title: Genomic imprinting

text: That imprinting might be a feature of mammalian development was suggested in breeding experiments in mice carrying reciprocal chromosomal translocations. Nucleus transplantation experiments in mouse zygotes in the early 1980s confirmed that normal development requires the contribution of both the maternal and paternal genomes. The vast majority of mouse embryos derived from parthenogenesis (called parthenogenones, with two maternal or egg genomes) and androgenesis (called androgenones, with two paternal or sperm genomes) die at or before the blastocyst/implantation stage. In the rare instances that they develop to postimplantation stages, gynogenetic embryos show better embryonic development relative to placental development, while for androgenones, the reverse is true. Nevertheless, for the latter, only a few have been described (in a 1984 paper).


title: Genomic imprinting

text: No naturally occurring cases of parthenogenesis exist in mammals because of imprinted genes. However, in 2004, experimental manipulation by Japanese researchers of a paternal methylation imprint controlling the "Igf2" gene led to the birth of a mouse (named Kaguya) with two maternal sets of chromosomes, though it is not a true parthenogenone since cells from two different female mice were used. The researchers were able to succeed by using one egg from an immature parent, thus reducing maternal imprinting, and modifying it to express the gene Igf2, which is normally only expressed by the paternal copy of the gene.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Parthenogenetic/gynogenetic embryos have twice the normal expression level of maternally derived genes, and lack expression of paternally expressed genes, while the reverse is true for androgenetic embryos. It is now known that there are at least 80 imprinted genes in humans and mice, many of which are involved in embryonic and placental growth and development. Hybrid offspring of two species may exhibit unusual growth due to the novel combination of imprinted genes.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Various methods have been used to identify imprinted genes. In swine, Bischoff "et al." compared transcriptional profiles using DNA microarrays to survey differentially expressed genes between parthenotes (2 maternal genomes) and control fetuses (1 maternal, 1 paternal genome). An intriguing study surveying the transcriptome of murine brain tissues revealed over 1300 imprinted gene loci (approximately 10-fold more than previously reported) by RNA-sequencing from F1 hybrids resulting from reciprocal crosses. The result however has been challenged by others who claimed that this is an overestimation by an order of magnitude due to flawed statistical analysis.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: In domesticated livestock, single-nucleotide polymorphisms in imprinted genes influencing foetal growth and development have been shown to be associated with economically important production traits in cattle, sheep and pigs.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: At the same time as the generation of the gynogenetic and androgenetic embryos discussed above, mouse embryos were also being generated that contained only small regions that were derived from either a paternal or maternal source. The generation of a series of such uniparental disomies, which together span the entire genome, allowed the creation of an imprinting map. Those regions which when inherited from a single parent result in a discernible phenotype contain imprinted gene(s). Further research showed that within these regions there were often numerous imprinted genes. Around 80% of imprinted genes are found in clusters such as these, called imprinted domains, suggesting a level of co-ordinated control. More recently, genome-wide screens to identify imprinted genes have used differential expression of mRNAs from control fetuses and parthenogenetic or androgenetic fetuses hybridized to gene expression profiling microarrays, allele-specific gene expression using SNP genotyping microarrays, transcriptome sequencing, and in silico prediction pipelines.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Imprinting is a dynamic process. It must be possible to erase and re-establish imprints through each generation so that genes that are imprinted in an adult may still be expressed in that adult's offspring. (For example, the maternal genes that control insulin production will be imprinted in a male but will be expressed in any of the male's offspring that inherit these genes.) The nature of imprinting must therefore be epigenetic rather than DNA sequence dependent. In germline cells the imprint is erased and then re-established according to the sex of the individual, i.e. in the developing sperm (during spermatogenesis), a paternal imprint is established, whereas in developing oocytes (oogenesis), a maternal imprint is established. This process of erasure and reprogramming is necessary such that the germ cell imprinting status is relevant to the sex of the individual. In both plants and mammals there are two major mechanisms that are involved in establishing the imprint; these are DNA methylation and histone modifications.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Recently, a new study has suggested a novel inheritable imprinting mechanism in humans that would be specific of placental tissue and that is independent of DNA methylation (the main and classical mechanism for genomic imprinting). This was observed in humans, but not in mice, suggesting development after the evolutionary divergence of humans and mice, ~80 Mya. Among the hypothetical explanations for this novel phenomenon, two possible mechanisms have been proposed: either a histone modification that confers imprinting at novel placental-specific imprinted "loci" or, alternatively, a recruitment of DNMTs to these loci by a specific and unknown transcription factor that would be expressed during early trophoblast differentiation.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: The grouping of imprinted genes within clusters allows them to share common regulatory elements, such as non-coding RNAs and differentially methylated regions (DMRs). When these regulatory elements control the imprinting of one or more genes, they are known as imprinting control regions (ICR). The expression of non-coding RNAs, such as antisense Igf2r RNA ("Air") on mouse chromosome 17 and KCNQ1OT1 on human chromosome 11p15.5, have been shown to be essential for the imprinting of genes in their corresponding regions.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Differentially methylated regions are generally segments of DNA rich in cytosine and guanine nucleotides, with the cytosine nucleotides methylated on one copy but not on the other. Contrary to expectation, methylation does not necessarily mean silencing; instead, the effect of methylation depends upon the default state of the region.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: The control of expression of specific genes by genomic imprinting is unique to therian mammals (placental mammals and marsupials) and flowering plants. Imprinting of whole chromosomes has been reported in mealybugs (Genus: "Pseudococcus") and a fungus gnat ("Sciara"). It has also been established that X-chromosome inactivation occurs in an imprinted manner in the extra-embryonic tissues of mice and all tissues in marsupials, where it is always the paternal X-chromosome which is silenced.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: The majority of imprinted genes in mammals have been found to have roles in the control of embryonic growth and development, including development of the placenta. Other imprinted genes are involved in post-natal development, with roles affecting suckling and metabolism.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: A widely accepted hypothesis for the evolution of genomic imprinting is the "parental conflict hypothesis". Also known as the kinship theory of genomic imprinting, this hypothesis states that the inequality between parental genomes due to imprinting is a result of the differing interests of each parent in terms of the evolutionary fitness of their genes. The father's genes that encode for imprinting gain greater fitness through the success of the offspring, at the expense of the mother. The mother's evolutionary imperative is often to conserve resources for her own survival while providing sufficient nourishment to current and subsequent litters. Accordingly, paternally expressed genes tend to be growth-promoting whereas maternally expressed genes tend to be growth-limiting. In support of this hypothesis, genomic imprinting has been found in all placental mammals, where post-fertilisation offspring resource consumption at the expense of the mother is high; although it has also been found in oviparous birds where there is relatively little post-fertilisation resource transfer and therefore less parental conflict. A small number of imprinted genes are fast evolving under positive Darwinian selection possibly due to antagonistic co-evolution. The majority of imprinted genes display high levels of micro-synteny conservation and have undergone very few duplications in placental mammalian lineages.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind genomic imprinting show that it is the maternal genome that controls much of the imprinting of both its own and the paternally-derived genes in the zygote, making it difficult to explain why the maternal genes would willingly relinquish their dominance to that of the paternally-derived genes in light of the conflict hypothesis.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Another hypothesis proposed is that some imprinted genes act coadaptively to improve both fetal development and maternal provisioning for nutrition and care. In it, a subset of paternally expressed genes are co-expressed in both the placenta and the mother's hypothalamus. This would come about through selective pressure from parent-infant coadaptation to improve infant survival. Paternally expressed 3 ("PEG3") is a gene for which this hypothesis may apply.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Others have approached their study of the origins of genomic imprinting from a different side, arguing that natural selection is operating on the role of epigenetic marks as machinery for homologous chromosome recognition during meiosis, rather than on their role in differential expression. This argument centers on the existence of epigenetic effects on chromosomes that do not directly affect gene expression, but do depend on which parent the chromosome originated from. This group of epigenetic changes that depend on the chromosome's parent of origin (including both those that affect gene expression and those that do not) are called parental origin effects, and include phenomena such as paternal X inactivation in the marsupials, nonrandom parental chromatid distribution in the ferns, and even mating type switching in yeast. This diversity in organisms that show parental origin effects has prompted theorists to place the evolutionary origin of genomic imprinting before the last common ancestor of plants and animals, over a billion years ago.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Natural selection for genomic imprinting requires genetic variation in a population. A hypothesis for the origin of this genetic variation states that the host-defense system responsible for silencing foreign DNA elements, such as genes of viral origin, mistakenly silenced genes whose silencing turned out to be beneficial for the organism. There appears to be an over-representation of retrotransposed genes, that is to say genes that are inserted into the genome by viruses, among imprinted genes. It has also been postulated that if the retrotransposed gene is inserted close to another imprinted gene, it may just acquire this imprint.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Unfortunately, the relationship between the phenotype and genotype of imprinted genes is solely conceptual. The idea is frameworked using two alleles on a single locus and hosts three different possible classes of genotypes. The reciprocal heterozygotes genotype class contributes to understanding how imprinting will impact genotype to phenotype relationship. Reciprocal heterozygotes have a genetically equivalent, but they are phenotypically nonequivalent. Their phenotype may not be dependent on the equivalence of the genotype. This can ultimately increase diversity in genetic classes, expanding flexibility of imprinted genes. This increase will also force a higher degree in testing capabilities and assortment of tests to determine the presences of imprinting.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: When a locus is identified as imprinted, two different classes express different alleles. Inherited imprinted genes of offspring are believed to be monoallelic expressions. A single locus will entirely produce one's phenotype although two alleles are inherited. This genotype class is called parental imprinting, as well as dominant imprinting. Phenotypic patterns are variant to possible expressions from paternal and maternal genotypes. Different alleles inherited from different parents will host different phenotypic qualities. One allele will have a larger phenotypic value and the other allele will be silenced. Underdominance of the locus is another possibility of phenotypic expression. Both maternal and paternal phenotypes will have a small value rather than one hosting a large value and silencing the other.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Statistical frameworks and mapping models are used to identify imprinting effects on genes and complex traits. Allelic parent-of -origin influences the vary in phenotype that derive from the imprinting of genotype classes. These models of mapping and identifying imprinting effects include using unordered genotypes to build mapping models. These models will show classic quantitative genetics and the effects of dominance of the imprinted genes.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Imprinting may cause problems in cloning, with clones having DNA that is not methylated in the correct positions. It is possible that this is due to a lack of time for reprogramming to be completely achieved. When a nucleus is added to an egg during somatic cell nuclear transfer, the egg starts dividing in minutes, as compared to the days or months it takes for reprogramming during embryonic development. If time is the responsible factor, it may be possible to delay cell division in clones, giving time for proper reprogramming to occur.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: An allele of the "callipyge" (from the Greek for "beautiful buttocks"), or CLPG, gene in sheep produces large buttocks consisting of muscle with very little fat. The large-buttocked phenotype only occurs when the allele is present on the copy of chromosome 18 inherited from a sheep's father and is "not" on the copy of chromosome 18 inherited from that sheep's mother.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: In vitro fertilisation, including ICSI, is associated with an increased risk of imprinting disorders, with an odds ratio of 3.7 (95% confidence interval 1.4 to 9.7).


