title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In March 2021, the association of state prosecutors of Slovenia addressed a letter to the Council of Europe to voice their concerns about government pressure on prosecutors (including by PM Janša, and SDS-affiliated media). The third Janša government refused to confirm the appointment of delegated prosecutors to the EU public prosecutors office that is to scrutinise potential misuse of EU funds (both nominees had previously made prosecutorial decisions that were politically disfavourable to SDS, with one having helped bring graft charges against Janša), as well as refusing to confirm 14 prosecutors nominated by the judiciary leading to understaffing of the state prosecutorship. PM Janša also pressured the chief state prosecutor to pursue criminal charges against anti-government protesters who used a slogan that Janša interpreted as a death threat to him and his supporters, admonishing him in a missive that "[He] will be directly responsible for any potential victim of the organised death threats."


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In June 2021, the top officials of four independent state oversight institutions issued a joined statement warning of persistent political pressure, impeding their work.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In 2021, articles published in "The New York Times", and in "Der Standard" described SDS as waging a culture war by trying to shift the country's museums in a more conservative and patriotic direction by appointing like-minded people in leadership positions within the institutions.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS holds that Slovenian news media is biased and favours the left. Shortly after assuming the role of PM for the third time, SDS leader Janez Janša published an essay entitled "War with the media" in which he expounded his views on countering an oppositional news media, concluding that the battle against the "monopoly of lies" cannot be won without a fight.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS and their allies have cultivated an ecosystem of party-aligned media outlets that include a TV channel, news websites (including a number of regional news websites), magazines, a tabloid, and a press agency. There was also an effort to set up a radio station. Some of the party's media endavours were strategically undertaken just prior to upcoming elections; regional news websites began operating prior to local elections, for example. SDS-affiliated outlets have been accused of false reporting and fake news, of publishing hateful and defamatory content, and of publishing racist, xenophobic, homophobic, and antisemitic content. Some SDS-affiliated media projects have received financial backing from businesses affiliated with the party's political ally, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Janša has also adopted pugnacious approach to media relations, aggressively responding to almost every critical foreign press article on the political situation in Slovenia under his leadership. SDS has been criticised for their adversarial approach to media relations, which not only chilled media freedom in the country, but also created a climate where personal attacks, harassment, and threats are commonplace for journalists that have landed in the party's crosshairs. In a letter to top EU officials, various media freedom organisations also warned that PM Janša could use his European presidency position to "attack journalists" across the EU and normalise such behaviour among EU functionaries.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: During Janša's first government, the party was accused of gaining influence over multiple public and private outlets, and pulling advertising from state-owned companies from outlets that reported critically about the government. To bring the country's largest newspaper under its control, Janša personally arranged a corrupt deal with the owner of the newspaper in which state assets were traded in exchange for editorial control over the newspaper.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Shortly after Janša's third government took office, a loyalist (who had been previously appointed editor-in-chief of the country's largest newspaper during Janša's first government, reportedly in a secret corrupt deal between Janša and the newspaper's owner) was appointed to head SiOL, a media subsidiary of a state-owned telecom, despite receiving the approval of only 2 members of the 42-member editorial board. In fall of 2020, the state telecom commenced the sale of TSMedia which owns SiOL. In May 2021, the board of directors of the telecom abruptly halted the sale after a Hungarian business with ties to Hungary's ruling party Fidesz (which is closely allied with SDS) was outbid 2 million € to 5 million € by another bidder.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In May 2020, the government replaced 7 board members of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenia, shifting the political balance of power of the board in favour of the government and foreshadowing a push to replace the leadership of the institution. In October 2020, board members close to SDS and the government began an attempt to replace the then general director of the institution before the end of his term, citing poor financial management and attacks on government representatives. Commenting on the replacement push, the director said the attempt was motivated by a desire to purge RTV of journalists critical of the government. The vote to replace the director was held in November, and failed by 1 vote. With the end of the regular term of the previous director approaching, a new general director was elected in January 2021, to take office in April. While SDS failed to field a loyal candidate, votes of board members close to the government were decisive in picking the new head. Shortly after a new RTV director was chosen, PM Janša commented on a clip of RTV footage with "hopefully the new broom will fix such false reporting", leading to fears that the new director will be beholden to the government after its board members supported his nomination.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: During the summer of 2020, the government proposed new media laws that would increase the government's influence over the state-owned press agency Slovenian Press Agency (STA), and redirect some funds from the public broadcaster to an SDS-affiliated TV channel. The proposed legislation failed to gain traction after facing objections from all coalition partners. After STA refused to provide a government agency with business information and explanations about editorial decisions (STA argued the government agency lacked legal authority to demand such information), the government, in an unprecedented move, halted financing the news agency, saying STA had failed to meet its contractual obligations. The loss of state financing - some half of its total revenue - imperiled STA's continued existence. All coalition partners called for the resumption of STA financing. In early 2021, the government proposed draft legislation that would move STA into a centrally managed pension wealth fund, granting the government greater sway over the news agency. In March 2021, PM Janša called on the STA director to resign before the end of his term, calling him a "tool of the far left" who should be "held responsible for his unlawful actions". Janša also said that STA has been "selling lies as truth" under his leadership. The government also to called on the STA board of directors to dismiss the director, and drafted a report accusing the director of dereliction of duty and wrongdoing in his official role. The government then requested the Interior Ministry to look into whether the findings of the report warrant a criminal investigation of the director. Police investigators subsequently questioned a STA board member and representatives of STA and the Dnevnik newspaper (due to an advertisement contract with STA), with the latter stating that the investigators asked for information that constituted business secrets, which Dnevnik refused to furnish.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In May 2021, after a criminal complaint was lodged by the government, police launched an investigation of Mladina for allegedly publishing classified information. The weekly published the contents of an internal government document (which was released to the public within a fortnight). The magazine responded by claiming the publication of the document was in the public interest (and thus legal) and that the government illegitimately restricted access to the document, and said the probe was intimidation.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: PM Janša furtively met with the owner of POP TV's parent company (the Czechia-based PPF group) in late 2020. According to people present at the meeting with knowledge of the discussion, Janša spent most of the meeting complained about POP TV's political coverage. A deal was reportedly struck with the owners of POP TV (the most influential national TV broadcaster which also operates the most frequently visited web news portal in the country), granting lucrative government infrastructure contracts and stakes in state-owned enterprises in exchange for favourable coverage. After the meeting, the parent company begun to closely monitor POP TV's political reporting to ensure coverage is sufficiently favourable to the SDS-led government, requiring news editors to translate transcripts into Czech and send them to headquarters in Prague. Employees of the media company confirmed mounting editorial pressure in anonymous interviews. SDS was reportedly also engineering a sale of the country's largest newspaper Delo to PPF from its domestic owner to also reign in its critical coverage, using lucrative state contracts and benefits as enticements/punishments.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In May 2021, the Ministry of Culture, which is responsible for distributing a fixed amount of financial aid to media organisations, denied funding requests from multiple mainstream media organisations that had consistently received funding in the past (due to ostensibly unbalanced coverage) while newly apportioning the funds to multiple conservative and pro-government media organisations (multiple of which had ties to government parties); nearly all requests from conservative and pro-government media were granted. The criteria for distributing the funds had not changed. The committee responsible for distributing the funds was mostly composed of individuals with ties to SDS. The minister of culture described the shift in funding as a step towards a more balanced media environment.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS's aggressiveness towards national and international news media and journalists has caused concern and drawn reprimands from EU politicians and institutions as Janša is poised to take over the leadership of the rotating EU Council presidency during the second half of 2021. In March 2021, the US State Department said it was monitoring the state of the news media in Slovenia. A deterioration in press freedoms in the country under the new government was subsequently noted in the State Department's international Human Rights report for 2020 published later the same month; media freedom was described as one of the key human rights concerns in Slovenia. The issue of media freedom in Slovenia came under discussion of the European Parliament and its Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group (DRFMG). The first discussion was held on March 5 under the auspices of DRFMG; PM Janša and Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti were invited to participate but declined. The issue was also discussed by the EP during a plenary session some days later. DRFMG again discussed the issue on March 26, with the invitation to join again extended to the Slovene PM and Culture Minister. Janša initially joined discussion, but demanded a video be shown to the committee. Janša then abruptly left the videoconference after a heated exchange with the committee chair that denied his request. Janša later wrote on Twitter that he was censored by the committee. A Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights report published in June 2021 found a deterioration of press freedom in Slovenia and called on the Slovene government to remedy the situation. PM Janša, responding to the report by tweet, called the Commissioner a "[...] part of #fakenews network. Well paid by our money."


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS reportedly operates a network of fake social media accounts used to amplify its message and attack opponents. In February 2021, an SDS MP was revealed to operate a fake Twitter account. SDS has been reported to operate a "multimedia centre" from within its party headquarters from where party operatives engage in social media battles with political opponents and promote the party online. The party's online activities intensify prior to elections. A disgruntled former SDS MP publicly corroborated the existence of the "multimedia centre" after leaving the party, claiming he personally used to participate in the party's media operations. There have also been claims that all SDS political candidates are required to set up a Twitter account.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In 2019, a former SDS politician published a screenshot of private messages from Janša after a public falling-out between the two. In the messages, Janša asked her to organise astroturfed protests in front of the parliament during a parliamentary deliberation about a referendum on immigration, saying "protests are effective if the action comes from below and looks like a spontaneous uprising".


