title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Thomas was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to sport and health.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Thomas has been accused of "deceptively" transmitting HIV to a previous partner, according to High Court legal papers.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: In November 2011, actor Mickey Rourke said that he was planning to portray Thomas in a movie of his life; the film was due to start filming in February 2013. Thomas was later reported to be working with a writer on the script of the biopic. In March 2012, on the RTÉ programme "Craig Doyle Live", Thomas announced that Tom Hardy was in talks to play him in the film. Rourke announced that he had given back the part to the producers. The film project later fell through, but Thomas said in 2015 that he was working on a new film with a different writer.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: Thomas was an analyst for ITV Sport's coverage of the Rugby World Cup tournaments in 2011, 2015 and 2019.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: In January 2012, Thomas was a housemate in the ninth series of "Celebrity Big Brother", and finished third overall on the final night. The same year, Thomas made a cameo appearance as himself in an episode of the Sky 1 comedy drama "Stella". Thomas is also one of 8 celebrities chosen to participate in an intense week learning Welsh in an eco-friendly chic campsite in Pembrokeshire in the series "" shown on S4C in May 2012.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: In November 2012, he hinted to an audience of 300 people that he may be appearing in an ice dancing show and in December 2012, he was formally announced as one of the contestants, due to take part in the eighth series of ITV's "Dancing on Ice" in January 2013. His partner was Robin Johnstone. He was at or near the top of the leader board every week. In week 9, he suffered nausea and motion sickness whilst practising his "flying" routine, and was advised not to perform it and afterwards was advised to drop out of the series because of this.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: On 18 January 2015, Thomas took part in celebrity talent show "Get Your Act Together". He features in the Pinc List of leading Welsh LGBT figures.


title: Gareth Thomas (rugby)

text: In 2017, Thomas participated in the fourth series of "The Jump". He withdrew on 7 March 2017, and Lydia Bright replaced him for the final.


title: SpaceCamp

text: SpaceCamp is a 1986 American science fiction adventure film inspired by the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Directed by Harry Winer, story by Patrick Bailey and Larry B. Williams, screenplay by Clifford Green (as W. W. Wicket) and Casey T. Mitchell, the film stars Kate Capshaw, Kelly Preston, Larry B. Scott, Lea Thompson, Tate Donovan, and Leaf Phoenix.


title: SpaceCamp

text: "SpaceCamp" received mixed reviews and is famous for being a "marketing nightmare," as it was released less than five months after the Space Shuttle "Challenger" accident of January 28, 1986 (although filming was completed before the disaster occurred). At the time of release, some thought the movie was trying to capitalize on the shuttle tragedy and should never have been released. However, those associated with "SpaceCamp" disagreed and added they had taken extra care to avoid any appearance of exploiting a national tragedy.


title: SpaceCamp

text: The film performed poorly at the box office, grossing less than $10 million in the US. The script was later adapted into a novel, which did include references to the "Challenger" explosion and some of the kids' decisions to attend Space Camp in the wake of said tragedy.


title: SpaceCamp

text: Four teenagers - Kathryn, Kevin, Rudy, and Tish - and 12-year-old Max go to Space Camp at Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida for three weeks during the summer to learn about the NASA space program and mimic Astronaut training. They meet their instructor Andie Bergstrom, a NASA-trained astronaut who is frustrated that she has not yet been assigned to a Space Shuttle mission. Her bitterness is compounded by the fact that her husband, camp director Zach Bergstrom, is an astronaut who has walked on the Moon.


title: SpaceCamp

text: Max befriends a robot named Jinx, which was deemed unsuitable for space work because it overheated and was overly literal. Max and the robot declare themselves to be "friends forever". Kathryn declares her dream to become the first female Shuttle commander, and is frustrated when Andie assigns that role to Kevin instead to teach him responsibility. Kevin pursues Kathryn romantically, Rudy shares his wish to open the first Fast food franchise on the Moon and Tish reveals that despite appearing to be a Valley girl, she is a genius with a photographic memory.


title: SpaceCamp

text: Kathryn and Kevin sneak away for some romance near the Launch pad, but Jinx unintentionally gives them away when Andie and Zach discover they are missing. During a confrontation, Andie explains that she believes Kathryn has what it takes to accomplish her ambition, and explains the necessity of the harsh treatment Andie is giving her. While Kathryn vows to improve her performance, Zach's conversation with Kevin is less successful.


title: SpaceCamp

text: Kevin takes out his anger on Max. Upset, Max states "...I wish I was in space". Jinx overhears and takes what Max said literally. The campers are allowed to sit in the Space Shuttle "Atlantis" during a routine Engine test. Jinx secretly enters NASA's computer room and triggers a "thermal curtain failure", causing one of the boosters to ignite during the test. In order to avoid a crash, Launch Control is forced to ignite the second booster and launch the Shuttle.


title: SpaceCamp

text: The Shuttle is not flight ready, has no long range radio and insufficient on-board oxygen to last to the re-entry window at Edwards Air Force Base. Andie takes the Shuttle to the partially constructed Space Station "Daedalus" to retrieve oxygen stored there. Realizing that while they have no voice communications with NASA they do have telemetry, Tish begins using a switch to send a Morse code signal to NASA, but it is not noticed by ground control.


title: SpaceCamp

text: Andie is slightly too big to reach the oxygen cylinders, so Max suits up for an EVA. During a critical moment, Max begins to panic until Kevin, knowing that Max is a fan of "Star Wars", begins calling him "Luke", and tells him to "use the Force", which calms him enough to complete the mission, allowing Max and Andie to retrieve the containers.


title: SpaceCamp

text: In the Shuttle, Rudy attempts to decipher the technical schematics to work out how to feed the oxygen into the Shuttle's tanks. His lack of confidence combined with the time pressure frustrates Kathryn, who tries reading the diagram herself and gives Andie instructions that conflict with Rudy's. Andie follows Rudy's correct instructions. Kathryn's self-confidence is shaken as she realizes her interference nearly caused disaster.


title: SpaceCamp

text: The second oxygen tank malfunctions, injuring Andie. Unaware of this, Ground Control begins the autopilot sequence to land the Shuttle – closing the bay doors and stranding Andie outside. Andie regains consciousness and urges them to leave her and take the re-entry window, as the Shuttle does not have enough oxygen to make the next window. Kathryn is unable to make a decision, but Kevin shows himself to be the Shuttle Commander and overrides the autopilot, enabling Max to rescue Andie. Having missed the Edwards re-entry window, the crew comes up with a plan to land at White Sands, New Mexico after Rudy recalls the 1982 Space Shuttle mission that landed there. Armed with this news, Tish uses Morse Code to signal NASA to let them land there.


title: SpaceCamp

text: At Ground Control, Jinx brings the signal to Zach's attention and they prepare for the White Sands landing. With Andie injured, Kathryn fulfils her role as Shuttle Pilot, but frets and doubts her abilities until Kevin cajoles and teases her into guiding "Atlantis" through re-entry and landing it at White Sands.


title: SpaceCamp

text: The film was made in the summer of 1985 and was the last film made by ABC Motion Pictures which was closed down in October 1985.


title: SpaceCamp

text: Lea Thompson mentioned in an interview that after their first day of shooting, they were ten days behind schedule and what was supposed to be a three-month shoot became six. She also mentioned that "We had T-shirts printed up that said, "'SpaceCamp": It's Not Just A Movie, It's A Career.' Oh, actually, instead of "SpaceCamp", it said "SpaceCramp"."


title: SpaceCamp

text: It was released on DVD on September 25, 2001 and later re-released in 2006. On September 26, 2017, Kino Classics released the film on Blu-Ray.


title: SpaceCamp

text: "SpaceCamp" received mixed reviews with 46% of critics giving it positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews. Critic Roger Ebert gave it a one and half star rating, saying that "Our thoughts about the Space Shuttle will never be the same again, and our memories are so painful that "SpaceCamp" is doomed even before it begins." "Variety" says that ""SpaceCamp" never successfully integrates summer camp hijinks with outer space idealism to come up with a dramatically compelling story", while James Sanford of the "Kalamazoo Gazette" responds "Not exactly out of this world". Website At-A-Glance gave the film an even worse review, "It's tough to accept this movie's premise. A bunch of kids are given a tour of the Space Shuttle as NASA is testing its engines. An accident happens, and they, along with their guide, are launched into space. Once up there, can they be talked back down? Add an annoying, seemingly sentient robot into the mix. Add the standard 'two dimensional character development' arc, where each member of the cast overcomes his or her single character trait/flaw by the end of the story. Add gobs of sap, gushiness, and boredom. Mix well, and you've got a first-class mess."


title: SpaceCamp

text: In a 2012 interview with "The A.V. Club", Lea Thompson mentioned that "I've had a lot of people come up to me and say that they became physicists or inventors, how much they loved that movie and how much it inspired them."


title: SpaceCamp

text: In 2016, in honor of the 30th anniversary of "SpaceCamp"'s release, U.S. Space & Rocket Center inducted the film’s cast into the Space Camp Hall of Fame.


title: SpaceCamp

text: In January 2020, Disney announced that a remake was in the works for their streaming service, Disney+. Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell have signed on to write the script and it will be produced by Walt Disney Pictures.


title: John Christodoulou

text: Yiannakis Theophani "John" Christodoulou (born 24 May 1965) is a Monaco-based British billionaire property developer, the owner of Yianis Group, a privately held company with a portfolio of residential, hotel, retail and leisure properties in the UK and Europe. His Yianis Group employs over 7,000 people in the UK alone. As of May 2021, Christodoulou's estimated net worth is £2.35 billion. Through Yianis Group, Christodoulou is reportedly one of England's biggest freeholder landlords.


title: John Christodoulou

text: Christodoulou was born on 24 May 1965 in Nicosia, Cyprus. He came to London as a boy in 1974, as his family fled the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.