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Epigenetic deregulations at H19 imprinted gene in sperm have been observed associated with male infertility. Indeed, methylation loss at H19 imprinted gene has been observed associated with MTHFR gene promoter hypermethylation in semen samples from infertile males.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: The first imprinted genetic disorders to be described in humans were the reciprocally inherited Prader-Willi syndrome and Angelman syndrome. Both syndromes are associated with loss of the chromosomal region 15q11-13 (band 11 of the long arm of chromosome 15). This region contains the paternally expressed genes SNRPN and NDN and the maternally expressed gene UBE3A.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: DIRAS3 is a paternally expressed and maternally imprinted gene located on chromosome 1 in humans. Reduced DIRAS3 expression is linked to an increased risk of ovarian and breast cancers; in 41% of breast and ovarian cancers the protein encoded by DIRAS3 is not expressed, suggesting that it functions as a tumor suppressor gene. Therefore, if uniparental disomy occurs and a person inherits both chromosomes from the mother, the gene will not be expressed and the individual is put at a greater risk for breast and ovarian cancer.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Other conditions involving imprinting include Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, Silver-Russell syndrome, and pseudohypoparathyroidism.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: The "imprinted brain hypothesis" argues that unbalanced imprinting may be a cause of autism and psychosis.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: In insects, imprinting affects entire chromosomes. In some insects the entire paternal genome is silenced in male offspring, and thus is involved in sex determination. The imprinting produces effects similar to the mechanisms in other insects that eliminate paternally inherited chromosomes in male offspring, including arrhenotoky.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: In placental species, parent-offspring conflict can result in the evolution of strategies, such as genomic imprinting, for embryos to subvert maternal nutrient provisioning. Despite several attempts to find it, genomic imprinting has not been found in the platypus, reptiles, birds, or fish. The absence of genomic imprinting in a placental reptile, the Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii, is interesting as genomic imprinting was thought to be associated with the evolution of viviparity and placental nutrient transport.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: Studies in domestic livestock, such as dairy and beef cattle, have implicated imprinted genes (e.g. IGF2) in a range of economic traits, including dairy performance in Holstein-Friesian cattle.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: A study published in March, 2022, documents that foraging behavior in mice studied was influenced by a sexually dimorphic allele expression implicating a cross-gender imprinting influence that varies throughout the body and may dominate expression and shape a behavior.


title: Genomic imprinting

text: A similar imprinting phenomenon has also been described in flowering plants (angiosperms). During fertilization of the egg cell, a second, separate fertilization event gives rise to the endosperm, an extraembryonic structure that nourishes the embryo in a manner analogous to the mammalian placenta. Unlike the embryo, the endosperm is often formed from the fusion of two maternal cells with a male gamete. This results in a triploid genome. The 2:1 ratio of maternal to paternal genomes appears to be critical for seed development. Some genes are found to be expressed from both maternal genomes while others are expressed exclusively from the lone paternal copy. It has been suggested that these imprinted genes are responsible for the triploid block effect in flowering plants that prevents hybridization between diploids and autotetraploids. Several computational methods to detect imprinting genes in plants from reciprocal crosses have been proposed.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: The Ottoman Caliphate, the world's last widely recognized caliphate, was abolished on 3 March 1924 (27 Rajab 1342 AH) by decree of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The process was one of Atatürk's reforms following the replacement of the Ottoman Empire with the Republic of Turkey. Abdulmejid II was deposed as the last Ottoman caliph, as was Mustafa Sabri as the last Ottoman shaykh al-Islām.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: The caliph was nominally the supreme religious and political leader of all Muslims across the world. In the years prior to the abolition, during the ongoing Turkish Revolution, the uncertain future of the caliphate provoked strong reactions among the worldwide Sunni Islam community. The potential abolition of the caliphate had been actively opposed by the Indian-based Khilafat Movement, and generated heated debate throughout the Muslim world. The 1924 abolition came less than 18 months after the abolition of the Ottoman sultanate, prior to which the Ottoman sultan was "ex officio" caliph.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk) reportedly offered the caliphate to Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, on the condition that he reside outside Turkey; Senussi declined the offer and confirmed his support for Abdulmejid. At least thirteen different candidates were proposed for the caliphate in subsequent years, but none was able to gain a consensus for the candidacy across the Islamic world. Candidates included Abdulmejid II, his predecessor Mehmed VI, King Hussein of Hejaz, King Yusef of Morocco, King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan, Imam Yahya of Yemen, and King Fuad I of Egypt. Unsuccessful "caliphate conferences" were held in Indonesia in 1924, in 1926 in Cairo, and in 1931 in Jerusalem.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: In the late 19th century, Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II launched his pan-Islamist program in a bid to protect the Ottoman Empire from Western attack and dismemberment, and to crush the democratic opposition at home.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: He sent an emissary, Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, to India in the late 19th century. The cause of the Ottoman monarch evoked religious passion and sympathy amongst Indian Muslims. A large number of Muslim religious leaders began working to spread awareness and develop Muslim participation on behalf of the caliphate; of these, Maulana Mehmud Hasan attempted to organize a national war of independence against the British Raj with support from the Ottoman Empire.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: Following the Ottoman defeat in World War I, the Ottoman sultan under Allied direction attempted to suppress nationalist movements, and secured an official fatwa from the Sheikh ul-Islam declaring these to be un-Islamic. But the nationalists steadily gained momentum and began to enjoy widespread support. Many sensed that the nation was ripe for revolution. In an effort to neutralize this threat, the sultan agreed to hold elections, with the hope of placating and co-opting the nationalists. To his dismay, nationalist groups swept the polls, prompting the Allied Powers to dissolve the General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire in April 1920.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: At the end of the Turkish War of Independence, the Turkish National Movement's Grand National Assembly voted to separate the caliphate from the sultanate and abolished the latter on 1 November 1922. Initially, the National Assembly seemed willing to allow a place for the caliphate in the new regime and Mustafa Kemal did not dare to abolish the caliphate outright, as it still commanded a considerable degree of support from the common people. The caliphate was symbolically vested in the House of Osman. On 19 November 1922, the Crown Prince Abdulmejid was elected caliph by the Turkish National Assembly at Ankara. He established himself in Istanbul (at that time Constantinople) on 24 November 1922. But the position had been stripped of any authority, and Abdulmejid's purely ceremonial reign would be short-lived.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: When Abdulmejid was declared caliph, Kemal refused to allow the traditional Ottoman ceremony to take place, bluntly declaring:


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: On 29 October 1923, the National Assembly declared Turkey a republic, and proclaimed Ankara its new capital. After over 600 years, the Ottoman Empire had officially ceased to exist.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: In March 1924, Muhammad al-Jizawi Rector of Cairo's prestigious al-Azhar University, in direct response to the collapse and the issue of preaching in such an environment, formulated a resolution:


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: Whereas the Caliphate in Islam implies general control of the and temporal affairs of Islam; Whereas the Turkish Government deprived the Caliph Abdul Mejid of his temporal powers, thereby disqualifying him from becoming Caliph in the sense that Islam required; seeing that in principal the Caliph is destined to be the representative of the Prophet, safeguarding everything concerning Islam, which necessarily means the Caliph should be subject of respect, veneration and obedience; and whereas the Caliph Abdul Mejid no longer possesses such qualifications and has not even the power to live in his native land; now therefore it has been decided to convene an Islamic conference in which all Muslim nations shall be represented in order to consider who should be appointed Caliph...


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: Two Indian brothers, Mohammad Ali Jauhar and Maulana Shaukat Ali, leaders of the Indian-based Khilafat Movement, distributed pamphlets calling upon the Turkish people to preserve the Ottoman Caliphate for the sake of Islam. On 24 November 1923, Syed Ameer Ali and Aga Khan III sent a letter to İsmet Pasha (İnönü) on behalf of the movement. Under Turkey's new nationalist government, however, this was construed as foreign intervention; any form of foreign intervention was labelled an insult to Turkish sovereignty and worse, a threat to state security. Mustafa Kemal Pasha promptly seized his chance. On his initiative, the National Assembly abolished the caliphate on March 3, 1924. Abdulmejid was sent into exile along with the remaining members of the Ottoman House.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: With the failure of the Muslim world to find consensus on appointing a successor, the institution of the Caliphate collapsed.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: In Egypt, debate focused on a controversial book by Ali Abdel Raziq which argued for secular government and against a caliphate.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: Today, two frameworks for pan-Islamic coordination exist: the Muslim World League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, both of which were founded in the 1960s.