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS has been accused of orchestrating the creation of at least five satellite parties in attempts to sure up a larger swath of the electorate and secure loyal coalition partners, and undermine competing parties.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS has been criticised for alleged links to a neo-Nazi extremist group; the Slovene branch of Blood & Honour. The journalist who uncovered the links (Anuška Delić) was charged with leaking confidential information. The state intelligence agency, SOVA, headed by an SDS appointee at the time of the indictment, inadvertently confirmed allegations made by Delić by stating that the information revealed in the reports was consistent with findings of an ongoing investigation into the activities of the violent extremist group. SOVA argued that the information revealed in the reports could not have been obtained by any other means than by gaining access to information collected during the agency's covert investigations, and that the publication disrupted its efforts to monitor the group by alerting B & H of the monitoring efforts. Delić alleged the charges were "politically motivated".


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Some Blood & Honour members were allegedly also members of SDS, and formally met with SDS MP Branko Grims. The group (the members of which allegedly received training by members of the Slovenian armed forces on an army training area, borrowed army weaponry (a rocket launcher), attempted to purchase handguns, and were in direct correspondence with Anders Breivik by both mail and e-mail, with multiple B & H members receiving his manifesto before Breivik's killing spree) was allegedly intimately implicated in orchestrating the violent riots which took place amid the 2012–13 Slovenian protests. The organised group of violent agitators that disrupted a major protest in Ljubljana was found to have been trained, hired, and compensated, possibly by a political party, according to a police investigation.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: More recently, SDS has also fostered ties with Generation Identity Slovenia, the Slovenian chapter of the far-right Identitarian movement organisations. In August 2018, the party's publishing company, New Horizons, anonymously published the Slovene Identitarians' alt-right book, "Manifesto for the Homeland". The book was also promoted by SDS-affiliated media organisations and individuals, including SDS leader Janez Janša, with SDS MP Žan Mahnič even going so far as to post on Twitter a photo of the book taken from his parliamentary seat, with the floor of the parliamentary chamber in the background. SDS also organised a joint panel discussion on migrations with Generation Identity, and Generation Identity was advertised on an SDS-affiliated TV channel. The leader of the Austrian Identitarians, Martin Sellner, publicly thanked Janša for his support on Twitter. Sellner was at the time being investigated by Austrian authorities and ostracised by the ruling conservative Freedom Party of Austria for his financial ties with the Christchurch terrorist.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: During the 2020 Slovenian anti-government protests against the Third Janša government, a pro-government counter-protester group (the "Yellow Wests") was favourably covered in SDS-affiliated media, with the articles in which the Yellow Wests called on the public to join them shared by PM Janša on Twitter. 8 of the 30-some original Yellow Wests (including their spokesman) were found to have links to neo-Nazism. In 2021, the group forcefully disrupted an anti-government rally in the vicinity of a state ceremony attended by multiple foreign prime ministers. Riot police removed the provocators to avoid a massive brawl.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: The party has been accused of political self-dealing and nepotism, appointing relatives, allies, and friends to government (and other) positions. Many close relatives of prominent SDS members have found employment in the Slovenian and European parliaments, high ranking public sector positions, and state-owned companies (some despite not meeting the official job requirements).


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS has been accused of political firings and replacements in, and selective financing of many institutions under the public sphere, and creating an environment where politisation of the public workplace was permissible and pervasive while in power.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS leader Janez Janša has continuously served as party head since 1993 without a single other contender for the post. Party members are extremely loyal to Janša; it has been noted that the party appears to resemble a cult, with numerous past members claiming that Janša leads the party in an authoritarian manner and that no dissent is tolerated. SDS MEP Romana Jordan Cizelj was reportedly the only one within the party leadership to openly voice her doubts about Janša's continued leadership of the party whilst serving a prison sentence for corruption. Jordan Cizelj was subsequently not allowed to run for re-election as MEP on the SDS ticket as punishment for her disloyalty to Janša.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In the run-up to the 2018 Slovenian parliamentary election, SDS attempted to receive a loan of €450,000 from an individual residing in Bosnia and Herzegovina to fund its electoral campaign. The party came into contact with the individual via Nova obzorja publishing company (partially owned by SDS). SDS also put up its share in Nova obzorja as collateral. The sum borrowed exceeded limits set by campaign finance laws, however, and SDS was obliged to return the borrowed funds. A police and financial court investigation was also triggered after the terms of the loan became public. An investigation into the lender was also launched, based on suspicions of money laundering, tax avoidance, destruction and falsification of business documents, and overseeing dummy companies. The individual was allegedly a part of a criminal organisation managing dummy companies that received funds of undisclosed origins (including the funds later loaned to SDS).


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: Less than a week before the 2018 parliamentary election took place, it was revealed that media/publishing companies closely affiliated and partially owned by SDS received some €800,000 from two Hungarian nationals (or, rather, their companies) - both with close ties to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán - months before the election, bringing the total amount SDS-affiliated media companies received from Hungarian entities to over €2.2M. The SDS-affiliated media companies that received the funds in turn purchased campaign adds for SDS. Nova obzorja publishing company also attempted to loan €60,000 to the party. The same Hungarian individuals also provided funds for political allies in Macedonia. It is furthermore also known that the loan SDS attempted to obtain from a Bosnian citizen some months earlier had a Hungarian connection. SDS-controlled media companies have reportedly also served as a conduit for Hungarian financing of media in North Macedonia to prop up Orban's political allies there. Of the at least €4M in Hungarian moneys that were reportedly originally funneled into SDS-affiliated media between mid-2018 and early 2020, over €2.5M was then channeled to Macedonian news media entities favourable to the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: After the 2011 parliamentary elections, which saw the victory of Ljubljana mayor Zoran Janković (who is of Serbian descent) and his party, a contribution published on the official SDS webpage by a "Tomaž Majer" caused considerable public outrage. Majer states that Janković was elected by "well-disciplined new citizens" living in "high-rise neighbourhoods", tracksuit-clad voters (in Slovenia, a common stereotype of immigrés from Southern republics) with foreign accents arriving at polling places in groups holding notes with instructions on whom to vote for. These "new citizens" were allegedly mobilised by being admonished their citizenship will be revoked if "the right" is elected. Majer further states that one of his acquaintances (who is of Bosnian descent) was even offered monetary reward to vote for Janković. Majer also claims that the roughly 1/3 of Janković voters of Slovenian descent were ordered to vote for PS by Milan Kučan and Janez Stanovnik. Several media organisations attempted to identify the author, but were unsuccessful. It has been speculated that the real author of the text was in fact Janez Janša, based on similar known past statements (specifically, his 1993 commentary on the poor electoral performance of SDS during the 1992 elections). In the wake of the 2011 election, Janša and several other SDS MPs and candidates expressed similar but somewhat toned-down nationalistic sentiments while commenting on the election and its winner. The public reaction culminated in a "March of the Tracksuits", a rally where participants attended clothed in tracksuits to protest against division and intolerance.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS MP Branko Grims, speaking to a gathering of a patriotic ultranationalist group in early 2018, said "Now is the era of Trump. He is the greatest thorn in the foot of the globalists, who control the US mechanisms, with Soros at the helm. Soros is the symbol of this. But there's also the Rothschilds and many other wealthiest families of financial speculators."


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: SDS MP Marijan Pojbič, in a 2017 Statehood Day address on Facebook, called for "No more mayors that aren't real Slovenes, and even fewer national politicians who aren't real Slovenes by birth."


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In 2020, SDS politician Žan Mahnič, a former MP then serving as national security state secretary, shared a tweet of an image of white-skinned women with different hair colours accompanied with the comment "This is all the diversity Europe needs." The original author of the tweet was a user using the screen name "franca - EtnoNacionalist". Mahnič was subsequently criticised for promoting racism.