title: John Christodoulou

text: After leaving school at 16, Christodoulou trained to become a diamond mounter before acquiring his first property in 1994. He began his business career in Hatton Garden, persuading the landlord of a small jewelers to allow him to occupy a workshop by accepting cut-price jewellery repairs as a form of rental income. Christodoulou then moved into the building trade by taking jobs on construction sites before developing his own buildings with generous bank finance.


title: John Christodoulou

text: He started with a studio flat, and now owns extensive property in London Docklands through his Yianis Group. With circa 2 million square foot of property, Christodoulou is the second largest freeholder in Canary Wharf after Canary Wharf Group, which is jointly owned by Canadian private equity firm Brookfield and the Qatar Investment Authority.


title: John Christodoulou

text: Christodoulou owns 100% of Yianis Group, which owns the London hotels Marriott Canary Wharf and the Canary Riverside Plaza (formerly Four Seasons Canary Wharf). He also owns heritage asset Wool House, a grade II listed former Victorian warehouse in Whitechapel. In 2019, it was reported that the Cyprus-born British freehold tycoon was working on an eco-friendly development on an island off Sardinia.


title: John Christodoulou

text: In 2012, several overleveraged hotel-owning Yianis Group interests that came under the Dania Properties name went into administration, which saw Christodoulou lose the grade 2-listed 148 bedroom hotel Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel in Manchester and the four-AA-star, 895-bedroom Park Inn by Radisson located close to Heathrow Airport.


title: John Christodoulou

text: The value of Christodoulou's property holdings increased by 25% in the 12 months to April 2019 to £1.5 billion, due to a buoyant London rental market.


title: John Christodoulou

text: In October 2021, Christodoulou had been set to take over Cypriot professional football club Omonia Nicosia from current major stakeholder Stavros Papastavrou, a New York-based Cypriot investor, in a £30 million deal, but talks reportedly broke down over the issue of him having to sell the shares on to Omonia fans after five years, one of at least two clauses in the original management deal with Papastavrou that Christodoulou had sought to scrub.


title: John Christodoulou

text: Christodoulou lives in Monaco with his wife and four children. He has a $50 million 74m yacht, "Zeus", previously owned by Aidan Barclay.


title: John Christodoulou

text: Christodoulou won the "Foreign-based Cypriot Entrepreneur of the Year 2013" award from "IN Business Magazine".


title: John Christodoulou

text: John Christodoulou received the Holy Humanitarian Cross of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus in July 2022, while in early August 2022 he was awarded the Medal of Outstanding Contribution in a ceremony organised by the Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus.


title: John Christodoulou

text: Christodoulou is involved in philanthropic endeavours. Inspired by his own childhood, displaced from his homeland as a child, he founded the Yianis Christodoulou Foundation (YCF), which seeks to support disadvantaged children and their families in the UK and abroad, with a special focus on poverty alleviation and education.


title: John Christodoulou

text: The charity commenced in 2017 with donations of £51,842 and in 2018 donations totalled £1,200,559. Fundraising fell significantly in 2019, with just £17,756 raised. In 2020 donations totalled £15,238. Charitable grants made to date are: £260,998 (2018), £112,039 (2019) and £93,199 (2020).


title: John Christodoulou

text: He has hosted fundraising events, such as the 2017 Star Ball at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate where apparently over £1.5 million was raised. It is unclear whether this sum is separate to the £1 million said to have been donated by Christodoulou as the accounts filed with Companies House indicate donations/funds raised since 2017 total £1,285,395.


title: John Christodoulou

text: The foundation has backed heir apparent to the British throne, HRH The Prince of Wales, at a charity event in Dumfries House, in Ayrshire, Scotland.


title: John Christodoulou

text: The Foundation funded the distribution of free food packages offered to the homes of 355,000 members of the Cypriot community in the UK for the in need, vulnerable and elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also funded 6,000 individual care packs for the NHS staff at The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London. In 2021, Christodoulou stood alongside Monaco ruler Prince Albert as he opened a new gym facility for staff of the Princess Grace Hospital Centre which had been built and paid for by the Foundation.


title: John Christodoulou

text: Yianis Group offered two of its hotels for free to home 750 Ukrainian refugees from the Ukraine war, for a year. The two hotels in question are the Radisson Blu Hotel in Liverpool and the Palace Park Inn in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Christodoulou gave support to the UK government's flagship Homes for Ukraine scheme and urged families and businesses everywhere in the UK to ‘get involved and do their bit’. He said he was providing the accommodation for free because "as a child, I know what pain my parents went through", who fled Cyprus due to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.


title: John Christodoulou

text: In March 2022, the Foundation entered into a sponsorship deal with the Tommy Foster Racing team. The team’s main driver Tommy Foster is a Cornish racing prodigy. The team competes in the Le Mans Cup and enjoyed a podium finish with third place in the opening 2022 cup. The YCF livery and support for Tommy Foster racing team aligns with the organisation's aims to support the physical and mental development of gifted young people, especially those from working class backgrounds.


title: John Christodoulou

text: Christodoulou's business practices have attracted considerable media attention. "The Times" notes that "his company has been challenged by residents of a luxury development of more than 300 flats who complained they were being charged sky-high service charges and unreasonably high sums for repairs." This is a reference to Canary Riverside, where Christodoulou was stripped of day-to-day management control over the property in October 2016, with a professional court appointee installed to act in the best interests of the site. Leaseholders were able to prove fault against CREM, a subsidiary company, that they had suffered over many years due to poor management of the estate, in particular a lack of transparency surrounding how their money was being used. Tribunal judges found that the managing agent Marathon Estates (a company set-up in 2011 by Richard Paul, a chartered accountant and partner at accountancy firm Nyman Libson Paul, to manage the Christodoulou-owned estates of Canary Riverside and 1 West India Quay) "has been unable to produce accurate financial information on time, including budgets and accounts, has not engaged with leaseholders and has a muddled hierarchy of command."


title: John Christodoulou

text: Similar complaints of estate mismanagement by Christodoulou leaseholders at 1 West India Quay have emerged in a "Sunday Times" feature on the so-called leasehold property scandal. Leaseholders there have taken legal action against Christodoulou over expensive energy bills, raising concerns that they have been subsidising his commercial interest on the site. In May 2014, they won the right to form a recognised residents' association, despite Christodoulou having hired a QC and spent £74,000 in trying to block their efforts. In 2022, it was reported that Christodoulou had admitted before a tribunal that he had overcharged the 1 West India Quay flat owners by 26% on utilities, wrongly adding commercial rate VAT and a climate change levy to their bills for heating, cooling and hot water.


title: John Christodoulou

text: Christodoulou has also been named in parliament, with former MP for Poplar and Limehouse Jim Fitzpatrick claiming that the litigation and threats faced by the court-appointed manager at Canary Riverside are "little short of harassment". A former secretary of the 1 West India Quay residents' association has been subjected to a defamation threat by Christodoulou's lawyers, as have more than 100 leaseholders at neighbouring Canary Riverside. In July 2018, his lawyers unsuccessfully sought to prevent the then local MP, Jim Fitzpatrick, from raising the case of Canary Riverside in parliament. It had been claimed that Fitzpatrick's intervention could breach sub judice rules.


title: John Christodoulou

text: In April 2020, "The Guardian" reported that tenants at Olympic House, Simpson House and St John's Court in Somerford Grove, east London, were denied a 20% rent cut, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and their allegedly precarious employment situations. The renters are said to have been told by the lettings agent, acting on behalf of the three corporate landlords all “majority owned” by Christodoulou, that the request was “unreasonable” and “unrealistic”. The agent had suggested that “any drop in tenants’ income would be minimised by a reduction in spending on holidays, entertainment, travel, clothes and lunches.” London mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: “This is a prime example of how unrealistic it is to expect landlords & tenants to sort difficulties out amongst themselves,” and that the story is “exactly why” he is calling on government to “introduce immediate measures to protect tenants who go into arrears” because of the public health emergency. These tenants formed an advocacy group Somerford Grove Renters with the London Renters Union. They were later threatened with legal action by the lettings agent and alleged harassment and surveillance by agent-hired security guards. After continuing to make public statements about the situation, several tenants received eviction notices in August in what Hackney Mayor Philip Glanville called a "revenge eviction" and "a direct response to [the tenants] seeking greater security for themselves and their neighbours at a time of crisis."


title: John Christodoulou

text: On 21 September 2020, around 70 rental and leasehold tenants protested outside Canary Riverside Plaza, which is part of the upmarket mixed use Canary Riverside scheme owned by the Yianis Group, to push back against unfair practices by Christodoulou and the government's ending of the eviction ban. Joined by local MP Apsana Begum, the protesters hand-delivered a letter to the Yianis Group headquarters.


title: John Christodoulou

text: On 9 November 2020, former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott tabled an early day motion in parliament urging John Christodoulou to negotiate "fair and reasonable rent adjustments" with affected tenants in Somerford Grove. It noted that "far from entering into negotiations, residents have been harassed and spied on".


title: John Christodoulou

text: In July 2021, it was reported that a tribunal had ordered Christodoulou to compensate four of his former tenants in Somerford Grove £19,000 for renting them properties as illegal HMOs. In June 2022, the Upper Tribunal heard an appeal by the landlord where the tenants won again, increasing the award to £22,500 and permitting an application for costs due to the landlord withdrawing from the appeal at a "late stage without any explanation". The judge noted that the Mr Christodoulou's landlord companies could not produce gas safety or energy efficiency certificates in addition to not obtaining the property licences required by law and concluded from this that "the Landlord’s business practices involved a systematic or institutional neglect of regulatory requirements".