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: The most active group that exists to re-establish the caliphate is Hizb ut-Tahrir, founded in 1953 as a political organization in then Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem by Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, an Islamic scholar and appeals court judge from Haifa. This organization has spread to more than 50 countries, and grown to a membership estimated to be between "tens of thousands" to "about one million".


title: Abolition of the Caliphate

text: Islamist organizations such as the (based in Germany, 1994–2001) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (1999–present, declaration of caliphate in 2014) declared that they had re-established the Caliphate, although these claims received little acknowledgment from other Muslims.


title: Anti Social Social Club

text: Anti Social Social Club (sometimes stylized as ASSC and AntiSocialSocialClub) is a Los Angeles-based streetwear brand founded by Andrew Buenaflor, who goes by the pseudonym Neek Lurk. As of May 2022, the brand is wholly owned by Marquee Brands.


title: Anti Social Social Club

text: Anti Social has collaborated with A Bathing Ape, Rimowa, Dover Street Market, Playboy, Hello Kitty, Hot Wheels, DHL, Formula 1, FaZe Clan, Goodsmile Racing and Gran Turismo.


title: Anti Social Social Club

text: Anti Social Social Club was founded in 2015 through Twitter. It releases limited collections each year. The inspiration for creating this brand came from the founder's mental health struggle at age 27. Lurk used his brand as an emotional outlet for his depression. The first product was a basic hat with the logo on the side. Shortly after its founding, ASSC became a popular trend. Some notable celebrities have worn this brand such as Kanye West, BTS, and Kim Kardashian.


title: International Boxing Federation

text: The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).


title: International Boxing Federation

text: The IBF was preceded by the United States Boxing Association (USBA), a regional championship organization like the North American Boxing Federation (NABF). In 1983, at the WBA's annual convention, held in Puerto Rico, Robert W. "Bobby" Lee Sr., president of the USBA, lost in his bid to become WBA president against Gilberto Mendoza. Lee and others withdrew from the convention after the election, and decided to organize a third, world-level organization, to co-exist with the WBA and the WBC. Formed as USBA-International, the fledgling organization was later renamed the International Boxing Federation, based in New Jersey, where its main offices remain.


title: International Boxing Federation

text: Bobby Lee had also been a New Jersey boxing commissioner until 1985, when, according to news reports, "he was suspended and fined by the Ethical Standards Commission for accepting contributions from fight promoters and casino executives."


title: International Boxing Federation

text: The IBF's first world champion was Marvin Camel, a former WBC world cruiserweight champion who won the IBF's belt in the same division. During its first year of existence the IBF remained largely obscure, but by 1984 it decided to recognize Larry Holmes, Aaron Pryor, Marvin Hagler and Donald Curry, already established champions from other organizations, as IBF world champions. In Holmes' case, he relinquished his WBC title to accept the IBF's recognition. It established the IBF as the third sanctioning body, and a legitimate organization.


title: International Boxing Federation

text: Despite achieving an appearance of legitimacy, subsequent to a three-year investigation started by 1996 charges levied by former heavyweight champion Michael Moorer; IBF's reputation was ruined in 1999 with founder Lee's indictment for racketeering and other violations for taking bribes in exchange for high boxer rankings. Indicted on federal racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges were "president, Robert W. Lee, 65; his son and IBF liaison, Robert Lee Jr., 38; former IBF executive and Virginia boxing commissioner Donald William Brennan, 86; and South American IBF representative Francisco Fernandez." Lee was subsequently convicted of money-laundering and tax evasion in August 2000, then sentenced, in 2001, to 22 months in prison and fined $25,000.


title: International Boxing Federation

text: In 2000, citing extortion, boxing promoter Bob Arum voluntarily testified to having paid IBF president Bobby Lee $100,000 in two installments in 1995, as the first half of a $200,000 bribe, through "middleman, Stanley Hoffman", adding that Lee had first demanded $500,000 to approve the Schulz-Foreman fight, but had settled for the lesser amount of $200,000 (half of which was never paid). Arum was sanctioned and fined $125,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Boxing promoters Cedric Kushner and Dino Duva also admitted to making similar payments to Lee.


title: International Boxing Federation

text: The IBF was under federal observation from Lee's conviction through September 2004. Former Michigan Boxing Commissioner, WBA vice-president, boxing safety advocate and IBF interim president Hiawatha Knight (October 22, 1929 – October 22, 2014) became president following Lee's conviction, and was the first woman president of any world governing boxing organization. In 2001, Marian Muhammad assumed the presidency, followed by Daryl J. Peoples, who remained president as of 2018.


title: International Boxing Federation

text: The IBF ran the "1st Annual Convention of IBF Muaythai" in Bangkok on 20–21 December 2017. Daryl Peoples, IBF president, attended the convention. The new champions of IBF Muay Thai were crowned in three weight divisions.


title: International Boxing Federation

text: In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Federation blocked championship fights involving Russian and Belarusian boxers.


title: B.A. Pass

text: B.A. Pass is a 2012 Indian neo noir erotic thriller film, produced by Narendra Singh and directed by Ajay Bahl, and starring Shilpa Shukla, Shadab Kamal, Rajesh Sharma, and Dibyendu Bhattacharya in lead roles. It is distributed by Bharat Shah's VIP films banner. The film is based on the 2009 short story "The Railway Aunty" by Mohan Sikka.


title: B.A. Pass

text: The movie was earlier scheduled to be released on 12 July 2013 but was eventually released on 2 August 2013. The date was postponed because of a major release, "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", on 12 July 2013. Upon release, the movie received universal critical acclaim.


title: B.A. Pass

text: The story begins with the death of the parents of Mukesh, a teenager who has just graduated from high school. Mukesh is put into the care of an unfriendly aunt. He struggles to get along with his aunt's family who refuses to provide him with any money. As he struggles to study in the first year of his BA, he also worries for his two sisters who have been sent to live in an orphanage for girls. Mukesh bonds with an undertaker named Johnny over their mutual love of chess. Johnny has a brother in Mauritius who has invited him to live there, but Johnny has no money to get to Mauritius. He tells Mukesh of his dream to leave the country one day.


title: B.A. Pass

text: One day Mukesh is introduced to a cougar named Sarika, a woman much older than him, at a kitty party in his aunt's place. He happens to go to Sarika's home to get apples, only to be seduced by Sarika. She pays him for his services as a gigolo and the two routinely have sex. Sarika introduces Mukesh to many older women who finally make him a male prostitute. On one occasion, Sarika's husband catches her and Mukesh trying to have sex. Her husband then slaps and rapes Sarika in front of Mukesh to show who wears the pants in the house. He complains to Mukesh's aunt that Mukesh had been seeking a loan from Sarika, and tried to kiss her. This makes Mukesh's aunt throw him out of the house.


title: B.A. Pass

text: Mukesh comes to Johnny's house and stays with him. Sarika refuses to stay in touch with him, and makes sure that none of her female friends who were Mukesh's clients entertain him. Frustrated, Mukesh asks Johnny to visit Sarika and ask for the money she owes him. Johnny returns to say that she refused to do so and threatened to call the police.


title: B.A. Pass

text: Meanwhile, Mukesh's sisters are having a hard time at the orphanage. Out of desperation, Mukesh decides to offer his sexual services to men. In the process, he is raped and beaten up by a gang.


title: B.A. Pass

text: Feeling betrayed by Sarika and holding her responsible for his misery, Mukesh barges into her home and demands the money that is due to him. Sarika says she gave the money to Johnny, but Mukesh refuses to believe her. Sarika's husband, Ashok, arrives suddenly, and to prove her innocence Sarika makes an unsuspecting Mukesh stab her lightly to make it look like he attacked her. In a state of shock, Mukesh stabs her three more times till she dies, in front of Ashok. Mukesh then runs away to Johnny's house.


title: B.A. Pass

text: Shortly, he receives a call from his sisters who have run away from the orphanage, and need his help. Mukesh realises that Sarika told the truth, and Johnny has packed up and left the country with his money. He receives another call from his sisters to pick them up at the railway station. Mukesh tells them to wait till he arrives. On his way, he is seen by the police who chase him to the top of a building's balcony. As the police point a gun at him, he gets yet another call from his sisters. Mukesh while trapped, commits suicide by jumping off the balcony and dies on the spot.


title: B.A. Pass

text: The screenplay was written by Ritesh Shah, based on a short story, "The Railway Aunty" by Mohan Sikka, published in 2009 anthology, "Delhi Noir" edited by Hirsh Sawhney.


title: B.A. Pass

text: Director Ajay Bahl had two choices for the lead role, Richa Chadda and Shilpa Shukla, whose work he had liked in "Khamosh Pani". Shukla had recently done "Chak De! India", and since he didn't want to go with a known face, he opted for Chaddha. However, when she was asked to act in "Gangs of Wasseypur", he then suggested that she do that film instead of B.A. Pass, and cast Shukla in the lead role.


title: B.A. Pass

text: This film was mostly shot in the city of Delhi. It was shot by director-cinematographer Ajay Bahl in the bylanes of Paharganj, Barakhamba Road and the Sarai Rohilla area of Delhi, and the principal photography which started in July 2011 in Delhi, after two months devoted to look test, was completed in January 2012.


title: B.A. Pass

text: The film was premiered at the 2012 Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema in Delhi, it was commercially released all over India on 2 August 2013.


title: B.A. Pass

text: At the 2012 Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema, the film won the Best Film Award in the 'Indian competition' section, while debutante Shadab Kamal won the Best Actor award. Later at the 2012 Montreal World Film Festival the film was part of the 'First Films World Competition', where it was nominated for the Golden Zenith for the Best First Fiction Feature Film.


title: B.A. Pass

text: In January 2013, at the first South Asian Film Festival held in Paris it won The Prix Du Public (voted best film by the French Audience).


title: Hurley (album)

text: Hurley is the eighth studio album by American rock band Weezer, released on September 10, 2010 by Epitaph Records. The album was produced by Rivers Cuomo and Shawn Everett, and, similar to their previous album "Raditude", features songs co-written with songwriters outside of the band.


title: Hurley (album)

text: Preceded by the single "Memories", "Hurley" debuted at number six on the US "Billboard" 200, with over 45,000 units sold in its first week of sales.


