title: Collective punishment

text: In North Korea, political prisoners are sent to the kwalliso concentration camps along with their relatives without any fair trial. North Korean citizens convicted of more serious political crimes are sentenced to life imprisonment, and the summary two generations of their family (children and grandchildren) will be born in the camps as part of the "3 generations of punishment" policy instigated by state founder Kim Il-Sung in 1948. North Korea's political penal labor colonies, transliterated "kwalliso" or "kwan-li-so", constitute one of three forms of political imprisonment in the country, the other two being what Hawk (2012) translates as "short-term detention/forced-labor centers" and "long-term prison labor camps" for misdemeanor and felony offences respectively. In total, there are an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 political prisoners housed within the North Korean imprisonment system. In contrast to these other systems, the condemned are sent there without any form of judicial process as are their immediate three generations of family members as kin punishment.


title: Collective punishment

text: North Korea's "kwalliso" consist of a series of sprawling encampments measuring kilometers long and kilometers wide. The number of these encampments has varied over time. They are located mainly in the valleys between high mountains, mostly in the northern provinces of North Korea. There are between 5,000 and 50,000 prisoners per kwalliso, totaling perhaps some 150,000 to 200,000 prisoners throughout North Korea. The kwalliso are usually surrounded at their outer perimeters by barbed-wire fences punctuated with guard towers and patrolled by heavily armed guards. The encampments include self-contained closed "village" compounds for single persons, usually the alleged wrongdoers, and other closed, fenced-in "villages" for the extended families of the wrongdoers.


title: Collective punishment

text: The current blockade of Gaza has been criticized by the International Committee of the Red Cross, in a United Nations report, and by various other organisations as collective punishment aimed at the Palestinians.


title: Collective punishment

text: On May 20, 2008, the Pakistan Army conducted collective punishment against a village called Spinkai, located in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. The operation was called 'zalzala', which is Arabic for earthquake. At first, the Pakistan Army swept through with helicopter gunships, artillery and tanks. After four days of heavy fighting, 25 militants and six soldiers died. The rest of the militants retreated up the valley. After the capture of the village the army discovered bomb factories, detonation-ready suicide jackets and schools for teenage suicide bombers.


title: Collective punishment

text: The Pakistan Army immediately decided to punish the village for harboring the Taliban and allowing the militants to operate in and from the village to conduct further terror attacks in Pakistan. Bulldozers and explosives experts turned Spinkai's bazaar into a mile-long pile of rubble. Petrol stations, shops, and even parts of the hospital were leveled or blown up. The villagers were forbidden from returning to their homes.


title: Collective punishment

text: South Africa still retains the Apartheid-era law of common purpose, by which those who make up part of a group can be punished for the crimes of other group members, even if they were not themselves actively involved. In August 2012 this came to public attention when 270 miners were threatened with prosecution for participating in a demonstration. During the demonstration at the Marikana mine, 34 miners were shot by police. Many of the miners were armed. When prosecutors said they would pursue charges against other miners who were part of the protest, there was a public outcry.


title: Collective punishment

text: Throughout most of Syria's ongoing civil war, collective punishment has been a recurring method used by the Syrian government to quell opposition cities and suburbs throughout the country, whereby entire cities are besieged, shelled, and destroyed if that city is deemed as pro-opposition.


title: Collective punishment

text: Upon retaking the capital Damascus after the 2012 Battle of Damascus, the Syrian government began a campaign of collective punishment against Sunni suburbs in-and-around the capital which had supported Free Syrian Army presence in their neighborhoods.


title: Collective punishment

text: In opposition-controlled cities and districts in Aleppo Province and Aleppo city, reports indicate that the Syrian government is attacking civilians at bread bakeries with artillery rounds and rockets, with the reports indicating that the bakeries were shelled indiscriminately. Human Rights Watch said these are war crimes, as the only military targets wherever the few rebels manning the bakeries, and that dozens of civilians were killed.


title: Collective punishment

text: In Idlib province in the northwest of the country, entire cities were shelled and bombed for sheltering opposition activists and rebels, with the victims mostly civilians, along with heavy financial losses.


title: Waxing

text: Waxing is the process of hair removal from the root by using a covering of a sticky substance, such as wax, to adhere to body hair, and then removing this covering and pulling out the hair from the follicle. New hair will not grow back in the previously waxed area for four to six weeks, although some people will start to see regrowth in only a week due to some of their hair being on a different human hair growth cycle. Almost any area of the body can be waxed, including eyebrows, face, pubic hair (called bikini waxing or intimate waxing), legs, arms, back, abdomen, chest, knuckles, and feet. There are many types of waxing suitable for removing unwanted hair.