title: John Christodoulou

text: In August 2022, the Upper Tribunal in a different case ordered that Mr Christodoulou’s landlord company at Canary Riverside, Riverside CREM 3 Limited, pay £67,000 towards the legal costs of the independent court-appointed manager and the leaseholders at the site for its “unreasonable” conduct, having instigated a meritless appeal to the Upper Tribunal while conducting the appeal in a manner that was also deemed unreasonable, inexplicably advancing a new legal point at a very late stage in the proceedings that should have been used in the original case, if used at all. The Upper Tribunal determined that “the decision to do so can only have been taken with a view to impressing on the respondents the appellant’s determination not to back down, whatever the cost and thereby to harass and intimidate some or all of them.” The costs order continued: “This litigation is being conducted with the intensity and expense and in the style of commercial litigation … the [Landlord] has full access to the FTT and to the [Upper] Tribunal and appears to be prepared to spend whatever it takes to promote its interests through litigation. The proposed [costs] order is not required to punish the appellant but to protect the respondents from its unreasonable conduct”. In the appeal hearing, the landlord was reportedly admonished by Deputy Chamber President Judge Martin Rodger KC for an “extremely unattractive” approach to tribunal. Mr Christodoulou had sought to resile from Canary Riverside’s management order for independent and transparent estate management and also attempted to force the residential flat leaseholders to pay the £355,000 unpaid debt of a commercial tenant, Virgin Active, which had wiped out rent and service charge arrears at High Court as part of a restructuring and cross-class cram down.


title: John Christodoulou

text: Christodoulou has been described as a "tax exile", and for a number of years lived in the UK enjoying the controversial non-domiciled tax status. He left the UK shortly before then chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling was to introduce a new £30,000 a year charge on nondoms who have lived in the country for more than seven years. In October 2021, The Times newspaper reported that the low-profile billionaire property tycoon had covertly claimed millions of furlough money from the taxpayer despite telling a London audience that he was self-reliant through the crisis and criticising those businesses which did need government assistance. Christodoulou’s use of shell and foreign incorporated companies to secure up to £6.5 million in taxpayer money occurred despite his public comment that “we borrowed no money from the government … because it shows the wrong sign.” After legal letters from Christodoulou's solicitors, Cypriot media outlets Knews, the English edition of Kathimerini Cyprus, and Economy Today apologised to Christodoulou for publishing the Times of London's furlough story and agreed that "it is clear that the funds received by Christodoulou’s companies from state support schemes were solely for the benefit of the companies’ employees. The funds did not benefit the companies themselves or Christodoulou personally. Neither Christodoulou nor his companies have received any loans from the government. The participation of some of Christodoulou’s companies in state support schemes was exclusively for the purpose of supporting employees whose employment was suspended due to pandemic-related restrictions that had been imposed". By contrast, The Times article has not been withdrawn following Christodoulou's legal complaint that it is defamatory and untrue.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The Charlotte metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as Metrolina, is a metropolitan area of the U.S. states of North and South Carolina, within and surrounding the city of Charlotte. The metropolitan area also includes the cities of Gastonia, Concord, Huntersville, and Rock Hill as well as the large suburban area in the counties surrounding Mecklenburg County, which is at the center of the metro area. Located in the Piedmont, it is the largest metropolitan area in the Carolinas, and the fourth largest in the Southeastern United States. The Charlotte metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: There are two official metropolitan boundaries for the Charlotte metropolitan area: the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Charlotte-Concord Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The two regions are identical except for the addition of two micropolitan areas, Shelby and Albemarle to the Charlotte-Concord CSA that are not included in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia MSA. The population of the MSA was 2,595,027 and the population of the CSA was 2,754,842 as of 2020 Census. The metropolitan area is slightly larger than .


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The Charlotte metro area is a major financial center, transportation hub, and entertainment destination. Charlotte is the second largest financial hub in the United States behind New York City, being the headquarters for Bank of America and Truist Financial as well as housing the East Coast headquarters and largest employment hub of Wells Fargo. Other Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the metro area include Brighthouse Financial, Duke Energy, Honeywell, Lowe's, and Nucor. The Charlotte metro area is the largest manufacturing region in the Carolinas. The estimated gross metropolitan product (GMP) of the metro area is over $170 billion. Located in Mecklenburg County, Charlotte Douglas International Airport is the sixth-largest airport in the world by aircraft movements and the city's location at the junction of I-85 and I-77 makes it a highway logistics center. The Charlotte metro is also the center of American auto racing and is home to the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets, and Charlotte FC.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The Charlotte metro is home to a number of prominent higher education institutions, including the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Queens University of Charlotte, Davidson College, Belmont Abbey College, and many more. The primary community college for the area is Central Piedmont Community College, which has several campuses throughout Charlotte and the surrounding region.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The regional area around the city was at one time called "Metrolina", a portmanteau of "Metropolis" and "Carolina". The term has fallen out of widespread general use, though it still maintains a presence and is used by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The term does retain a marketing value, and is thus also used by many businesses in the area. Metrolina refers to the region that includes the cities of Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia and Rock Hill. The name Metrolina came into fashion when North Carolina's other two large metropolitan areas took on nicknames—the Triangle for Raleigh/Durham/Cary/Chapel Hill and the Triad for Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point. (The Triad now goes by the name Piedmont Triad to distinguish it from other tri-cities.)


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Charlotte's most common nickname is the Queen City, often abbreviated as Q.C., a name derived from the city's namesake, Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The term "Charlotte USA" referred to the 16-county region, which includes 12 counties in North Carolina and 4 counties in South Carolina. The term was championed during a marketing campaign by the Charlotte Regional Partnership, a non-profit organization made up of both private- and public-sector members from throughout the Charlotte region. This organization represents one of seven officially designated economic development regions in North Carolina.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Region J of the North Carolina Councils of Government, of which a majority of the Charlotte area municipalities and counties belong, uses the term Centralina in its body's name, Centralina Council of Governments. This term, however, is used only sparingly among locals.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The official Charlotte metropolitan area includes the Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia MSA (Anson, Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, and Union counties in North Carolina; Chester, Lancaster and York counties in South Carolina). The Charlotte CSA includes all the MSA counties along with the following micropolitan areas in North Carolina: Albemarle (Stanly County) and Shelby (Cleveland County). (Census Bureau definition for CSA)


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The Charlotte Regional Partnership also identifies three additional counties to the what they refer to as the "Charlotte Region"—Alexander and Catawba counties in North Carolina, and Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Catawba and Alexander counties are currently part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area or "the Unifour". Factoring in the Unifour, as well as Chesterfield County, if one considers these regions to be part of the Charlotte area, as many in the area regard them as such, the population according to 2018 Census estimates, increases to 3,190,390. If this population was officially used, the Charlotte Area would become the 20th largest CSA, overtaking the St. Louis, Missouri area, and placing it behind Portland, Oregon.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Changes in house prices for the area are publicly tracked on a regular basis using the Case–Shiller index; the statistic is published by Standard & Poor's and is also a component of the S&P 20-city composite index of the value of the U.S. residential real estate market.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is the mass transit agency that operates local, express, bus rapid services that serves Charlotte and its immediate suburban communities in both North and South Carolina. CATS also operates light rail and streetcar lines. CATS is also building a commuter, light rail, streetcar network as a supplement to its established bus transit throughout the region. The LYNX Blue Line runs from Interstate 485, through SouthEnd, Uptown Charlotte, to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Plans are for it to stretch initially to Mooresville, Pineville, and Matthews. Charlotte-Douglas International Airport will be connected to the system by light rail.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Gastonia Transit, Concord Kannapolis Area Transit, My Ride Transit in Rock Hill, Western Piedmont Regional Transit Authority in Hickory, Salisbury Transit, and Iredell Area Transit System in Iredell County also provide fixed route bus services within the Greater Charlotte metropolitan region as well.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The Charlotte region is also served by 2 major interstate highways (I-85 and I-77), and their 2 spurs (I-277, and I-485). I-40 also passes through the center of Iredell County, which is the northern region of the Charlotte metro. Other major freeways include Independence Boulevard (east Charlotte to I-277), a portion of US 321 between Hickory and Gastonia, and Monroe Connector / Bypass, each projected to cost over $1 billion per project.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Other important US highways in the region include: US 74 (east to Wilmington, west to Asheville and Chattanooga), US 52 (through the far eastern part of the region), US 321 (through Chester, York, Gastonia, Dallas, Lincolnton and Hickory), US 601 (passing east of Charlotte) and US 70 (through Salisbury, Statesville and Hickory).


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Primary state routes include NC/SC 49, NC 16 (which extends north to West Virginia), NC 73, NC 150, NC 18, NC 24, NC 27, SC 9 and SC 5.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Charlotte Douglas International Airport is the main airport in the Charlotte area and the 6th busiest in the country. In April 2007, Charlotte was the fastest growing airport in the US. The airport went on to surpass its sister US Airways hub in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as one of the 30 busiest airports in the world in terms of passenger traffic. A new terminal to the northwest of the center of the airport will be built in the near future, possibly as a Caribbean/Latin America international terminal. CLT is also supplemented by regional airports in Concord, Gastonia, Hickory, Monroe, Statesville, in North Carolina, as well as Rock Hill in South Carolina.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains begin along the western edge of the region; the descent (the Fall Line) to the coastal plain begins along the eastern edge. Amid this varied topography, the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden and several state parks (Morrow Mountain, Crowders Mountain, South Mountains, Duke Power, Landsford Canal, Andrew Jackson) offer recreational possibilities, along with the Uwharrie National Forest just east and northeast of Albemarle, and the Sumter National Forest at the southwest corner of the area. Kings Mountain National Military Park is partially located in York County and in Cherokee County near Blacksburg, South Carolina.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Attractions in Charlotte include the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Cultural, Carowinds theme park, Discovery Place, Spirit Square, NASCAR Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Children's Theatre of Charlotte, Actor's Theatre of Charlotte, Carolina Actors Studio Theatre, Theatre Charlotte, the Charlotte Museum of History, Levine Museum of the New South, the McGill Rose Garden, and the Wing Haven Gardens. The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the Mint Museum in Uptown Charlotte are expanding the art venues in Charlotte.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Other places of interest in the surrounding area include the Schiele Museum (in Gastonia), Charlotte Motor Speedway (in Concord), the Carolina Raptor Center (in Huntersville), Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden (in Belmont), Latta Plantation (in Huntersville), Brattonsville Historic District (in McConnells), the North Carolina Transportation Museum (in Spencer), Fort Dobbs historical site (in Statesville), Catawba County Firefighters Museum (in Conover), the Arts & Science Center of Catawba Valley/Millholland Planetarium (in Hickory) the Museum of York County (in Rock Hill), James K. Polk historical site (in Pineville), the Catawba Cultural Center (in York County), the Museum of the Waxhaws (in Waxhaw), Glencairn Gardens (in Rock Hill), and the Reed Gold Mine (in Locust).