title: Hurley (album)

text: In late 2009, Weezer revealed the group's seventh album, "Raditude". Compared to the band's other albums, it received a lukewarm response. In December, it was revealed that the band was no longer signed to Geffen Records. The band members stated that new material would still be released, but were unsure of the means, whether it be self-released, released online, or released via another label. Eventually, the band was signed to the independent label Epitaph.


title: Hurley (album)

text: In July 2010, Weezer began recording the follow-up to "Raditude". Rivers Cuomo said of the album, "There's definitely going to be more raw rock energy on this one." In August 2010, the track list was revealed.


title: Hurley (album)

text: The first track and single from the album was "Memories", also featured in a "Guitar Hero" track pack alongside "Buddy Holly" and "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To", released simultaneously with the album on September 14. The second single released was "Hang On" on February 15 to U.S. Alternative radio.


title: Hurley (album)

text: The music video for "Memories" also features members of "Jackass" on backing vocals, and clips from the upcoming movie "Jackass 3-D." "AP" magazine described the high-energy track as "Andrew W.K. covering The Killers."


title: Hurley (album)

text: The string tracks in "Memories" and "Unspoken", as well as in bonus tracks "All My Friends Are Insects" and "Represent", were recorded at the Banff Centre in Banff, Alberta, Canada.


title: Hurley (album)

text: "Hang On", co-written by Rick Nowels, features Canadian actor Michael Cera on backing vocals and mandolin.


title: Hurley (album)

text: The album's closer, "Time Flies", co-written by country singer and songwriter Mac Davis, features a lo-fi, folk-country sound, while also being compared to the music of Led Zeppelin.


title: Hurley (album)

text: The album's cover is a picture of American actor Jorge Garcia, who portrayed Hugo "Hurley" Reyes on the television series "Lost" from 2004 to 2010. The photo itself is a small cropping of an original picture of Cuomo being embraced by Garcia, taken in the green room of "Lopez Tonight" while Weezer and Jorge Garcia were taping segments for separate shows on the same day.


title: Hurley (album)

text: Originally, the band was going to self-title the album for a fourth time, but decided against it, since the band figured most fans would simply refer to the album as the "Hurley" album. Guitarist Brian Bell stated publicly that the record was named after clothing company Hurley International, whose bosses he said funded the recording and provided a studio for recording sessions. Bell later claimed that he was mistaken and that the album was in fact named after the "Lost" character and not the clothing company. However, the group subsequently worked with the clothing manufacturer to create a Weezer-branded clothing line.


title: Hurley (album)

text: Weezer used internet streaming service YouTube as a way to promote the album. Weezer loaned itself to 15 amateur online video producers, "going along with whatever plans the creator could execute in about 30 minutes." The band used many of the popular channels to promote themselves, such as Barely Political, Tay Zonday, Dave Days, Magic Hugs, Fred Figglehorn, Ray William Johnson, and The Annoying Orange. The Gregory Brothers solicited musical and vocal contributions from the band on one of its signature topical compositions—built around melodically enhanced speeches by Rep. Charles Rangel and President Obama. Weezer called the promotion "The YouTube Invasion". With the exception of the lead single, none of this album has been played live, though "Hang On" and "Unspoken" were played at several late 2010 concerts.


title: Hurley (album)

text: The review aggregator website Metacritic gave the album an average score of 68%, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". After the album was leaked to the internet, Weezer made it available for free streaming on the band's MySpace page. Many music sites and magazines used this as an opportunity to review the album before it was tangibly released to the public.


title: Hurley (album)

text: Michael Roffman of "Consequence of Sound" wrote "From the get-go, Hurley feels more personal and at heart than anything on "Raditude"". "NME"'s Rob Parker comments "...it’s got the charm and spark of the Weezer of old, and that’s a quality you just can’t fake." "The New York Times" writer Jon Caramanica regards it as "the group’s strongest album in recent years." Adam Thomas at Sputnikmusic considered it an improvement over the band's previous three albums, saying "Hurley proves that Rivers still has some gas left in the tank." Jeff Jensen of "Entertainment Weekly" regarded it as a "...terrific rebound, a blast of sonic sweetness that finds the band integrating '60s pop influences". At AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted "Sometimes, the quirks become overwhelming...but usually the melodies and riffs are clean, simple, and powerful, hooking immediately and sticking around for a while.


title: Hurley (album)

text: Many critics favorably compared the songs on "Hurley" to the songs from Weezer's first three albums. Scott Heisel at "Alternative Press" and Ben Patashnik of "Rock Sound" compared the song "Ruling Me" to the songs from the band's self-titled debut and second self-titled album. "Alternative Press" said that the song "is a distant cousin of both the Blue Album's "No One Else" and the Green Album's "Don't Let Go", serving as a straight-ahead slab of power-pop." "Rock Sound" said that "The chugging guitars of the verse [of "Ruling Me"] hearken back to Green-era Weezer, which is all very pleasant, but it's the chorus that rockets "Ruling Me" into a different league." "Rolling Stone"'s Jon Dolan called the song "Where's My Sex" ""Pinkerton"-esque".


title: Hurley (album)

text: "Hurley" debuted at number six on the "Billboard" 200 with 45,000 units sold, making it Weezer's sixth top 10 album, as well as the band's sixth top 10 album in a row. Despite peaking higher than "Raditude", "Hurley" sold 21,000 fewer units in its first week than the former. During its second week of release, the album fell to number 24, selling 11,235 copies.


title: 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election

text: The 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2017. Incumbent Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe was unable to run for reelection, as the Constitution of Virginia prohibits the officeholder from serving consecutive terms, although he later announced his campaign for a second term in the 2021 election.


title: 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election

text: Primary elections took place on June 13, 2017. Virginia utilizes an open primary, in which registered voters are allowed to vote in either party's primary election. The Democratic Party nominated Ralph Northam and the Republican Party nominated Ed Gillespie. The Libertarian Party nominated Clifford Hyra by convention on May 6, 2017.


title: 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election

text: In the general election on November 7, 2017, Democratic nominee Ralph Northam defeated Republican nominee Ed Gillespie, winning by the largest margin for a Democrat since 1985. Northam assumed office as the 73rd Governor of Virginia on January 13, 2018. The election had the highest voter turnout percentage in a Virginia gubernatorial election in twenty years, with over 47% of registered voters casting their ballot.


title: 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election

text: The race had been closely watched by national observers. For Republicans, "National Review" wrote that Gillespie's campaign was an important example of whether and how mainstream Republican politics can produce victories in a purple state in the "era of Trumpism" and said that the outcome would affect Republican strategies in future races. Many Democrats believed that the election was a test of whether the party could find its way after losing the 2016 presidential election and several subsequent special elections. NBC News reported that Northam was the "hand-picked" choice of outgoing Governor Terry McAuliffe, and that McAuliffe's legacy and potential 2020 presidential aspirations depended on Northam winning the election.


title: 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election

text: After the primaries, Gillespie challenged Northam to ten debates, but only three were held. The first debate was hosted by the Virginia Bar Association on July 22 in Hot Springs, Virginia. The second was held on September 19, hosted by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and televised statewide by NBC-affiliated TV stations. The third and final debate was held on October 9 at University of Virginia's College at Wise in Wise, Virginia.


title: 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election

text: Polls for the general election varied significantly, ranging from a 17-point lead for Ralph Northam on one end to an 8-point lead for Ed Gillespie on the other, with most polls showing the race within or close to the margin of error. "Politico" reported that the wide variation in polling numbers was likely due to differences in methodology among the polls. Polls tightened significantly in the last two weeks of the campaign with several showing the race tied or within the margin of error.


title: 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election

text: According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Northam's top five donors were the Democratic Governors Association's super PAC DGA Action; Michael Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety group; the Virginia League of Conservation Voters; Michael D. Bills; and the Laborers' International Union of North America.


title: 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election

text: Gillespie's top five donors were the Republican Governors Association; A Stronger Virginia; Let's Grow Virginia; Marlene Ricketts; and Dwight Schar.


title: 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election

text: Hyra's top five donors were Michael Chastain; Hyra himself; the Libertarian Party of Virginia; Paradise Indian Restaurant; and nine donors who have given the same amount.