title: Waxing

text: Strip waxing (soft wax) is accomplished by spreading a wax thinly over the skin. A cloth or paper strip is applied and pressed firmly, adhering the strip to the wax and the wax to the skin. The strip is then quickly ripped against the direction of hair growth, as parallel as possible to the skin to avoid trauma to the skin. This removes the wax along with the hair. There are different forms of strip waxing or soft waxing: heated, cold or pre-made strips. Unlike cold waxing, heated wax is spread easily over the skin. Cold waxing is thicker, which makes it more difficult to spread smoothly over the skin. Pre-made strips come with the wax on them, and they come in different sizes for different area uses.


title: Waxing

text: Stripless wax (as opposed to strip wax) comprises both hard wax and film wax. Hard wax is applied somewhat thickly and with no cloth or paper strips. Film wax similarly so but is spread in a thin film. The wax then hardens when it cools, thus allowing the easy removal by a therapist without the aid of cloths or strips. This waxing method is very beneficial to people who have sensitive skin. Stripless wax does not adhere to the skin as much as strip wax does, thus making it a good option for sensitive skin as finer hairs are more easily removed because the hard wax encapsulates the hair as it hardens. The stripless waxing method can also be less painful.


title: Waxing

text: The following factors are known to make those who are waxed more prone to "skin lifting", where the top layer of skin is torn away during waxing treatment:


title: Waxing

text: There are many benefits to waxing versus other forms of hair removal. It is an effective method to remove large amounts of hair at one time. It is a long-lasting method, as hair in waxed areas will not grow back for two to eight weeks. When hair is shaved or removed by depilatory cream, the hair is removed at the surface rather than the hair root. Within a few days, the hair can reappear back at the surface. With these methods, hair tends to grow back in a rough stubble. Areas that are repeatedly waxed over long periods of time often exhibit regrowth that is softer.


title: Waxing

text: There are many drawbacks of waxing as well. Waxing can be painful when the strip is removed from the skin. Although the pain is not long-lasting, it can be intense, particularly in sensitive areas. Another drawback to waxing is the expense: waxing is usually performed by a licensed esthetician and in some cases the cost can be high, depending on the area waxed and the number of sittings required. There are do-it-yourself waxing supplies, but they may be difficult to use on oneself on some areas on the body.


title: Waxing

text: Another drawback of waxing is that some people experience ingrown hairs, red bumps, and minor bleeding. This is more likely to occur when waxing areas with thick hair, especially the first few times when follicles are strongest.


title: House of Percy

text: The House of Percy is an English noble family. They were among the most powerful noble families in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The noble family is known for its long rivalry with the House of Neville,another family powerful in northern England during the 15 century. The Percy-Neville feud provoked the War of the Roses, at the time known as the Civil Wars, in England.


title: House of Percy

text: The House of Percy descends from William de Percy (d. 1096), a Frenchman who crossed over to England after William the Conqueror in early December 1067. William was created 1st feudal baron of Topcliffe in Yorkshire. He was rebuilding York Castle in 1070.


title: House of Percy

text: The Percy surname derives from the manor of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy, the home of the Percy family at the time of the Norman Conquest. Family members have held the titles of Earl of Northumberland or Duke of Northumberland to this day, in addition to Baron Percy and others.


title: House of Percy

text: The Percy surname twice died out in the male line only to be re-adopted later by the husband or son of a Percy heiress. In the 12th century, the original Percy line was represented by Agnes de Percy, whose son by her husband Joscelin of Louvain adopted the surname. Again in the 18th century, the heiress Elizabeth Seymour married Sir Hugh Smithson, who adopted the surname Percy and was created Duke of Northumberland.


title: House of Percy

text: Paternal arms of Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy (1273–1314): "Azure, five fusils in fess or",("Percy ancient") which he abandoned in favour of right: "Or, a lion rampant azure" ("Percy modern"/Brabant) Both arms were quartered by the Percy Earls of Northumberland and remain quartered by the present Duke of Northumberland


title: House of Percy

text: Following the death of his grandson Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset in 1750, the former Percy estates were split between the Smithson ("Percy", Duke of Northumberland) and Wyndham (Earl of Egremont) families


title: Cybersquatting

text: Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting) is the practice of registering, trafficking in, or using an Internet domain name, with a bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else.


