), the July 2016 Nice truck attack (86 killed), the June 2016 Atatürk Airport attack (45 killed), the March 2016 Brussels bombings (32 killed), and the May 2017 Manchester Arena bombing (22 killed). These attacks and threats have led to major security operations and plans such as Opération Sentinelle in France, Operation Vigilant Guardian and the Brussels lockdown in Belgium, and Operation Temperer in the United Kingdom.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: The 2020 TE-SAT by Europol describes jihadism as "a violent ideology exploiting traditional Islamic concepts". Jihadists do this by exploiting the concept of "jihad", which means 'striving' or 'exertion' but can also refer to religiously sanctioned warfare and aim to create an Islamic state governed exclusively by their interpretation of Islamic law. The report describes jihadism as a violent subcurrent of Salafism, while noting that other subcurrents of Salafism are quietist. The two major representatives of jihadism are al-Qaeda and ISIL.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: The first incidents of Islamic terrorism occurred in France in 1995 when a network with ties to Algeria carried out a string of bombings in Paris in retaliation for French involvement in the Algerian Civil War.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: Although militants in Syria had started to organize attacks in Europe by sending terrorist operatives to carry out attacks as early as 2012, security services in the European countries they sought to attack did not see the arrested individuals as part of a network with a cohesive strategy. Instead the general consensus saw them as radicalized individuals. Many of these operatives were arrested, while others carried out unsophisticated attacks which caused little damage but still served to overload security services.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: Since 2014, more than 20 fatal attacks have been carried out in Europe. France saw eight attacks between January 2015 and July 2016; this included the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks, the November 2015 Paris attacks, and the July 2016 Nice truck attack. The United Kingdom saw three major attacks carried out in a span of four months in early 2017 (Westminster attack, Manchester Arena bombing, and London Bridge attack). Other targets in Europe have included Belgium, Germany, Russia, and Spain. The transcontinental city of Istanbul also saw both bombings and shootings, including in January 2016, June 2016 and January 2017.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2015, the Islamic State, which in 2014 had claimed that all Muslims were under a religious obligation to join it, declared that the only excuse for Muslims to not join the group in territories under its control was to perpetrate terrorist attacks in their current place of residence. According to Europol's annual report released in 2017, the Islamic State exploited the flow of refugees and migrants to commit acts of terrorism, which was a feature of the 2015 Paris attacks. In 2016 attack planning against Western countries took place in Syria and Iraq. Groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL had the intent and capabilities to mount mass casualty attacks with volunteers.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: The Counter Extremism Project states police investigations have found links between internet radicalization and terrorist attacks. In 2019, Julian King, the European Commissioner for the Security Union, stated that terrorist content on the internet "had a role to play in every single attack on European soil in the last few years". However, Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå reviewed attacks in Western Europe between 2014 and 2017 and stated that most attackers radicalize as a result of personal contact rather than online.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2017, the EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove stated in an interview that there were more than 50,000 radicals and jihadists in Europe. In 2016, French authorities stated that 15,000 of the 20,000 individuals on the list of security threats belong to Islamist movements. After the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017, British authorities and MI5 estimated they had 500 ongoing investigations into 3,000 jihadist extremists as potential terrorist attackers, with a further 20,000 having been "subjects of interest" in the past, including the Manchester and Westminster attackers.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: According to Lorenzo G. Vidino, jihadi terrorists in Europe mobilized by ISIL have tended to be second-generation immigrant Muslims. Consequently, countries such as Italy and Spain with a smaller demographic in this category have experienced fewer attacks than countries in Central and Northern Europe such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: British think tank ICSR argues for a connection between terrorism and crime: up to 40% of terrorist plots in Europe are part-financed through petty crime such as drug-dealing, theft, robberies, loan fraud and burglaries, and most jihadists have been imprisoned for petty or violent crime prior to radicalisation (some of whom radicalise while in prison). Jihadists use ordinary crime as a way to finance their activity and have also argued this to be the "ideologically correct" way to wage 'jihad 'in 'lands of war'.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: According to German anthropologist Susanne Schröter, attacks in European countries in 2017 showed that the military defeat of the Islamic State did not mean the end of Islamist violence. Schröter also compared the events in Europe to a jihadist strategy formulated in 2005 by Abu Musab al-Suri, where an intensification of terror would destabilise societies and encourage Muslim youth to revolt. The expected civil war never materialised in Europe, but did occur in other regions such as Libya, Syria, Iraq and the Philippines (Battle of Marawi).