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The PNC Music Pavilion is located in the University City area of Charlotte. The performing arts amphitheatre has hosted many popular music concerts. The U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC) is the world's premier outdoor recreation and environmental education center. Alongside mountain-biking and running trails, a climbing center, and challenge course, the park's unique feature is a multiple-channel, customized whitewater river for rafting and canoe/kayak enthusiasts of all abilities.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: The USNWC is only 10 minutes from downtown Charlotte and provides roughly of woodlands along the scenic Catawba River. Olympic-caliber athletes, weekend warriors and casual observers share this world-class sports and training center.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Inspired by the successful Penrith Whitewater Stadium built for the 2000 Olympics and the stadium built for the 2004 Athens Games, the USNWC is the world's largest multi-channel recirculating whitewater river. The USOC has designated the USNWC an official Olympic Training Site.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: SouthPark Mall is one of the Southern United States' most upscale malls, including stores such as Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Burberry, Hermès, Neiman Marcus, and American Girl. SouthPark mall is also the largest mall in the Carolinas and one of the most-profitable malls in the United States.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Other large regional-scale Shopping malls include Northlake Mall, Carolina Place Mall, Concord Mills, Charlotte Premium Outlets, Phillips Place (across from SouthPark), RiverGate, Westfield Eastridge, Rock Hill Galleria, Plaza Fiesta, Carolina Mall, Monroe Crossing Mall, Signal Hill Mall, and Valley Hills Mall.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Concord Mills is unique in that it does not feature the typical anchor stores found at other malls; it focuses more on attracting outlet store tenants. The mall is visited by over 15 million annually.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Alongside enclosed malls and strip centers are several other shopping districts. Several downtowns can claim an abundance of shopping options, along with restaurants and other entertainment, and a few other specific districts have emerged: "Central Avenue", especially in the "Plaza-Midwood" area; the "NoDa" area of North Charlotte; and the "Arboretum" in southeast Charlotte (geographically, south), to offer a handful of examples. Several of these areas are at the center of the area's growing immigrant business communities.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: In addition to Charlotte Motor Speedway, there are plenty of other sports venues, including Truist Field (home of the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox), Bank of America Stadium (home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers and MLS's Charlotte FC), Spectrum Center (home of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets) and Bojangles' Coliseum (home of American Hockey League's Charlotte Checkers). The Charlotte Eagles of the United Soccer Leagues call the area home, and the Kannapolis Intimidators and Hickory Crawdads are Single-A Minor-League Baseball teams located in this region.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Companies with headquarters in the region include Bank of America, Belk, BellSouth Telecommunications, Bojangles', The Compass Group, Carolina Beverage Corporation Inc. (makers of Sun Drop and Cheerwine), Duke Energy, Family Dollar, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Lance, Inc, LendingTree, Lowe's, Meineke Car Care Centers, Muzak, Nucor, Chiquita Brands International Transbotics, Royal & SunAlliance (USA), SPX Corporation, Time Warner Cable (a business unit of Fortune 500 company Time Warner), and Wells Fargo.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Charlotte has gained fame as the second largest banking and finance center in the U.S., and the area's orientation towards emerging industries is seen in the success of the University Research Park (the 7th largest research park in the country) and the redevelopment of part of the Pillowtex site in Kannapolis as a biotech research facility featuring the participation of University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University and North Carolina State University.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: Reflections Studios in Charlotte played an important role in the emergent late-20th-century American musical underground – R.E.M., Pylon, Let's Active, Don Dixon and Charlotte's Fetchin Bones (among many others) all recorded influential and acclaimed albums there. Charlotte-based Ripete and Surfside Records maintain important catalogs of regional soul and beach music, and the area has also played a role in the history of gospel, bluegrass and country music. The Milestone, one of the first punk clubs in the South, is located in west Charlotte, and in the past hosted legendary appearances from the likes of R.E.M., Black Flag, Nirvana, The Minutemen, D.O.A., Bad Brains, Charlotte's Antiseen, and many others.


title: Charlotte metropolitan area

text: A majority of the municipalities and counties in the North Carolina parts of the Charlotte metropolitan area belong to the Centralina Council of Governments. Cleveland County belongs to the Isothermal Planning and Development Commission and Alexander and Catawba counties belong to the Western Piedmont Council of Governments.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: The Germanic umlaut (sometimes called i-umlaut or i-mutation) is a type of linguistic umlaut in which a back vowel changes to the associated front vowel (fronting) or a front vowel becomes closer to (raising) when the following syllable contains , , or .


title: Germanic umlaut

text: It took place separately in various Germanic languages starting around AD 450 or 500 and affected all of the early languages except Gothic. An example of the resulting vowel alternation is the English plural "foot ~ feet" (from Proto-Germanic , pl. ). Germanic umlaut, as covered in this article, does not include other historical vowel phenomena that operated in the history of the Germanic languages such as Germanic a-mutation and the various language-specific processes of u-mutation, nor the earlier Indo-European ablaut ("vowel gradation"), which is observable in the conjugation of Germanic strong verbs such as "sing/sang/sung".


title: Germanic umlaut

text: While Germanic umlaut has had important consequences for all modern Germanic languages, its effects are particularly apparent in German, because vowels resulting from umlaut are generally spelled with a specific set of letters: , , and , usually pronounced /ɛ/ (formerly /æ/), /ø/, and /y/. Umlaut is a form of assimilation or vowel harmony, the process by which one speech sound is altered to make it more like another adjacent sound. If a word has two vowels with one far back in the mouth and the other far forward, more effort is required to pronounce the word than if the vowels were closer together; therefore, one possible linguistic development is for these two vowels to be drawn closer together.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: Germanic umlaut is a specific historical example of this process that took place in the unattested earliest stages of Old English and Old Norse and apparently later in Old High German, and some other old Germanic languages. The precise developments varied from one language to another, but the general trend was this:


title: Germanic umlaut

text: The fronted variant caused by umlaut was originally allophonic (a variant sound automatically predictable from the context), but it later became phonemic (a separate sound in its own right) when the context was lost but the variant sound remained. The following examples show how, when final was lost, the variant sound became a new phoneme in Old English:


title: Germanic umlaut

text: The following table surveys how Proto-Germanic vowels which later underwent i-umlaut generally appear in modern languages — though there are many exceptions to these patterns owing to other sound-changes and chance variations. The table gives two West Germanic examples (English and German) and two North Germanic examples (Swedish, from the east, and Icelandic, from the west). Spellings are marked by pointy brackets (⟨...⟩) and pronunciation, given in the international phonetic alphabet, in slashes (/.../).


title: Germanic umlaut

text: Whereas modern English does not have any special letters for vowels produced by i-umlaut, in German the letters , , and almost always represent umlauted vowels (see further below). Likewise, in Swedish , , and and Icelandic , , , and are almost always used of vowels produced by i-umlaut. However, German represents vowels from multiple sources, which is also the case for in Swedish and Icelandic.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: German orthography is generally consistent in its representation of i-umlaut. The umlaut diacritic, consisting of two dots above the vowel, is used for the fronted vowels, making the historical process much more visible in the modern language than is the case in English: – , – , – , – . This is a neat solution when pairs of words with and without umlaut mutation are compared, as in umlauted plurals like – ("mother" – "mothers").


title: Germanic umlaut

text: However, in a small number of words, a vowel affected by i-umlaut is not marked with the umlaut diacritic because its origin is not obvious. Either there is no unumlauted equivalent or they are not recognized as a pair because the meanings have drifted apart. The adjective ("ready, finished"; originally "ready to go") contains an umlaut mutation, but it is spelled with rather than as its relationship to ("journey") has, for most speakers of the language, been lost from sight. Likewise, ("old") has the comparative ("older"), but the noun from this is spelled ("parents"). ("effort") has the verb ("to spend, to dedicate") and the adjective ("requiring effort") though the 1996 spelling reform now permits the alternative spelling (but not ). For , see below.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: Some words have umlaut diacritics that do not mark a vowel produced by the sound change of umlaut. This includes loanwords such as from English "kangaroo", and from French . Here the diacritic is a purely phonological marker, indicating that the English and French sounds (or at least, the approximation of them used in German) are identical to the native German umlauted sounds. Similarly, Big Mac was originally spelt in German. In borrowings from Latin and Greek, Latin , , or Greek , , are rendered in German as and respectively (, "Egypt", or , "economy"). However, Latin/Greek is written in German instead of (). There are also several non-borrowed words where the vowels "ö" and "ü" have not arisen through historical umlaut, but due to rounding of an earlier unrounded front vowel (possibly from the labial/labialized consonants occurring on both sides), such as ("five"; from Middle High German ), and ("twelve"; from ), and ("create"; from ).


title: Germanic umlaut

text: When German words (names in particular) are written in the basic Latin alphabet, umlauts are usually substituted with , and to differentiate them from simple , , and .