title: 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election

text: Even though polls in the weeks before the election showed a highly competitive race, some even showing Gillespie ahead, Northam won by a larger margin than expected, about nine percent, and more than 200,000 votes. Gillespie was unable to come back from the large margins in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and Virginia Beach, and he conceded to Northam at 8:56 PM EST.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: The Grumman F-14 Tomcat has served with the United States Navy and The Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF), then Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) after 1979 revolution. It operated aboard U.S. aircraft carriers from 1974 to 2006 and remains in service with Iran. In-depth knowledge of its service with Iran is relatively limited.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: The F-14 primarily conducted air-to-air and reconnaissance missions with the U.S. Navy until the 1990s, when it was also employed as a long-range strike fighter. It saw considerable action in the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf and was used as a strike platform in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq until its final deployment with the United States in 2006.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: The Tomcat made its combat debut during Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of American citizens from Saigon, in April 1975. F-14As from Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) and VF-2, operating from , flew combat air patrols over South Vietnam to provide fighter cover for the evacuation route.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: VF-142 became the first Atlantic Fleet F-14 squadron to intercept a Soviet Tu-95 "Bear" on 23 April 1976. One of the routine tasks U.S. Navy F-14s performed was intercepting aircraft that approached U.S. carrier groups too closely. Soviet strategic bombers and maritime reconnaissance aircraft regularly patrolled near U.S. carriers during the Cold War and were often escorted away by F-14s.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: F-14 Tomcats were the primary interceptors of Tu-95 Bear D aircraft that flew anywhere in the vicinity of U.S. aircraft carriers during the Cold War. U.S. policy was not to let the Bear D come within several hundred miles of an aircraft carrier without an armed escort. During the height of the Cold War, a pair of Bear D aircraft would fly from the Kola peninsula to Cuba every week resulting in frequent intercepts as they passed along the Eastern coast of the United States. During the same time period, annual North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercise in the North Sea area elicited daily flights of Bear D aircraft operating in pairs to locate the aircraft carrier(s) in the area. Operations Northern Wedding and Ocean Safari typically brought at least one U.S. Navy carrier into the Greenland–Iceland–United Kingdom (GIUK) gap during the exercise prompting considerable monitoring by Soviet surface ships, submarines, and aircraft. Tomcats were utilized to provide around-the-clock fleet air defense intercepting not only Soviet Bear D aircraft, but also Tu-16 "Badger" maritime strike and M-4 "Bison", An-12 "Cub", and Il-38 "May" surveillance aircraft which routinely attempted to target aircraft carrier battle groups.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: In 1976 an F-14 operating from was lost overboard near Scapa Flow sinking in water deep. The U.S. Navy, concerned that the Soviets might recover the wreckage and its AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, launched an underwater recovery operation costing several million dollars to salvage the wreckage.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: F-14s provided combat air patrols during Operation Fluid Drive, the evacuation of U.S. citizens from Beirut, Lebanon in 1976.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Between 1982 and 1986, F-14s performed combat air patrols and photo-reconnaissance in support of the Multinational Force in Lebanon and U.S. naval operations near the country's coast. Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) missions were used to identify artillery batteries firing on the peacekeeping force and provided target intelligence for naval gunfire support offshore.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: From November 1983 to the Spring of 1984, F-14s from carriers with VF-142 and VF-143, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) with VF-11 and VF-31 and with VF-14 and VF-32 flew almost daily TARPS missions over Lebanon. On 3 December 1983, two VF-31 F-14As from "John F. Kennedy" came under fire from Syrian anti-aircraft artillery and at least ten surface-to-air missiles while conducting a TARPS mission. The F-14s were not hit and returned safely to the carrier. The next day, Tomcats provided fighter cover for a retaliatory air strike on Syrian positions. On 14 December 1983, Syrian anti-aircraft units fired surface-to-air missiles at a flight VF-32 Swordsmen TARPS F-14 Tomcats. The missiles missed and the U.S. responded with naval gunfire from the battleship , destroying several anti-aircraft sites.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: The Syrian Air Force avoided direct confrontation with U.S. forces, although there was at least one instance when F-14s engaged, but did not open fire on, Syrian aircraft. Two F-14As from VF-11 engaged eight Syrian MiGs over Lebanon; the section flew cover for a TARPS F-14 and was ready to open fire when the four MiGs that were being targeted flew back toward Syria. The other MiGs flew through without engaging.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: In April 1980, F-14s from VF-41 and VF-84 participated in an effort to free American hostages in Iran. The attempted rescue was called off during the early stages of execution.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: F-14s were involved in multiple U.S. military operations directed at Libya between 1980 and 1989. During this period, F-14s shot down four Libyan Air Force aircraft in two aerial engagements over the Mediterranean Sea.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: On 21 September 1980, three F-14s from "John F. Kennedy" challenged eight Libyan fighters attempting to intercept a U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane two hundred miles from the Libyan coast. The Libyans disengaged once confronted by the U.S. fighters.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: In the summer of 1981, F-14s from VF-41 and VF-84 performed combat air patrols in support of Freedom of Navigation operations in the Gulf of Sidra. Thirty-five pairs of Libyan Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers were intercepted and driven away from the U.S. fleet by F-14s from and F-4 "Phantom IIs" from on the first day of operations. The following day, on 19 August 1981, two Libyan Su-22 "Fitters" opened fire on two VF-41 F-14As with an AA-2 "Atoll" missile. The missile failed to hit either of the F-14s and the American pilots destroyed both Libyan aircraft with AIM-9L "Sidewinder" missiles. These were the first aerial combat victories in U.S. Navy F-14s and the first for the U.S. since the Vietnam War.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: From 24 July to 14 August 1983, F-14s assigned to USS "Dwight D. Eisenhower" were involved in Operation Arid Farmer, the code-name for U.S. military assistance to Sudan, Egypt and the government of Hissène Habré of Chad during the Chadian-Libyan conflict. F-14s performed combat air patrols over waters in and near the Gulf of Sidra during the operation. Several flights of Libyan fighters were intercepted with neither side opening fire.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: F-14As from VF-102 came under fire from Libyan SA-5 surface-to-air missiles over the Gulf of Sidra during Freedom of Navigation exercises as part of Operation Attain Document on 24 March 1986. The missiles did not hit the F-14s. Later the same day, F-14As from VF-33 intercepted two Libyan MiG-25 "Foxbats" heading toward the U.S. naval force. The Libyans were outmaneuvered by the Tomcats, which got behind the MiG-25s, but the Americans did not receive permission to open fire. These events and several more surface-to-air missile launches prompted the U.S. Navy to initiate Operation Prairie Fire. F-14 Tomcats provided fighter cover during the operation.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: On 15 April 1986, F-14s from VF-33, VF-102, VF-74 and VF-103 participated in Operation El Dorado Canyon, providing fighter cover for a series of air strikes against targets within Libya.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: On 4 January 1989, two F-14As from VF-32 assigned to "John F. Kennedy" shot down two Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" off the coast of Libya. The Libyan fighters appeared to be maneuvering for a missile firing position when the Americans concluded they were under attack. The MiG-23s were shot down with AIM-7 "Sparrow" and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: In April 1983, two F-14As from VF-102, operating from , were fired on by Somali anti-aircraft units with an SA-2 Guideline while on a photo-reconnaissance mission over the port of Berbera in the Gulf of Aden. The Tomcats were on a prearranged mission at the request of the Somali government but were mistaken for attacking Ethiopian MiG-23s. The F-14s were not hit and were able to complete the mission.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: F-14s from VF-14 and VF-32, operating from USS "Independence", flew combat air patrols and reconnaissance missions in support of Operation Urgent Fury, the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983. Tomcats from both squadrons provided fighter cover for Navy attack aircraft. TARPS-equipped F-14s from VF-32 also performed photo-mapping and post-strike damage assessment missions.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: From 8 to 10 October 1985, F-14s from participated in operations involving the hijacked Italian cruise liner, . F-14As from VF-74 and VF-103 performed combat air patrols with the additional task of monitoring activity on the sea around "Achille Lauro". Members of the U.S. National Security Council devised a plan that involved using "Saratoga"s F-14s to intercept an aircraft that was to carry the hijackers to safety after U.S. intelligence discovered Egyptian authorities were preparing to put the hijackers on an EgyptAir 737 being flown to Tunisia.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: On 10 October 1985, F-14As were launched from "Saratoga" to perform the intercept. The 737's exact takeoff time, route and altitude were unknown; so the plan involved crisscrossing the airliners's expected flight path over the Mediterranean Sea with an E-2C identifying contacts for the F-14s to perform positive identification on. The F-14s positively identified the correct airliner after four interceptions at night. The Tomcats formed up on the EgyptAir 737 and a U.S. Navy EA-6B jammed all of the airliner's communications except to the F-14s and E-2C. With the implied threat of a shoot-down, the 737's pilot chose to land at the NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily, where the airliner was quickly surrounded by U.S. and Italian security personnel.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: From July 1987 to September 1988, F-14s performed combat air patrols and escort missions in support of Operation Earnest Will during the "Tanker War". On 8 August 1987, the first shots by the U.S. at Iranian forces took place when two VF-21 F-14As from opened fire on two Iranian F-4s that flew toward an American P-3C reconnaissance plane. The U.S. pilots observed two of the three AIM-7 Sparrows that were launched guiding toward one of the F-4s. The F-14 flight leader ordered an egress from the area after seeing one of the missiles explode but before any of the American aircrew could confirm whether the F-4 was actually shot down. U.S. spokesmen downplayed the incident, possibly to avoid public and Congressional backlash in the United States to the then-recent operations in the Persian Gulf. Some official statements suggested the F-14s fired warning shots or that the radar contacts were not real.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: F-14s from provided fighter cover during Operation Nimble Archer in October 1987. Six months later, F-14s from "Enterprise" provided fighter cover and escort for U.S. naval vessels and strike aircraft involved in Operation Praying Mantis in April 1988.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Tomcats performed combat air patrols in protection of U.S. carrier battle groups and coalition forces deploying to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield. The "Dwight D. Eisenhower" and "Independence" battle groups, both of which had four F-14 squadrons between them, were the only U.S. assets capable of immediately responding to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and deterring any incursions into Saudi Arabia in August 1990. U.S. forces deploying to the theater did so initially under the protection of naval air cover.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Ten F-14 squadrons participated in the war against Iraq from 17 January to 28 February 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. Tomcats provided escort protection for attack aircraft, long range defense of ships, combat air patrols and performed tactical reconnaissance missions with TARPS. A total of 4,124 sorties were flown by the 99 F-14s in theater. The greater part of the sorties were air-to-air missions, although Tomcats were left with few aerial targets to contend with due in part to the rapid disintegration of Iraq's air defense system by coalition attacks, which grounded the majority of Iraq's air force.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Compared to its U.S. Air Force counterpart, the F-15, there were greater limitations on the use of beyond visual range missiles for the F-14 during Operation Desert Storm. This was the result of the U.S. Navy not having developed the systems and procedures required to integrate its carrier air groups into a joint air component command, as Cold War-era tactics had the Navy operating on its own. Navy fighters were not able to solve the strict rules of engagement (ROE) using most of their on-board sensors and relied on outside clearance such as U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentries to receive permission to fire. In contrast, U.S. Air Force F-15s had the systems necessary to independently identify enemy aircraft from beyond visual range and were given the primary overland combat air patrol stations to intercept Iraqi aircraft that made it into the air.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Political reasons have also been attributed to limiting aerial engagements involving F-14s during the Gulf War. According to accounts from Navy pilots, Navy fighters were called off from Iraqi aircraft so that other coalition fighters could engage them. One event used to support this notion occurred on 24 January 1991, when a U.S. Air force E-3 Sentry did not inform U.S. naval units of a pair of Iraqi Mirage F-1EQs that flew into the Persian Gulf. Saudi F-15s were vectored instead of F-14s that were in a better position to shoot down the Iraqi fighters. Another explanation for why the F-14s did not intercept the Mirage F-1s stems from some of the procedural and technical difficulties U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy assets had in passing tactical information to each other. The E-3 could not directly contact the F-14s in a timely manner since they were under the control of the cruiser , which was not able to get a clear radar picture to accurately vector the F-14s.