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: According to Europol, terrorist attacks attributed to jihadists in the European Union increased from four in 2014 to seventeen in 2015, while the number of people killed increased from four to 150. Non-EU areas of Europe are not included in the Europol figures.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2015, the terrorist threat level was zero in Poland, on its scale which has four levels plus the "zero level". About 20-40 Polish nationals had travelled to the conflict zone in Syria-Iraq.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2016, a total of 135 people were killed in ten completed jihadist attacks in the European Union, according to Europol figures, while 62 others were killed in Turkey and one in Russia. Thirteen attacks were attempted. The number of arrests increased on the previous year, to 718. In France, the number of arrests increased from 377 in 2015 to 429 in 2016. One in four (26%) of those arrested in 2016 were women, an increase from 18% the previous year. The threat in 2016 consisted of remotely directed individuals operating alone or in small groups. In addition to these, there were those that were inspired by propaganda but not instructed or directed.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2017, a total of 62 people were killed in ten completed jihadist attacks in the European Union, according to Europol figures. The number of attempted jihadist attacks reached 33 in 2017, double that of the previous year. Most of the deaths were in the UK (35), Spain (16), Sweden (5) and France (3). In addition to those killed, a total of 819 people were injured in 14 attacks. The pattern of jihadist attacks in 2017 led Europol to conclude that terrorists preferred to attack ordinary people rather than causing property damage or loss of capital.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: According to Europol's annual report on terrorism in the European Union, the jihadist attacks in 2017 had three patterns: indiscriminate killings (London attacks in March and June and Barcelona attacks), attacks on Western lifestyle (the Manchester bombing in May 2017, 2017 Istanbul nightclub shooting), and attacks on symbols of authority (Paris attacks in February, June and August). The agency's report also noted that jihadist attacks had caused more deaths and casualties than any other type of terrorist attack, that such attacks had become more frequent, and that there had been a decrease in the sophistication and preparation of the attacks.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2017, a total of 705 individuals were arrested in 18 EU Member states, 373 of those in France. Most arrests were on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organisation (354), suspicion of planning (120), or of preparing (112) a terrorist attack.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2018, a total of 13 people were killed and 46 were injured in seven completed jihadist attacks in the European Union, according to Europol figures. The number of attempted jihadist attacks was 24, down from 33 the previous year. All attacks were carried out by perpetrators acting alone. Europol noted in its 2019 report that generally, individuals who act alone seldom do so in total isolation as attackers often maintain relations in small or loosely defined networks and may receive moral or material support from individuals sharing their ideas. A number of the stopped attacks involved groups of perpetrators. The year saw equal numbers of EU citizens and non-EU citizens carrying out attacks. All attackers were male and their average age was 26.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2019, a total of ten people were killed in three completed jihadist attacks in the European Union, according to Europol figures. An additional four attacks failed and 14 were foiled. All completed and failed attacks except for one were carried out by perpetrators acting alone, whereas most of the foiled plots involved more than one person.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2020, a total of twelve people were killed in ten completed jihadist attacks in the European Union, with an additional three people killed in three additional completed jihadist attacks in the United Kingdom, according to Europol figures. All attackers were men between the ages of 18 and 33, and all were lone actors. Of the attackers, five had come to the EU as asylum seekers or illegal immigrants. At least five of the attacks involved assailants who were either convicts or had been released from prison sentences. In addition to the completed attacks there were two attempted attacks that were thwarted and Switzerland recorded two attacks involving probable jihadist motivation.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2021, two people were killed in three completed jihadist attacks in the European Union, according to Europol figures. An additional eight attacks were foiled.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: This is a list of plots which have been classified as terrorism by a law enforcement agency and/or for which at least one person has been convicted of planning one or more terrorist crimes with Islamist motives.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: According to Europol, the number of people arrested on suspicion of jihadist-related terrorist offences in the European Union increased from 395 in 2014 to 687 in 2015.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2015, most arrests were made in France (377), followed by Spain (75) and Belgium (60); statistics for the United Kingdom were not available. During 2015, jihadist terrorism related verdicts were 198 out of a total of 527 terrorism related verdicts. The average sentence for jihadist terrorism increased from 4 years in 2014 to 6 years. In Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden, all terrorism verdicts concerned jihadist terrorism.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2016, a total of 718 people were arrested on suspicion of jihadist-related terrorist offences in the European Union. During 2016, 358 verdicts on jihadi terrorism were delivered by courts in the EU, the vast majority of all terrorism verdicts. Belgium had the highest number of such verdicts at 138. All terrorism verdicts in Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal and Sweden related to jihadist terrorism. Of those convicted for jihadist terrorist offences, 22 were women, such offences were punished with an average sentence of 5 years in prison.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2017, the total number of arrests was 705. During 2017, 352 verdicts on jihadi terrorism were delivered by courts in the EU, this was the vast majority of all terrorist convictions (569). The average sentence remained at 5 years in prison. The country with the highest number of jihadist convictions was France with 114.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: In 2017, according to Gilles de Kerchove, the European Union's Counter-terrorism Coordinator, the United Kingdom had the highest number of known Islamist radicals of any European country at around 20 to 25 thousand. de Kerchove said that three thousand of those were considered a direct threat by MI5 and 500 were under constant surveillance.