title: Germanic umlaut

text: The German phonological umlaut is present in the Old High German period and continues to develop in Middle High German. From the Middle High German, it was sometimes denoted in written German by adding an to the affected vowel, either after the vowel or, in the small form, above it. This can still be seen in some names: Goethe, Goebbels, Staedtler.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: In blackletter handwriting, as used in German manuscripts of the later Middle Ages and also in many printed texts of the early modern period, the superscript still had a form that would now be recognisable as an , but in manuscript writing, umlauted vowels could be indicated by two dots since the late medieval period.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: Unusual umlaut designs are sometimes also created for graphic design purposes, such as to fit an umlaut into tightly-spaced lines of text. It may include umlauts placed vertically or inside the body of the letter.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: Although umlaut was not a grammatical process, umlauted vowels often serve to distinguish grammatical forms (and thus show similarities to ablaut when viewed synchronically), as can be seen in the English word "man". In ancient Germanic, it and some other words had the plural suffix , with the same vowel as the singular. As it contained an , this suffix caused fronting of the vowel, and when the suffix later disappeared, the mutated vowel remained as the only plural marker: "men". In English, such plurals are rare: "man, woman, tooth, goose, foot, mouse, louse, brother" (archaic or specialized plural in "brethren"), and "cow" (poetic and dialectal plural in "kine"). It also can be found in a few fossilized diminutive forms, such as "kitten" from "cat" and "kernel" from "corn", and the feminine "vixen" from "fox". Umlaut is conspicuous when it occurs in one of such a pair of forms, but there are many mutated words without an unmutated parallel form. Germanic actively derived causative weak verbs from ordinary strong verbs by applying a suffix, which later caused umlaut, to a past tense form. Some of these survived into modern English as doublets of verbs, including "fell" and "set" vs. "fall" and "sit". Umlaut could occur in borrowings as well if stressed vowel was coloured by a subsequent front vowel, such as German , "Cologne", from Latin , or , "cheese", from Latin .


title: Germanic umlaut

text: Some interesting examples of umlaut involve vowel distinctions in Germanic verbs. Although these are often subsumed under the heading "ablaut" in tables of Germanic irregular verbs, they are a separate phenomenon.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: A variety of umlaut occurs in the second and third person singular forms of the present tense of some Germanic strong verbs. For example, German ("to catch") has the present tense . The verb ("give") has the present tense , but the shift → would not be a normal result of umlaut in German. There are, in fact, two distinct phenomena at play here; the first is indeed umlaut as it is best known, but the second is older and occurred already in Proto-Germanic itself. In both cases, a following triggered a vowel change, but in Proto-Germanic, it affected only . The effect on back vowels did not occur until hundreds of years later, after the Germanic languages had already begun to split up: , with no umlaut of , but , with umlaut of .


title: Germanic umlaut

text: The German word ("reverse umlaut"), sometimes known in English as "unmutation", is a term given to the vowel distinction between present and preterite forms of certain Germanic weak verbs. These verbs exhibit the dental suffix used to form the preterite of weak verbs, and also exhibit what appears to be the vowel gradation characteristic of strong verbs. Examples in English are think/thought, bring/brought, tell/told, sell/sold. The phenomenon can also be observed in some German verbs including ("burn/burnt"), ("know/knew"), and a handful of others. In some dialects, particularly of western Germany, the phenomenon is preserved in many more forms (for example Luxembourgish , "to put", and Limburgish , "to tell, count"). The cause lies with the insertion of the semivowel between the verb stem and inflectional ending. This triggers umlaut, as explained above. In short stem verbs, the is present in both the present and preterite. In long stem verbs however, the fell out of the preterite. Thus, while short stem verbs exhibit umlaut in all tenses, long stem verbs only do so in the present. When the German philologist Jacob Grimm first attempted to explain the phenomenon, he assumed that the lack of umlaut in the preterite resulted from the reversal of umlaut. In actuality, umlaut never occurred in the first place. Nevertheless, the term "Rückumlaut" makes some sense since the verb exhibits a shift from an umlauted vowel in the basic form (the infinitive) to a plain vowel in the respective inflections.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: In German, some verbs which display a back vowel in the past tense undergo umlaut in the subjunctive mood: (ind.) → (subj.) ("sing/sang"); (ind.) → (subj.) ("fence/fenced"). Again, this is due to the presence of a following in the verb endings in the Old High German period.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: Although umlaut operated the same way in all the West Germanic languages, the exact words in which it took place and the outcomes of the process differ between the languages. Of particular note is the loss of word-final after heavy syllables. In the more southern languages (Old High German, Old Dutch, Old Saxon), forms that lost often show no umlaut, but in the more northern languages (Old English, Old Frisian), the forms do. Compare Old English "guest", which shows umlaut, and Old High German , which does not, both from Proto-Germanic . That may mean that there was dialectal variation in the timing and spread of the two changes, with final loss happening before umlaut in the south but after it in the north. On the other hand, umlaut may have still been partly allophonic, and the loss of the conditioning sound may have triggered an "un-umlauting" of the preceding vowel. Nevertheless, medial consistently triggers umlaut although its subsequent loss is universal in West Germanic except for Old Saxon and early Old High German.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: I-mutation generally affected Old English vowels as follows in each of the main dialects. It led to the introduction into Old English of the new sounds , (which, in most varieties, soon turned into ), and a sound written in Early West Saxon manuscripts as but whose phonetic value is debated.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: I-mutation is particularly visible in the inflectional and derivational morphology of Old English since it affected so many of the Old English vowels. Of 16 basic vowels and diphthongs in Old English, only the four vowels were unaffected by i-mutation. Although i-mutation was originally triggered by an or in the syllable following the affected vowel, by the time of the surviving Old English texts, the or had generally changed (usually to ) or been lost entirely, with the result that i-mutation generally appears as a morphological process that affects a certain (seemingly arbitrary) set of forms. These are most common forms affected:


title: Germanic umlaut

text: A few hundred years after i-umlaut began, another similar change called double umlaut occurred. It was triggered by an or in the third or fourth syllable of a word and mutated "all" previous vowels but worked only when the vowel directly preceding the or was . This typically appears as in Old English or is deleted:


title: Germanic umlaut

text: As shown by the examples, affected words typically had in the second syllable and in the first syllable. The developed too late to break to or to trigger palatalization of a preceding velar.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: I-mutation is visible in Old High German (OHG), c. 800 AD, only on short , which was mutated to (the so-called "primary umlaut"), although in certain phonological environments the mutation fails to occur. By then, it had already become partly phonologized, since some of the conditioning and sounds had been deleted or modified. The later history of German, however, shows that and , as well as long vowels and diphthongs, and the remaining instances of that had not been umlauted already, were also affected (the so-called "secondary umlaut"); starting in Middle High German, the remaining conditioning environments disappear and and appear as and in the appropriate environments.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: That has led to a controversy over when and how i-mutation appeared on these vowels. Some (for example, Herbert Penzl) have suggested that the vowels must have been modified without being indicated for lack of proper symbols and/or because the difference was still partly allophonic. Others (such as Joseph Voyles) have suggested that the i-mutation of and was entirely analogical and pointed to the lack of i-mutation of these vowels in certain places where it would be expected, in contrast to the consistent mutation of . Perhaps the answer is somewhere in between — i-mutation of and was indeed phonetic, occurring late in OHG, but later spread analogically to the environments where the conditioning had already disappeared by OHG (this is where failure of i-mutation is most likely). It must also be kept in mind that it is an issue of relative chronology: already early in the history of attested OHG, some umlauting factors are known to have disappeared (such as word-internal after geminates and clusters), and depending on the age of OHG umlaut, that could explain some cases where expected umlaut is missing. The whole question should now be reconsidered in the light of Fausto Cercignani's suggestion that the Old High German umlaut phenomena produced phonemic changes before the factors that triggered them off changed or disappeared, because the umlaut allophones gradually shifted to such a degree that they became distinctive in the phonological system of the language and contrastive at a lexical level.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: However, sporadic place-name attestations demonstrate the presence of the secondary umlaut already for the early 9th century, which makes it likely that all types of umlaut were indeed already present in Old High German, even if they were not indicated in the spelling. Presumably, they arose already in the early 8th century. Ottar Grønvik, also in view of spellings of the type , , and in the early attestations, affirms the old epenthesis theory, which views the origin of the umlaut vowels in the insertion of after back vowels, not only in West, but also in North Germanic. Fausto Cercignani prefers the assimilation theory and presents a history of the OHG umlauted vowels up to the present day.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: In modern German, umlaut as a marker of the plural of nouns is a regular feature of the language, and although umlaut itself is no longer a productive force in German, new plurals of this type can be created by analogy. Likewise, umlaut marks the comparative of many adjectives and other kinds of derived forms. Because of the grammatical importance of such pairs, the German umlaut diacritic was developed, making the phenomenon very visible. The result in German is that the vowels written as , , and become , , and , and the diphthong becomes : "man" vs. "men", "foot" vs. "feet", "mouse" vs. "mice".


title: Germanic umlaut

text: In various dialects, the umlaut became even more important as a morphological marker of the plural after the apocope of final schwa (); that rounded front vowels have become unrounded in many dialects does not prevent them from serving as markers of the plural given that they remain distinct from their non-umlauted counterparts (just like in English "foot" – "feet", "mouse" – "mice"). The example "guest" vs. "guests" served as the model for analogical pairs like "day" vs. "days" (vs. standard ) and "arm" vs. "arms" (vs. standard ). Even plural forms like "fish" which had never had a front rounded vowel in the first place were interpreted as such (i.e., as if from Middle High German **) and led to singular forms like that are attested in some dialects.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: In Old Saxon, umlaut is much less apparent than in Old Norse. The only vowel that is regularly fronted before an or is short : – , – . It must have had a greater effect than the orthography shows since all later dialects have a regular umlaut of both long and short vowels.