title: Slovenian Democratic Party

text: In 2021, PM Janša shared a tweet saying that the amount "death, suffering, repression, desolation and societal backwardness" caused by The Communist Manifesto is second only to the Quran. The tweet was condemned by the Slovenian Muslim community, and the Turkish national broadcaster. Janša defended sharing the tweet by noting that his Twitter profile bio says re-tweets are not endorsements.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Nouriel Roubini (born March 9 1958) is a Turkish-born Iranian-American economist. He is Professor Emeritus (2021–present) and was Professor of Economics (1995–2021) at the Stern School of Business, New York University, and also chairman of Roubini Macro Associates LLC, an economic consultancy firm.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: After receiving a BA in political economics at Bocconi University, Milan and a doctorate in international economics at Harvard University, he became an academic at Yale and a visiting researcher/advisor at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and Bank of Israel. Much of his early research focused on emerging markets. During the administration of President Bill Clinton, he was a senior economist for the Council of Economic Advisers, later moving to the United States Treasury Department as a senior adviser to Timothy Geithner, who was Treasury Secretary under Barack Obama.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Nouriel Roubini was born in Istanbul, Turkey. When he was an infant, his family lived briefly in Iran and Israel. From 1962 to 1983 he resided in Italy, especially in Milan, where he attended the local Jewish school and then the Bocconi University, earning a B.A., "summa cum laude", in economics. He received his Ph.D. in international economics from Harvard University in 1988, where his adviser was Jeffrey Sachs.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Roubini is a US citizen. He speaks English, Persian, Italian, Hebrew, and conversational French. In 2009 he was named Bocconian of the Year (Alumnus of the Year since 2011) from Bocconi University in recognition of his work.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: For much of the 1990s, Roubini combined academic research with policy making by teaching at Yale and then in New York, while also being employed at the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and Bank of Israel. Currently, he is a professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University. Long study of emerging market blowouts in Asia and Latin America helped him spot the looming disaster in the U.S.(in 2008). "I've been studying emerging markets for 20 years, and saw the same signs in the U.S. that I saw in them, which was that we were in a massive credit bubble," he said.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: By 1998, he joined the Clinton administration first as a senior economist in the White House Council of Economic Advisers and then moved to the Treasury department as a senior adviser to Timothy Geithner, then the undersecretary for international affairs, who in 2009 became Treasury secretary in the Obama administration.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Roubini returned to the IMF in 2001 as a visiting scholar while it battled a financial meltdown in Argentina. He cowrote a book on saving bankrupt economies entitled, "Bailouts or Bail-ins?" and launched his own consulting firm. He is also a regular contributor to Project Syndicate since 2007.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Roubini likes to refer to himself as a "global nomad", and says, "You can be sitting still surfing the Internet, and experience other worlds, ideas and societies. But I've found that there is nothing better than visiting a different country, even if for three days. ... [Y]ou can't only be a virtual Global Nomad, with goggles on, in a virtual reality. You have to be there. You have to see it, smell it and live it. You have to see people, travel, and interact."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Partly to fulfill this need, he formed Roubini Global Economics, an economic consultancy for financial analysis. In describing the purpose of RGE Monitor, he said, "the world is my home, so everything about society and culture—no matter how —is worth knowing. I am an information junkie and created RGE Monitor to collect information about what's happening around the world."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: During an interview in June 2009, he was asked about his personal lifestyle expenses and other investments. He said, "I regularly save about 30% of my income. Apart from my mortgage, I don't have any other debts. The credit crunch hasn't affected me much. ... I've always lived within my means and, luckily, have never been out of work. I would say I'm a frugal person—I don't have very expensive tastes. ... You don't need to spend a lot to enjoy things."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Asked whether he invests in stocks, he replied, "Not as much these days. I used to have a lot in equities—about 75%—but over the past three years, I've had about 95% in cash and 5% in equities. You're not getting much from savings these days but earning 0% is better than losing 50%. ... I don't believe in picking individual stocks or assets. ... Never invest your money as though you are gambling at the casino. Buying and selling individual stocks is a waste of time."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Roubini is one of few economists who predicted the housing bubble crash of 2007–2008. He warned about the crisis in an IMF position paper in 2006.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Roubini's predictions have earned him the nicknames "Dr. Doom" and "permabear" in the media. In 2008, "Fortune" magazine wrote, "In 2005 Roubini said home prices were riding a speculative wave that would soon sink the economy. Back then the professor was called a Cassandra. Now he's a sage". The "New York Times" notes that he foresaw "homeowners defaulting on mortgages, trillions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities unraveling worldwide and the global financial system shuddering to a halt". In September 2006, he warned a skeptical IMF that "the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence, and, ultimately, a deep recession". Nobel laureate Paul Krugman adds that his once "seemingly outlandish" predictions have been matched "or even exceeded by reality."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: By highlighting some of his many past predictions as being accurate, Roubini has promoted himself as a major figure in the U.S. and international debate about the economy, and spends much of his time shuttling between meetings with central bank governors and finance ministers in Europe and Asia. Although he is ranked only 985th in terms of lifetime academic citations, he was No. 4 on "Foreign Policy" magazine's list of the "top 100 global thinkers." In 2011 and 2012, he was named by "Foreign Policy" magazine as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. In December 2013 Roubini was awarded by Global Thinkers Forum the honorary GTF 2013 Award for Excellence in Global Thinking. He has appeared before Congress, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the World Economic Forum at Davos.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: In the 1990s, Roubini studied the collapse of emerging economies. He used an intuitive, historical approach backed up by an understanding of theoretical models to analyze these countries and came to the conclusion that a common denominator was the large current account deficits financed by loans from abroad. Roubini theorized that the United States might be the next to suffer, and as early as 2004 began writing about a possible future collapse. "Business Week" magazine writer Michael Mandel, however, noted in 2006 that Roubini and other economists often make general predictions which could happen over multiyear periods.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: In September 2006, he foresaw the end of the real estate bubble: "When supply increases, prices fall: that's been the trend for 110 years, since 1890. But since 1997, real home prices have increased by about 90 percent. There is no economic fundamental—real income, migration, interest rates, demographics—that can explain this. It means there was a speculative bubble. And now that bubble is bursting." In the Spring 2006 issue of "International Finance", he wrote an article titled "Why Central Banks Should Burst Bubbles" in which he argued that central banks should take action against asset bubbles. When asked whether the real estate ride was over, he said, "Not only is it over, it's going to be a nasty fall."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: By May 2009, he felt that analysts expecting the US economy to rebound in the third and fourth quarter were "too optimistic". He expected the full recession to last 24 or 36 months, and believed in the possibility of an "L-shaped" slow recovery that Japan went through in the Lost Decade.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: In his opinion, much of the current recession's cause is due to "boom-and-bust cycles," and he feels the US economy needs to find a different growth path in the future. "We've been growing through a period of time of repeated big bubbles," he said. "We've had a model of 'growth' based on overconsumption and lack of savings. And now that model has broken down because we borrowed too much." He feels that too much human capital went into financing the "most unproductive form of capital, meaning housing" and would like to see America create a model of growth in more-productive activities. He feels that "sustainable growth may mean investing slowly in infrastructures for the future, and rebuilding our human capital," by investing in renewable resources. "We don't know what it's going to be," he says, "but it's going to be a challenge to find a new growth model. It's not going to be simple."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: In August 2009, Roubini predicted that the global economy would begin recovering near the end of 2009, but the US economy is likely to grow only about one percent annually during the next two years, which is less than the three percent normal "trend." He noted that the Fed is "now embarked on a policy in which they are in effect directly monetizing about half of the budget deficit," but that now "monetization is not inflationary," as banks were holding much of the money themselves and not relending it. When these attitudes reverse at the end of the recession, that would be time for an "exit strategy, of mopping up that liquidity" and taking some of the money back out of circulation, "so it doesn't just bid up house prices and stock values in a new bubble. And that will be 'very, very tricky indeed,'" he stated.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Also, in late July, he warned that if no clear exit strategy is outlined and implemented, there was the potential of a perfect storm: fiscal deficits, rising bond yields, higher oil prices, weak profits, and a stagnant labor market, which combined could "blow the recovering world economy back into a double-dip recession."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: In the summer of 2006, Roubini wrote that the U.S. was headed into a long and "protracted" recession due to the "collapse" of house prices, which he noted were already in freefall.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: With regards to Europe, Roubini predicted that Italy, and possibly a series of other eurozone countries (Portugal, Spain, Greece) might have to exit the eurozone if they did not implement "serious economic reforms." "[It] is not a foregone conclusion but, if Italy does not reform, an exit from EMU within 5 years is not totally unlikely. Indeed, like Argentina, Italy faces a growing competitiveness loss given an increasingly overvalued currency and the risk of falling exports and growing current account deficit. The growth slowdown will make the public deficit and debt worse and potentially unsustainable over time. And if a devaluation cannot be used to reduce real wages, the real exchange rate overvaluation will be undone via a slow and painful process of wage and price deflation."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: As of January 2009, he remained pessimistic about the U.S. and global economy. He said in September, 2008, "we have a subprime financial system, not a subprime mortgage market". "As the U.S. economy shrinks, the entire global economy will go into recession. In Europe, Canada, Japan, and the other advanced economies, it will be severe. Nor will emerging market economies—linked to the developed world by trade in goods, finance, and currency—escape real pain." He was quoted in South Africa's 2009 budget speech for his role in predicting the current financial crisis in the developed markets.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Roubini notes that the subprime issues are a global, and not just a U.S. problem. In an interview with author James Fallows in late spring of 2009, he stated, "People talk about the American subprime problem, but there were housing bubbles in the U.K., in Spain, in Ireland, in Iceland, in a large part of emerging Europe, like the Baltics all the way to Hungary and the Balkans. It was not just the U.S., and not just 'subprime.' It was excesses that led to the risk of a tipping point in many different economies."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: His pessimism is focused on the short-run rather than the medium or long-run. In "Foreign Policy" (Jan/Feb 2009), he writes, "Last year's worst-case scenarios came true. The global financial pandemic that I and others had warned about is now upon us. But we are still only in the early stages of this crisis. My predictions for the coming year, unfortunately, are even more dire: The bubbles, and there were many, have only begun to burst".


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: At a conference in Dubai in January, 2009, he said, the U.S. banking system was "effectively insolvent." He added that the "systemic banking crisis. ... The problems of Citi, Bank of America and others suggest the system is bankrupt. In Europe, it's the same thing." To deal with this problem, he recommends that the U.S. government "do triage between banks that are illiquid and undercapitalized but solvent, and those that are insolvent. The insolvent ones you have to shut down." He adds, "We're in a war economy. You need command-economy allocation of credit to the real economy. Not enough is being done," he felt at the time.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: In 2010, he again warned that despite an improved economy with rising stock markets, the crisis was not over and new bubbles were on the horizon:


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: We are just at the next stage. This is where we move from a private to a public debt problem ... We socialised part of the private losses by bailing out financial institutions and providing fiscal stimulus to avoid the great recession from turning into a depression. But rising public debt is never a free lunch, eventually you have to pay for it.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: In late May 2010, markets around the world began dropping due partly to problems in Greece and the Eurozone. "Roubini believes Greece will prove to be just the first of a series of countries standing on the brink," writes the "Telegraph." Roubini explains the new issues governments must deal with:


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: We have to start to worry about the solvency of governments. What is happening today in Greece is the tip of the iceberg of rising sovereign debt problems in the eurozone, in the UK, in Japan and in the US. This ... is going to be the next issue in the global financial crisis.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Roubini met officials in China during spring 2009, and pointed out that many Chinese commentators blame American "overborrowing and excess" for dragging them into a recession. However, he stated that "even they realize that the very excess of American demand has created a market for Chinese exports." He adds that although Chinese leaders "would love to be less dependent on American customers and hate having so many of their nation's foreign assets tied up in U.S. dollars," they're now "more worried about keeping Chinese exporters in business. ... I don't think even the Chinese authorities have fully internalized the contradictions of their position."