title: Islamic terrorism in Europe

text: A number of European countries—Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom—made legal changes which enable deprivation of citizenship of individuals engaged in terrorism if they have dual citizenship.


title: Holly Randall

text: Holly Randall Knipe (born September 5, 1978) is an English-South African American erotic photographer, director, producer, and a podcast host. In 2013, she was named one of the most influential women in the adult industry by AVN magazine.


title: Holly Randall

text: She is the daughter of erotic photographer Suze Randall and author Humphry Knipe. Randall was named after Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center where she was born.


title: Holly Randall

text: Randall was 20 years old and a student at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, when her mother asked her to help her with the family-run web site Suze.net. She returned home and began shooting for Suze.net and, by 2005, her work had appeared on the covers of every major American adult magazine.


title: Holly Randall

text: In 2004, Randall became interested in video production and started directing and producing all of the movies for Suze.net. In 2008, she launched her own production company, Holly Randall Productions, and her own membership website. In May 2013, her website joined the Met-Art network. Randall's clients include "Twistys" and "Playboy", and she is a prolific contributor to adult magazines such as "Hustler", "Club", "High Society", "Australian Penthouse" and "Hot Video".


title: Holly Randall

text: Randall and her mother Suze were profiled in "Secret Lives of Women: Sex for Sale" on the WE channel. Both have been featured on "The Insider" and Playboy TV's "Sexcetera".


title: Holly Randall

text: Premiering in November 2013, she has her own show on Playboy TV called "Adult Film School" where she hosts and directs amateurs in their own professional sex tape.


title: Holly Randall

text: Randall appears in "The Sex Factor" where she performs photoshoots for the female contestants, and eventually for the winner of episode 2. Randall was also the judge on season two of "DP Star", a contest where aspiring girls compete to win a big contract with Digital Playground, an adult entertainment company.