title: Germanic umlaut

text: Late Old Dutch saw a merger of and , causing their umlauted results to merge as well, giving . The lengthening in open syllables in early Middle Dutch then lengthened and lowered this short to long (spelled ) in some words. This is parallel to the lowering of in open syllables to , as in ("ship") – ("ships").


title: Germanic umlaut

text: In general, the effects of the Germanic umlaut in plural formation are limited. One of the defining phonological features of Dutch, is the general absence of the I-mutation or secondary umlaut when dealing with long vowels. Unlike English and German, Dutch does not palatalize the long vowels, which are notably absent from the language. Thus, for example, where modern German has and English has "feel" (from Proto-Germanic ), standard Dutch retains a back vowel in the stem in . Thus, only two of the original Germanic vowels were affected by umlaut at all in Dutch: , which became , and , which became (spelled ). As a result of this relatively sparse occurrence of umlaut, standard Dutch does not use umlaut as a grammatical marker. An exception is the noun "city" which has the irregular umlauted plural .


title: Germanic umlaut

text: Later developments in Middle Dutch show that long vowels and diphthongs were not affected by umlaut in the more western dialects, including those in western Brabant and Holland that were most influential for standard Dutch. However in what is traditionally called the "Cologne Expansion" (the spread of certain West German features in the south-easternmost Dutch dialects during the High Medieval period) the more eastern and southeastern dialects of Dutch, including easternmost Brabantian and all of Limburgish have umlaut of long vowels (or in case of Limburgish, all rounded back vowels), however. Consequently, these dialects also make grammatical use of umlaut to form plurals and diminutives, much as most other modern Germanic languages do. Compare and "little man" from .


title: Germanic umlaut

text: The situation in Old Norse is complicated as there are two forms of i-mutation. Of these two, only one is phonologized. I-mutation in Old Norse is phonological:


title: Germanic umlaut

text: I-mutation is "not" phonological if the vowel of a long syllable is i-mutated by a syncopated "i". I-mutation does not occur in short syllables.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: Ukroboronprom (UOP; , "Ukrainian Defence Industry") is an association of multi-product enterprises (conglomerate or concern) in various sectors of the defence industry of Ukraine.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: The Concern includes enterprises that operate in the development, manufacture, sale, repair, modernization and disposal of weapons, military and special equipment and ammunition, and participating in military-technical cooperation with foreign states.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: The organisation has the functions of strategic planning, interaction with public authorities, and coordination with divisions. This approach allows the top management of the organisation to focus on strategic decisions and long-term programs of the defence industry.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: Ukroboronprom is currently under state reform and expected to cease to exist and reform into main two holdings of Defence Holding and Aerospace Holding within 2021.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: “Ukroboronprom” was created by the decrees of the President of Ukraine of 9.12.2010 No. 1085/2010 and 28.12.2010 No. 1245/2010, as well as decrees of the Cabinet of Ministers of 29.12.2010 No. 1221 and 31.08.2011 No. 993.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: The main goal of “Ukroboronprom” is the efficient management of Ukrainian military industrial sector and improvement of the effectiveness of the enterprises that are parts of State Concern.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In September 2013, five divisions were created in the structure of “Ukroboronprom”: aircraft industry and aircraft maintenance; precision weaponry and munition; armoured vehicles, automotive equipment, engineering and special equipment; shipbuilding and marine facilities; radar, radio communications and air defense systems.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: As separate divisions stand those, that are authorized to conduct import/export operations with military equipment and wares that hold National Security information. These enterprises conduct international sales of equipment produced by Ukrainian military industrial sector and post-sales service of equipment, maintenance, and modernization.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: Roman Romanov, who graduated from the International Institute of Management (MiM-Kyiv) and has an MBA degree, headed “Ukroboronprom” since 4 June 2014. As a result of his activity, “Ukroboronprom” finally became profitable by the end of 2014.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: At the end-year 2014 “Ukroboronprom” fulfilled all government contracts by 100%. During the second half of the year 2014, the enterprises of the Concern created more than 2000 jobs and 13 more enterprises became profitable. Moreover, over the second half of the year wage arrears to employees totaling to 45 million UAH were overtaken.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: On 26 August 2016, “Ukroboronprom” signed a memorandum of cooperation with the former head of the Agency for Defence Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) Anthony Tetter. He became an advisor on the long-term development of “Ukroboronprom”.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: “Ukroboronprom” was the first among Ukrainian industrial giants to launch the system of e-procurement. Its official start was in October 2014. By the results of 2015, the company saved US$304.8 million, and in 2016 – 476.6 million UAH.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: Managed by its new Director Roman Romanov, Ukroboronprom increased its production by several times and started to provide systematically Ukraine's Armed Forces with the newest weaponry. In 2017, «Ukroboronprom» has fully completed the State Defence Order and conveyed 3 673 units of weapons and equipment to the security agencies of the country, including 2 053 new and upgraded ones.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: For 2014–2017, "Ukroboronprom" has risen by 14 positions – from 91 to 77th place – in the SIPRI world ranking of arms manufacturers.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: "Ukroboronprom" together with the American company Delphi Corporation has launched a new enterprise "Electric Systems". It has become the official supplier of components for Mercedes products.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: The Cyber Guard project from "Ukroboronprom" became the general partner of the cyberforum HackIT-2017. The event was attended by co-founder of Apple Steve Wozniak.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: On 12 February 2018 Roman Romanov announced the decision to resign from the post of the head of "Ukroboronprom". On 21 February 2018 the President of Ukraine appointed Pavlo Bukin as the Director General. Aivaras Abromavičius succeeded him on 31 August 2019. Abromavičius was succeeded by Ihor Fomenko on 6 October 2020. Yuriy Husev was placed as General Director in December 2020.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukroboronprom Concern provided repair and maintenance for both Ukrainian vehicles and captured Russian vehicles. Ukroboronprom Concern also offered $1,000,000 to Russian pilots for every combat-capable aircraft handed over to them as well as $500,000 for every combat-capable helicopter that was handed over. On March 6, Ukroboronprom Concern's Zhytomyr Armour Plant was destroyed causing the deaths of 3 people. On April 15, the Ukroboronprom Concern Vizar Plant was struck with several sea-based long-range missiles. The plant produced R-360 Neptune cruise missiles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and is believed that the strikes were reprisals for the sinking of the Russian warship Moskva, which 2 Neptune cruise missiles were responsible for. On September 20, it was announced that Ukroboronprom Concern and an unspecified NATO member country were to build a factory for the production of ammunition that will be held to NATO standards. On October 17, following the October 2022 Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian targets, Ukrobornprom Concern and the Come Back Alive Foundation independently announced the preparations of a weapon that could "create explosions in Moscow" with a range of up to 1000 kilometres and equipped with a 75 kilogram warhead. It was later revealed that the weapon was an unmanned aerial vehicle and is rumored to be responsible for several attacks on Russian military infrastructure in Saratov, Ryazan, and Kursk.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: The conglomerate was established in 2010 in place of the existing "Armoured Equipment of Ukraine" (1999) and "Technological Military Service".


title: Ukroboronprom

text: The feasibility of combining in a single management structure of scientific, experimental, industrial enterprises and special exporters is supported by the positive effect, that the Concern has shown during its existence. Formation of “Ukroboronprom” made available organization of an innovation cycle "research - development - serial production - consumption (sales) - service - utilization".


title: Ukroboronprom

text: To ensure optimal decision-making in different fields the State Concern uses a concept of divisional management structure. The concept was adopted taking into account current trends in theory and practice of management. Its essence is to separate strategic and operational objectives from industry operational problems management. A divisional principle is to provide administrative and economic "autonomy" of industries, a delegation of administrative powers of heads of divisions.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In 2014 the conglomerate included 134 enterprises of the military–industrial complex of Ukraine. It employs some 120,000 people. In 2012 eighteen of those companies were to be reorganized (Resolution #223, March 21, 2012). They included:


title: Ukroboronprom

text: According to the company itself, China and India are a traditional market for Ukrainian military products. In 2013, the Brazilian Navy announced a potential partnership with Ukroboronprom.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In March 2014, during the 2014 Crimean crisis, the company barred all exports of weaponry and military equipment to Russia.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: State Concern consists of 134 military industry sector enterprises of Ukraine (123 state enterprises and 9 joint stock corporations, with the profits participation rights delegated to the management of “Ukroboronprom”).