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Tomcat aircrews that encountered Iraqi fighters found that the Iraqis would disengage and flee once tracked by the F-14's radar and pursued. On the first day of "Desert Storm", two Iraqi MiG-21s attempting to escape from four VF-103 F-14Bs flew directly into a flight of four F/A-18s that shot down both MiGs. According to interviewed F-15 pilots, several kills by F-15s were made in a similar manner, with Iraqi aircraft being downed after retreating from Tomcats.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: In addition to the air-to-air duties, Tomcats supported the coalition's need for battle damage assessments (BDA) and locating Scud missile launch sites by performing tactical reconnaissance missions utilizing TARPS. These missions helped fill in intelligence gathering gaps when cloudy skies prevented the use of space-based surveillance systems.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: On 21 January 1991, an F-14B with its pilot, Lieutenant Devon Jones, and Radar Intercept Officer, Lieutenant Lawrence Slade, of VF-103 was shot down by an SA-2 surface-to-air missile while on an escort mission over Al Asad Air Base. Jones was recovered the following day, but Slade was captured and held as a prisoner of war until his release on 4 March 1991. This incident marked the only time a U.S. Navy F-14 was lost to hostile fire.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: One air-to-air kill was credited to the F-14 during the war. An Iraqi Mil Mi-8 helicopter was shot down by a VF-1 F-14A using an AIM-9 Sidewinder on 6 February 1991.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: The Tomcat faced an early retirement due to budget cuts following the end of both the Persian Gulf and Cold Wars in 1991. However, the retirement of the Grumman A-6 Intruder was impetus for the U.S. Navy to continue to use the F-14 by upgrading it with a precision strike capability.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Following Operation Desert Storm, F-14s patrolled the no-fly zones that were established over Iraq for Operations Provide Comfort, Southern Watch and Northern Watch. F-14s performed combat air patrol, fighter escort, aerial reconnaissance and air interdiction missions in support of these operations until the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. TARPS-equipped F-14s provided Joint Task Force Southwest Asia with the ability to monitor Iraqi military activity on a daily basis in southern Iraq, making the Tomcat a primary asset in Operation Southern Watch.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: F-14s were often part of strike packages when conducting missions in support of Operation Southern Watch. During many of these missions, the Tomcat's long range allowed it to stay on station for twice as long as other U.S. Navy tactical aircraft. F-14s were able to remain on station after other Navy aircraft that made the ingress with them had to be replaced. The Tomcats would depart with the strike package after the pilots of the second set of aircraft declared that they needed fuel.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: On 16 December 1998, F-14Bs from VF-32 took part in a 33-aircraft strike package that spearheaded Operation Desert Fox. The first night of the four-day operation was conducted by the U.S. Navy only. On 19 December, the last day of the operation, arrived in the Persian Gulf and VF-213 joined the air strikes, taking the F-14D into combat for the first time. In addition to performing strike missions, F-14s from both squadrons conducted escort combat air patrols for U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers that were committed to the operation beginning on 17 December. Many firsts for the F-14 were achieved during "Desert Fox", including the first GBU-24 "Paveway III" laser-guided bombs dropped in combat by the U.S. Navy, the first multiple GBU-24 drop by any platform in combat, the first combat use of the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) targeting pod system, the first autonomous delivery of a GBU-10/16/24 laser-guided bomb by an F-14, and the first use of night vision devices in combat. VF-32 alone dropped of munitions during 16 strike missions and 38 sorties during the operation.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Two F-14Ds from VF-213 engaged several Iraqi aircraft challenging the no-fly zone on 5 January 1999. During the engagement, the F-14s were approached by a pair of MiG-23s that turned away before they were fired on. The F-14 aircrews then focused on a MiG-25 that continued to advance and launched two AIM-54C Phoenix missiles at it from very long distance. Both AIM-54s' rocket motors failed and the missiles did not hit their target. All of the Iraqi aircraft were able fly back out of the no-fly zone, although a MiG-23 was reported to have run out of fuel and crashed before reaching its base. This engagement marked the first time the U.S. Navy launched AIM-54s in combat. At the conclusion of VF-213's 1998–1999 cruise, the squadron had executed 19 strikes, dropped 20 laser-guided bombs with a 64-percent success rate, supported 11 combined strikes, flown 70 missions, logged 230 sorties with over 615 combat hours, and performed 45 reconnaissance missions imaging more than 580 targets.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: On 9 September 1999, a VF-2 F-14 engaged an Iraqi MiG-23 with an AIM-54 Phoenix missile. Neither aircraft was damaged. F-14s also patrolled the no-fly zones in Iraq during Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch from the 1990s until 2003.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: In August and September 1995, NATO launched Operation Deliberate Force, and and its air wing supported the operation. F-14s from VF-14 and VF-41 participated in strikes. VF-41 is credited with being the first F-14 unit to drop laser-guided bombs in combat when, on 5 September 1995, two F-14As attacked an ammunition dump in eastern Bosnia. The bomb's targets were identified by laser indicators from F/A-18s because the F-14 was not yet cleared to carry the LANTIRN pod. VF-41 alone logged 600 combat hours and 530 sorties during this cruise.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: VF-14 and VF-41 took part in Operation Allied Force, NATO's aerial campaign against Serbian operations in Kosovo, between 9 April 1999 and 9 June 1999. F-14s of VF-14 dropped 350 laser-guided bombs, in addition to other air-to-ground ordnance. F-14s flew combat air patrol, escort, and strike missions; acted as Forward Air Controllers; and performed TARPS missions. VF-41 dropped the last bombs of the war on a dummy SA-9 surface-to-air missile launcher inside the Kosovo border near the peace-signing site on 9 June 1999.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: After the September 11, 2001 attacks, no fewer than eight F-14 squadrons participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, flying long-range missions from the Indian Ocean to strike targets around Afghanistan and conducting reconnaissance and ground support missions. From the start of Operation Enduring Freedom to the end of Operation Anaconda, F-14s from VF-14, VF-41, VF-102, VF-211, and VF-213 dropped more than of ordnance on targets. VF-11 and VF-143, alongside CVW-7, dropped of ordnance, both the "Red Rippers" and the "Pukin' Dogs" making history as they dropped JDAM bombs from the F-14 for the first time during combat. VF-103 arrived in Afghanistan in June 2002 when combat was scarce, and the "Jolly Rogers" did not get the opportunity to drop any bombs during the operation.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: During the war, VF-213 logged over 500 combat sorties, 2,600 combat hours, and dropped of ordnance (452 bombs) during their 10 weeks over Afghanistan; the "Black Lions" also had the distinct honor of dropping the first bombs of Operation Enduring Freedom. VF-102 dropped more bombs—680 of them, totaling —and logged more combat hours (more than 5,000) than any other F-14 unit that took part in the operation, and the unit dropped an additional of ordnance. VF-211 flew 1,250 combat sorties, logging 4,200 combat hours and dropping of ordnance. VF-14 led more strikes than any other squadron in CVW-8, and dropped 174 laser-guided bombs, totaling and buddy-lased 28 AGM-65 Maverick missiles and 23 laser-guided bombs, and like their sister squadron VF-41, they flew the oldest jets in the fleet. VF-41 dropped more than of bombs (202 laser-guided bombs) with an 82 percent hit rate, which was a level of accuracy that had never previously been achieved in the U.S. Navy.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: F-14s from VF-2, VF-31, VF-32, VF-154, and VF-213 participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The F-14s flew 2,547 combat sorties and dropped 1,452 GBU, JDAM, and MK-82 bombs with just one lost jet (from engine failure). F-14s led strikes on Baghdad, attacking targets such as the Iraqi Ministry of Information's Salman Pak radio relay transmitter facility at Al Hurriyah (southwest of central Baghdad) with JDAM bombs. Another notable mission involved TARPS-equipped F-14Ds dropping four Mark 82 bombs on Saddam Hussein's Presidential yacht "Al-Mansur" (The Victor). F-14s also supported ground troops during the war and acted as Forward Air Controllers for other aircraft. An aircrew from VF-32 was involved in the worst friendly-fire incident in the war when the crew attacked a U.S. Special Forces convoy in northern Iraq, believing they were Iraqi forces.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: During the F-14's last three years in service, the remaining units all deployed to the Persian Gulf region in support of the U.S. forces in Iraq. The final deployment for the F-14 was between September 2005 and March 2006 with VF-31 and VF-213. These two units collectively completed 1,163 combat sorties, totaling 6,876 flight hours. They dropped of ordnance during reconnaissance, surveillance, and close air support missions in support of the war in Iraq.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Before the Islamic Revolution the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi arranged to arm the Iranian Air Force with 80 Grumman F-14A Tomcats and 714 AIM-54 Phoenix missiles in a deal of US$2 billion, out of which 274 were delivered for US$150 million, 150 embargoed after the 1979 revolution and the additional 290 cancelled. In the 1970s Iran looked for an air superiority fighter to counter Soviet air incursions of MiG-25 fighters. In October 1978, two Iranian Air Force F-14As intercepted a high-and-fast–flying Soviet MiG-25 over the Caspian sea tracking it for two minutes and forcing it to abort a reconnaissance run over Iran.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: By September 1980, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) managed to make an increasing number of airframes operational, despite immense problems due to repeated purges of its officers. Some of those officers were executed; others were imprisoned, forced into exile, or forced to take early retirement. The IRIAF survived these times, and its Tomcats were to become involved in the war against Iraq, scoring their first kill on 7 September 1980.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: There is limited information available about the service of F-14s in the Iran–Iraq War. Western intelligence indicates that the IRIAF was in decline at the onset of the war in September 1980, and it is rumored that some level of sabotage was committed on the F-14s by either Americans or Iranians loyal to the Shah, during the Iranian Revolution. Following the overthrow of the Shah, most Iranian F-14 pilots and technicians trained in the United States fled from Iran, fearing their association with the Shah's regime, and their time in the United States would endanger them. Only two pilots out of the original flight class chose to remain in Iran. Their fears proved correct, and many of the original Iranian F-14 crews and technicians who remained were jailed or executed by the new regime. Eventually, several jailed F-14 pilots were released when war broke out with Iraq.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: The United States estimated that the IRIAF was able to keep between 15 and 20 F-14s operational by cannibalizing parts from other examples. The IRIAF claims a higher figure, and was able to assemble 25 aircraft for an 11 February 1985 fly-over of Tehran. Despite the U.S embargo following the Islamic Revolution, Iran was able to acquire parts for its F-14, these came via the Iran-Contra arms deal, collusion with Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: A single F-14 was present during aerial flybys alongside other active combat aircraft by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force at the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Day on April 18, 2022.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: "GlobalSecurity" indicates that Iran flew the F-14 in an AWACS-type role. To counter, Iraqi Mirage F1-EQs flew low-altitude profiles, popping up briefly to illuminate and launch missiles against the F-14s; several Tomcats were lost in this manner. GlobalSecurity also reports that less than 20 aircraft were still airworthy as of 2000, and cited one report that only seven can be airborne at one time.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: It was thought for many years that Iran used the fighter primarily as an airborne radar controller, escorted and protected by other fighters, but later information indicates this was incorrect. While the IRIAF did husband its fleet of F-14s, the aircraft were used aggressively when needed, even escorting strike packages deep into Iraqi airspace. Initially, the IRIAF F-14s flew intensive CAP patrols, some lasting nine hours, over main bases. IRIAF Tomcats often escorted tankers supporting strike packages heading into Iraq, scanning over the border with their radars and intercepting inbound Iraqi aircraft. With the AWG-9 radar and long range AIM-54 and medium range AIM-7 missiles, the Tomcats could be used as offensive weapons without leaving Iranian airspace.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: United States AWACS aircraft observed the downing of an Iraqi Tupolev Tu-22 "Blinder" bomber, and the downing of at least one F-14. Western sources estimate four kills against four to five losses; the official Iranian estimate is 35–45 kills, and 12 losses, all reportedly due to engine failure during combat.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Also unresolved is the extent of usage of the AIM-54 Phoenix missile. Most Western sources indicate that sabotage prevented their use, although other sources claim that up to 25 planes were downed by AIM-54s before Iran's supply ran out. The Iranian F-14s used the AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles as primary armament; Iran is reportedly developing a domestic copy of the Sparrow, as well as the Phoenix.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: In 2004, Tom Cooper published "Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat", based mainly on primary interviews with Iranian pilots. The book makes many claims that contradict previous reports. In particular, Cooper cites an Iranian claim of F-14s having up to 159 kills, and that in one incident, four Iraqi aircraft were shot down with one AIM-54 (The missile's warhead exploded between them and severely damaged them).