title: Holly Randall

text: Randall has four photo books, "Erotic Dream Girls", "Kinky Nylons", "Kinky Super Beauties" and "Kinky Lingerie" published by Goliath Books.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Timothy Donell Brown (born July 22, 1966) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where he won the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first wide receiver to do so. He spent sixteen years with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, during which he established himself as one of the NFL's greatest wide receivers of all time. Brown has also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2015, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Before his college career at Notre Dame, Brown played for Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, the same school as 1938 Heisman Trophy winner Davey O'Brien. Brown's receipt of the 1987 Heisman Trophy gave Woodrow the distinction of being the first high school in the country to have produced two Heisman Trophy winners. Amazingly, Tim didn’t play football as a freshman at Woodrow, because he was forbidden to do so by his mother. Instead, he played in the Woodrow band during that first year. But he joined the Woodrow football team as a sophomore, although he initially tried to hide that fact from his mom. She later found out about it when the band leader called his house asking why he was no longer at band practices. Despite his outstanding contributions to Woodrow's football program, the team fared poorly, posting only a 4–25–1 record over his three years as a starter. Nevertheless, Brown was heavily recruited by major colleges. His five official visits were to Notre Dame, Nebraska, Oklahoma, nearby SMU and Iowa. While at Woodrow, Brown also was a standout track athlete. He was one of the state's top performers in the 400-meter dash, with a PR of 47.14 seconds, and he cleared 7.42 meters in the long jump event.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Brown chose the University of Notre Dame and played there from 1984–1987, earning the nickname "Touchdown Timmy." In his first year, he set a freshman record with twenty-eight receptions. As a junior, he set a record with 1,937 all-purpose yards. Offensively he ran for 254 yards with 2 TD and caught 45 passes for 910 yards with 5 TD. During 1987, Brown caught 34 passes for 846 yards, returned 34 punts for 401 yards, rushed for 144 yards, gained 456 yards on 23 kickoff returns, and scored eight touchdowns. Brown finished his career at Notre Dame with 137 receptions for 2,493 yards, a school-record 5,024 all-purpose yards, and 22 touchdowns. However, just as in high school, Brown's team achieved limited success, with a 25–21 record over his four seasons, and an 0–2 record in bowl games. But in the year after Brown graduated (1988), Notre Dame won the national title.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Brown was named an All-American twice and won the 1987 Heisman Trophy, becoming the first wide receiver ever to win that award. As of 2020, Woodrow Wilson High School is still the only public high school with two Heisman Trophy winners.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: In 1989, Brown and Davey O'Brien were inducted together as members of the initial class of the Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame, created in celebration of the school's 60th Anniversary.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: In January 2012, Brown received the Silver Anniversary Award from the NCAA in recognition of his myriad athletic and professional accomplishments.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Brown was selected by the Los Angeles Raiders with the 6th pick of the 1988 NFL Draft. In his first NFL season, he led the league in kickoff returns, return yards, and yards per return average. Though it took time for him to fill into the role as the team's #1 receiver, catching just 147 passes in his first five seasons, he went on to rack up 9 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 1993-2001. He also led the NFL in punt returns in 1994, and receptions in 1997. In March 1994, Brown was offered and signed a free-agent offer-sheet with the Denver Broncos. The Raiders matched the offer soon thereafter. He was voted to the Pro Bowl nine times, in 1988 and 1991 as a kick returner, and in 1993-97, 1999 and 2001 as a receiver. In 2001, Brown would later play alongside another well-known wide receiver, Jerry Rice. On December 9, 2001, Brown returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown in a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs, making him the oldest player in NFL history to score a touchdown on a punt return. In 2002, he passed Gene Upshaw to become the Raiders' all-time leader in games played with 224. He also set Raiders franchise records for receptions, receiving yards, and punt return yards.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Brown was released by the Raiders before the 2004 season, as he did not want to accept a smaller role in the offense. He was signed shortly thereafter by the Buccaneers (coached by former Raider head coach Jon Gruden). The move was controversial, considering that Brown had always been a fan favorite in the Oakland area and was much admired by many current and former Raiders players and staff over the sixteen years he spent with the Raider organization. He was the last of the Los Angeles Raiders to remain with Oakland.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: On September 27, 2004, in his first game at Oakland since being signed by Tampa Bay, Brown reached 100 career receiving touchdowns, tying him (with Steve Largent) for 3rd on the NFL's all-time career receiving touchdown list at that time (behind former teammate Jerry Rice [197] and Cris Carter [130]). He received a standing ovation from the Oakland Raider crowd.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: In 2005, Brown signed a one-day contract with the Raiders to retire with the team. The July 18 news conference was attended by two Raiders officials and only one active Raider, wide receiver Jerry Porter. Brown retired with 14,934 receiving yards, the second-highest total in NFL history, 1,094 receptions (3rd), and 100 touchdown catches (3rd-Tied). Brown also gained 190 rushing yards, 3,320 punt-return yards (5th in NFL history), 3 fumble-return yards, and 1,235 yards returning kickoffs. This gave him a total of 19,682 combined net yards, ranking him #5 among the NFL's all-time leaders at the time of his retirement. He also scored 105 total touchdowns (100 receiving, 1 rushing, 3 punt returns, 1 kickoff return). Brown is the only player ever to retire in the NFL's top five leaders for both receiving and return yards.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Brown became eligible for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010, but was not selected that year. He was considered a long shot to get in on his first try, as there was a logjam of accomplished receiver candidates, including Jerry Rice (Brown's former teammate), Cris Carter and Andre Reed.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: On January 7, 2012 and again on January 11, 2013, Brown was selected as a finalist for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but was not chosen.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: On January 31, 2015, Brown was selected for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on August 8, 2015.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Brown was in the movie "Little Giants", and is co-host on "FSN Pro Football Preview" with former players Jason Sehorn, Eddie George and NFL Insider Jay Glazer. Brown is also a representative for YorHealth.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: In 1995, Brown became the National Chairman of Athletes & Entertainers for Kids and the related 9-1-1 for Kids. These efforts have helped over five million children and teens through mentoring and educational programs.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: As of 2013, Brown has been the General Manager and Co-Owner of the Texas Revolution of the Champions Indoor Football League in his home state of Texas and was an analyst for ESPN College Football. Brown also hosts a weekly sports-talk show on WRDI.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Brown started a NASCAR racing team as part of their Drive for Diversity program. He was recruiting African American sponsors to fund the venture, and has worked out a technical alliance with Roush Fenway Racing, who will provide support to the upstart team. Brown hopes to eventually find a black, Hispanic, or woman driver to be the star of his team in order to bring an element of diversity to what is a white-dominated sport. However, the plan never successfully began.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Since joining the Raiders, Brown had a complicated relationship with the Oakland Raiders and late owner Al Davis. During a 2009 interview with Sportsradiointerview.com Brown commented on his former boss:


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: “Meeting Al (Davis) was pretty unique. I found out five or ten minutes after my first practice there that he hated African-American athletes from Notre Dame. And they literally told me that. They literally told me that because we’re known for using our education more than our athletic ability that he thought that I would be one of these guys that would basically take the money and run. I don’t know if that was a ploy to get me amped up, but it certainly worked."


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: In 2000, Brown was dining in an Oakland restaurant with former Raiders Chester McGlockton and Sean Jones. During their meal, Brown found himself unable to approach or speak to Davis. Brown told a reporter, "I was saddened by that because I don't know anybody who I've dealt with for twelve years who I can't say hello to in that situation. I was saddened that the situation is where it is."


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: On August 5, 2004, the Raiders held a press conference with Brown and Davis which stated that Brown was leaving the Raiders. Davis and Brown professed mutual respect for one another and both men expressed a desire for Brown to return to the Raiders someday.


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: On July 19, 2005, Brown officially retired but the Raiders did not hold a press conference at the team headquarters. Instead, Brown held his own press conference in an Oakland hotel ballroom. Davis did not attend the conference because he had a "scheduling conflict". Davis did allow Brown to sign a ceremonial $765,000 contract with the Raiders so he could retire as an Oakland Raider. Brown's 2004 departure from the Raiders eventually became acrimonious, and the outspoken receiver often criticized Davis, senior assistant Michael Lombardi and coach Norv Turner publicly for conspiring to make him expendable. Former teammates Marcus Allen, Lincoln Kennedy and Chester McGlockton attended the press conference. For the Raiders, Amy Trask, the Raiders' chief executive officer who had Brown sign the ceremonial contract, Marc Badain, a finance executive and Mike Taylor, the team's director of public relations, were on hand. At the time, Raiders receiver Jerry Porter was also in attendance. Lincoln Kennedy stuck up for the absence of Davis stating "It's not his style; he'll probably invite Tim up to his office, or out to dinner later on. But this? This is not his style."


title: Tim Brown (American football)

text: Recent history suggested that Davis was possibly out of touch with the football world prior to his death in 2011 because the Raiders had suffered through seven straight losing seasons (2003–2009) since losing to Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXVII. Brown disagreed, stating "In a lot of peoples’ minds, Al is out of touch, but nothing is further from the truth. He is still quite lucid."