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Roubini and political scientist Ian Bremmer have described the 21st century world as fragmenting economically and politically, where the "old models of understanding global dynamics are struggling" to keep up with rapid changes. In an article in "Foreign Affairs" magazine, they describe what they call a "G-Zero world," where the United States no longer has the resources to continue as the primary provider of global public goods. As a result, there is likely to be more conflict than cooperation between countries, creating a "zero-sum game," a "game in which my win is your loss." They explain their rationale:


title: Nouriel Roubini

text:
Europe is fully occupied for the moment with saving the eurozone. Japan is likewise tied down with complex political and economic problems at home. None of these powers' governments has the time, resources, or domestic political capital needed for a new bout of international heavy lifting. Meanwhile, there are no credible answers to transnational challenges without the direct involvement of emerging powers such as Brazil, China, and India. Yet these countries are far too focused on domestic development to welcome the burdens that come with new responsibilities abroad.

We are now living in a G-Zero world, one in which no single country or bloc of countries has the political and economic leverage—or the will—to drive a truly international agenda. The result will be intensified conflict on the international stage over vitally important issues, such as international macroeconomic coordination, financial regulatory reform, trade policy, and climate change. This new order has far-reaching implications for the global economy, as companies around the world sit on enormous stockpiles of cash, waiting for the current era of political and economic uncertainty to pass. Many of them can expect an extended wait.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: By May 2014, Roubini had become bullish, arguing many of the risks to the global economy had receded. He pointed to an improving European economy and stronger euro, steadying of the economy in Japan, and a marked improvement in the United States. He praised the Federal Reserve for its unconventional monetary policy, which he forecast would last for a few more years, supporting equity markets.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: At the start of 2017, Roubini speculated that the election of Donald Trump as president may portend a geopolitical shift away from globalization and more toward isolationism, a change which he feels could lead to global instability and rising military conflicts among other countries.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: On February 17, 2020, he warned of financial vulnerabilities that "could trigger severe economic, financial, political, and geopolitical disturbances unlike anything since the 2008 crisis." Two days later, the market peaked prior to what would become the 2020 stock market crash. Following a relatively minor decrease, Roubini warned on February 24 that the markets were still too complacent about coronavirus, predicting a government response followed by positive market reaction, which would then fizzle.


title: Nouriel Roubini

text: Roubini is identified as a Democrat in his profile on Wall Street Economists. He is a frequent critic of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. He views blockchain technology as "the byword for a libertarian ideology that treats all governments, central banks, traditional financial institutions, and real-world currencies as evil concentrations of power that must be destroyed." As to cryptocurrencies and blockchain, he regards this position as both utopian and at bottom "about greed" on the part of their promoters.


title: Rivne

text: Rivne (; ), also known as Rovno (Russian: Ровно; Polish: Równe; Yiddish: ראָוונע), is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the surrounding Rivne Raion (district created in the USSR) within the oblast. Administratively, Rivne is incorporated as a city of oblast significance and does not belong to the raion. Population:


title: Rivne

text: Between World War I and World War II, the city was located in Poland as a district-level (county) seat in Wolyn Voivodeship. At the start of World War II in 1939, Rivne was occupied by the Soviet Red Army and received its current status by becoming a seat of regional government of the Rivne Oblast which was created out of the eastern portion of the voivodeship. During the German occupation of 1941–44 the city was designated as a capital of German Ukraine (Reichskommissariat Ukraine). In the spring of 1919, it also served as a provisional seat of the Ukrainian government throughout the ongoing war with Soviet Russia.


title: Rivne

text: Rivne is an important transportation hub, with the international Rivne Airport, and rail links to Zdolbuniv, Sarny, and Kovel, as well as highways linking it with Brest, Kyiv and Lviv. Among other leading companies there is a chemical factory of Rivne-Azot (part of Ostchem Holding).


title: Rivne

text: Rivne was first mentioned in 1283 in the Polish annals ""Rocznik kapituły krakowskiej"" as one of the inhabited places of Halych-Volhynia near which Leszek II the Black was victorious over a part of the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army. Following the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia's partition after Galicia–Volhynia Wars in the late 14th century, it was under the rule of Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in 1434 the Grand Duke of Lithuania Švitrigaila awarded the settlement to a Lutsk nobleman Dychko. In 1461 Dychko sold his settlement to Prince Semen Nesvizh. In 1479 Semen Nesvizh died and his settlement was passed to his wife Maria who started to call herself princess of Rivne. She turned the settlement into a princely residence by building in 1481 a castle on one of local river islands and managed to obtain Magdeburg rights for the settlement in 1492 from the King of Poland Casimir IV Jagiellon. Following her death in 1518, the city was passed on to the princes of Ostrog and declined by losing its status as a princely residency.


title: Rivne

text: In 1566 the town of Rivne became part of newly established Volhynian Voivodeship. Following the Union of Lublin in 1569, it was transferred from the realm of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the Crown of Poland. The city had a status of privately held by nobles (Ostrogski and Lubomirski families). Following the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 Rivne became a part of the Russian Empire, and in 1797 it was declared to be a county level (uyezd) town of the Volhynian Governorate.


title: Rivne

text: During World War I and the period of chaos shortly after, it was briefly under German, Ukrainian, Bolshevik and Polish rule. During April–May 1919 Rivne served as the temporary capital of the Ukrainian People's Republic. In late April 1919 one of the Ukrainian military leaders Volodymyr Oskilko attempted to organize a "coup-d'état" against the Directorate led by Symon Petliura and the cabinet of Borys Martos and replace them with Yevhen Petrushevych as president of Ukraine. In Rivne, Oskilko managed to arrest most of the cabinet ministers including Martos himself, but Petliura at that time was in neighboring Zdolbuniv and managed to stop Oskilko's efforts. At the conclusion of the conflict, in accordance with the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921 it became a part of Polish Volhynian Voivodeship, a situation which would last until the Second World War. Before World War II, Rivne (Równe) was a mainly Jewish-Polish city (Jews constituted about 50% of the city's population, and Poles 35%). When Jews died during the Holocaust, Poles from Rivne were deported to Poland's new borders after 1945.


title: Rivne

text: In 1939, as a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the partition of Poland, Rivne was occupied by the Soviet Union. From December of the same year Rivne became the center of the newly established Rivne Oblast, within the Ukrainian SSR.


title: Rivne

text: On 28 June 1941 Rivne was invaded by the 6th army of Nazi Germany. On August 20, the Nazis declared it the administrative center of Reichskommissariat Ukraine. A prison for the Gestapo was opened on Belaia Street. In November 8-13, German actor Olaf Bach was flown to the city to perform for the German forces. Roughly half of Rivne's inhabitants were Jewish. On November 6-8, 17,500 Jewish adults from Rivne were shot to death or thrown alive into a large pit in a pine grove in Sosenki. 6,000 Jewish children suffered the same fate at a nearby site. The city's remaining Jews were sent to the Rivne Ghetto. In July 1942, they were sent north to Kostopil and shot to death. The ghetto was subsequently liquidated.


title: Rivne

text: On 2 February 1944, the city was captured by the Red Army in the Battle of Rivne, and remained under Soviet control until Ukraine regained its independence on the break-up of the USSR in 1991.


title: Rivne

text: In 1958, a TV tower began broadcasting in the city; in 1969, the first trolley ran through the city; in 1969, Rivne airport was opened. In 1983, the city celebrated its 700th anniversary.


title: Rivne

text: On 11 June 1991, the Ukrainian parliament officially renamed the city Rivne according to the rules of Ukrainian orthography, whereas it had previously been known as Rovno.


title: Rivne

text: In 1992, a memorial complex of 20 thousand square meters was established at the site of the World War II massacre to commemorate the killing of 17,500 Jews there in November 1941 during the Holocaust, commemorating the mass grave with an obelisk inscribed in Yiddish, Hebrew and Ukrainian.


title: Rivne

text: On 6 June 2012, the World War II Jewish burial site was vandalised, allegedly as part of an antisemitic act.


title: Rivne

text: On March 14, 2022, Rivne TV Tower has experienced heavy missile attack by Russian troops. The tower was damaged and an administrative room was destroyed. As a result of attack 20 people were killed and nine injured.


title: Rivne

text: Rivne has a moderate continental climate with cold, snowy winters and warm summers. Snow cover usually lasts from November until March. The average annual precipitation is June and July being the wettest months and January and February the driest.


title: Rivne

text: During Soviet times the provincial town was transformed into an industrial center of the republic. There were two significant factories built. The first was a machine building and metal processing factory capable of producing high-voltage apparatus, tractor spare parts and others. The other was a chemical factory and synthetic materials fabrication plant. Light industry, including a linen plant and a textile mill, as well as food industries, including milk and meat processing plants and a vegetable preservation plant, have also been built. In addition the city became a production center for furniture and other building materials.