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: The first confirmed kill by an F-14A during the Iran–Iraq War occurred before the formal start of hostilities: on 7 September 1980, an IRIAF F-14A destroyed an Iraqi Mil Mi-25 (export variant of the Mil Mi-24) Hind helicopter using its 20mm Vulcan cannon. Six days later, Major Mohammad-Reza Attaie shot down an Iraqi MiG-21 with an AIM-54 Phoenix while flying a border patrol. A single AIM-54 fired in July 1982 by Captain Hashemi may have destroyed two Iraqi MiG-23s flying in close formation.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Cooper claims the AIM-54s were used only sporadically during the start of the war, most likely because of a shortage of qualified radar intercept officers, and then more frequently in 1981 and 1982—until the lack of thermal batteries suspended the missiles' use in 1986. There were also rumors that suggested that Iran's Tomcat fleet would be upgraded with avionics derived from the MiG-31 "Foxhound". However, IRIAF officials and pilots insist that the Soviets were never allowed near the F-14s, and never received any F-14 or AIM-54 technology. Also, the AIM-54 missile was never out of service in the IRIAF, though the stocks of operational missiles were low at times. Clandestine deliveries from US sources and black market purchases supplied spares to top up the Phoenix reserves during the war, and spares deliveries from the US in the 1990s have also helped. Furthermore, an attempt was made to adapt the MIM-23 Hawk surface-to-air missiles that were also a carry-over from the pre-revolution period, to be used as air-to-air missiles for the F-14; at least two F-14s have been successfully modified to carry the hybrid weaponry.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: All in all, the IRIAF was said to have launched possibly 70 to 90 AIM-54A missiles, and 60–70 of those scored. Of those, almost 90 percent of the AIM-54A missiles fired were used against Iraqi fighters and fighter-bombers. Only about a dozen victories by AIM-54s were claimed to be against fast, high-flying targets such as the MiG-25 or Tu-22 'Blinder'.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: By the close of the war, both sides were unable to obtain new aircraft or parts, and aerial combat had become rare, since neither side could afford to lose aircraft they could not replace. In particular, the IRIAF F-14 fleet suffered from a lack of trained technicians, and by 1984 only 40 F-14s were still in service. By 1986, that number had dropped to just 25. The F-14 was relegated to protecting Iran's vital oil refining and export infrastructure; in this role, they often encountered French-built, Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1EQ fighters attempting to attack Iranian oil pipelines.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: One IRIAF pilot distinguished himself in combat by becoming the all-time top scoring F-14 ace. Major Jalil Zandi is credited with shooting down eight Iraqi aircraft. He is additionally credited with three probable kills, bringing his total to 11 air victories. These include four MiG-23s, two Su-22s, two MiG-21 and three Mirage F1s.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: Another notable Iranian pilot was Major Rahnavard, who on 16 February 1982 is reputed to have shot down four Iraqi fighter jets in two separate encounters over Kharg Island. Records indicate that two of his confirmed kills were Mirage F1s.


title: F-14 Tomcat operational history

text: In the fall of 2015, a video surfaced of Iranian F-14s escorting Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers as they performed air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.


title: Taste of Cherry

text: Taste of Cherry (, "Ta’m-e gīlās...") is a 1997 Iranian minimalist drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Abbas Kiarostami, and starring Homayoun Ershadi as a middle-aged Tehran man, who drives through a city suburb, in search of someone willing to carry out the task of burying him after he commits suicide. The film won the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, which it shared with "The Eel".


title: Taste of Cherry

text: Mr. Badii, a middle-aged man, drives through Tehran looking for someone to do a job for him, for which he offers a large amount of money. During his drives with prospective candidates, Badii reveals that he plans to kill himself and has already dug the grave. He tells the people he is soliciting to go to the spot he has chosen the next morning, and either help him up, if he has chosen to live, or to bury him, if he has chosen to die. He does not discuss why he wants to commit suicide.


title: Taste of Cherry

text: His first recruit is a young, shy Kurdish soldier, who refuses to do the job and flees from Badii's car. His second recruit is an Afghan seminarist, who also declines because he has religious objections to suicide. The third is Mr. Bagheri, an Azeri taxidermist. He is willing to help Badii because he needs the money for his sick child. He tries to convince Badii not to commit suicide, and reveals that he too wanted to commit suicide in 1960 but chose to live when, after failing his attempt, he tasted mulberries which dropped from a tree, and reveals that he then went home with the mulberries, and gave it to his wife, which she enjoyed. He continues to discuss what he perceives to be the beauty of life, including sunrises and the moon and stars. Bagheri promises to throw dirt on Badii if he finds him dead in the morning. Badii drops him back at his workplace, but suddenly runs back to meet him, requesting that Bagheri confirm if he's actually dead by throwing some stones at him and jolting him awake, in case he is asleep.


title: Taste of Cherry

text: That night, Badii lies in his grave while a thunderstorm begins. After a long blackout, the film ends by breaking the fourth wall with camcorder footage of Kiarostami and the film crew filming "Taste of Cherry", leaving Badii's choice unknown.


title: Taste of Cherry

text: The film is minimalist in that it is shot primarily with long takes; the pace is leisurely and there are long periods of ambient (background) sound, which the closing sequence shows the crew recording. Mr. Badii is rarely shown in the same shot as the person he is talking to (this is partly because during the filming, director Kiarostami was sitting in the car's passenger seat).


title: Taste of Cherry

text: The film does not include a background score, except for the ending titles. This features a trumpet piece, Louis Armstrong's 1929 adaptation of "St. James Infirmary Blues." The only other song featured in the film is "Khuda Bowad Yaret" (May God be your protector) by Afghan singer Ahmad Zaher, which is played in the background on a radio about 38 minutes into the film.


title: Taste of Cherry

text: "Taste of Cherry" was awarded the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival in the year of its release, tied with Shohei Imamura's "The Eel".


title: Taste of Cherry

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 39 reviews, with the "critics consensus" reading, ""Taste of Cherry"'s somewhat simple aesthetic belies a richly ambiguous character study with an impressively ambitious thematic scale." Rob Aldam of "Backseat Mafia" described the film as "an assured and studied meditation on the question of whether life is worth living". Matthew Lucas of "From the Front Row" wrote:


title: Taste of Cherry

text: Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" called the film "simultaneously epic and precisely minuscule", writing that "it isn't until Badii meets the taxidermist that the film finds a lyrical voice to match its powerful visual imagery. His gorgeous, rough-hewn soliloquy about regaining his zest for life after trying to hang himself from a mulberry tree is a simple, eloquent parable of the senses opening to the refreshment of life's simple pleasures." According to Stanley Kauffman of "The New Republic", "As the film's design becomes clear to us, a quiet spaciousness begins to inhabit it."