title: Ukroboronprom

text: “Ukroboronprom” has cooperation with Central Scientific Research Institute of Armaments and Military Equipment of Armed Forces of Ukraine and leading Ukrainian universities like Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Kharkiv Polytechnic, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, ME Zhukovsky KAU, Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics and I. Kozhedub Kharkiv University of Air Force.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: Best inventions of Ukrainian students are being embodied. Scientists of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute have created a UAV. Students of other universities are actively involved in apprenticeship on the leading enterprises of Ukroboronprom.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In 2016, “Ukroboronprom” began to work with the best business schools in the country. In particular, the International Management Institute and Kyiv-Mohyla Business School. Senior management, management of the average level plants and industrials undergo training.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: At the end of 2017 "Ukroboronprom" and Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute opened a new master's program “Management in the field of defence and industrial complex”.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In 2017, a series of MBA curricula for “Ukroboronprom” specialists was completed, including a partnership with the US Thunderbird School of Global Management and the International Management Institute in Kyiv.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In the summer of 2016, “Ukroboronprоm” presented multipurpose unmanned aircraft complex “Gorlytsa” and tactical unmanned multipurpose vehicle “Phantom”.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: On September 28, 2016, at the international exhibition of armaments “ADEX-2016” in Azerbaijan, the State Concern introduced a new combat module “Taipan” which specifications meet the highest Western standards.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In 2016, “Ukroboronprom” also developed and presented a digital fire control system “Myslyvets”, combat modules “Duplet” and “Kastet”, 60 mm mortar KBA.118, and transport aircraft An-132.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: At the beginning of 2017, “Ukroboronprom” agreed with the American company “Aeroscraft” on co-production of automatic M16 rifle (model WAC47) that meets NATO standards.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: As of October, 1st, 2019, no weapon of this type and model has been produced, confirming the inappropriate technical choices voiced by many experts.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In March 2017, the newest multipurpose transport aircraft An-132 successfully made its first flight. “Ukroboronprom” agreed with the companies TAQNIA (Saudi Arabia) and Havelsan (Turkey) to develop a new modification of the aircraft for the marine patrol.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: At the 13th International exhibition of military equipment “IDEF-2017” in Istanbul, “Ukroboronprom” introduced a new portable grenade launcher.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In 2017, “Ukroboronprom” successfully implemented a number of international projects. Together with the American company Aeroscraft, it introduced the automatic carbine M4-WAC-47 according to NATO standards. It can be adapted for a variety of calibers, including 5.56x45 NATO. As of October 1, 2019, no weapon of this type and model has been produced, confirming the inappropriate technical choices voiced by many experts.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: Two Ukrainian-Polish projects have also been created and demonstrated: main battle tank PT-17 and multiple launch rocket system ZRN-01 Stokrotka.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In 2017, "Ukroboronprom" successfully tested a new Ukrainian missile complex "Vilkha". Unique shells of missiles are made from superstructural alloys on the new technological line of “Ukroboronprom".


title: Ukroboronprom

text: On 4 November 2022, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov has announced that Ukroboronprom will start manufacturing shells at 152 and 122mm calibre for its Soviet era weapons.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: On 18 November 2022, Ukroboronprom signed an agreement to manufacture and develop weapons with other NATO countries including: Poland, Czech Republic, France, Denmark and two unknown countries subject to a non disclosure agreement. The statement said: “We are creating joint defense enterprises, building closed-cycle ammunition production lines, jointly producing armored vehicles and multiple launch rocket systems, and jointly developing new high-tech weapons. To do this, we use both existing facilities and newly created ones in safe places,”


title: Ukroboronprom

text: “Ukroboronprom” actively works with foreign partners and has signed contracts to deploy production in Ukraine. For example, “Ukroboronprom” and Polish company Lubawa SA signed a memorandum on the establishment of new joint ventures in Ukraine, that will get 1 million euros investment.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: At the international exhibition “Arms and Security 2015” in Kyiv, “Ukroboronprom” agreed on cooperation with the American company “Textron” in the production of heavy armored vehicles. The cooperation between “Antonov” and Polish company “WB Electronics” was also agreed. Ukraine will use the technology of the Polish company to develop a new tactical unmanned aviation complex for the Armed Forces.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: At one of the largest Asian international defence exhibition “Defence & Security 2015”, “Ukroboronprom” signed an agreement with the enterprise authorized by the Ministry of Defence of Thailand to manufacture modern Ukrainian BTR-3E1 and ensure its service in the Kingdom.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: At the International Aviation Salon Dubai Air Show in 2015, “Antonov” and the company “Taqnia Aeronautics” signed two memorandums on cooperation in promoting 4 sanitary AN-148-100, 4 reconnaissance and rescue variants of the AN-132, and 2 devices for producing of radio interference based on the aircraft to the market of Saudi Arabia.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In 2016, “Antonov” and “Taqnia Aeronautics” signed an agreement on cooperation on the construction of aircraft complex and production of An-132 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: The result of one of the largest international exhibitions “DefExpo 2016” was the agreement on large-scale partnership in military-technical sphere with the Indian company “Reliance Defence Limited”. The parties signed three agreements in the sphere of aircraft and aircraft repair, modernization of armored vehicles, maintenance of marine engineering, production and supply of drones.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: During the International Aerospace Salon “Farnborough Airshow 2016” in the UK, “Antonov” signed two contracts with the Canadian company “Esterline CMC Electronics”. Under the contracts, transport aircraft An-124 and An-148/158/178 will be equipped with modern avionics. In addition, “Antonov” and “General Electric” have agreed on modernization of Ukrainian planes. The company also signed a memorandum with “Pratt & Whitney Canada”.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: “Ukroboronprom” also cooperates with NATO. Priority of cooperation is the development of a roadmap for Ukrainian defence industry transition to NATO standards, and deep partnership with EU member countries. In 2016, for the first time in the history of Ukraine, the Day of the Ukrainian defence industry was held in NATO Headquarters (Brussels, Belgium) and the headquarters of NATO Support and Procurement Agency (Kappelen, Luxembourg). “Ukroboronprom” presented its products there including a number of new projects.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: At the LAAD-2017 Defence & Security held in April 2017 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, “Ukroboronprom” agreed on cooperation in aircraft and unmanned vehicles, radio intelligence and heavy armored vehicles with Central and South America countries.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: At the international exhibition of arms IDEF-2017 in May 2017 in Turkey, the State Concern has agreed on direct cooperation with Undersecretary for Defense Industries under the Ministry of National Defence of Turkey. “Ukroboronprom” also signed the agreements with Turkish companies Aselsan, MKEK, TAI.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: On July 10, 2017, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg highly appreciated “Antonov” transport aircraft during his visit to Kyiv. He discussed with the head of “Ukroboronprom” Roman Romanov the prospects for expanding the SALIS program on strategic transport activities for the member countries of NATO and speeding up the transition of the “Ukroboronprom” enterprises to produce products according to the NATO standards.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In the annual world rating of arms manufacturers of the analytical edition Defense News, “Ukroboronprom” took 62nd place. Western analysts have noted high rates of increase in production of modern military equipment. In 2016, “Ukroboronprom” took 68th place, while in 2015 – 92nd place.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In 2017, "Ukroboronprom" first participated in the international defence exhibition AUSA-2017 in the USA. "Ukroboronprom" introduced machinery, manufactured according to world standards. In particular, it presented an improved version of the unmanned armored personnel carrier "Phantom-2".


title: Ukroboronprom

text: The latest achievements of the aviation cluster "Ukroboronprom" demonstrated at Dubai Airshow 2017 in the UAE.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In 2016, “Ukroboronprom” developed a strategy for reforming military-industrial complex of Ukraine. It consists of five key initiatives: corporatization, clustering, audit, a platform of innovations, and technologies protection. In 2016, Aircraft Corporation has been already created on the basis of “Antonov”. Four clusters are in the process of creation: armored vehicles, shipbuilding, high-precision weapon systems, radar, electronic warfare and communications. A technical task for an independent audit by leading international consulting and auditing companies was developed.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In May 2017, “Ukroboronprom” presented a new website presenting the strategy for reforming of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine – reformdefence.com. The site contains all important materials for each of the areas of strategy: corporatization, clustering, audit, technologies protection, and launch of the General Advanced Research and Development Agency (GARDA) that will be a platform to bring together developers, startups, investment funds, and military.


title: Ukroboronprom

text: In November 2017, “Ukroboronprom” launched a new phase of reform – an international audit. A tender committee is formed to choose a consulting company. A Transparency International - Ukraine specialist is a member of the committee.


title: Korobeiniki

text: "Korobeiniki" () is a nineteenth-century Russian folk song that tells the story of a meeting between a peddler and a girl, describing their haggling over goods in a metaphor for courtship.


title: Korobeiniki

text: Outside Russia, "Korobeiniki" is widely known as the "Tetris" theme tune (titled "A-Type" in the game), from its appearance in Nintendo's Game Boy version of the game as arranged by the Japanese composer Hirokazu Tanaka in 1989.


title: Korobeiniki

text: The song "Korobeiniki" is based on a poem of the same name by Nikolay Nekrasov, which was first printed in the "Sovremennik" magazine in 1861. Its increasing tempo and the associated dance style led to it quickly becoming a popular Russian folk song.


title: Korobeiniki

text: Korobeiniki were peddlers with trays, who sold fabric, haberdashery, books and other small items in pre-revolutionary Russia. Nekrasov's much longer poem tells the story of a young peddler who seduces a peasant girl named Katya one night in a field of rye. He offers her some of his wares as gifts in exchange for a kiss and, as it is implied, sexual favours. She rejects all but one of his gifts, a turquoise ring, reasoning that having his wares but not him would be unbearable. The next morning, he pledges to marry her when he returns from selling his wares at the market. The song's narrative ends here; however, the poem concludes with the peddler being robbed and killed by a forest ranger whom he asks for directions while returning home with the profits made during his successful day at the market.


title: Korobeiniki

text: The official "Tetris" website wrote that Korobeiniki was "memorable enough on its own as both a poem and folk tune", independent of its adaption into the "Tetris" theme.


title: Korobeiniki

text: After arrangements of "Korobeiniki" first appeared in Spectrum Holobyte's Apple IIgs and Mac versions of "Tetris", the song was re-arranged in 1989 by Hirokazu Tanaka as the "Type A" accompaniment in Nintendo's Game Boy version 1.1. It has since become closely associated with the game in Western popular culture. In 2008, UGO listed the song as the 3rd best videogame music of all time.


title: Korobeiniki

text: Though The Tetris Company holds a sound trademark on this variation of the song for use in video games, the song has appeared in "Dance Maniax 2nd Mix" under the title "Happy-hopper".