title: Rivne

text: As an important cultural center, Rivne hosts a humanities and a hydro-engineering university, as well as a faculty of the Kyiv State Institute of Culture, and medical and musical as well as automobile-construction, commercial, textile, agricultural and cooperative polytechnic colleges. The city has a historical museum.


title: Rivne

text: Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the monument for the Soviet hero Dmitry Medvedev was removed, and the Nikolai Kuznetsov monument was moved to another location within the city. Instead, in order to reflect the controversial history of the region the monuments for "People who died in the honor of Ukraine", and "Soldiers who died in local military battles" were installed.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in the North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage. Being one of the main tourist destinations of West Bengal, housing the Cooch Behar Palace and Madan Mohan Temple, it has been declared a heritage city. It is the maternal home of Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur.


title: Cooch Behar

text: During the British Raj, Cooch Behar was the seat of the princely state of Koch Bihar, ruled by the Koch Kingdom of often described as the Shiva Vansha, tracing their origin from the Koch tribe of North-eastern India. After 20 August 1949, Cooch Behar District was transformed from a princely state to its present status, with the city of Cooch Behar (Koch Behar) as its headquarters.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The name "Cooch Behar" is derived from two words—"Cooch", a corrupted form of the word "Koch", the name of the Koch or "Rajbongshi" tribes, and the word "behar" is derived from "vihara".


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar formed part of the Kamarupa Kingdom of Assam from the 4th to the 12th. In the 13th century, the area became a part of the Kamata Kingdom. The Khens ruled until about 1498 CE, when they fell to Alauddin Hussain Shah, the independent Pathan Sultan of Gour. The new invaders fought with the local Bhuyan chieftains and the Ahom king Suhungmung and lost control of the region. During this time, the Koch tribe became very powerful and proclaimed itself "Kamateshwar" (Lord of Kamata) and established the Koch dynasty.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The first important Koch ruler was Bisu, later called Biswa Singha, who came to power in 1515 CE. Under his son, Nara Narayan, the Kamata Kingdom reached its zenith. Nara Narayan's younger brother, Shukladhwaj (Chilarai), was a noted military general who undertook expeditions to expand the kingdom. He became governor of its eastern portion.


title: Cooch Behar

text: As the early capital of the Koch Kingdom, Koch Behar's location was not static and became stable only when shifted to Cooch Behar town. Rup Narayan, on the advice of an unknown saint, transferred the capital from Attharokotha to Guriahati (now called Cooch Behar town) on the banks of the Torsa river between 1693 and 1714. After this, the capital was always in or near its present location.


title: Cooch Behar

text: In 1661 CE, Pran Narayan planned to expand his kingdom. However, Mir Jumla, the subedar of Bengal under the Mughal emperor Aurangazeb, attacked Cooch Behar and conquered the territory, meeting almost no resistance.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The town of Cooch Behar was subsequently named Alamgirnagar. Pran Narayan regained his kingdom within a few days.


title: Cooch Behar

text: In 1772–1773, the king of Bhutan attacked and captured Cooch Behar. To expel the Bhutanese, the kingdom of Cooch Behar signed a defense treaty with the British East India Company on 5 April 1773. At that time, coins of Bhutan were minted in Cooch Behar. After expelling the Bhutanese, Cooch Behar again became a princely kingdom under the protection of the British East India company.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar Palace is built after the Classical Italian architecture. The dome of the Palace is in Italian style, resembling the dome of St. Petersburg Cathedral, Vatican City, Rome, and built in 1887, during the reign of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan. In 1878, the maharaja married the daughter of Brahmo preacher Keshab Chandra Sen. This union led to a renaissance in Cooch Behar state. Maharaja Nripendra Narayan is known as the architect of modern Cooch Behar town.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Under an agreement between the king of Cooch Behar and the Indian Government at the end of British rule, Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan transferred full authority, jurisdiction, and power of the state to the Dominion Government of India, effective 12 September 1949. Eventually, Cooch Bihar became part of the state of West Bengal on 19 January 1950, with Cooch Behar town as its headquarters.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar is in the foothills of Eastern Himalayas, at in the North of West Bengal. It is the largest town and district headquarters of Cooch Behar District, with an area of .


title: Cooch Behar

text: The Torsa river flows by the western side of town. Heavy rains often cause strong river currents and flooding. The turbulent water carries huge amounts of sand, silt, and pebbles, which have an adverse effect on crop production as well as on the hydrology of the region. Alluvial deposits form the soil, which is acidic. The soil depth varies from , superimposed on a bed of sand. The foundation materials are igneous and metamorphic rocks at a depth of . The soil has low levels of nitrogen with moderate levels of potassium and phosphorus. Deficiencies of boron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and sulphur are high.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar is a flat region with a slight southeastern slope along which the main rivers of the district flow. Most of the highland areas are in the Sitalkuchi region, and most of the low-lying lands lie in Dinhata region. The elevation of the town is 48 meters above mean sea level. The Torsa river flows by the western side of town. The rivers in the district of Cooch Behar generally flow from northwest to southeast. Six rivers that cut through the district are the Teesta, Jaldhaka, Torsha, Kaljani, Raidak, Gadadhar, and Ghargharia.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The town of Cooch Behar and its surrounding regions face deforestation due to increasing demand for fuel and timber, as well as air pollution from increasing vehicular traffic. The local flora includes palms, bamboos, creepers, ferns, orchids, aquatic plants, fungi, timber, grass, vegetables, and fruit trees. Migratory birds, along with many local species, are found in the city, especially around the Sagardighi and other water bodies.


title: Cooch Behar

text: In 1976 Cooch Behar district became home to the Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary (now Jaldapara National Park), which has an area of . It shares the park with the Alipurduar district.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar has a moderate climate characterized by heavy rainfall during the monsoons and slight rainfall from October to March. The city does not experience very high temperatures at any time of the year. The daily maximum temperature is in August, the hottest month and the daily minimum temperature is in January, the coldest month. The highest temperature in Cooch Behar was 41.0 °C, recorded on 11 September 1977; the lowest temperature recorded was 3.3 °C, reported on 28 January 1982. The atmosphere is highly humid. The rainy season lasts from June to September. The average annual rainfall in the city is .


title: Cooch Behar

text: In the 2011 census, Cooch Behar Urban Agglomeration had a population of 106,760, out of which 53,803 were males, and 52,957 were females. The 0–6 years population was 7,910. Effective literacy rate for the over 7 population was 91.75%.


title: Cooch Behar

text: As per the 2001 census, the Cooch Behar municipal area has a population of 76,812. The sex ratio is 972 females per 1,000 males. The decadal growth rate for the population is 7.86%. Males constitute 50.6% of the population, and females constitute 49.4%. Cooch Behar has an average literacy rate of 82%, which is higher than the national average of 64.84%. The male literacy rate is 86%, while the female literacy rate is 77%. In Cooch Behar, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The major religions followed in Cooch Behar are Hinduism (76.44%) followed by Islam (23.34%). Commonly spoken languages are Bengali and Kamtapuri.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar Municipality is responsible for the civic administration of the town. The municipality consists of a board of councilors, elected from each of the 20 wards and a few members nominated by the state government. The board of councilors elects a chairman from among its elected members; the chairman is the executive head of the municipality. The All India Trinamool Congress holds power in the municipality. The state government looks after education, health, and tourism.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The town is in the Cooch Behar constituency and elects one member to the Lok Sabha (the Lower House of the Indian Parliament). The town area is covered by one assembly constituency, Cooch Behar Dakshin, that elects one member to the Vidhan Sabha, which is the West Bengal state legislative assembly. Cooch Behar town comes under the jurisdiction of the district police (which is a part of the state police); the Superintendent of Police oversees security and matters pertaining to law and order. Cooch Behar is home to the District Court.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar is a well-planned town, and the municipality is responsible for providing basic services, such as potable water and sanitation. The water is supplied by the municipality using its groundwater resources, and almost all the houses in the municipal area are connected. Solid waste is collected every day by the municipality van from individual houses. The surface drains, mostly cemented, drain into the Torsa River. Electricity is supplied by the West Bengal State Electricity Board, and the West Bengal Fire Service provides emergency services like fire tenders. Most of the roads are metalled (macadam), and street lighting is available throughout the town. The Public Works Department is responsible for road maintenance and on the roads connecting Cooch Behar with other towns in the region. Health services in Cooch Behar include a government-owned District Hospital, a Regional Cancer Centre, and private nursing homes. Utility services provided in Cooch Behar are considered one of the best government utility services of West Bengal though the city gets totally flooded during heavy rains nowadays due to the problems of the drainage system.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The city has one district hospital MJN Hospital which has 400 beds. The hospital has now been converted to Coochbehar Government Medical College and Hospital. The city has numerous Multi-Speciality Hospitals offering. Some major hospitals are Shubham Hospital, Cooch Behar Mission Hospital, Dr. P K Saha Hospital Pvt. Ltd. etc.


title: Cooch Behar

text: In the municipality are four daily markets, two wholesale markets, and eight commercial complexes. Apart from these, two new malls have also opened recently.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The central and state governments are the small number of employers in Cooch Behar town. Cooch Behar is home to a number of district-level and divisional-level offices and has a large government-employee workforce. Business is mainly centred on retail goods; the main centres lie on B.S. Road, Rupnarayan Road, Keshab Road and at Bhawaniganj Bazar.