title: Taste of Cherry

text: Of the minority of negative reviews, Roger Ebert's in "The Chicago Sun-Times" was the most scathing, giving the film 1 out of 4 stars. Ebert dismissed the film as "excruciatingly boring" and added, "I understand intellectually what Kiarostami is doing. I am not impatiently asking for action or incident. What I do feel, however, is that Kiarostami's style here is an affectation; the subject matter does not make it necessary, and is not benefited by it. If we're to feel sympathy for Badhi, wouldn't it help to know more about him? To know, in fact, anything at all about him? What purpose does it serve to suggest at first he may be a homosexual? (Not what purpose for the audience--what purpose for Badhi himself? Surely he must be aware his intentions are being misinterpreted.) And why must we see Kiarostami's camera crew--a tiresome distancing strategy to remind us we are seeing a movie? If there is one thing "Taste of Cherry" does not need, it is such a reminder: The film is such a lifeless drone that we experience it only as a movie."


title: Taste of Cherry

text: In his own review of Kiarostami's film, critic Jonathan Rosenbaum of the "Chicago Reader" awarded it a full four stars. Responding to Ebert's criticisms, Rosenbaum wrote: "A colleague who finds "Taste of Cherry" "excruciatingly boring" objects in particular to the fact that we don’t know anything about Badii, to what he sees as the distracting suggestion that Badii might be a homosexual looking for sex, and to what he sees as the tired "distancing strategy" of reminding us at the end that we’re seeing a movie. From the perspective of the history of commercial Western cinema, he has a point on all three counts. But Kiarostami couldn’t care less about conforming to that perspective, and given what he can do, I can’t think of any reason he should care... the most important thing about the joyful finale is that it’s the precise opposite of a "distancing effect." It does invite us into the laboratory from which the film sprang and places us on an equal footing with the filmmaker, yet it does this in a spirit of collective euphoria, suddenly liberating us from the oppressive solitude and darkness of Badii alone in his grave... Kiarostami is representing life in all its rich complexity, reconfiguring elements from the preceding 80-odd minutes in video to clarify what’s real and what’s concocted... Far from affirming that "Taste of Cherry" is "only" a movie, this wonderful ending is saying, among other things, that it’s also a movie."


title: Taste of Cherry

text: Since the film's release, multiple other critics have also declared it a masterpiece; in the British Film Institute's 2012 "Sight & Sound" poll, six critics and two directors named "Taste of Cherry" one of the 10 best films ever made. It was also named the 9th best film of the 90s by Slant Magazine. About the ending and its detractors, Calum Marsh wrote:


title: Taste of Cherry

text: On June 1, 1999, The Criterion Collection released the film onto DVD. On July 21, 2020, Criterion released the film on Blu-ray with a new 4K restoration.


title: GothBoiClique

text: GothBoiClique (also abbreviated as GBC) is an American emo rap collective based in Los Angeles, California. It was formed in 2012 by Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Cold Hart, and Horse Head. The group's name comes from a beat that Cold Hart sent to Wicca Phase Springs Eternal. In 2016, the group released a mixtape, "Yeah It's True".


title: GothBoiClique

text: GBC was formed in 2012 through Wicca Phase Springs Eternal (WPSE) attempting to put together a group through Tumblr with the intention of forming a collective of musicians who could mutually collaborate with and produce for one another and drawing connections between the emo, trap, dark wave, black metal and indie rock scenes. The founding line-up consisted of Wicca Phase, Cold Hart and Horse Head, taking their name from a beat titled "Gothboiclique" that Cold Hart had produced, which when WPSE read the name he jokingly tweeted "RT if you’re goth boi clique". The members of the group continued mostly independently for the next two years, despite continuing to gain members. In 2014, the members met each other in person, and soon after GBC became a sub-group of the newly founded hip hop collective Thraxxhouse, a Seattle-based offshoot of Raider Klan. This led to Lil Tracy (then known as Yung Bruh) joining Thraxxhouse later on in 2014, and quickly became a fan of GBC. In a 2018 interview with Pitchfork, he stated that he owned a secondhand GBC shirt that he wore "every day, to bed, in the morning, everywhere" and that he "looked up to Wicca Phase almost like on a stan level". He soon asked Horse Head to ask WPSE if he could join, who allowed, saying "Well, he wears the shirt enough!"


title: GothBoiClique

text: In 2015, Thraxxhouse broke up, however GBC continued to operate independently. On September 25, 2016, Lil Peep was announced that he had officially joined the group soon after the release of his "Hellboy" release. The group released their debut collective mixtape "Yeah it's True" on June 25, 2016. On November 15, 2017, Lil Peep was found dead on his tour bus when his manager went to check on him in preparation for that night's performance at a Tucson, Arizona venue. In 2018, WPSE and GBC affiliates Lil Zubin, Jon Simmons, Nedarb, Fantasy Camp and Foxwedding formed Misery Club, a sub-group of GBC. In June 2019, GBC headlined a sold-out European tour. On June 28, 2019, they released the single Tiramisu, before departing on a North American headline tour. In 2020, Horse Head left Gothboiclique. However in autumn 2022, Horse Head seems to have rejoined the group.


title: Omaima Nelson

text: Omaima Aree Nelson (born c. 1968) is an Egyptian former model and nanny who was convicted of murdering her husband, Bill Nelson. She is serving a life sentence at California Institution for Women, as of 2020. Her case made international headlines due to allegations of bondage sex, decapitation, castration and cannibalism.


title: Omaima Nelson

text: She met her husband William E. "Bill" Nelson, a 56-year-old pilot, in October 1991, when she was 23. Within days of meeting, the couple married, but Omaima would later claim that during the couple's month-long union, she suffered sexual abuse by her husband.


title: Omaima Nelson

text: Omaima claimed that on 28 November 1991, Bill had sexually assaulted her in their Costa Mesa, California apartment. Following this, Omaima stabbed Bill with scissors, then began beating him with a clothes iron.


title: Omaima Nelson

text: After killing him, she began dismembering his body, and cooked his head and boiled his hands to remove his fingerprints. She then mixed up his body parts with leftover turkey and disposed of him in a garbage disposal. Neighbors claim they heard the disposal unit running for hours after the time of Bill's death.


title: Omaima Nelson

text: She reportedly castrated him in revenge for his alleged sexual assaults. She told her psychiatrist that she had cooked her husband's ribs in barbeque sauce and eaten them, but later denied this.


title: Omaima Nelson

text: Omaima was arrested on a suspicion of murder charge in December 2, 1991, and her trial began almost exactly one year later on December 1, 1992.


title: Omaima Nelson

text: During the trial it was revealed that as a child living in Cairo, she had undergone female genital mutilation and sex was traumatic and painful for her, only increased by the assaults she allegedly sustained during her marriage. She was convicted of second-degree murder on January 12, 1993. She was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison.


title: Omaima Nelson

text: Omaima first became eligible for parole in 2006, but was denied when "commissioners found her unpredictable and a serious threat to public safety." She became eligible again in 2011, but was denied by the parole board again, citing that she had not taken responsibility for the murder, and would not be a productive citizen if she were freed. She will not be able to seek parole again until 2026.


title: Omaima Nelson

text: Omaima Nelson has been compared to fictional serial killer and cannibal Hannibal Lecter, from "The Silence of the Lambs". Her case has been televised on the Investigation Discovery programs "Happily Never After" and "Deadly Women","Model Killers", as well as an episode of "Snapped" and recently her case was again put into limelight by a popular YouTuber Bailey Sarian on her weekly series "Murder, Mystery and Makeup Monday".


title: Devotion (video game)

text: Devotion () is a first-person psychological horror video game developed by Red Candle Games. It is set in Taiwan in the 1980s, with a majority of the game happening in an apartment complex in Taipei. The game also incorporates elements based on Taiwanese culture and folk religion. The game was released on February 19, 2019, but was removed from Steam shortly afterwards on February 26, after a controversial Easter egg referencing Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, was found in the game.


title: Devotion (video game)

text: "Devotion"s background music was composed by Taiwanese composer Vincent Yang. The soundtrack was released with the game on Steam as a DLC.


title: Devotion (video game)

text: Players, for the most part, control the troubled screenwriter Du Feng-yu () through a Taipei apartment with rooms that represent various years in the lives of the Du family during the 1980s. The family consists of Feng-yu, his wife Gong Li-fang (), a retired singer, and their daughter Du Mei-shin (), an aspiring child singer. Feng-yu's screenwriting career has stagnated while Mei-shin begins to show signs of a mysterious illness. As the family's financial situation deteriorates, Li-fang has frequent arguments with Feng-yu about whether she should come out of her retirement to help support the family.


title: Devotion (video game)

text: In the midst of the domestic disputes, Mei-shin enters a popular singing contest, seeking to please her parents by becoming a popular singer. However, her performance of her mother's signature song "Lady of the Pier" () comes one point shy of advancing to the next round. Mei-shin's condition worsens after the setback, to the point she's unable to sing. Despite a doctor's suggestion that the family seek psychiatric care for Mei-shin's illness, Feng-yu instead begins to follow the teachings of cult leader Mentor Heuh () regarding the folk deity Cigu Guanyin (), which is based on the household deity Zigu, who could supposedly help cure his daughter and her singing career. When Feng-yu becomes increasingly obsessed with Mentor Heuh, Li-fang attempts to convince her husband to snap out of his obsession, but Feng-yu accuses her of being "possessed by evil spirits". Realizing her husband will not listen to her, Li-fang eventually leaves the family.


title: Devotion (video game)

text: Seeing the downward spiral of her family, Mei-shin asks her father to help her fold origami tulips, believing that she will be healed when enough have been folded to fill her room. Instead, as instructed by Mentor Heuh after a séance, Feng-yu performs a dark ritual by submerging his daughter in a bathtub filled with rice wine, then locking her up in the bathroom for seven days, presumably causing her death. A post-credits scene shows Feng-yu sitting alone in his apartment watching noise on a TV.


title: Devotion (video game)

text: The game is an adventure game, where the player explores the apartment complex where Feng-yu and his family live. In certain sections, the player can also play as Mei-shin. "Devotion" is composed of different levels which each represent a different year, which can be freely switched between through the lobby. The player can interact with different objects and examine them, and read letters and diaries scattered around the home. Players can add certain items to their inventory, which can be used to solve puzzles which often require items from different time periods.