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: Records of the Grand Historian, also known by its Chinese name Shiji, is a monumental history of ancient China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The "Records" was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian, whose father Sima Tan had begun it several decades earlier. The work covers a 2,500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time, and describes the world as it was known to the Chinese of the Western Han dynasty.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: The "Records" has been called a "foundational text in Chinese civilization". After Confucius and the First Emperor of Qin, "Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least because by providing definitive biographies, he virtually created the two earlier figures." The "Records" set the model for all subsequent dynastic histories of China. In contrast to Western historical works, the "Records" do not treat history as "a continuous, sweeping narrative", but rather break it up into smaller, overlapping units dealing with famous leaders, individuals, and major topics of significance.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: The work that became "Records of the Grand Historian" was begun by Sima Tan, who was Grand Historian ( , also translated "Grand Scribe" or "Grand Astrologer") of the Han dynasty court during the late 2nd century. Sima Tan drafted plans for the ambitious work and left behind some fragments and notes that may have been incorporated into the final text. After his death in 110, the project was continued and completed by his son and successor Sima Qian, who is generally credited as the work's author. The exact date of the "Records" completion is unknown. But it is certain that Sima Qian completed it before his death in approximately 86, with one copy residing in the imperial capital of Chang'an (present-day Xi'an) and the other copy probably being stored in his home.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: The original title of the work, as given by the author in the postface is "Taishigongshu" (), or "Records of the Grand Historian", although it was also known by a variety of other titles, including "Taishigongji" () and "Taishigongzhuan" () in ancient times. Eventually, "Shiji" (), or "Historical Records" became the most commonly used title in Chinese. This title was originally used to refer to any general historical text, although after the Three Kingdoms period, "Shiji" gradually began to be used exclusively to refer to Sima Qian's work. In English, the original title, "Records of the Grand Historian" is in common use, although "Historical Records", "The Grand Scribe's Records", and "Records of the Historian" are also used.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: The history of the "Records" early reception and circulation is not well known. Several 1st-century BC authors, such as the scholar Chu Shaosun (; fl. 327), added interpolations to the "Records". These scholars may have had to reconstruct portions of the "Records", as ten of its original 130 chapters were lost in the Eastern Han period (AD 25220) and seem to have been reconstructed later.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: Beginning in the Northern and Southern dynasties (420589) and the Tang dynasty (618907), several scholars wrote and edited commentaries to the "Records". Most 2nd-millennium editions of the "Records" include the commentaries of Pei Yin (, 5th century), Sima Zhen (early 8th century), and Zhang Shoujie (, early 8th century). The combined commentaries of these three scholars is known as the "Sanjiazhu" (, "commentaries of the three experts"). The primary modern edition of the "Records" is the ten-volume Zhonghua Book Company edition of 1959 (revised in 1982), which is based on an edition prepared by the Chinese historian Gu Jiegang in the early 1930s and includes the "Sanjiazhu".


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: There are two known surviving fragments of pre-Tang dynasty "Records" manuscripts, both of which are held in the Ishiyama-dera temple in Ōtsu, Japan. Portions of at least nine Tang dynasty manuscripts survive: three fragments discovered among the Dunhuang manuscripts in the early 20th century, and six manuscripts preserved in Japanese temples and museums, such as the Kōzan-ji temple in Kyoto and the Tōyō Bunko museum in Tokyo. Several woodblock printed editions of the "Records" survive, the earliest of which date to the Song dynasty (9601279).