title: Cooch Behar

text: An industrial park has been built at Chakchaka, from town, on the route to Tufanganj. A number of companies have set up industries there.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Farming is a major source of livelihood for the nearby rural populace, and it supplies the town with fruits and vegetables. Poorer sections of this semi-rural society are involved in transport, basic agriculture, small shops, and manual labor in construction.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar has been witnessing radical changes, along with rapid development in segments like industry, real estate, and information technology firms, and education, since the advent of the twenty-first century. The changes are with respect to infrastructure and industrial growth for steel (direct reduced iron), metal, cement, and knowledge-based industries. Many engineering, technology, management, and professional study colleges have opened at Cooch Behar. Housing co-operatives and flats, shopping malls, hotels, and stadiums have also come up.


title: Cooch Behar

text: As the town is near the international border, the Border Security Force (BSF) maintains a large presence in the vicinity. This gives rise to a large population of semi-permanent residents, who bring revenue to the economy. The state government is trying to promote Cooch Behar as a tourist destination. Though income from tourism is low Cooch Behar is one of the major tourist attractions in West Bengal.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Every year during the Ras Purnima, the city hosts Ras Mela, one of the largest and oldest fairs of West Bengal. The fair is older than 200 years. The fair is organized by Cooch Behar Municipality in the Ras Mela ground near ABN Seal College. During the fair, it becomes a major economic hub of the whole North Bengal region. Merchants and sellers from all over India and also from Bangladesh join this fair. Earlier, the Maharajas of Cooch Behar used to inaugurate the fair by moving the Ras Chakra, and now the work is executed by the District Magistrate of Cooch Behar District. The Ras Chakra is considered a symbol of communal harmony because it is made by a Muslim Family from generations. A huge crowd gathers in Cooch Behar from neighboring Assam, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, and whole North Bengal during the fair.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Novelist Amiya Bhushan Majumdar was born, brought up, and worked in Cooch Behar. Cooch Behar, with its people, culture, and the river Torsha was a recurrent theme in his novels.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Apart from this Cooch Behar has a rich history of Debate, Extempore, Quizzing. A non profit organisation named Cobweb is enthusiastically spreading knowledge and facts. They are also fighting against Fake News, the new social evil of this era.


title: Cooch Behar

text: It is the main attraction of the city. It was modeled after the Buckingham Palace in London in 1887, during the reign of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan. It is a brick-built double-story structure in the classical Western style covering an area of . The whole structure is long and wide and is on rests above the ground. The Palace is fronted on the ground, and first floors by a series of arcaded verandahs with their piers arranged alternately in single and double rows. At the southern and northern ends, the Palace projects slightly, and in the center is a projected porch providing an entrance to the Durbar Hall. The Hall has an elegantly shaped metal dome which is topped by a cylindrical louver type ventilator. This is high from the ground and is in the style of Renaissance architecture. The intros of the dome are carved in stepped patterns, and Corinthian columns support the base of the cupola. This adds variegated colors and designs to the entire surface. There are various halls in the palace and rooms that include the Dressing Room, Bed Room, Drawing Room, Dining Hall, Billiard hall, Library, Toshakhana, Ladies Gallery, and Vestibules. The articles and precious objects that these rooms and halls used to contain are now lost. The original palace was 3 storied, but was subsequently destroyed by a 19th-century earthquake measuring 8.7 on Richter scale. The palace shows the acceptance of the European idealism of the Koch kings and the fact that they had embraced European culture without denouncing their Indian heritage.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Sagardighi is one of the "Great Ponds" in the heart of Cooch Behar, West Bengal. The name means an ocean-like pond, exaggerated in view of its great significance. As well as being popular with people, it also attracts migratory birds each winter. It is surrounded by many important administrative buildings, like District Magistrates Office, Administrative Building of North Bengal State Transport Corporation, BSNL's DTO Office on the West; Office of the Superintendent of Police, District Library, Municipality Building on the South, Office of BLRO, State Bank of India's Cooch Behar Main Branch and many other on the East and RTO office, Foreigner's registration office, District Court etc. on the North. Most of such buildings are remnants of royal heritage.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, and Totos are the most widely available public transport in Cooch Behar town. Most of Cooch Behar's residents stay within a few kilometers of the town center and have their own vehicles, mostly motorcycles, and bicycles.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The New Cooch Behar railway station is around 5 km from town and is well connected to almost all major Indian cities, including Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati. All express and Superfast trains going towards North East have a stoppage here. The station came up in 1966 when the Assam link was constructed through North Bengal. Now this station lies on the New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section of the Barauni-Guwahati line. As of 2018, it is the largest Railway Junction of Northeast Frontier Railway with six routes towards New Changrabandha, New Jalpaiguri, New Bongaigaon, Alipurduar Junction, Dhubri, and Bamanhat. New Cooch Behar railway station is given a beautiful look similar to Cooch Behar Palace. This station is heavily modernised with Wi-Fi facilities, food cafes, children's area, dormitory, waiting lounges and elevators.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Another station named Cooch Behar situated inside the town exists, but only a few pairs of local trains run on this route. This station was built in 1901 when Cooch Behar State Railway constructed Geetaldaha-Jainti line. Now this station is operational due to local train services to Bamanhat. A Railway Museum is constructed in the station area, having a look of Cooch Behar Madan Mohan Temple. This station offers Wi-fi facilities and a train route directly to Sealdah has also been established which is served by Uttar Banga Express


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar is very well connected by road with neighboring areas and other cities of West Bengal and the rest of the country. Cooch Behar is a major roadway junction after Siliguri towards Northeast India and Bangladesh. Cooch Behar is headquarters of the North Bengal State Transport Corporation, which runs regular bus service to places in West Bengal, Assam, and Bihar. Private buses are also available. Most buses depart from the Central Bus Terminus near Cooch Behar Rajbari. Hired vehicles are available from the taxi stand near Transport Chowpathi. City buses and autos serve inside and outskirts of the city.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The Cooch Behar Airport has limited modern passenger facilities but no airlines operate here. Steps are being taken to resume flights.


title: Cooch Behar

text: The nearest airport is Bagdogra Airport near Siliguri, about from Cooch Behar. IndiGo and Spice Jet are the major carriers that connect the area to Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangkok, Paro, Bangkok and Chandigarh.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar's schools usually use English and Bengali as their medium of instruction, although the use of the Hindi language is also stressed. The schools are affiliated with the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) or the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), or the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. Some of the reputed schools include Jenkins School, Sunity Academy, and Cooch Behar Rambhola High School.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University is the only single university in Cooch Behar. It is a U.G.C. recognized public university in Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India. The university was named after the 19th-century Rajbongshi leader and social reformist, Panchanan Barma. A total of 15 colleges from the Cooch Behar district are affiliated to the university.


title: Cooch Behar

text: There are five colleges and a polytechnic in town, including A.B.N. Seal College, Cooch Behar College, University B.T. & Evening College, Thakur Panchanan Mahila Mahavidyalaya, all of which are affiliated with the Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University, which was established in 2013.


title: Cooch Behar

text: Acharya Brojendra Nath Seal College was established in 1888 as Victoria College by Maharaja Nripendra Narayan of Koch Bihar to enhance student capability in the Kingdom. The first principal was John Cornwallis Godley, who in 1895 became the second principal of Aitchison College in Lahore. Later, Maharaja Nripendra Naryayan offered the post of principal to Acharya Brojendra Nath Seal, a Brahmo and philosopher, who remained in the post for eighteen years from 1896 to 1913. In 1950, when the state of Cooch Behar was merged into the Union of India, the governance was passed to Government of West Bengal. It was earlier affiliated with the University of Calcutta and University of North Bengal and is now affiliated with Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University after the creation of the same. In 1970, it was renamed as Acharya Brojendra Nath Seal College. It is one of the few colleges under the Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University to give postgraduate education. The college is in the heart of the town with a campus of 13.27 acres (53,700 m2) and a built-up area of 9032.96 sq. meters.


title: Cooch Behar

text: In 1981, the Maya Chitram Art Institute was founded in Cooch Behar. There is an agricultural university, Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, just outside the main town at Pundibari. A medical college is proposed to be opened by the Government at Raja Jagatdipendranarayan TB Hospital.


title: Freddie Foreman

text: Freddie Foreman (born 5 March 1932), better known as Brown Bread Fred, is an English publican, gangster, former associate of the Kray twins and convicted criminal.


title: Freddie Foreman

text: Frederick Gerald Foreman was born at 22 Sheepcote Lane, Battersea on 5 March 1932, the son of Herbert Albert Foreman.


title: Freddie Foreman

text: Foreman was nicknamed "Brown Bread Fred" (‘Brown Bread’ being Cockney rhyming slang for ‘Dead’), as he was known in the underworld for being able to dispose of bodies.


title: Freddie Foreman

text: For a large part of the 1960s, Foreman and the Kray twins' gang The Firm, ruled the streets in the East End of London. But Foreman’s association with them ended when all three were imprisoned. At the time of the arrests, Foreman was 36 years old and licensee of The Prince of Wales on Lant Street in Southwark.


title: Freddie Foreman

text: Foreman was involved in the disposal of the body of Jack "the Hat" McVitie (murdered by Reggie Kray). He was sentenced to ten years in prison.


title: Freddie Foreman

text: Foreman was later sentenced to nine years imprisonment for handling proceeds from the Security Express robbery in Shoreditch, East London in 1983, which at the time was the largest cash robbery in the UK along with Ronnie Knight and Cliford Saxe. and for which he received nine years in prison.


