title: King brown snake

text: The main toxic agents of king brown snake venom are myotoxins hazardous to striated muscles and kidney cells. Toxic effects are proportional to the amount of venom in the victim. Nonspecific symptoms of poisoning are common and include nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, generalized sweating (diaphoresis), and headache. Impaired clotting (coagulopathy) is common, and can be diagnosed with an elevated activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). Symptoms of myotoxicity (muscle damage) include muscle pain and weakness in the presence of an elevated creatine kinase (CK). King brown snake venom has some haemolytic activity, and some patients get a short-term fall in red blood cells.


title: King brown snake

text: A major component of king brown snake venom are phospholipase A2 enzymes, which have diverse effects that are commonly found in snake venoms. These proteins are directly toxic on muscle tissue due to their sheer volume in the venom, and are destructive to cell membranes and liberate lysophospholipids (involved in cell lysis) and arachidonate (a precursor in inflammatory response). Despite containing a number of agents with phospholipase A2 activity, king brown snake venom exhibits little neurotoxicity.


title: King brown snake

text: The venom has multiple proteins with antibiotic activity, including two L-amino-acid oxidases (LAO1 and LAO2) that exhibit activity against the pathogenic bacterium "Aeromonas hydrophila", which is commonly present in frogs. Also present are three protein isoforms of transferrin; transferrin binds serum iron (Fe), which makes the environment less hospitable for bacteria and hence has an antibiotic effect. Pseudechetoxin and pseudecin are two proteins that block cyclic nucleotide–gated ion channels, including those present in retinal photoreceptors and olfactory receptor neurons.


title: King brown snake

text: Standard first-aid treatment for any suspected bite from a venomous snake uses a pressure bandage to the bite site. The victims should move as little as possible and be conveyed to a hospital or clinic, where they should be monitored for at least 24 hours. The tetanus vaccine is given, though the mainstay of treatment is the administration of the appropriate antivenom. Black-snake antivenom is used to treat bites from this species. Christopher Johnston and colleagues propose giving antivenom immediately if king brown snake envenoming is suspected, as a delay of more than two hours did not prevent muscle damage in a review of treated snakebite victims. They add that it is reasonable to assume that if a snakebite victim had a raised aPTT and signs of haemolysis, then a king brown snake is the culprit. Shahab Razavi and colleagues add that more than one vial of antivenom might be needed if envenoming is severe.


title: King brown snake

text: King brown snakes are readily available in Australia via breeding in captivity. They are regarded as straightforward to keep, due to the low likelihood of biting and relatively low toxicity of their venom, though the potentially large amount injected makes it more hazardous.


title: King brown snake

text: The king brown snake is considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Small snakes may be eaten by birds of prey. In contrast, old snakes are frequently infested with ticks.


title: King brown snake

text: Mutitjulu Waterhole at Uluru marks the site between two Central Australian ancestral beings "Kuniya" (woma python woman) and "Liru" (king brown snake man). Here, "Kuniya" avenged the death of her nephew, who was fatally speared by "Liru", by striking him with her digging stick.


title: King brown snake

text: Among the Djambarrpuyngu clan of the Yolngu people in northeastern Arnhem Land, King Brown Snake is the Ngurruyurrtjurr ancestor, and its homeland is Flinders Point in Arnhem Land.


title: King brown snake

text: Known as "darrpa" to indigenous people of East Arnhem land, the king brown snake was historically responsible for deaths there. Folk treatment involved capturing the snake and watching it bleed, which would supposedly make the victim recover. If the snake were killed, its victim would die also. Another folk remedy involved blowing smoke through a hollow branch or pandanus leaf onto the victim sitting by a campfire. If the smoke resembled the "mali", or immaterial form, of a snake, then the person would die, as the victim of a "ragalk" (sorcerer).


title: King brown snake

text: In Kunwinjku country in West Arnhem Land, the king brown snake is known as "dadbe". The Kurulk clan would not collect white paint from a site in the wet season, as they believed it was the snake's faeces, and they were afraid of its anger.


title: King brown snake

text: Kurrmurnnyini is a lagoon and complex of sandstone outcrops near Borroloola in the southwestern Gulf Country in the Northern Territory. Here the King Brown Snake Ancestral Being—"balngarrangarra" in Gudanji and "ngulwa" in Yanyuwa—was sleeping about north of the lagoon when it was disturbed by "ngabaya"—ancestral spirit men. Angrily, he bit the rocks, which became tainted and poisonous, and an instrument of "narnu‐bulabula" (sorcery). Local sorcerers would cast a spell by inserting a potential victim's item of clothing in a hole in the rock or sharpening a stick and calling out their name while inserting it in the rock face. The victim would then perish. Only men descended from King Brown Snake Ancestor could be sorcerers, though others might hire them. Local people feared and avoided the location.


title: First Secretary of State

text: The First Secretary of State is an office that is sometimes held by a minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The office indicates seniority, including over all other Secretaries of State. The office is not always in use, so there have sometimes been extended gaps between successive holders.


title: First Secretary of State

text: The office is currently vacant, having most recently been held by Dominic Raab between July 2019 and September 2021.


title: First Secretary of State

text: Like the Deputy Prime Minister, the First Secretary enjoys no right of automatic succession to the office of Prime Minister. However, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to an intensive care unit on 6 April 2020 after contracting COVID-19, First Secretary Dominic Raab was asked "to deputise for him where necessary."


title: First Secretary of State

text: The office temporarily enjoyed some greater constitutional footing between when it was incorporated as a corporation sole in 2002 and having all of its remaining functions transferred in 2008. During most of this time, John Prescott was the First Secretary.


title: First Secretary of State

text: In 1962, Rab Butler was the first person to be appointed to the office, in part to avoid earlier royal objections to the office of Deputy Prime Minister. The office gave Butler ministerial superiority over the rest of the Cabinet and indicated that he was second-in-command. Harold Wilson appointed three people to the office between 1964 and 1970, but it has been noted by Anthony Seldon et al. that the office may have caught on "...more as an ego-massager than for functional reasons."


title: First Secretary of State

text: Later, Michael Heseltine and John Prescott held the office alongside being Deputy Prime Minister. The two offices have only existed concurrently with different holders in David Cameron's coalition government, wherein Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, while Conservative William Hague was First Secretary.


title: First Secretary of State

text: The office is currently listed on the gov.uk website as bringing no additional responsibilities. However, Lord Norton says that there are two benefits to a Prime Minister in appointing a First Secretary: firstly, it leaves a senior minister free to perform correlation and co-ordination and to chair committees and, secondly, it enables the Prime Minister to send a signal as to the status of the holder. Stephen Thornton and Jonathan Kirkup have said that "the Office of First Secretary of State is only as important as the person holding that office is perceived to be important", but in certain circumstances the office "...can assume acute importance and real power" and it may yet become an office of substance.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: It was originally released in the arcade in 1998 on the CP System III (CPS-3) arcade board; this version was known outside Japan as JOJO's Venture. An updated version of the game was released in 1999 as , becoming the sixth and last game released for the CPS-3 board. Console ports for the PlayStation and Dreamcast were also released that year. A high-definition version of the game was released digitally for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in August 2012.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: The game combines "Capcom"'s anime-inspired graphics, as seen in the "Darkstalkers" series, with the colorful characters and events of Hirohiko Araki's creation, resulting in a highly stylized and detailed visual style. It also features many of the gameplay mechanics seen on previous Capcom fighting games, such as the use of power gauges for super moves, as well as a brand new Stand Mode, consisting of the series' signature guardian spirits that accompanies almost every character and can be summoned or dismissed at will by the player, resulting in variations in the character's move list and abilities.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: Original author Hirohiko Araki served as a consultant for the game and created exclusive pieces of artwork for its promotion and packaging; most notably, he developed from scratch a new character design for Midler, since Capcom was interested in using her in the game and she had been only shown from the waist-down in the original manga.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: Based on the manga's third main story arc, "Stardust Crusaders", the game follows a Japanese teenager named Jotaro Kujo, who has developed a supernatural ability known as a "Stand". Approached by his grandfather, Joseph Joestar, Jotaro learns that this power is the result of the influence of the sworn enemy of the Joestar family, a vampire named Dio Brando. As his mother's life is put in danger when she starts developing a Stand that she can't control, Jotaro and Joseph go on a quest to destroy Dio so they can cure her.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: Gameplay in "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" follows most basic fighting games, in which two fighters battle against each other using a variety of attacks, techniques, and special moves to deplete their opponent's health bar. A super meter which increases as fighters deal and receive damage can be used to perform character-specific super moves.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: The unique feature of the game is the inclusion of "Stands", powerful projections of a fighter's energy that are unique to each fighter. Whilst Stands are generally integrated into a fighter's moveset, most characters possess an active Stand, which they can bring into and out of battle using the 'Stand' button. Whilst a Stand is out, the fighter can increase the power of their attacks, use unique techniques, receive enhancements such as double jumping, and even have their Stand attack separately from the fighter character. However, attacking a fighter's Stand will also cause damage to the fighter, which brings a risk to using Stands, and the damage inflicted is doubled if the Stand is far away from its user. A Stand's presence on the field is determined by a Stand Gauge, which decreases if the Stand is attacked and refills whilst the Stand is withdrawn. If the gauge is depleted, a 'Stand Crash' will occur, which leaves the fighter temporarily stunned and open to attack. Other features of Stands include "Blazing Fists" matches, where two Stands clash against each other, requiring the fighters to mash buttons to overcome their opponent, and the ability to program Stands to perform a series of attacks, which can be combined with a player's own attacks for extensive combos. Some characters do not possess active Stands, or any Stands at all, and instead use other techniques.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: Along with general modes such as Versus, the game features Story Mode, a single player campaign which follows each character as they face off against various opponents, loosely following the story of the manga. In between certain matches, unique special stages may occur based on scenes from the manga, such as a sidescrolling sequence in which the player has to overcome a water-based Stand and find its user, or a special battle against the Death 13 Stand. Super Story Mode is a single player mode exclusive to the PlayStation port of the game. The mode follows the story of the manga, taking the player through a series of fights as the story progresses. This mode also features various mini-games the player must complete in order to progress, such as driving a car or playing games of chance. The HD versions feature optional graphical filters and online multiplayer.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: The original arcade game features fourteen playable characters whilst "Heritage for the Future" and subsequent ports add eight additional characters, bringing the total to twenty-two. In the English versions, some characters are renamed to avoid copyright infringement in Western territories:


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: The initial arcade release of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" was December 1998. An English-translated version was released in Asia under the shortened title of "JOJO's Venture", which predates the officially licensed English adaptations of the original manga and anime (hence the name change). It was followed by a fully revised version titled "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future", released on September 1999, which featured eight additional playable characters. An English version that was released in Europe is simply titled "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure", the original Japanese title.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: Two console versions were produced. The 1999 PlayStation version is based on "JOJO's Venture", but features the additional characters from the second version of the arcade game and an exclusive "Super Story Mode", which covers the entire "Stardust Crusaders" story arc. The Dreamcast version, also released in 1999, features both the original and revised versions of the arcade game in their original forms. In 2012, a high-definition port of the Dreamcast version developed by CyberConnect2 was released digitally on PlayStation 3 on August 21 and Xbox 360 day later. This version features include graphic filters and online multiplayer, though it does not feature the Super Story Mode of the previous PlayStation port. The game was delisted from the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade storefronts on September 11, 2014.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: In Japan, "Game Machine" listed "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" on their February 1, 1999 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the month. The magazine also listed "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future" on their November 15, 1999 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the month. It went on to be the third highest-grossing arcade software of 1999 in Japan, below "Virtua Striker 2" and "Street Fighter Alpha 2". On home consoles, the game was a best-seller in Japan, having sold more than 300,000 units by March 2000.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: The Dreamcast version received favorable reviews, while the PlayStation and HD versions received "mixed or average reviews", according to the review aggregation websites GameRankings and Metacritic.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: D. Smith of "Gamers' Republic" praised the Dreamcast version, calling it the best port of the game. He praised the game's diverse and strange cast of characters, comparing the game's weirdness as comparable to the fighting game "Groove on Fight". Although he said the game was "not the most technical of fighters", it can still be a valid alternative to "Street Fighter III". "GamePro" gave the same console version 3.5 out of 5, saying: "Fighting-game fans will either love or hate this game's weird characters and attacks, so rent before buying". "Edge", however, gave the same console version five out of ten: "Almost every aspect of [the game] is a discourse for the devout. For that reason, this is a title for fanatics alone. Perhaps that was Capcom's intention". Kyle Knight of "AllGame" gave the same console version two stars out of five, calling it "an interesting game to play, if only for its decidedly odd look and feel. But the game doesn't have the fine-tuning that makes a fighting game last as a permanent part of a fighter fan's collection. The game's good for a few laughs, but not worth it in the long run". Joe Ottoson of the same website gave the PlayStation version two-and-a-half stars, saying that "while greatness may not be in the cards of JoJo this time around, at least he puts up a solid battle against the towers and empresses of the world. The only problem is, he's bound to get lost in the shuffle". Jeff Lundrigan of "NextGen" in his early review called the same PlayStation version "an oddity for Capcom completionists only". In Japan, "Famitsu" gave the Dreamcast and PlayStation versions each a score of 31 out of 40.


title: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (video game)