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: In all, the "Records" is about 526,500 Chinese characters long, making it four times longer than Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War" and longer than the Old Testament.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: Sima Qian conceived and composed his work in self-contained units, with a good deal of repetition between them. His manuscript was written on bamboo slips with about 24 to 36 characters each, and assembled into bundles of around 30 slips. Even after the manuscript was allowed to circulate or be copied, the work would have circulated as bundles of bamboo slips or small groups. Endymion Wilkinson calculates that there were probably between 466 and 700 bundles, whose total weight would have been , which would have been difficult to access and hard to transport. Later copies on silk would have been much lighter, but also expensive and rare. Until the work was transferred to paper many centuries later, circulation would have been difficult and piecemeal, which accounts for many of the errors and variations in the text.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: Sima Qian organized the chapters of "Records of the Grand Historian" into five categories, which each comprise a section of the book.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: The "Basic Annals" ("běnjì" ) make up the first 12 chapters of the "Records", and are largely similar to records from the ancient Chinese court chronicle tradition, such as the "Spring and Autumn Annals". The first five cover either periods, such as the Five Emperors, or individual dynasties, such as the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The last seven cover individual rulers, starting with the First Emperor of Qin and progressing through the first emperors of the Han dynasty. In this section, Sima chose to also include "de facto" rulers of China, such as Xiang Yu and Empress Dowager Lü, while excluding rulers who never held any real power, such as Emperor Yi of Chu and Emperor Hui of Han.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: Chapters 13 to 22 are the "Tables" ("biǎo" ), which comprise one genealogical table and nine other chronological tables. They show reigns, important events, and royal lineages in table form, which Sima Qian stated that he did because "the chronologies are difficult to follow when different genealogical lines exist at the same time." Each table except the last one begins with an introduction to the period it covers.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: The "Treatises" ("shū" , sometimes called "Monographs") is the shortest of the five "Records" sections, and contains eight chapters (23–30) on the historical evolution of ritual, music, pitch pipes, the calendar, astronomy, sacrifices, rivers and waterways, and financial administration.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: The "Hereditary Houses" ("shìjiā" ) is the second largest of the five "Records" sections, and comprises chapters 31 to 60. Within this section, the earlier chapters are very different in nature than the later chapters. Many of the earlier chapters are chronicle-like accounts of the leading states of the Zhou dynasty, such as the states of Qin and Lu, and two of the chapters go back as far as the Shang dynasty. The later chapters, which cover the Han dynasty, contain biographies.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: The "Ranked Biographies" ("lièzhuàn" , usually shortened to "Biographies") is the largest of the five "Records" sections, covering chapters 61 to 130, and accounts for 42% of the entire work. The 69 "Biographies" chapters mostly contain biographical profiles of about 130 outstanding ancient Chinese men, ranging from the moral paragon Boyi from the end of the Shang dynasty to some of Sima Qian's near contemporaries. About 40 of the chapters are dedicated to one particular man, but some are about two related figures, while others cover small groups of figures who shared certain roles, such as assassins, caring officials, or Confucian scholars. Unlike most modern biographies, the accounts in the "Biographies" give profiles using anecdotes to depict morals and character, with "unforgettably lively impressions of people of many different kinds and of the age in which they lived." The "Biographies" have been popular throughout Chinese history, and have provided a large number of set phrases still used in modern Chinese.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: Unlike subsequent official historical texts that adopted Confucian doctrine, proclaimed the divine rights of the emperors, and degraded any failed claimant to the throne, Sima Qian's more liberal and objective prose has been renowned and followed by poets and novelists. Most volumes of "Liezhuan" are vivid descriptions of events and persons. Sima Qian sought out stories from those who might have closer knowledge of certain historical events, using them as sources to balance the reliability and accuracy of historical records. For instance, the material on Jing Ke's attempt at assassinating the King of Qin incorporates an eye-witness account by Xia Wuju (), a physician to the king of Qin who happened to be attending the diplomatic ceremony for Jing Ke, and this account was passed on to Sima Qian by those who knew Xia.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: It has been observed that the diplomatic Sima Qian has a way of accentuating the positive in his treatment of rulers in the Basic Annals, but slipping negative information into other chapters, and so his work must be read as a whole to obtain full information. For example, the information that Liu Bang (later Emperor Gaozu of Han), in a desperate attempt to escape in a chase from Xiang Yu's men, pushed his own children off his carriage to lighten it, was not given in the emperor's biography, but in the biography of Xiang Yu. He is also careful to balance the negative with the positive, for example, in the biography of Empress Dowager Lu which contains startling accounts of her cruelty, he pointed out at the end that, despite whatever her personal life may have been, her rule brought peace and prosperity to the country.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: Sima's family were hereditary historians to the Han emperor. Sima Qian's father Sima Tan served as Grand Historian, and Sima Qian succeeded to his position. Thus he had access to the early Han dynasty archives, edicts, and records. Sima Qian was a methodical, skeptical historian who had access to ancient books, written on bamboo and wooden slips, from before the time of the Han dynasty. Many of the sources he used did not survive. He not only used archives and imperial records, but also interviewed people and traveled around China to verify information. In his first chapter, "Annals of the Five Emperors," he writes,