title: Freddie Foreman

text: In his autobiography, "Respect", Foreman also admitted to the murders of Frank "Mad Axeman" Mitchell and Tommy "Ginger" Marks during the 1960s in revenge for the shooting of his brother who had been shot in the groin. He had been acquitted of these murders at an Old Bailey trial in the 1960s.


title: Freddie Foreman

text: In 2018, it was announced that a biopic documentary would be made on Foreman, directed by his son Jamie. Rather than glamorizing Foreman’s life of crime, "Fred" is billed as a somber and intimate look at the notorious villain towards the end of his life. The biopic was written and directed by Paul Van Carter.


title: Freddie Foreman

text: Foreman is married to Maureen Foreman. Together they have three children, actor Jamie Foreman, Gregory and Danielle. Foreman has 3 grandchildren.


title: Freddie Foreman

text: In 2018, it was reported Foreman was living in a nursing home with no money, estranged from his family.


title: Alfred Gough

text: Alfred Gough (born August 22, 1967) is an American screenwriter, producer and showrunner. He is best known as co-creator of The WB/The CW's Superman prequel series "Smallville" and Netflix's "Addams Family" spin-off series "Wednesday". Alongside longtime writing/producing partner Miles Millar, Gough also co-created AMC's wuxia-influenced dystopian series "Into the Badlands" and the epic fantasy series "The Shannara Chronicles" (based on "The Sword of Shannara Trilogy" book trilogy by Terry Brooks). Among his many feature film credits are Tom Dey's "Shanghai Noon", Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 2" and Rob Cohen's "".


title: Alfred Gough

text: Born in Leonardtown, Maryland, Gough graduated from St. Mary's Ryken High School (1985) and The Catholic University of America (1989). Gough attended The Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California where he teamed up with his writing partner Miles Millar.


title: Alfred Gough

text: Gough and Millar sold their first script while still studying at USC. "Mango", a buddy-cop story where a cop who was allergic to animals was paired with an orangutan, sold to New Line Cinema for $400,000. The film was never made, but launched the duo's professional careers.


title: Alfred Gough

text: Al Gough and Miles Millar are prolific writers/producers. Their feature credits include the action-adventure "", the hit action-comedy "Shanghai Noon", as well as its sequel "Shanghai Knights", "Spider-Man 2" directed by Sam Raimi, "", "Lethal Weapon 4", and "I Am Number Four". They also produced "", based on the smash hit Disney Channel series. The feature marked the first for the duo's Walt Disney-based production company, Millar Gough Ink.


title: Alfred Gough

text: Gough and Millar’s work also spans the world of television. The duo created and served as executive producers/showrunners for the critically acclaimed action-adventure series "Smallville", which aired from 2001-2011. "Smallville" is the longest-running comic book-based series of all time and was the top show in the history of the WB Television Network. Gough and Millar left the series in 2008, after seven seasons, breaking the news of their departure with an open letter posted to a "Smallville" fan site. In 2010, Gough and Millar filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the WB Television Network, claiming the company had licensed "Smallville" to its co-owned WB and CW networks for excessively low fees, thereby cutting Gough and Millar out of tens of millions of dollars. The lawsuit was finally settled in May 2013, mere weeks before a scheduled June trial; the terms of the settlement were not made to the public.


title: Alfred Gough

text: In 2015 Gough and Millar created "The Shannara Chronicles" an epic fantasy television series for MTV. It is an adaptation of The Sword of Shannara trilogy of fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. It follows three heroes as they protect an ancient tree to stop the escape of banished demons. The series was filmed in the Auckland Film Studios and on location elsewhere in New Zealand. The series starred Austin Butler, Ivana Baquero and Manu Bennett. Jon Favreau was one of the executive producers along with Dan Farrah. The pilot episode was directed by Jonathan Liebesman.


title: Alfred Gough

text: The first season of "The Shannara Chronicles" premiered on MTV in the United States on January 5, 2016, and consisted of 10 episodes. MTV originally greenlit a second season in April 2016; however, in May 2017, it was announced that the series would relocate to Spike (now Paramount Network). The second season premiered on October 11, 2017, and concluded November 22, 2017. On January 16, 2018, it was announced that the series had been cancelled after two seasons and that the producers were shopping the series to other networks. The series was later considered officially concluded but has since generated a cult following on Netflix.


title: Alfred Gough

text: In June 2015 Gough and Millar began production of "Into the Badlands" a series they created for AMC Networks. The martial arts drama was set in a gun free post apocalyptic America where warring barons had personal armies of lethally trained fighters. The series was notable as one of the only hour long dramas in American television history to feature an Asian American (Daniel Wu) as its lead. The show was a ratings hit, but received a mix response from critics. Nick Frost joined the cast in season two and proved a very popular addition to the fans of the series. The show's mythology was very loosely based on the classic Chinese text, "Journey to the West". Each episode featured intricate martial arts fights that were staged and directed by legendary Hong Kong fight choreographers Huen Chiu Ku (aka Master Dee Dee Ku) and Andy Cheng. The series starred Daniel Wu, Marton Csokas, Emily Beecham, Aramis Knight and Orla Brady. The first season was filmed in New Orleans, but subsequent seasons were shot in and around Dublin, Ireland. "Into The Badlands" ran for 32 episodes and was cancelled due to a regime change at AMC Networks.


title: Alfred Gough

text: In October 2020, Gough and Millar sold a series to Netflix based on the character of Wednesday Addams. The series was created by Gough and Millar but Tim Burton teamed with the duo as an executive producer and directed the first four episodes. "Wednesday" represents Burton's first foray into television and stars Jenna Ortega in the title role. The series also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams as well as Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems.


title: Alfred Gough

text: Millar and Gough created two other short-lived tv series; "The Strip" starring "Sean Patrick Flannery", the ABC's reboot of "Charlie's Angels". Both ran 8 episodes.


title: Distress signal

text: A distress signal, also known as a distress call, is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals are communicated by transmitting radio signals, displaying a visually observable item or illumination, or making a sound audible from a distance.


title: Distress signal

text: A distress signal indicates that a person or group of people, ship, aircraft, or other vehicle is threatened by a serious or imminent danger and requires immediate assistance. Use of distress signals in other circumstances may be against local or international law. An urgency signal is available to request assistance in less critical situations.


title: Distress signal

text: For example, a single aerial flare alerts observers to the existence of a vessel in distress somewhere in the general direction of the flare sighting on the horizon but extinguishes within one minute or less. A hand-held flare burns for three minutes and can be used to localize or pinpoint more precisely the exact location or position of the party in trouble. An EPIRB both notifies or alerts authorities and at the same time provides position indication information.


title: Distress signal

text: Distress signals at sea are defined in the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea and in the International Code of Signals. Mayday signals must only be used where there is grave and imminent danger to life. Otherwise, urgent signals such as pan-pan can be sent. Most jurisdictions have large penalties for false, unwarranted, or prank distress signals.


title: Distress signal

text: A floating man-overboard pole or dan buoy can be used to indicate that a person is in distress in the water and is ordinarily equipped with a yellow and red flag (international code of signals flag "O") and a flashing lamp or strobe light.


title: Distress signal

text: In North America, marine search and rescue agencies in Canada and the United States also recognize certain other distress signals:


title: Distress signal

text: In addition, distress can be signaled using automated radio signals such as a Search and Rescue Transponder (SART) which response to 9 GHz radar signal, or an Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) which operates in the 406 MHz radiofrequency. EPIRB signals are received and processed by a constellation of satellites known as Cospas-Sarsat. Older EPIRBs that use 121.5 MHz is obsolete. Many regulators require vessels that proceed offshore to carry an EPIRB.


title: Distress signal

text: Many EPIRBs have an in-built Global Positioning System receiver. When activated these EPIRBs rapidly report the latitude and longitude of the emergency accurate to within . The position of non-GPS EPIRBs is determined by the orbiting satellites, this can take ninety minutes to five hours after activation and is accurate to within . Marine safety authorities recommend the use of GPS-equipped EPIRBs.


title: Distress signal

text: A miniaturized EPIRB capable of being carried in crew members' clothing is called a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). Regulators do not view them as a substitute for a vessel's EPIRB. In situations with a high risk of "man overboard", such as open ocean yacht racing, PLBs may be required by the event's organizers. PLBs are also often carried during risky outdoor activities on the land.


title: Distress signal

text: EPIRBs and PLBs have a unique identification number (UIN or "HexID"). A purchaser should register their EPIRB or PLB with the national search and rescue authority; this is free in most jurisdictions. EPIRB registration allows the authority to alert searchers of the vessel's name, label, type, size, and paintwork; to promptly notify next-of-kin, and to quickly resolve inadvertent activations.


title: Distress signal

text: A DSC radio distress signal can include the position if the lat/long are manually keyed into the radio or if a GPS-derived position is passed electronically directly into the radio.


title: Distress signal

text: A Mayday message consists of the word "mayday" spoken three times in succession, which is the distress signal, followed by the distress message, which should include:


title: Distress signal

text: When none of the above-described officially sanctioned signals are available, attention for assistance can be attracted by anything that appears unusual or out of the ordinary, such as a jib sail hoisted upside down.


title: Distress signal

text: During daylight hours when the sun is visible, a heliograph mirror can be used to flash bright, intense sunlight. Battery-powered laser lights the size of small flashlights (electric torches) are available for use in emergency signaling.