text: Alex Rhoades of "GameZone" gave the HD versions a score of six out of ten, saying that the game "had a chance to shine for its 25th anniversary. Unfortunately the exorbitant price combined with the niche market appeal will doom it from the start. Although the gameplay is nearly untouched from the Dreamcast version, only huge fans of the manga will likely pick this game up".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband massacre) was an attack on 31 July 1975 by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. Five people were killed, including three members of The Miami Showband, who were one of Ireland's most popular cabaret bands.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The band was travelling home to Dublin late at night after a performance in Banbridge. Halfway to Newry, their minibus was stopped at what appeared to be a military checkpoint where gunmen in British Army uniforms ordered them to line up by the roadside. At least four of the gunmen were soldiers from the British Army's Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), and all were members of the UVF. Two of the gunmen, both soldiers, died when a time bomb they were hiding on the minibus exploded prematurely. The other gunmen then started shooting the dazed band members, killing three and wounding two. It has been suggested that the bomb was meant to explode en route, so that the victim band members would appear to be Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb-smugglers and stricter security measures would be established at the border.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Two serving UDR soldiers and one former UDR soldier were found guilty of the murders and received life sentences; they were released in 1998. Those responsible for the attack belonged to the Glenanne gang, a secret alliance of loyalist militants, Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police officers and UDR soldiers. There are also allegations that British military intelligence agents were involved. According to former Intelligence Corps agent Captain Fred Holroyd, the killings were organised by British intelligence officer Robert Nairac, together with the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade and its commander Robin "the Jackal" Jackson. The Historical Enquiries Team investigated the killings and released their report to the victims' families in December 2011. It confirmed that Jackson was linked to the attack by fingerprints.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The massacre dealt a blow to Northern Ireland's live music scene, which had brought young Catholics and Protestants together. In a report published in the "Sunday Mirror" in 1999, Colin Wills called the Miami Showband attack "one of the worst atrocities in the 30-year history of the Troubles". "Irish Times" diarist Frank McNally summed up the massacre as "an incident that encapsulated all the madness of the time".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The conflict in Northern Ireland, known as "the Troubles", began in the late 1960s. The year 1975 was marked by an escalation in sectarian attacks and a vicious feud between the two main loyalist paramilitary groups, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). On 4 April 1974, the proscription against the UVF had been lifted by Merlyn Rees, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. This meant that both it and the UDA were legal organisations. The UVF would be once more banned by the British government on 3 October 1975.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: In May 1974, unionists called a general strike to protest against the Sunningdale Agreement – an attempt at power-sharing, setting up a Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland, which would have given the Government of Ireland a voice in running Northern Ireland. During that strike on 17 May, the UVF carried out the Dublin and Monaghan car bombings, which killed 33 civilians. The Provisional IRA carried out the bombing of two pubs in the English city of Birmingham the following November, resulting in 21 deaths.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: UK Home Secretary Roy Jenkins introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which gave the government unprecedented powers against the liberty of individuals in the United Kingdom in peacetime. At Christmas 1974 the IRA declared a ceasefire, which theoretically lasted throughout most of 1975. This move made loyalists apprehensive and suspicious that a secret accord was being conducted between the British government and the IRA, and that Northern Ireland's Protestants would be "sold out". Their fears were slightly grounded in fact, as the MI6 officer Michael Oatley was involved in negotiations with a member of the IRA Army Council, during which "structures of disengagement" from Ireland were discussed. This had meant the possible withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland. The existence of these talks led unionists to believe that they were about to be abandoned by the British government and forced into a united Ireland; as a result, the loyalist paramilitary groups reacted with a violence that, combined with the tit-for-tat retaliations from the IRA (despite their ceasefire), made 1975 one of the "bloodiest years of the conflict".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: In early 1975, Merlyn Rees set up elections for the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention at which all of Northern Ireland's politicians would plan their way forward. These were held on 1 May 1975 and the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC), which had won 11 out of 12 Northern Irish seats in the February 1974 general election, won a majority again. As the UUUC would not abide any form of power-sharing with the Dublin government, no agreement could be reached and the convention failed, again marginalising Northern Ireland's politicians and the communities they represented.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade operated mainly around the Portadown and Lurgan areas. It had been set up in Lurgan in 1972 by part-time Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) sergeant and permanent staff instructor Billy Hanna, who made himself commander of the brigade. His leadership was endorsed by the UVF's leader Gusty Spence. The brigade was described by author Don Mullan as one of the most ruthless units operating in the 1970s. At the time of the attack the Mid-Ulster Brigade was commanded by Robin Jackson, also known as "The Jackal". Jackson had assumed command of the Mid-Ulster UVF just a few days before the Miami Showband attack, after allegedly shooting Hanna dead outside his home in Lurgan on 27 July 1975. According to authors Paul Larkin and Martin Dillon, Jackson was accompanied by Harris Boyle when he killed Hanna. Hanna was named by former British Intelligence Corps operative Colin Wallace as having organised and led the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, along with Jackson. Journalist Joe Tiernan suggested that Hanna was shot for refusing to participate in the Miami Showband attack and that he had become an informer for the Gardaí in exchange for immunity from prosecution for the Dublin bombings. Dillon suggested that because there were a number of UDR members in the UVF, and were planned to be used for the Miami Showband ambush, Hanna was considered to have been a "security risk", and the UVF decided he had to be killed before he could alert the authorities.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Jackson was an alleged RUC Special Branch agent who was said by Yorkshire Television's "The Hidden Hand: The Forgotten Massacre" programme to have had links to both the Intelligence Corps and Captain Robert Nairac. A report in the "Irish Times" implicated Jackson in the Dublin bombings. More than 100 killings have been attributed to him by the Pat Finucane Centre, the Derry-based civil rights group.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The Miami Showband was a popular Dublin-based Irish showband, enjoying fame and, according to journalist Peter Taylor, "Beatle-like devotion" from fans on both sides of the Irish border. A typical Irish showband was based on the popular six- or seven-member dance band. Its basic repertoire included cover versions of pop songs that were currently in the charts, and standard dance numbers. The music ranged from rock and country and western to Dixieland jazz. Sometimes the showbands played traditional Irish music at their performances.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Originally called the "Downbeats Quartet", the Miami Showband was reformed in 1962 by rock promoter Tom Doherty, who gave them their new name. With Dublin-born singer [Jimmy Harte] as frontman followed by Dickie Rock as frontman, the Miami Showband underwent many personnel changes over the years. In December 1972, Rock left the band to be briefly replaced by two brothers, Frankie and Johnny Simon. That same year, keyboardist Francis (Fran) O'Toole (from Bray, County Wicklow) had won the "Gold Star Award" on RTÉ's "Reach For the Stars" television programme. In early 1973, Billy MacDonald ( "Billy Mac") took over as the group's frontman when the Simon brothers quit the band. The following year, Fran O'Toole became the band's lead vocalist after Mick Roche (Billy Mac's replacement) was sacked. O'Toole was noted for his good looks and popularity with female fans, and was described by the Miami Showband's former bass guitarist, Paul Ashford, as having been the "greatest soul singer" in Ireland. Ashford had been asked to leave the band in 1973, for complaining that performing in Northern Ireland put their lives at risk. He was replaced by Johnny Brown, who in turn was replaced by Dave Monks until Stephen Travers eventually became the band's permanent bass player. In late 1974, the Miami Showband's song "Clap Your Hands and Stomp Your Feet" (featuring O'Toole on lead vocals) reached no. 8 in the Irish charts.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The 1975 line-up comprised four Catholics and two Protestants. They were: lead vocalist and keyboard player Fran O'Toole, 28, Catholic; guitarist Anthony (Tony) Geraghty, 24, Catholic, from Dublin; trumpeter Brian McCoy, 32, Protestant, from Caledon, County Tyrone; saxophonist Des McAlea (a.k.a. "Des Lee"), 24, Catholic, from Belfast; bassist Stephen Travers, 24, Catholic, from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary; and drummer Ray Millar, Protestant, from Antrim. O'Toole and McCoy were both married; each had two children. Geraghty was engaged to be married.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Their music was described as "contemporary and trans-Atlantic", with no reference to the Northern Ireland conflict. By 1975, they had gained a large following, playing to crowds of people in dance halls and ballrooms across the island. The band had no overt interest in politics nor in the religious beliefs of the people who made up their audience. They were prepared to travel anywhere in Ireland to perform for their fans.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: According to the "Irish Times", at the height of Irish showbands' popularity (from the 1950s to the 1970s), up to as many as 700 bands travelled to venues all over Ireland on a nightly basis.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Five members of the Dublin-based band were travelling home after a performance at the Castle Ballroom in Banbridge, County Down, on Thursday 31 July 1975. Ray Millar, the band's drummer, was not with them as he had chosen to go to his home town of Antrim to spend the night with his parents. The band's road manager, Brian Maguire, had already gone ahead a few minutes earlier in the equipment van. At about 2:30 am, when the band was seven miles (11 km) north of Newry on the main A1 road, their Volkswagen minibus (driven by trumpeter Brian McCoy with bassist Stephen Travers in the front seat beside him) reached the townland of Buskhill. Near the junction with Buskhill Road they were flagged down by armed men dressed in British Army uniforms waving a red torch in a circular motion. During "The Troubles" it was normal for the British Army to set up checkpoints at any time.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Assuming it was a legitimate checkpoint, McCoy informed the others inside the minibus of a military checkpoint up ahead and pulled in at the lay-by as directed by the armed men. As McCoy rolled down the window and produced his driving licence, gunmen came up to the minibus and one of them said in a Northern Irish accent, "Goodnight, fellas. How are things? Can you step out of the van for a few minutes and we'll just do a check". The unsuspecting band members got out and were politely told to line up facing the ditch at the rear of the minibus with their hands on their heads. More uniformed men appeared from out of the darkness, their guns pointed at the minibus. About 10 gunmen were at the checkpoint, according to author and journalist Martin Dillon.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: After McCoy told them they were the Miami Showband, Thomas Crozier (who had a notebook) asked the band members for their names and addresses, while the others bantered with them about the success of their performance that night and playfully asking which one was Dickie Rock. As Crozier took down the information, a car pulled up and another uniformed man appeared on the scene. He wore a uniform and beret noticeably different from the others. He spoke with an educated English accent and immediately took charge, ordering a man who appeared to have been the leader of the patrol to tell Crozier to obtain their names and dates of birth instead of addresses.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The jocular mood of the gunmen abruptly ceased. At no time did this new soldier speak to any of the band members nor did he directly address Crozier. He relayed all his instructions to the gunman in command. Travers, the band's new bass player, assumed he was a British Army officer, an opinion shared by McCoy. Just after the arrival of this mysterious soldier, McCoy nudged Travers, who was standing beside him, and reassured him by saying "Don't worry Stephen, this is British Army". Travers thought that McCoy, a Protestant from Northern Ireland, was familiar with security checkpoints and had reckoned the regular British Army would be more efficient than the Ulster Defense Regiment (UDR), who had a reputation for unprofessional and unpredictable behaviour, especially toward people from the Republic.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: McCoy, son of the Orange Order's Grand Master for County Tyrone, had close relatives in the security forces; his brother-in-law was a former member of the B Specials which had been disbanded in 1970. Travers described McCoy as a "sophisticated, father-type figure. Everybody was respectful to Brian". McCoy's words, therefore, were taken seriously by the other band members, and anything he said was considered to be accurate.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: At least four of the gunmen were soldiers from the UDR. Martin Dillon suggested in "The Dirty War" that at least five serving UDR soldiers were present at the checkpoint. All the gunmen were members of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade and had been lying in wait to ambush the band, having set up the checkpoint just minutes before.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Out of sight of the band members, two of the gunmen placed a ten-pound (4.5 kg) time bomb that was inside a briefcase under the driver's seat of the minibus. The UVF's plan was that the bomb would explode once the minibus had reached Newry, killing all on board. However, Martin Dillon alleged that the bomb was meant to go off in the Irish Republic. He suggested that had all gone according to plan, the loyalist extremists would have been able to clandestinely bomb the Republic of Ireland, yet claim that the band were republican bomb-smugglers carrying explosives on behalf of the IRA. They had hoped to embarrass the Government of Ireland, as well as to draw attention to its level of control of the border. This might have resulted in the Irish authorities enforcing tighter controls over the border, thus restricting IRA operations. Dillon opined that another reason the UVF decided to target the Miami Showband was because Irish nationalists held them in high regard; to attack the band was to strike the nationalists indirectly.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Des McAlea and Stephen Travers heard two of the gunmen rummaging in the back of the minibus, where they both kept their respective instruments. Concerned they might be damaged, McAlea first approached the two gunmen and asked if he could remove his saxophone. When they agreed he placed it on the ground, opened its case and then went back into line; however this time he stood first in the line-up closest to the minibus when previously he had been third. Travers also stepped up to the gunmen and told them to be careful with his guitar. Asked whether he had anything valuable inside the case, Travers replied no. The gunman turned him round, punched him hard in the back and pushed him on the shoulder back into the line-up. Meanwhile, two other gunmen at the front of the minibus were placing the briefcase containing the bomb under the driver's seat.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: When the device was tilted on its side, clumsy soldering on the clock used as a timer caused the bomb to explode prematurely, blowing the minibus apart and killing UVF men Harris Boyle (aged 22, a telephone wireman from Portadown) and Wesley Somerville (aged 34, a textile worker from Moygashel) instantly. Hurled in opposite directions, they were both decapitated and their bodies dismembered. What little that remained intact of their bodies was burnt beyond recognition; one of the limbless torsos was completely charred.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Following the explosion pandemonium broke out among the remaining gunmen; shouting obscenities, they started shooting the dazed band members, who had all been blown down into the field below the level of the road from the force of the blast. According to Martin Dillon, the order to shoot was given by the patrol's apparent leader, James McDowell, to eliminate witnesses to the bogus checkpoint and subsequent bombing. Three of the musicians were killed: lead singer Fran O'Toole, trumpeter Brian McCoy, and guitarist Tony Geraghty.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Brian McCoy was the first to die, having been hit in the back and neck by nine rounds from a 9mm Luger pistol in the initial volley of gunfire. Despite the heavy gunfire, Tony Geraghty and Fran O'Toole attempted to carry a severely injured Stephen Travers to safety, but were unable to move him far. Fran O'Toole attempted to run away, but was quickly chased down by the gunmen who had immediately jumped down into the field in pursuit. He was then machine-gunned 22 times, mostly in the face, as he lay supine on the ground. Almost his entire head was destroyed. Tony Geraghty also attempted to escape; but he was caught by the gunmen and shot twice in the back of his head and a number of times in the back. Both men had pleaded for their lives before they were shot; one had cried out, "Please don't shoot me — don't kill me".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Bassist Stephen Travers was seriously wounded by a dum-dum bullet which had struck him when the gunmen had first begun shooting. He survived by pretending he was dead, as he lay beside the body of McCoy. Saxophone player Des McAlea, who had been standing closest to the minibus, was hit by its door when it was blown off in the explosion, but was not badly wounded. He lay hidden in thick undergrowth, face down, undetected by the gunmen. He also survived by remaining silent, pretending he was dead. However, the flames from the burning hedge (which had been set on fire by the explosion) soon came dangerously close to where he lay; he was forced to leave his hiding spot. By this time the gunmen had left the scene, assuming everyone else had been killed. Travers later recalled hearing one of the departing gunmen tell his comrade who had kicked McCoy's body to make sure he was not alive: "Come on, those bastards are dead. I got them with dum-dums". McAlea made his way up the embankment to the main road where he hitched a lift to alert the RUC at their barracks in Newry.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: When the RUC arrived at the site they found five dead bodies, a seriously injured Stephen Travers, body parts, the smoldering remains of the destroyed minibus, debris from the bomb blast, bullets, spent cartridges and the band members' personal possessions, including clothing, shoes and a photograph of the group, strewn across the area. They also discovered a stolen white Ford Escort registration number 4933 LZ, which had been left behind by the gunmen, along with two guns, ammunition, green UDR berets and a pair of glasses later traced to James McDowell, the gunman who had allegedly ordered the shootings.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: One of the first RUC men who arrived at Buskhill in the wake of the killings was scenes of crime officer James O'Neill. He described the scene as having "just the smell of utterly death about the place ... burning blood, burning tyres". He also added that "that bomb was definitely placed there with a view to killing all in that band".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The only identifiable body part from the bombers to survive the blast (which had been heard up to away) was a severed arm belonging to Wesley Somerville. It was found from the site with a "UVF Portadown" tattoo on it. The RUC's investigative unit, the Assassination or "A" Squad of detectives, was set up to investigate the crime and to discover the identities of the UVF gunmen who perpetrated the killings. Afterward, as Travers recovered in hospital, the other survivor Des McAlea gave the police a description of McDowell as the gunman with a moustache and wearing dark glasses who appeared to have been the leader of the patrol. Some time after the attack, RUC officers questioned Stephen Travers at Dublin Castle. He subsequently stated they refused to accept his description of the different-coloured beret worn by the soldier with the English accent. The UVF gunmen had worn green UDR berets, whereas the other man's had been lighter in colour.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The dead bombers were named by the UVF, in a statement issued within 12 hours of the attack. Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville were UDR soldiers as well as holding the rank of major and lieutenant, respectively, in the UVF. In 1993, Boyle was named by "The Hidden Hand" programme as one of the Dublin car bombers.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The stolen Ford Escort belonged to a man from Portadown, who according to Captain Fred Holroyd, had links with one of the UVF bombers and David Alexander Mulholland the driver of the bomb car which had been left to explode in Parnell Street, Dublin, on 17 May 1974. He was also one of the prime suspects in the sectarian killing of Dorothy Traynor on 1 April 1975 in Portadown.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Ballistic evidence indicates that the 10-member gang took at least six guns with them on the attack. An independent panel of inquiry commissioned by the Pat Finucane Centre has established that among the weapons actually used in the killings were two Sterling submachine guns and a 9 mm Luger pistol serial no. U 4. The submachine guns, which had been stolen years earlier from a former member of the B Specials, were linked to prior and later sectarian killings, whereas the Luger had been used to kill leading IRA member John Francis Green the previous January. In a letter to the "Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Kay's Tavern" dated 22 February 2004, the Northern Ireland Office stated that: "The PSNI have confirmed that a 9 mm Luger pistol was ballistically traced both to the murder of John Francis Green and to the Miami Showband murders." In May 1976, Robin Jackson's fingerprints were discovered on the metal barrel of a home-made silencer constructed for a Luger. Both the silencer and pistol – which was later established to have been the same one used in the Miami Showband killings – were found by the security forces at the home of Edward Sinclair. Jackson was charged with possession of the silencer but not convicted, the trial judge having reportedly said: "At the end of the day I find that the accused somehow touched the silencer, but the Crown evidence has left me completely in the dark as to whether he did that wittingly or unwittingly, willingly or unwillingly". The Luger was destroyed by the RUC on 28 August 1978.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Within 12 hours of the attack, the UVF's Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership based on the Shankill Road) issued a statement. It was released under the heading "Ulster Central Intelligence Agency – Miami Showband Incident Report":