title: Cybersquatting

text: The term is derived from "squatting", which is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building that the squatter does not own, rent, or otherwise have permission to use.


title: Cybersquatting

text: In popular terms, “cybersquatting” is the term most frequently used to describe the deliberate, bad faith abusive registration of a domain name in violation of trademark rights. However, precisely because of its popular currency, the term has different meanings to different people. Some people, for example, include “warehousing,” or the practice of registering a collection of domain names corresponding to trademarks with the intention of selling the registrations to the owners of the trademarks, within the notion of cybersquatting, while others distinguish between the two terms. In the former definition, the cybersquatter may offer to sell the domain to the person or company who owns a trademark contained within the name at an inflated price.


title: Cybersquatting

text: Similarly, some consider “cyberpiracy” to be interchangeable with “cybersquatting,” whereas others consider that the former term relates to violation of copyright in the content of websites, rather than to abusive domain name registrations.


title: Cybersquatting

text: Because of the various interpretations of the term, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in a 1999 report, approved by its member states, considered it as the abusive registration of a domain name.


title: Cybersquatting

text: Since 1999, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has provided an administrative process wherein a trademark holder can attempt to claim a squatted site.


title: Cybersquatting

text: Trademark owners in 2021 filed a record 5,128 cases under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)’s Arbitration and Mediation Center, eclipsing the 2020 level by 22%. The surge pushed WIPO cybersquatting cases to almost 56,000 and the total number of domain names covered past the 100,000 mark. As a matter of comparison, in 2006, there were 1823 complaints filed with WIPO, which was a 25% increase over the 2005 rate.


title: Cybersquatting

text: The accelerating growth in cybersquatting cases filed with the WIPO Center has been largely attributed by the WIPO Center to trademark owners reinforcing their online presence to offer authentic content and trusted sales outlets, with a greater number of people spending more time online, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Representing 70% of WIPO's Generic top-level domain (gTLD) cases, .com demonstrated its continuing primacy.


title: Cybersquatting

text: WIPO UDRP cases in 2021 involved parties from 132 countries. The top three business areas were Banking and Finance (13%), Internet and IT (13%), and Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals (11%). The U.S., with 1,760 cases filed, France (938), the U.K. (450), Switzerland (326), and Germany (251) were the top five filing countries.


title: Cybersquatting

text: In 2007 it was stated that 84% of the claims made since 1999 were decided in the complaining party's favor.


title: Cybersquatting

text: Some countries have specific laws against cybersquatting beyond the normal rules of trademark law. For example, according to the United States federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), cybersquatting is registering, trafficking in, or using an Internet domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The United States adopted the U.S. Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act in 1999. This expansion of the Lanham (Trademark) Act (15 U.S.C.) is intended to provide protection against cybersquatting for individuals as well as owners of distinctive trademarked names. However, some notable personalities, including actor Kevin Spacey, failed to obtain control of their names on the internet because the US ACPA considers ownership of a website name "fair use" for which no permission is needed, unless there is an attempt to profit from the domain name by putting it up for sale.


title: Cybersquatting

text: Jurisdiction is an issue, as shown in the case involving Kevin Spacey, in which Judge Gary A. Feess, of the United States District Court of the Central District of California, ruled that the actor would have to file a complaint in a Canadian court, where the current owner of kevinspacey.com resided. Spacey later won the domain through the Forum (alternative dispute resolution), formerly known as the National Arbitration Forum.


title: Cybersquatting

text: In relation to cybersquatting, the Spanish Supreme Court issued the first sentence on this practice, relating it to the crime of misappropriation (STS 358/2022, of April 7). An unprecedented fact that established the legal fit of this computer crime in Spanish jurisprudence.


title: Cybersquatting

text: The case revolves around four members of the religious association Alpha Education for Comprehensive Health. They created a web page (the Internet domain of which was www.alfatelevision.org) and opened a bank and PayPal account for donations made to the association.


title: Cybersquatting

text: Some time later, there were some disagreements between the members of the association and the four defendants who opened a new website, changed the internet domain and changed the password of the accounts, which redirected all the donations from the followers. Later, the Board dismissed the four members.


title: Cybersquatting

text: The general secretary of the association denounced the four members for a crime of misappropriation and they were sentenced by the Provincial Court of Guadalajara, understanding that the internet domain was an asset of the association.


title: Cybersquatting

text: This resolution was appealed to the Supreme Court through an appeal, which was upheld by the Chamber. Finally, the high court acquitted the four accused, understanding that the proven facts do not fit the crime of misappropriation. In this sense, it highlights that there are elements that did not concur in this case and that the actions carried out by these individuals (creation of another domain, change of passwords...) occurred prior to their termination and that, therefore, they were in willingness to do it.