title: Distress signal

text: For hundreds of years inverted national flags were commonly used as distress signals. However, for some countries' flags it is difficult (e.g., Spain, South Korea, United Kingdom) or impossible (e.g., Japan, Thailand, and Israel) to determine whether they are inverted. Other countries have flags that are inverses of each other; for example, the Polish flag is white on the top half and red on the bottom, while Indonesia's and Monaco's flags are the opposite—i.e., top half red, the bottom half white. A ship flying no flags may also be understood to be in distress. For one country, the Philippines, an inverted flag is a symbol of war rather than distress.


title: Distress signal

text: If any flag is available, distress may be indicated by tying a knot in it and then flying it upside-down, making it into a "wheft".


title: Distress signal

text: To avoid pointless searches some devices must be reported when lost. This particularly applies to EPIRBs, lifebuoys, rafts, and devices marked with the vessel's name and port.


title: Distress signal

text: Expired flares should not be set off, as this indicates distress. Rather, most port authorities offer disposal facilities for expired distress pyrotechnics. In some areas special training events are organized, where the flares can be used safely.


title: Distress signal

text: EPIRBs must not be disposed of into general waste as discarded EPIRBs often trigger at the waste disposal facility. In 2013, the majority of EPIRB activations investigated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority were due to the incorrect disposal of obsolete 121.5 MHz EPIRB beacons.


title: Distress signal

text: The civilian aircraft frequency for voice distress alerting is 121.5 MHz. Military aircraft use 243 MHz (which is a harmonic of 121.5 MHz, and therefore civilian beacons transmit on this frequency as well). Aircraft can also signal an emergency by setting one of several special transponder codes, such as 7700.


title: Distress signal

text: The COSPAS/SARSAT signal can be transmitted by an Electronic Locator Transmitter or ELT, which is similar to a marine EPIRB on the 406 MHz radiofrequency. (Marine EPIRBs are constructed to float, while an aviation ELT is constructed to be activated by a sharp deceleration and is sometimes referred to as a Crash Position Indicator or CPI).


title: Distress signal

text: A "triangular distress pattern" is a rarely used flight pattern flown by aircraft in distress but without radio communications. The standard pattern is a series of 120° turns.


title: Distress signal

text: The recognized mountain distress signals are based on groups of three, or six in the UK and the European Schwarzwald. A distress signal can be three fires or piles of rocks in a triangle, three blasts on a whistle, three shots from a firearm, or three flashes of light, in succession followed by a one-minute pause and repeated until a response is received. Three blasts or flashes is the appropriate response.


title: Distress signal

text: In the Schwarzwald, the recommended way to signal distress is the Schwarzwald distress signal: give "six signals within a minute", then pause for a minute, repeating this until rescue arrives. A signal may be anything visual (waving clothes or lights, use of a signal mirror) or audible (shouts, whistles, etc.). The rescuers acknowledge with three signals per minute.


title: Distress signal

text: In practice, either signal pattern is likely to be recognized in most popular mountainous areas as nearby climbing teams are likely to include Europeans or North Americans.


title: Distress signal

text: To communicate with a helicopter in sight, raise both arms (forming the letter Y) to indicate "Yes" or "I need help," or stretch one arm up and one down (imitating the letter N) for "No" or "I do not need help". If semaphore flags are available, they can be used to communicate with rescuers.


title: Distress signal

text: The COSPAS-SARSAT 406 MHz radiofrequency distress signal can be transmitted by hikers, backpackers, trekkers, mountaineers and other ground-based remote adventure seekers and personnel working in isolated backcountry areas using a small, portable Personal Locator Beacon or PLB.


title: Daniel (Elton John song)

text: "Daniel" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was first released on John's 1973 album "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player".


title: Daniel (Elton John song)

text: In the United Kingdom, the song reached No. 4 in the official chart. In the United States, the song reached No. 2 on the pop charts (only held from number one by "My Love" by Paul McCartney and Wings) and No. 1 on the adult contemporary charts for two weeks in the spring of 1973.


title: Daniel (Elton John song)

text: In the US, it was certified gold in September 1995 and platinum in May 2018 by the RIAA. In Canada, it became his second No. 1 single, following "Crocodile Rock" earlier in the year, holding the position for two weeks in the "RPM 100 "national singles chart. John and Taupin received the 1973 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. The song appeared on the soundtrack of the 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore".


title: Daniel (Elton John song)

text: Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics after reading an article in either "Time" or "Newsweek" about a Vietnam War veteran who had been wounded, and wanted to get away from the attention he was receiving when he came back home. The last verse in the original draft was cut from the final version, which has led to some speculation on the contents.


title: Daniel (Elton John song)

text: "Cash Box" said that the "fascinating lyrics by Bernie Taupin will make you want to listen over and over again."


title: Daniel (Elton John song)

text: "Daniel" was covered on the 1991 album "" by Wilson Phillips. It reached number seven on the US and Canadian Adult Contemporary charts as an album cut. The song also reached number 26 on the Canadian pop chart.


title: Daniel (Elton John song)

text: Marie Laforêt adapted and covered the song in French (title: "Daniel") in 1974. It was released as the B-side of the "Cadeau" EP. 125,000 copies were sold in France.


title: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

text: Ukraine has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times since making its debut in 2003. Ukraine has won the contest three times: in with "Wild Dances" by Ruslana, in with "1944" by Jamala, and in with "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, thus becoming the first country in the 21st century and the first Eastern European country to win the contest three times. Ukraine hosted the and contests in Kyiv.


title: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

text: Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Ukraine is the only country outside of the "Big Five" to have qualified for the final of every contest they have competed in, and has been placed outside the top-ten only six times. Ukraine has a total of eight top-five placements, with Verka Serduchka () and Ani Lorak () both finishing second, Zlata Ognevich third (), Mika Newton fourth () and Go_A fifth (), in addition to its wins. The only countries with more top-five results in the 21st century are (12) and (10).


title: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

text: Ukraine made its debut in 2003, when Oleksandr Ponomariov finished in 14th place with the song "Hasta la vista".


title: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

text: Ukraine won the contest at the second attempt in , when Ruslana won with the song "Wild Dances", defeating second-placed Serbia and Montenegro by 17 points, 280 to 263. Later in the year, she supported the Orange Revolution and became an MP for one year as part of the new president's alliance.


title: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

text: In , Ukraine became the first Eastern European country to win the contest twice, when Jamala won with her song "1944". The televote was won by Russia and the jury vote by Australia; Ukraine was second in both, but won with an overall total of 534 points, with Australia second with 511 points and Russia third with 491 points. In , Ukraine was pre-qualified for the final as hosts, however they achieved their worst result to date – 24th place with 36 points.


title: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

text: Ukraine was absent twice from the contest, in 2015 and 2019, for reasons related to the ongoing conflict with Russia:


title: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

text: In , Go_A won the national selection "Vidbir" and was set to represent Ukraine with the song "Solovey", before the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were instead internally selected to represent the country with the song "Shum", with which they finished in fifth place. After the contest, "Shum" entered the "Billboard" Global 200 at position 158, becoming the first ever Ukrainian-language song to chart there. Ukraine won the contest for a third time in , with the song "Stefania" performed by Kalush Orchestra. "Stefania" later went on to surpass the peak of "Shum" on the "Billboard" Global 200, charting at position 85.


title: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

text: Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Ukraine is the only country to have qualified for the final of every Eurovision they have competed in (they were absent from the 2015 and 2019 contests). Ukraine has a total of 11 top-ten placements (among those are eight top-five placements). Ukraine's participation and success in the contest has been acknowledged as a factor in the country's growing soft power and international image.


title: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

text: Following its victory in , Ukraine was initially given the opportunity to host the contest, however, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) later decided that the country would not be able to host due to security concerns caused by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, making Ukraine the first country since in to win the contest but not host it the following year. The 2022 runner-up, the , will host the 2023 contest on Ukraine's behalf, and Ukraine will be granted automatic qualification for the final.


title: Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest

text: A five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals is made up for every participating country for the semi-finals and Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, ranking all entries except for their own country's contribution. The juries' votes constitute 50% of the overall result alongside televoting.


title: Information warfare

text: Information warfare (IW) (as different from cyber warfare that attacks computers, software, and command control systems) is a concept involving the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology (ICT) in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. Information warfare is the manipulation of information trusted by a target without the target's awareness so that the target will make decisions against their interest but in the interest of the one conducting information warfare. As a result, it is not clear when information warfare begins, ends, and how strong or destructive it is. Information warfare may involve the collection of tactical information, assurance(s) that one's information is valid, spreading of propaganda or disinformation to demoralize or manipulate the enemy and the public, undermining the quality of the opposing force's information and denial of information-collection opportunities to opposing forces. Information warfare is closely linked to psychological warfare.


title: Information warfare

text: The United States military focus tends to favor technology and hence tends to extend into the realms of electronic warfare, cyberwarfare, information assurance and computer network operations, attack, and defense.


title: Information warfare

text: Most of the rest of the world use the much broader term of "Information Operations" which, although making use of technology, focuses on the more human-related aspects of information use, including (amongst many others) social network analysis, decision analysis, and the human aspects of command and control.


title: Information warfare

text: Information war has been described as "the use of information to achieve our national objectives." According to NATO, "Information war is an operation conducted in order to gain an information advantage over the opponent."


title: Information warfare

text: The U.S. Air Force has had Information Warfare Squadrons since the 1980s. In fact, the official mission of the U.S. Air Force is now "To fly, fight and win...in air, space and cyberspace", with the latter referring to its information warfare role.