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville were given UVF paramilitary funerals conducted by Free Presbyterian minister William McCrea, a Democratic Unionist Party politician.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The killings shocked both Northern Ireland and Ireland and put a serious strain on Anglo-Irish relations. The "Irish Times" reported that on the night following the attack, the British ambassador Sir Arthur Galsworthy was summoned to hear the Government of Ireland's strong feelings regarding the murder of the three band members. The government held the view that the British Government had not done enough to stop sectarian assassinations in Northern Ireland.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Following the post-mortems, funerals were held for the three slain musicians; they received televised news coverage by RTÉ, Ireland's public service broadcaster. According to RTÉ, "Their families were in deep mourning and Ireland mourned with them".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: According to Peter Taylor, the Provisional IRA's gun and bomb attack on the loyalist Bayardo Bar in Belfast's Shankill Road on 13 August was in retaliation for the Miami Showband ambush. Four Protestant civilians (two men and two women) and UVF member Hugh Harris were killed in the attack. Two days later, Portadown disc jockey Norman "Mooch" Kerr, aged 28, was shot dead by the IRA as he packed up his equipment after a show at the Camrick Bar in Armagh. Although not a member of any loyalist paramilitary group, he was a close friend of Harris Boyle and the two were often seen together. The IRA said it killed him because of an alleged association with British Army officer and member of 14th Intelligence Company, Captain Robert Nairac, and claimed it was in possession of his diary, which had been stolen in Portadown.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The night after the Miami Showband massacre, gunmen shot a minibus near Gilford. It had been travelling from Banbridge to Bleary with nine people on board; all were Catholics and most had been returning from a regular bingo session. One report says it was stopped at a fake British Army checkpoint. Five Catholic civilians were shot; passenger Joseph Toland was killed outright and driver James Marks died of his wounds in January 1976. The attack was blamed on loyalists; "Lost Lives" – an account of every death in the conflict – states that reliable loyalist sources have confirmed the UVF was responsible. However, police have blamed the IRA. The RUC suggested the IRA had meant to attack a police minibus in revenge for the Miami killings, but had mistakenly attacked a civilian minibus instead. A report by the police's Historical Enquiries Team (HET) also suggests this. The IRA has denied responsibility.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: On 24 August 1975, Catholic civilians Colm McCartney and Sean Farmer were stopped in their car at what is believed to have been another fake checkpoint at Altnamackin (near Newtownhamilton). They were driving home from a Gaelic football match in Dublin. The two men were found shot dead nearby. Earlier that night, three RUC officers in an unmarked car had been stopped at a checkpoint but allowed through. However, the officers suspected that the checkpoint was fake. After receiving radio confirmation that there were no authorised checkpoints in the area that night, they reported the incident and requested help from the British Army to investigate it, but no action was taken. RUC officer John Weir claims that UDR corporal and alleged UVF member Robert McConnell was involved in the attack.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: A number of suspects were arrested by the RUC in early August 1975. One of these men, Lance-Corporal Thomas Raymond Crozier (aged 25, a painting contractor from Lurgan) of C Company, 11th Battalion UDR was charged with the Miami killings. It was believed he had been betrayed to the RUC by a member of the gang.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Thomas Crozier recounted that on the night of the killings, he had driven to the grounds of a school in Lurgan where he had picked up two men. He then drove to a lay-by on the Newry-Banbridge dual carriageway and met up with another five men, who were all wearing British Army uniforms. They subsequently set up a roadblock with "all the trappings of a regular military checkpoint". Crozier told police, and later a court, that he had not played a large part in the attack. He refused to name his accomplices, as he felt that to do so would put the lives of his family in danger.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: On 22 January 1976, a second UDR soldier, Sergeant James Roderick Shane McDowell (aged 29, an optical worker, also from Lurgan) was arrested and charged with the Miami killings. He served in C Company, 11th Battalion UDR. The RUC were led to him through his glasses which had been found at the murder scene. Tests done on the glasses, which were eventually traced back to McDowell, revealed that the lenses were of a prescription worn by just 1 in 500,000 of the population.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: On 15 October 1976, Crozier and McDowell both received life sentences for the Miami Showband murders. McDowell had pleaded guilty. Crozier had pleaded not guilty. The judge, by sentencing McDowell and Crozier to 35 years imprisonment each, had handed down the longest life sentences in the history of Northern Ireland; he commented that "killings like the Miami Showband must be stopped". He added that had the death penalty not been abolished, it would have been imposed in this case. During the trial, Des McAlea had received death threats which made him fear for the safety of his family; this caused him to eventually leave Northern Ireland.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: A third person, former UDR soldier John James Somerville (aged 37, a lorry-helper and the brother of Wesley), was arrested following an RUC raid in Dungannon on 26 September 1980. He was charged with the Miami Showband murders, the attempted murder of Stephen Travers, and the murder of Patrick Falls in 1974. He was given a total of four life sentences (three for the murders of the Miami Showband members and one for the Falls murder) on 9 November 1981; he had pleaded not guilty. The three convicted UVF men, although admitting to having been at the scene, denied having shot anyone. None of the men ever named their accomplices, and the other UVF gunmen were never caught. The three men were sent to serve their sentence in the Maze Prison, on the outskirts of Lisburn. "Fortnight Magazine" reported that on 1 June 1982, John James Somerville began a hunger strike at the Maze to obtain special category status. Crozier, McDowell, and Somerville were released after 1998 under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: A continued allegation in the case has been the presence of Captain Robert Nairac at the scene. Former serving Secret Intelligence Service agent Captain Fred Holroyd, and others, suggested that Nairac had organised the attack in co-operation with Robin Jackson and the Mid-Ulster UVF. In his first parliamentary speech on 7 July 1987, Ken Livingstone MP told the House of Commons, "it was likely" that Nairac had organised the attack. Surviving band members Stephen Travers and Des McAlea told police and later testified in court that a British Army officer with a "crisp, clipped English accent" oversaw the attack, the implication being that this was Nairac. In his book "The Dirty War", Martin Dillon adamantly dismissed the allegation that Nairac had been present. He believed it was based on the erroneous linkage of Nairac to the earlier murder of IRA man John Francis Green in County Monaghan – the same pistol was used in both attacks. Regarding the soldier with the English accent, Dillon wrote:


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Travers had described the English-accented man as having been of normal height and thought he had fair hair, but was not certain. Travers was not able to positively identify Nairac, from his photograph, as having been the man at Buskhill. The RTÉ programme "Today Tonight" aired a documentary in 1987 in which it claimed that former UVF associates of Harris Boyle revealed to the programme's researchers that Nairac had deliberately detonated the bomb to eliminate Boyle, with whom he had carried out the Green killing. Journalist Emily O'Reilly noted in the "Sunday Tribune" that none of the three men convicted of the massacre ever implicated Nairac in the attack or accused him of causing Boyle's death. Retired diplomat Alistair Kerr wrote a biography of Nairac entitled "Betrayal: the Murder of Robert Nairac" published in 2015, which offers documentary evidence that clears Nairac of having been at Buskhill overseeing the attack. According to Kerr, on 31 July 1975 at 4 am Nairac had started out on a road journey from London to Scotland for a fishing holiday. He also provides other alibis for Nairac precluding his presence at the scenes of both the John Francis Green killing and the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. However, Ministry of Defence documents released in 2020 contain suggestions that Nairac acquired equipment and uniforms for the Miami Showband killers, and that he was responsible for the planning and execution of the attack itself.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The band's road manager, Brian Maguire stated that when he drove away from Banbridge in the lead, a few minutes ahead of the band's minibus, he passed through security barriers manned by the RUC. As Maguire continued ahead, up the by-pass toward Newry, he noticed a blue Triumph 2000 pulling-out from where it had been parked in a lay-by. Maguire recalled that the car first slowed down, then it accelerated, flashing its lights. Two men had been observed acting suspiciously inside the Castle Ballroom during the band's performance that night, suggesting that the Miami Showband's movements were being carefully monitored.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Another persistent allegation is the direct involvement of Mid-Ulster UVF leader Robin Jackson, a native of Donaghmore, County Down, away from Buskhill. He was one of the men taken in by the RUC in August 1975 and questioned as a suspect in the killings, but was released without charge. The independent panel of inquiry commissioned by the Pat Finucane Centre concluded that there was "credible evidence that the principal perpetrator [of the Miami Showband attack] was a man who was not prosecuted – alleged RUC Special Branch agent Robin Jackson". The same panel revealed that about six weeks before the attack, Thomas Crozier, Jackson and the latter's brother-in-law Samuel Fulton Neill, were arrested for the possession of four shotguns. Neill's car was one of those allegedly used in the Buskhill attack. He was later shot dead in Portadown on 25 January 1976, allegedly by Jackson for having informed the RUC about Thomas Crozier's participation in the attack. The panel stated that it was unclear why Crozier, Jackson and Neill were not in police custody at the time the Miami Showband killings took place. Martin Dillon maintained in "The Dirty War" that the Miami Showband attack was planned weeks before at a house in Portadown, and the person in charge of the overall operation was a former UDR man, whom Dillon referred to for legal reasons as "Mr. A". Dillon also opined in "God and the Gun: The Church and Irish Terrorism" that the dead bombers, Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, had actually led the UVF gang at Buskhill. Journalists Kevin Dowling and Liam Collins in the "Irish Independent" however, suggested in their respective articles that Jackson had been the leader of the unit.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Former British soldier and writer Ken Wharton published in his book "Wasted Years, Wasted Lives, Volume 1", an alternative theory that was suggested to him by loyalist paramilitarism researcher Jeanne Griffin; this was that the ambush was planned by Robin Jackson as an elaborate means of eliminating trumpet player Brian McCoy. Griffin suggests that McCoy, who originally came from Caledon, County Tyrone, and had strong UDR and Orange Order family connections, was possibly approached at some stage by Jackson with a view of securing his help in carrying out UVF attacks in the Irish Republic. When McCoy refused, Jackson then hatched his plan to murder McCoy and his bandmates in retaliation for what he viewed as having betrayed the loyalist cause, even macabrely choosing Buskhill as the ambush site due to its similarity to Bus-kill. Griffin goes on to add that the bogus checkpoint was set up not only to plant the bomb on board the van but to ensure the presence of McCoy which would have been confirmed when he handed over his driving licence to the gunmen. She also thinks that had everything gone to plan once the bomb was planted in the van McCoy would have been instructed to drive through Newry where the bomb would have gone off and the UVF could then afterwards portray the Miami Showband as IRA members on a mission to blow up the local RUC barracks. Griffin based her theory on the nine bullets that were fired from a Luger into McCoy's body and that Jackson's fingerprints were found on the silencer used for a Luger. She furthermore opined that Jackson was the man Travers saw kicking McCoy's body to make sure he was dead.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The Pat Finucane Centre has named the Miami Showband killings as one of the 87 violent attacks perpetrated by the Glenanne gang against the Irish nationalist community in the 1970s. The Glenanne gang was a loose alliance of loyalist extremists allegedly operating under the command of British Military Intelligence and/or RUC Special Branch. It comprised elements of the British security forces who, together with the UVF, carried out sectarian killings in the Mid-Ulster/County Armagh area. Their name comes from a farm in Glenanne, County Armagh, which was owned by RUC reservist James Mitchell; according to ex-RUC Special Patrol Group officer John Weir, it was used as a UVF arms dump and bomb-making site. Weir alleged the bomb used in the Miami Showband attack came from Mitchell's farm. Weir's affidavit implicating Robin Jackson in a number of attacks including the 1974 Dublin bombings was published in the 2003 Barron Report; the findings of an official investigation into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Judge Henry Barron.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: During the six years from the onset of "the Troubles" until the July 1975 attack, there had never been an incident involving any of the showbands. The incident had an adverse effect on the Irish showband scene, with many of the bands afraid to play in Northern Ireland. The emergence of discos later in the decade meant that ballrooms were converted into nightclubs, leaving the showbands with few venues available in which to perform. By the mid-1980s, the showbands had lost their appeal for the Irish public; although The Miami Showband, albeit with a series of different line-ups, did not disband until 1986.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The Miami Showband reformed in 2008, with Stephen Travers, Des McAlea, and Ray Millar, plus new members. It is fronted by McAlea, who returned to Northern Ireland the same year after living in South Africa since about 1982.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: In 1994, Eric Smyth, a former UDR member and the husband of Brian McCoy's sister, Sheila, was killed by the IRA.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Travers travelled to Belfast in 2006 for a secret meeting with the second-in-command of the UVF's Brigade Staff, in an attempt to come to terms with the killing of his former colleagues and friends. The meeting was arranged by Rev. Chris Hudson, a former intermediary between the government of Ireland and the UVF, whose role was crucial to the Northern Ireland peace process. Hudson, a Unitarian minister, had been a close friend of Fran O'Toole. The encounter took place inside Hudson's church, All Souls Belfast. The UVF man, who identified himself only as "the Craftsman", apologised to Travers for the attack, and explained that the UVF gunmen shot the band because they "had panicked" that night. It was revealed in Peter Taylor's book "Loyalists" that "the Craftsman" had been instrumental in bringing about the 1994 Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) ceasefire.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Travers also visited the home of Thomas Crozier, hoping to meet with him but the latter did not come to the door. He presently resides near Craigavon. James McDowell lives in Lurgan, and John James Somerville became an evangelical minister in Belfast. The UVF had cut all ties with Somerville after he had opposed the 1994 ceasefire. In January 2015, he was found dead in his Shankill Road flat. Aged 70, he died of cancer of the kidney.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: A monument dedicated to the dead Miami Showband members was unveiled at a ceremony at Parnell Square North, Dublin, on 10 December 2007. Survivors Stephen Travers and Des McAlea were both present at the unveiling, as was the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who made a tribute. The monument, entitled "Let's Dance" is made of limestone, bronze and granite, by County Donegal sculptor Redmond Herrity, and is at the site of the old National Ballroom, where the band often played.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: A mural and memorial plaque to Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville is in the Killycomain Estate in Portadown, where Boyle had lived. The plaque describes them as having been "killed in action".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: In a report on Nairac's alleged involvement in the massacre, published in the "Sunday Mirror" newspaper on 16 May 1999, Colin Wills called the ambush "one of the worst atrocities in the 30-year history of the Troubles". "Irish Times" diarist, Frank McNally, summed up the massacre as "an incident that encapsulated all the madness of the time". In 2011, Journalist Kevin Myers denounced the attack with the following statement: "in its diabolical inventiveness against such a group of harmless and naïve young men, it is easily one of the most depraved [of the Troubles]".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: A stamp was issued in Ireland on 22 September 2010 commemorating the Miami Showband. The 55-cent stamp, designed with a 1967 publicity photograph of the band, included two of the slain members, Fran O'Toole and Brian McCoy, as part of the line-up when Dickie Rock was the frontman. It was one of a series of four stamps issued by An Post, celebrating the "golden age of the Irish showband era from the 1950s to the 1970s".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: Near the anniversary of the killings, a temporary plaque is placed at the location of the killings. It allows for commemoration and leaving of flowers at the location itself.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The band is remembered in the song "The Miami" by English folk singer-songwriter Jez Lowe on his album "Jack Common’s Anthem".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The Historical Enquiries Team (HET), which was set up to investigate the more controversial Troubles-related deaths, released its report on the Miami Showband killings to the victims' families in December 2011.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The findings noted in the report confirmed Mid-Ulster UVF leader Robin Jackson's involvement and identified him as an RUC Special Branch agent. According to the report, Jackson had claimed during police interrogations that after the shootings, a senior RUC officer had advised him to "lie low". Although this information was passed on to RUC headquarters, nothing was done about it. In a police statement made following his arrest for possession of the silencer and Luger on 31 May 1976, Jackson maintained that a week before he was taken into custody, two RUC officers had tipped him off about the discovery of his fingerprints on the silencer; he also claimed they had forewarned him: "I should clear as there was a wee job up the country that I would be done for and there was no way out of it for me". Although ballistic testing had linked the Luger (for which the silencer had been specifically made) to the Miami Showband attack, Jackson was never questioned about the killings after his fingerprints had been discovered on the silencer, and the Miami inquiry team were never informed about these developments. Robin Jackson died of cancer on 30 May 1998, aged 49.