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Preston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama series "The Wire", played by actor J. D. Williams. Bodie is initially a rough, low-level drug dealer, but matures throughout the series and slowly rises through the ranks. Bodie is an intelligent and disciplined lieutenant, showing strong loyalty to the Barksdale Organization even after most of its members are imprisoned or killed.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Bodie is a relatively goodhearted character who sticks to his principles, but at times he can be violent, such as when he takes part in the murder of a friend and fellow dealer on orders from Stringer Bell. His relationship with the police is also dynamic. He is initially hostile towards all police, but eventually earns the respect of Officer Jimmy McNulty. Bodie, Savino, and Poot are the only characters to move from the Barksdale Organization to the Marlo Stanfield crew.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Preston "Bodie" Broadus was raised by his grandmother after his mother fell into addiction and homelessness, dying when he was four years old. Bodie's grandmother says that when she took him in, "he was only four, but even then, I knew he was angry." He began working with the Barksdales at age 13. His older brother James was also a gangster, but was killed early in Bodie's life, depriving him of immediate familial support.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Bodie, aged 16, worked under D'Angelo Barksdale in the low-rise projects known as "The Pit", with his friends Poot and Wallace. He was a more prominent member of the area, and was also more openly violent and hostile than his peers. This caused Bodie to chafe under D'Angelo's soft style of leadership and lead him to sometimes challenge his authority. When The Pit's stash was robbed, he made a positive impression on Stringer Bell by noticing the name of the stick-up artist, Omar Little, and describing the van.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Bodie often displayed a quick, violent temper; he instigated the severe beating of drug addict Johnny Weeks after he buys heroin from them with fake money. In a later conversation in which D'Angelo tries to emphasize decent treatment of the customers, Bodie is unsympathetic; this is perhaps because of his mother's addiction-fueled negligence while she was still alive. Later, Bodie punched Detective Mahon while being searched. Bodie received a beating for this, from Detectives Hauk, Greggs and Carver.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: He was arrested, but almost immediately after arriving at a juvenile detention facility, he walked out, stole a car, and was soon back in Baltimore dealing again. He became a personal target of Herc and Carver, who picked him up in the pit and gave him a second beating. However, while waiting for prisoner transfer, they softened towards him over a game of pool. The Barksdale Organization's lawyer, Maurice Levy, soon convinced a judge to release Bodie. Herc and Carver were incredulous at this, but when they realized he had legitimately beaten the charges against him (thanks to Levy), they relented.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Later, Bodie was tasked by Stringer Bell to murder his erstwhile friend Wallace after Avon Barksdale decided to eliminate anyone who might talk to the police. Bodie's willingness to carry out the hit further impressed Stringer. He gathered Poot with little hesitation to aid him in his job. During the lead up to the hit, Bodie was the more confident of the two; however, when they cornered a fearful Wallace, who pleaded with his friends, Bodie showed much hesitation. Only after Poot told him to finish it did he pull the trigger. Poot then took the gun and finished Wallace off. After the arrest of his one-time mentor and crew chief D'Angelo, Bodie's leadership skills shone and he stepped into the position by gathering The Pit's members to physically force away a rival drug gang.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Stringer began entrusting Bodie with more difficult tasks, such as picking up the main supply in Philadelphia, and assigned him one of the prized Franklin Terrace Towers to run. Poot was assigned to run the pit and he reported to Bodie. They faced problems with poor quality product because the Barksdales' favored New York City suppliers severed ties following Avon's arrest. Bodie came up with considered suggestions to work around the problem at Stringer's meetings.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: When Stringer entered a deal with Proposition Joe to give away some of the Barksdale territory for Proposition Joe's superior heroin, Bodie tried to find new territory and steal it from another crew. This resulted in the other crew's starting a gunfight, which resulted in the accidental death of a child. After failing to adequately dispose of the guns, Bodie was picked up and interrogated by detectives Ed Norris and Ray Cole in connection with the crime. They attempted to bluff a confession out of him, but he saw through their trick and was released.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: The Franklin Towers were demolished and Avon Barksdale was released from prison. Western District Major Colvin tried to deal with the spread of the drug problem by offering "drug zones" where dealers and users would go unpunished. Bodie worked in one such zone nicknamed "Hamsterdam"; this brought him back into contact with Herc and Carver, now working in the Western District. When the police made their inevitable move to shut down the free zones, Detectives McNulty and Greggs tried to arrest Bodie for possession.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Bodie, having already once been stopped but quickly released by McNulty on his way into Hamsterdam, displayed his characteristically sharp mind during interrogation and cited entrapment (or "contrapment" as he mistakenly put it) leading to wrongful arrest, leaving an impressed McNulty and Pearlman no choice but to let him go. He also helped Dennis "Cutty" Wise to contact Avon Barksdale on several occasions; the two appeared to have a rapport and mutual respect most likely derived from Cutty's having known Bodie's older brother.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: The Barksdale organization became embroiled in a turf war with Marlo Stanfield's crew. Although Bodie's crew was badly beaten, Bodie himself was not present at the time of the assault. The escalating murder rate brought further police attention. Avon was sent back to prison, Stringer was murdered, and the gang was scattered. Bodie was one of the few prominent Barksdale members not present at the home-base, which spared him from the weapons charges.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Bodie was forced onto a less-desirable corner due to the Stanfield Organization's complete control of what used to be the Barksdale Organization's territories. His newest crew included his second in command Curtis "Lex" Anderson, Little Kevin and Reesy; he employed Namond Brice as a runner out of respect for his father's reputation, despite Namond's poor attitude and lack of street skills. He tried to tempt Michael Lee, a far more effective runner, to take a permanent position at his corner, but Michael declined.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Bodie's experience and intelligence allowed him to build up a solid business in his out-of-the-way corner, even with a lack of muscle and experienced support, as he was able to hire only younger dealers and inexperienced students like Namond. He continued to have dealings with Carver and McNulty, since his operation was within the Western District, and was considered a source of information for the two; this was shown most when they immediately came to him in confidence after Lex's disappearance. After being released from prison midway through the season, Bodie's oldest surviving colleague Poot returned and helped Bodie by working on his corner.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Bodie was supplied quality product by ex-Barksdale enforcer Slim Charles, now working for Proposition Joe. Slim's connections and support helped Bodie build his corner into a good drug market. Chris Partlow and Marlo noticed this and offered Bodie an ultimatum: let Marlo's operation take over the corner by force, or remain but work Marlo's less profitable heroin package. Bodie had no muscle in his crew, and even after seeking out Slim Charles, still submitted, though enraged. He ultimately agreed to selling the package offered by Marlo after realizing that he would receive no support in defying Marlo.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: In a fit of romantic jealousy, Bodie's subordinate, Lex, murdered his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, a Stanfield dealer known as Fruit. In retribution, Stanfield enforcers Chris and Snoop executed Lex, in an ambush he was lured into by his co-worker Little Kevin, with the unwitting assistance of Randy Wagstaff. Little Kevin in turn was executed by the pair weeks later because of his failure to follow directions to the letter. Bodie felt that Marlo was violating the rules of the drug trade, yet he was unaware of Little Kevin's betrayal of Lex.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: He sought out Poot for advice on the matter, but his old colleague disagreed with his resistant stance, saying when they killed Wallace, it was just as unjustified. Bodie, however, remained certain that Wallace's death was necessary, as it involved betrayal, whereas Marlo's murders were on the basis of ruthless killings. After Little Kevin's body was discovered, Bodie was arrested for kicking in the windows of a police car in rage; he was responsible for advising Little Kevin to go see Marlo after the latter asked for his audience.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: He was released on the recommendation of McNulty, who hoped to turn Bodie as an informant against Marlo. Bodie expressed resistance to giving information on his former Barksdale allies, but was eager to talk about Marlo's crew. McNulty had an increasing respect for Bodie which had been developing since Season 1; this and their unified hatred of everything Marlo had done ultimately convinced Bodie that he needed to step up in order to stop the wave of ruthless murder that Marlo had been causing.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Bodie was seen getting into McNulty's car by Monk, one of Marlo's lieutenants, who later relayed this information to Marlo, who swiftly ordered his death. Later that night, Bodie was dealing with Poot and Spider when Chris and Snoop set up an ambush. Bodie decided to take a last stand, causing an unarmed Spider to retreat. Throughout the fourth season, Chris and Snoop murdered various people by taking them into abandoned houses.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: All of the victims put up a minimal fight and were dispatched with ease. Bodie decided to be the sole exception to this and shouted "you ain't putting me in one of them empty-ass houses neither". Poot tried to reason with Bodie but Bodie refused to retreat, either through pride in standing his ground or out of fear about dying unnoticed and rotting in a vacant house. After Poot realized he could not convince him otherwise, he retreated.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: Shortly after Poot's departure, while Bodie was still focused on Chris and Snoop, Darius “O-Dog” Hill emerged from a doorway behind Bodie and shot him twice in the head, killing him. When McNulty learned of Bodie's death, he approached Poot, pretending to frisk him while asking him about what happened to Bodie, and was horrified to learn that truth, that Bodie was seen getting into McNulty's car, and that led to his murder.


title: Bodie Broadus

text: McNulty, having developed a genuine respect for Bodie throughout the season, was stricken with guilt. Bodie's death was what ultimately convinced McNulty to return to the Major Crime Unit, as he wished to catch Marlo and end his violent ways.


title: Pierre van Hooijdonk

text: Pierre van Hooijdonk (; born 29 November 1969) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker. He had spells with clubs across Europe where he was a prolific goal scorer. Van Hooijdonk was capped 46 times for the Dutch national team, for which he scored 14 goals and played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. Noted for his bending free kicks, he is regarded by some as one of the greatest free kick specialists of all time.


title: Pierre van Hooijdonk

text: Van Hooijdonk was born in Steenbergen. His Moroccan biological father left Van Hooijdonk's mother before his birth. He grew up in Welberg (), a small village near Steenbergen. His favourite team was NAC Breda whose game he followed wholeheartedly. At 11 years old, while playing with local team SC Welberg's youth squad, he took part in a trial on the NAC open day, impressed their scouts and joined the club. At that time he played mainly as a right midfielder; when he was 14, he was cut from NAC's academy and he went into amateur football with VV Steenbergen. He then switched his position to become a striker, and ascended to the club's first team.