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: The Grand Historian used "The Annals of the Five Emperors" () and the "Classic of History" as source materials to make genealogies from the time of the Yellow Emperor until that of the Gonghe regency (841–828 BC). Sima Qian often cites his sources. For example, in the first chapter, "Annals of the Five Emperors", he writes, "I have read the "Spring and Autumn Annals" and the "Guoyu"." In his 13th chapter, "Genealogical Table of the Three Ages," Sima Qian writes, "I have read all the genealogies of the kings ("dieji" ) that exist since the time of the Yellow Emperor." In his 14th chapter, "Yearly Chronicle of the Feudal Lords", he writes, "I have read all the royal annals ("chunqiu li pudie" ) up until the time of King Li of Zhou." In his 15th chapter, "Yearly Chronicle of the Six States," he writes, "I have read the Annals of Qin ("qin ji" ), and they say that the Quanrong [a barbarian tribe] defeated King You of Zhou [ca 771 BC]."


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: In the 19th chapter, he writes, "I have occasion to read over the records of enfeoffment and come to the case of Wu Qian, the marquis of Bian..." (The father of Marquis Bian, Wu Rui, was named king (wang) of Changsha for his loyalty to Gaozu.) In his chapter on the patriotic minister and poet Qu Yuan, Sima Qian writes, "I have read [Qu Yuan's works] "Li Sao", "Tianwen" ("Heaven Asking"), "Zhaohun" (summoning the soul), and "Ai Ying" (Lament for Ying)". In the 62nd chapter, "Biography of Guan and of Yan", he writes, "I have read Guan's "Mu Min" ( - "Government of the People", a chapter in the "Guanzi"), "Shan Gao" ("The Mountains Are High"), "Chengma" (chariot and horses; a long section on war and economics), "Qingzhong" (Light and Heavy; i.e. "what is important"), and "Jiufu" (Nine Houses), as well as the "Spring and Autumn Annals of Yanzi"." In his 64th chapter, "Biography of Sima Rangju", the Grand Historian writes, "I have read Sima's Art of War." In the 121st chapter, "Biographies of Scholars", he writes, "I read the Imperial Decrees that encouraged education officials."


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: Sima Qian wrote of the problems with incomplete, fragmentary and contradictory sources. For example, he mentioned in the preface to chapter 15 that the chronicle records of the feudal states kept in the Zhou dynasty's archive were burnt by Qin Shi Huang because they contained criticisms and ridicule of the Qin state, and that the Qin annals were brief and incomplete. In the 13th chapter he mentioned that the chronologies and genealogies of different ancient texts "disagree and contradict each other throughout". In his 18th chapter, Sima Qian writes, "I have set down only what is certain, and in doubtful cases left a blank."


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: Scholars have questioned the historicity of legendary kings of the ancient periods given by Sima Qian. Sima Qian began the "Shiji" with an account of the five rulers of supreme virtue, the Five Emperors, who modern scholars, such as those from the Doubting Antiquity School, believe to be originally local deities of the peoples of ancient China. Sima Qian sifted out elements of the supernatural and fantastic which seemed to contradict their existence as actual human monarchs, and was therefore criticized for turning myths and folklore into sober history.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: However, according to Joseph Needham, who wrote in 1954 on Sima Qian's accounts of the kings of the Shang dynasty (c. 1600 – c. 1050 BC):


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: While the king names in Sima Qian's history of the Shang dynasty are supported by inscriptions on the oracle bones, there is, as yet, no archaeological corroboration of Sima Qian's history of the Xia dynasty.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: There are also discrepancies of fact such as dates between various portions of the work. This may be a result of Sima Qian's use of different source texts.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: After ca. 91 BC, the more-or-less completed manuscript was hidden in the residence of the author's daughter, Sima Ying (), to avoid destruction under Emperor Wu and his immediate successor Emperor Zhao. The "Shiji" was finally disseminated during the reign of Emperor Xuan by Sima Qian's grandson (through his daughter), Yang Yun (), after a hiatus of around twenty years.


title: Records of the Grand Historian

text: The changes in the manuscript of the "Shiji" during this hiatus have always been disputed among scholars. That the text was more or less complete by ca. 91 BC is established in the Letter to Ren'an (), composed in the Zhenghe () era of Emperor Wu's reign. In this letter, Sima Qian describes his work as "spanning from the time of the Yellow Emperor to the present age and consisting of ten tables, twelve basic annals, eight treatises, thirty chapters on hereditary houses, and seventy biographies, together totaling 130 chapters." These numbers are likewise given in the postface to "Shiji".