title: Miami Showband killings

text: The families held a press conference in Dublin after the report was released. When asked to comment about the report, Des McAlea replied: "It's been a long time but we've got justice at last". He did, however, express his concern over the fact that nobody was ever charged with his attempted murder. and that none of the perpetrators ever offered him an apology. Stephen Travers decried: "We believe the only conclusion possible arising from the HET report is that one of the most prolific loyalist murderers of the conflict was an RUC Special Branch agent and was involved in the Miami Showband attack".


title: Miami Showband killings

text: A Netflix documentary titled "ReMastered: The Miami Showband Massacre" was released 22 March 2019, highlighting the efforts of Steve Travers to track down who authorized the attack, for what purposes, and to get an admission of culpability.


title: Vachellia nilotica

text: Vachellia nilotica, more commonly known as Acacia nilotica, and by the vernacular names of gum arabic tree, babul, thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia or thorny acacia, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. It is also considered a 'weed of national significance' and an invasive species of concern in Australia, as well as a noxious weed by the federal government of the United States.


title: Vachellia nilotica

text: This species of tree is the type species of the Linnaean genus "Acacia", which derives its name from , "", the name given by early Greek botanist-physician Pedanius Dioscorides (ca. 40–90) to this tree as a medicinal, in his book "Materia Medica". The genus "Acacia" was long known not to be taxonomically monophyletic, and despite being the type species of that genus, "A. nilotica" has since been moved to the genus "Vachellia", with the genus name "Acacia" being reserved for Australian species; the principle of priority, which would normally prevent such a taxonomic change, was waived with a majority vote by the International Botanical Congress in 2005. The renaming of the traditional "Acacia" to "Vachellia" remains controversial, especially in Africa, where "V. nilotica" is an iconic species and is widely referred to as the acacia. For the new classification of this and other species historically classified under genus "Acacia", see "Acacia".


title: Vachellia nilotica

text: The genus name "Acacia" derives from the Ancient Greek word for its characteristic thorns, , ', "thorn". The specific epithet "nilotica" was probably given by Linnaeus from this tree's originally known range along the Nile river. In Australia the tree is known as a prickly acacia"', despite usurping Dioscorides' two millennia-old etymology, the Australian species classified as "Acacia" in Australia do not have thorns.


title: Vachellia nilotica

text: "Acacia nilotica" or "Vachellia nilotica" is a tree 5–20 m high with a dense spheric crown, stems and branches usually dark to black coloured, fissured bark, grey-pinkish slash, exuding a reddish low quality gum. The tree has thin, straight, light, grey spines in axillary pairs, usually in 3 to 12 pairs, 5 to long in young trees, mature trees commonly without thorns. The leaves are bipinnate, with 3–6 pairs of pinnulae and 10–30 pairs of leaflets each, tomentose, rachis with a gland at the bottom of the last pair of pinnulae. Flowers in globulous heads 1.2–1.5 cm in diameter of a bright golden-yellow color, set up either axillary or whorly on peduncles 2–3 cm long located at the end of the branches. Pods are strongly constricted, hairy, white-grey, thick and softly tomentose. Its seeds number approximately 8000/kg.


title: Vachellia nilotica

text: "Acacia nilotica" or "Vachellia nilotica" is native from Egypt, across the Maghreb and Sahel, south to Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and east through the Arabian Peninsula to the Indian subcontinent and Burma. It has become widely naturalised outside its native range including Zanzibar and Australia. It is spread by livestock.


title: Vachellia nilotica

text: In part of its range smallstock consume the pods and leaves, but elsewhere it is also very popular with cattle. Pods are used as a supplement to poultry rations in India. Dried pods are particularly sought out by animals on rangelands. In India branches are commonly lopped for fodder. In West Africa, the pods and leaves are considered to have anthelminthic properties on small ruminants and this has been confirmed by in vitro experiments on nematodes.


title: Vachellia nilotica

text: The exudate gum of this tree is known as gum arabic and has been collected from the pharaonic times for the manufacture of medicines, dyes and paints. In the present commercial market, gum arabic is defined as the dried exudate from the trunks and branches of "Senegalia (Acacia) senegal" or "Vachellia (Acacia) seyal" in the family Leguminosae (Fabaceae). The gum of "A. nilotica" is also referred to in India as "Amaravati gum".


title: Vachellia nilotica

text: The tree's wood is "very durable if water-seasoned" and its uses include tool handles and lumber for boats. The wood has a density of about 833 kg/m.


title: Vachellia nilotica

text: The Maasai people eat both the inner bark (phloem) and the fruit pulp boiled in water. They also use this plant medicinally to treat sore throat, cough, chest pains etc.


title: Vachellia nilotica

text: In Northern Nigeria it is called "bagaruwa" in Hausa. Medicinal uses include soaking the tender bark in water to be taken against dysentery and pile. The fruits are ground together with the seeds and taken with honey as treatment against stomach ulcers.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: The "Shivalik" class or Project 17 class is a class of multi-role stealth frigates in service with the Indian Navy. They are the first stealth warships built in India. They were designed to have better stealth features and land-attack capabilities than the preceding s. A total of three ships were built between 2000 and 2010, and all three were in commission by 2012.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: The "Shivalik" class, along with the seven Project 17A frigates currently being developed from them, are projected be the principal frigates of the Indian Navy in the first half of the 21st century. All ships of the class were built by Mazagon Dock Limited. The class and the lead vessel have been named for the Shivalik hills. Subsequent vessels in the class are also named for hill-ranges in India.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: "Project 17" was conceived in the 1990s to meet the Indian Navy's need for a class of stealthy frigates that were to be designed and built in India. The Directorate of Naval Design (DND)'s specifications for the project called for a class of "5000 ton stealth frigates (Project 17) incorporating advanced signature suppression and signature management features". The first three units were formally ordered by the Indian Navy in early 1999.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: "Shivalik"s design embodies many firsts in Indian ships. "Shivalik" is the first Indian naval vessel to use a combined diesel or gas (CODOG) propulsion system. The CODOG gearboxes were designed and built by Elecon Engineering.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: The main features of the class are its stealth characteristics and land-attack capability. The ships incorporate structural, thermal and acoustic stealth features. The vessels use 10 gigabit LAN for their network.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: There has also been an increased emphasis on crew comfort in this class of ships with more spacious accommodation being provided. Also, INS "Shivalik" is the first ship in the Indian Navy with chapati- and dosa-makers on board.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: The "Shivalik"-class frigates have a length of overall, a beam of and a draft of . The ships displace about at normal load and at full load. The complement is about 257, including 35 officers.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: They use two Pielstick 16 PA6 STC Diesel engines and two GE LM2500+ boost turbines in CODOG configuration providing a total of of power. This allows the ships to reach a maximum speed of .


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: The "Shivalik"-class frigates are equipped with a wide range of electronics and sensors. These include:


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: In addition, the ships use HUMSA-NG (hull-mounted sonar array) and the BEL Ellora Electronic Warfare suite.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: The "Shivalik"-class frigates are equipped with a mix of Russian, Indian and Israeli weapon systems. These include the 76mm Otobreda naval gun, Klub and BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missiles, Shtil-1 anti-aircraft missiles, RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers and 6–324 mm ILAS 3 (2 triple)torpedoes. A 32 cell VLS launched Barak SAM and AK-630 act as Close-in weapon systems (CIWS). The ships also carry two HAL Dhruv or Sea King Mk. 42B helicopters.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: All the three ships of the class were constructed at the Mazagon Dock Limited. The construction of the lead ship, "Shivalik", commenced in December 2000. The ship's keel was laid in July 2001 and was launched in April 2003. It underwent sea trials in February 2009 before being commissioned in April 2010. The second ship, "Satpura", was laid in October 2002. It was launched in June 2004 and commissioned in August 2011. The third and final ship, "Sahyadri", was laid in September 2003, launched in May 2005 and commissioned in July 2012. All the three ships are named after hill-ranges in India: "Shivalik" after the Sivalik Hills, "Satpura" after the Satpura range and "Sahyadri" after the Sahyadri range commonly called Western Ghats.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: The lead ship of the class, INS "Shivalik", was deployed in the North West Pacific for JIMEX 2012 (Japan-India Maritime Exercise) with four other ships which included , a "Rajput"-class guided-missile destroyer, , a "Deepak"-class fleet tanker, and , a "Kora"-class corvette, and took part in India's first bi-lateral maritime exercise with Japan. The Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) was represented by two destroyers, one maritime patrol aircraft and a helicopter. After the deployment in the north Pacific, the battle group was deployed in the South China Sea. As part of India's "Look East" policy, the ships visited the Shanghai port on 13 June 2012, for a five-day goodwill tour. INS "Shakti" served as the fuel and logistics tanker to the three destroyers. The ships left the port on 17 June 2012. Before leaving the port, the ships conducted a routine passage exercise with the People's Liberation Army Navy.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: The second ship, INS "Satpura", participated in the Malabar 2012 exercise with the United States Navy along with the Indian destroyers , , corvette and replenishment oiler INS "Shakti". The other ships which participated in the exercise included Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 of the US Navy, consisting of: , embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17, the guided-missile cruiser and the guided-missile destroyer . Military Sealift Command's fast combat support ship also provided support for the exercise.


title: Shivalik-class frigate

text: INS "Shivalik" participated in the PLAN's 65th anniversary celebrations held in Qingdao sailing 4,500 miles from Port Blair without any assistance from support ships. India, Indonesia and China conducted three high level exercises including anti-hijack exercise.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: Nova Kakhovka (, ; ) is a city in the central Kakhovka Raion region of Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: Nova Kakhovka is an important port city on the east bank of the Dnieper river where it meets the downstream end of the Kakhovka Reservoir. It forms one abutment of the Kakhovsky Bridge over the hydroelectric dam; the other is located in Beryslav. The city lies immediately downstream of the source of the North Crimean Canal that irrigates the Crimean peninsula and can be said to control the seat of the channel. The city's population is . The city was under occupation by Russian forces from February to November 2022.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: Nova Kakhovka was founded on 28 February 1952, in the place where, from 1891, the village Klyucheve had existed. It was in direct proximity of the established dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, one of the Soviet Union's so-called "Great Construction Projects of Communism", and was built to house the plant's construction workers. Since its founding, the city has been called Nova Kakhovka, or New Kakhova, to distinguish from the city of Kakhovka located away. After the construction of the power plant was finished, most of the workers stayed in Nova Kakhovka.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: On October 10, 1950, the management of the "Dniprobud" created a housing department, which was tasked with the construction of a new town of power engineers.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: On April 20, 1951, the foundation of the first residential building on the street was laid. K. Marx, 31, and already 30 May of the same year he was put into operation.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: On February 10, 1952, a train arrived from Fedorivka to Nova Kakhovka. In 9 months 154 km of railways were built. At 12 o'clock, a train with a load from Chelyabinsk, Moscow, Bryansk approached the triumphal arch, where he met thousands of builders. The railway became an important transport artery, which accelerated the construction of the hydroelectric plant, the city, suburban farms, and the entire center of the Kherson region.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: On February 28, 1952, the working village of builders of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was given the name "Nova Kakhovka" by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Initially, it was assumed that it would be small, up to 20 thousand people, a city of power engineers.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: However, due to the good geographical location in the center of the region, the availability of cheap electricity, railways, highways, and waterways, which opened the way to a large-tonnage ship from the mouth of the Dnieper to the Pripyat, as well as highly skilled, experienced personnel potential, opened the city with broad prospects for development.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: Until 18 July 2020, Nova Kakhovka was incorporated as a city of oblast significance and the center of Nova Kakhovka Municipality. The municipality as an administrative unit was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kherson Oblast to five. The area of Nova Kakhovka Municipality was merged into Kakhovka Raion.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: The city came under Russian occupation during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 11 July 2022, Ukrainian forces launched a major missile strike on Russian forces in the city. On 6 August 2022, Vitaliy Hura, the Russian-appointed mayor, "was shot dead by an unidentified assailant while leaving his home." Immediately following the liberation of Kherson, Russian officials declared they would also be retreating from Nova Kakhova and urged residents to flee 15km from the frontline.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: The city is sometimes referred to as an oasis, because it was built on an area where sand was plentiful. During the construction of the city, the parks and sod were built and lain on the sandy ground. The architectural plans were developed to build streets and squares to harmonize perfectly with the shoreline of the reservoir.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: The economic activities in Nova Kakhovka are engineering (electrotechnology) and power production. Near the city the large North Crimean Canal begins, via which the southwest of the Kherson Oblast and the entire northern part of the Crimea are supplied with water coming from the Dnieper River.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: The city is located between Kherson in the west and Melitopol in the east on the European route E58, which runs from Odessa to Rostov-on-Don near the city. The city contains a non-electrified, one lane railroad, an airport, a water route to the Black Sea, and a port which is located on the southwest part of the Khakovka Reservoir.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: The Nova Kakhovka city has a small city and an urban type village within it, as well as eight small villages in the outlying area.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: The main cultural center of the city is the Palace of Culture, where there are regular performances of creative groups and folk ensembles, both local and guests from neighboring settlements.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: Nova Kakhovka has a museum of local history with a permanent exhibition on the history of the city, a wine museum, a house-museum of Anatoly Bakhuta, an art gallery named after Albin Gavdzinsky, libraries, a summer theater, a cinema "Youth", which is part of the Cinema Palace.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: City has three parks, squares, beaches, promenade, a large number of cafes, nightclubs, amusement park and zoo.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: The city has three sports schools for children and youth, 21 gyms, 110 sports grounds, a water sports base, 13 tennis courts. Novokakhovska Tennis School is one of the best tennis schools in Ukraine. Well-known tennis players of Ukraine and the world: men – Andriy Shashkov, Maksym Dubov, Serhiy Yaroshenko, Serhiy Vergun, Oleksandr Maksymov, Dmytro Biletsky, women – Motobol Natalia Biletska, Yuliana Fedak, Halyna Furgailo. The school is also famous for its coaches – Serhiy Zhytsky (Honored Coach of Ukraine), Serhiy Korovaiko, Andriy Dubov, Tetyana Furgailo, Olga Kushnirenko, Anatoliy Biletsky.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: "Energia" City Stadium promotes development of popular sports – motoball and soccer. Motorcyclists won silver medals in the championship of Ukraine in 2001, and the football team FC Enerhiya Nova Kakhovka during its existence won the regional cup 21 times and 25 times was the champion in the regional championship.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: Thanks to the "Dynamo" archery sports complex, which allows 70 athletes to enter the shooting range at the same time, Nova Kakhovka holds the championships of Ukraine and the Cup of Ukraine. The team of archers of Nova Kakhovka took the eighth place at the championship of Ukraine in 2002. Among the famous archers raised by Nova Kakhovka – Tamara Literova, Vadim Reznikov, Lyudmila Arzhannikova, Anastasia Pavlova.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: Currently, the city has developed children's and youth basketball, thanks to the pupils of coach Dzyubenko N. Z., who worthily and systematically defends the honor of the city at regional competitions. Its graduates play in professional teams of Kyiv, Dnipro, Cherkasy, Odesa, and Poltava.


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: Нова Каховка.City – online city publication, created in October 2017 by the staff of the public organization "Center for the Development of Deaf Children" and Local Media Development Agency "Abo".


title: Nova Kakhovka

text: In Nova Kakhovka 5 weekly newspapers are published: municipal "Nova Kakhovka" (founded by the city council) and private "Novyny Dilovi", "Klyuchi", "Dniprovsikyi prospect", "Tavriiski chas".


title: Tino Anjorin

text: Faustino Adebola Rasheed Anjorin (born 23 November 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship side Huddersfield Town, on loan from Premier League club Chelsea.


title: Tino Anjorin

text: Anjorin joined Chelsea's development centre programme at under-7 level, officially signing with the club at under-9 level. On 30 April 2018, Anjorin scored in the second leg of Chelsea's 2017–18 FA Youth Cup win over Arsenal.


title: Tino Anjorin

text: On 25 September 2019, Anjorin made his debut for Chelsea in a 7–1 EFL Cup win over League Two side Grimsby Town. On 8 March 2020, he made his Premier League debut in a 4–0 home win over Everton after coming on as a 71st minute substitute for Willian. On 8 December 2020, Anjorin made his UEFA Champions League debut and was named in the starting line-up for Chelsea's final group stage match which ended in a 1–1 home draw against Krasnodar. On 10 January 2021, Anjorin made his FA Cup debut as a substitute for Callum Hudson-Odoi in the 80th minute of Chelsea's 4–0 win over League Two side Morecambe.


title: Tino Anjorin

text: On 2 September 2021, he joined Russian Premier League club Lokomotiv Moscow on a season-long loan, with an option to buy. On 16 September 2021, he scored a late equaliser in the opening game of their Europa League campaign to establish the final score of 1–1 against Marseille. On 30 January 2022, the clubs agreed to terminate the loan early due to Anjorin's injury.


title: Tino Anjorin

text: Upon returning from his loan at Lokomotiv Moscow, Anjorin joined EFL Championship side Huddersfield Town on 31 January 2022 for the remainder of the 2021–22 season. He made seven league appearances and scored one goal for the Terriers, before his loan was extended for another year on 22 July 2022.


title: Tino Anjorin

text: Anjorin is eligible to play for England through his birthplace and for Nigeria through his Nigerian father. Between 2018 and 2019, he represented England at under-17, under-18 and under-19 levels.


title: Tino Anjorin

text: On 7 October 2021, Anjorin made his England under-20 debut during a 1–1 draw with Italy at Technique Stadium in Chesterfield.


The primary election to select the Democratic and Republican candidates had been held on April 24, 2012. The 2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Pennsylvania voters chose 20 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan. Pennsylvania's electoral vote number was a reduction from the 2008 delegation, which had 21 electors. This change was due to reapportionment following the 2010 United States Census. Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes are allotted on a winner-take-all basis.


title: 2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania

text: Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama received 51.97% of the vote, beating Republican challenger Mitt Romney's 46.59%. Also on the ballot were physician Jill Stein of the Green Party and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, who received 0.37% and 0.87%, respectively. Other candidates could run as write-in candidates, which received a total 0.2% of the vote. The state had been considered likely, but not certain, to go to Obama. While the state had voted for a Democrat since 1992, it remained competitive, especially after Bush's loss of only 2.5% in 2004. Its competitiveness was attributable to the stark contrast between the state's diverse, urban voters in areas such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; and rural, blue-collar voters in the rest of the state. However, massive margins in the urban regions of the state and victories in the Philadelphia suburbs, Lehigh Valley, Scranton, and Erie delivered a considerable victory for the president. Regardless, Romney improved on John McCain's 10.32% loss in the state in 2008, and flipped five counties that voted for Obama four years prior.


text: Five counties that voted for Obama in 2008 voted for Romney in 2012. This included Cambria County, which made Obama the first Democrat to win the presidency without carrying the county since Woodrow Wilson in 1916. Chester County, a Philadelphia suburb, also voted for Romney, though it would flip back into the Democratic column in 2016 and remain there in 2020. Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Elk County since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, and the first to do so without carrying Carbon County since John F. Kennedy in 1960. As of the 2020 election, this marked the most recent time that Chester County voted for the Republican candidate, and that Luzerne County voted for the Democratic candidate.


text: This, as of 2022, is also the last time Pennsylvania voted to the right of Iowa and Wisconsin; and to the left of Virginia (very narrowly) and Colorado (by 0.02%).


text: Incumbent Barack Obama ran unopposed on the Democratic primary ballot. He received 616,102 votes. There were 19,082 write-in votes. In the floor vote taken at the Democratic National Convention, 242 Pennsylvania delegates voted for Obama, while the other 8 of the state's 250 allocated votes were not announced.


text: Four candidates were on the Republican primary ballot: Mitt Romney, former Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum, U.S. Representative from Texas Ron Paul, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. His home state was set to be the make-or-break primary for Santorum. He had just lost 3 primaries to Romney, and Romney appeared poised to become the presumptive nominee by achieving a prohibitive lead.


text: As momentum in the Republican race built for Romney, Santorum suspended his campaign for four days to meet with 'movement conservatives' to strategize. Rather than returning to campaigning the next Monday, Rick and Karen Santorum canceled campaign events scheduled right after Easter weekend to be in the hospital with their youngest daughter.


text: In deference to the sick child, Romney ceased airing attack ads, replacing them with positive introductory ones.


text: On April 10, Santorum formally suspended his campaign. On May 7, he endorsed Romney. Santorum and Gingrich both released their delegates to Romney in August, shortly before the Republican National Convention.


text: In statewide opinion polling, incumbent Barack Obama consistently led challenger Mitt Romney by a margin of between 2 and 12 percentage points. Analysts rated Pennsylvania as a "likely Democratic" or "Democratic-leaning" state in the presidential race. On the morning of the election, polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight estimated that there was a 99% likelihood that Obama would win Pennsylvania's electoral votes. At the time, Pennsylvania's electoral votes had gone to the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since Bill Clinton won it in 1992. The average of the last three polls had Obama leading Romney 51% to 46%, which was very close to the actual result.


text: During the summer, there was significant spending on political advertisements in Pennsylvania, by both the Obama campaign and pro-Romney groups such as Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity. However, because Obama maintained a consistent lead in polling, Pennsylvania came to be considered a "safe state" for Obama, and campaign advertising subsided substantially in August. This changed in October, when pro-Romney groups Restore Our Future and Americans for Job Security spent $3 million on advertising in Pennsylvania. Later that month, the Obama campaign and the Romney campaign both launched their own advertising campaigns in Pennsylvania. On November 1, the Republican National Committee announced that it would spend $3 million on television ads in Pennsylvania in the final days of the campaign. In total, pro-Romney spending in Pennsylvania was estimated to amount to as much as $12 million, much more than Obama campaign spending. The Obama campaign characterized the pro-Romney spending surge as "an act of sheer desperation", while the Romney campaign argued that they had a realistic chance of winning the state. In the end, Obama carried the state by a modest margin, albeit narrower than his 2008 landslide over Senator John McCain.


text: Despite losing the state overall, Romney won 13 of Pennsylvania's 18 congressional districts. This included the 4th and 12th districts, which at the time had Democrats representing them in Congress, though ended up electing Republicans in the House elections.


title: Lilan Bowden

text: Alice Lilan Bowden (born September 1, 1985) is an American actress, filmmaker, and comedian. She is best known for her roles as Rebecca "Bex" Mack in "Andi Mack" and Amber Kang in the Netflix series "Murderville".


title: Lilan Bowden

text: Lilan Bowden was born to a Taiwanese mother and white father. She attended Castro Valley High School where she had joined an improv club and graduated in 2002. Bowden attended University of California, Irvine where she continued to perform in comedy. After graduating, she moved to Los Angeles and joined the Upright Citizens Brigade. She also began writing videos with her writing partner Wilder Smith, featured on "Funny or Die" during this time.


title: Lilan Bowden

text: Bowden began auditioning for roles which was made difficult due to her mixed race heritage. "The roles you get as a minority usually cluster in certain category...I felt like every year I was going out and testing for at least one pilot where I was the sassy, ethnic best friend...I still think that we have a lot of work to do as far as entertaining someone who’s not white for the lead role of TV shows." She suddenly auditioned for the show "Andi Mack" and got the role of Bex, the single young mother of the title character. "I feel like I hit the jackpot!...It’s so exciting to be a part of a female dominant cast that is an Asian American family and doesn’t fit the model minority." She added that she finds the positive message of the show enticing and feels that she earned the role through perseverance.


title: Lilan Bowden

text: In 2022, Bowden joined current and past Disney employees who criticized Bob Chapek for refusing to criticize anti-LGBT legislation that was passed in Florida.


title: Lilan Bowden

text: She is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and endorsed Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez during the 2022 Los Angeles elections.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: Jean-Éric Vergne (born 25 April 1990), also known as JEV, is a French racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship with Dragon Racing. He became the 2017–18 ABB Formula E Champion, after clinching fifth in the New York ePrix in 2018, and he became the first Formula E driver to win two consecutive championships after his repeat success in the 2018–19 season. He competed in Formula One for Scuderia Toro Rosso from 2012 to 2014, and was a Ferrari test and development driver from 2015 to 2016. He won the British Formula 3 Championship in 2010 and then finished runner up to teammate Robert Wickens in the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: Born in Pontoise, France, Vergne started competing in karting at age 4 at his dad's kart circuit near Paris. He entered his first competition in 2000 and became French champion in the "kids" (""Minimes"") category in 2001. Three years later, he became runner–up in the French Rotax Max championship. In 2005, he finished as runner-up in the ICA class of the European Championship, behind James Calado, with the highlight of his karting career coming the following year when he finished seventh in the premier KF1 World Championship, held at Angerville, another track near Paris.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: In 2007, Vergne moved up to single-seater racing, joining the French Formula Renault Campus series which he won comfortably at the first attempt, taking ten podium places from thirteen races in the process. Vergne became a member of both the renowned Red Bull Junior Team and the French Automobile Sport Federation (FFSA), at the conclusion of the 2007 season.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: The following season, Vergne competed in both the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup championships for SG Formula. He finished sixth in the Eurocup standings, taking nine points scoring positions in fourteen races, including a podium in the final race of the season at Barcelona. In the West European Cup, he took fourth place in the championship, scoring three podium places.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: In both series, he finished as the highest placed rookie driver, and in addition, he also won the French Formula Renault 2.0 title, which was awarded to the best French driver in the West European Cup standings.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: For 2009, Vergne remained in both championships with SG Formula. He finished second behind Spain's Albert Costa in both the Eurocup, and the WEC.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: 2010 saw Vergne move to the British Formula 3 Championship, competing for multiple champions Carlin. He took 12 victories from the first 24 races, including a clean sweep of three victories at the Spa-Francorchamps round. This was enough to give him the title with six races remaining in the season. It was the third consecutive year that a driver from the Red Bull Junior Team had won the title with Carlin, following on from Jaime Alguersuari in 2008 and Daniel Ricciardo in 2009.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: During the season, Vergne also contested the two main non-championship Formula Three races, the Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort, where he finished just off the podium in fourth, and the Macau Grand Prix where he finished in seventh position. On both occasions he was also the highest placed finisher from the British series.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: In May 2010, Vergne was signed by Tech 1 Racing to contest the opening GP3 Series round in Barcelona. He was replaced by countryman Jim Pla for the next round in Turkey as it clashed dates with the British Formula 3 event at Hockenheim, but returned to the team for the following round in Valencia. However, in early July it was announced that Daniel Juncadella would take Vergne's seat at the team for the remainder of the season.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: Along with his Formula Three campaign, Vergne had been due to compete in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for SG Formula. However, SG Formula pulled out a week before the first race, meaning that Vergne could concentrate on his Formula Three campaign.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: In July 2010, it was announced that Vergne would replace Brendon Hartley at Tech 1 Racing for the final three events of the season after Hartley was released by the Red Bull Junior Team. Despite only taking part in those meetings, Vergne finished 8th in the championship with four podium places, including his first series win at Silverstone after original race winner Esteban Guerrieri was disqualified for a technical infringement.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: Vergne graduated to the series full-time in 2011, switching from Tech 1 Racing to Carlin. After winning the second race at the Monza round in May, Vergne was given a time penalty and demoted to third place after he was adjudged to have cut a chicane in order to maintain the lead of the race. However, after an appeal by his Carlin team, the Italian Motorsports Commission (CSAI) overturned the penalty and reinstated Vergne to the victory.


title: Jean-Éric Vergne

text: Going into the final round of the season in Barcelona, Vergne trailed series leader and teammate Robert Wickens by two points, having taken five race victories including a double win at the Hungaroring. In the final race of the season, Wickens and Vergne collided on the opening lap, sending Wickens into retirement. Although Vergne was able to continue, he was later taken out of the race by Mofaz Racing's Fairuz Fauzy, handing the title to Wickens by just nine points.