title: Cybersquatting

text: In addition, the sentence reflects cases in which cybersquatting could have criminal relevance. In the first place, if the conduct sought to harm the rights of a brand, it could constitute a crime against industrial or intellectual property. Secondly, if the intention was to use the domain name in a deceitful way to cause an error in the transfer of assets, we could be facing a crime of fraud. Finally, if cybersquatting were used to attack a domain name, we would be facing a crime of computer sabotage.


title: Cybersquatting

text: With the rise of social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter, a new form of cybersquatting involves registering trademark-protected brands or names of public figures on popular social media websites. Such cases are also being referred to as 'Username Squatting'


title: Cybersquatting

text: On June 5, 2009, Tony La Russa, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, filed a complaint against Twitter, accusing Twitter of cybersquatting. The dispute centered on a Twitter profile that used La Russa's name, had a picture of La Russa, and had a headline that said "Hey there! Tony La Russa is now using Twitter." The profile encouraged users to "join today to start receiving Tony La Russa's updates." According to La Russa, the status updates were vulgar and derogatory. La Russa argued that the author of the profile intended, in bad faith, to divert Internet traffic away from La Russa's website and make a profit from the injury to La Russa's mark. On June 26, 2009, La Russa filed a notice of voluntary dismissal after the parties settled the case.


title: Cybersquatting

text: Social networking websites have attempted to curb cybersquatting, making cybersquatting a violation of their terms of service.


title: Cybersquatting

text: Twitter's name squatting policy forbids the cybersquatting as seen in many domain name disputes, like "username for sale" accounts: "Attempts to sell or extort other forms of payment in exchange for usernames will result in account suspension." Additionally, Twitter has an "Impersonation Policy" that forbids non-parody impersonation. An account may be guilty of impersonation if it confuses or misleads others; "accounts with the clear intent to confuse or mislead may be permanently suspended." Twitter's standard for defining parody is whether a reasonable person would be aware that the fake profile is a joke. Lastly, soon after the La Russa suit was filed, Twitter took another step to prevent "identity confusion" caused by squatting by unveiling "Verified Accounts". Usernames stamped with the "verified account" insignia indicate that the accounts are real and authentic.


title: Cybersquatting

text: Facebook reserves the right to reclaim usernames on the website if they infringe on a trademark. Trademark owners are responsible for reporting any trademark infringement on a username infringement form Facebook provides. Furthermore, Facebook usernames require "mobile phone authentication". In order to obtain a username, the individual needs to verify the account by phone.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: The Sixty Years' War (1754–1815) was a military struggle for control of the North American Great Lakes region, including Lake Champlain and Lake George, encompassing a number of wars over multiple generations. The term "Sixty Years' War" is used by academic historians to provide a framework for viewing this era as a whole, rather than as isolated events.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: In 1998, more than 225 scholars from the United States, Canada, and Europe met at Bowling Green State University to examine the colonial history of the Great Lakes region, including the War of 1812. While acknowledging that these wars were fought by different peoples for different reasons, the attendees discovered aspects of a prolonged conflict that connected these wars as an interrelated history.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: Canadians view this war as the American theater of the Seven Years' War, whereas Americans view it as an isolated American conflict with no bearing on European conflicts. Some scholars interpret this war as part of a larger struggle between the Kingdoms of Great Britain and France; most historians view it as a conflict between the colonies of British America and those of New France, each supported by various Indian tribes with some assistance from the "mother country". Both sides sought control of the Ohio Country and Great Lakes region, known in New France as the "upper country" (the "pays d'en haut"). Indians of the "pays d'en haut" had longstanding trade relations with the French and generally fought alongside the French. The Iroquois Confederacy attempted to remain neutral in the conflict, except for the Mohawks who fought as British allies. British conquest of New France marked the end of French colonial power in the region and the establishment of British rule in Canada.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: American Indian allies of the defeated French launched a war against the British due to dissatisfaction with their handling of tribal diplomacy, eventually leading to a negotiated truce.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: The expansion of colonial Virginia into the Ohio Country sparked a war with Ohio Indians, primarily Shawnees and Mingos, forcing them to cede their hunting ground south of the Ohio River (Kentucky) to Virginia. This also began a period sometimes referred to as the Twenty Years War, in which the Shawnee struggled against incursions into their territory.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: The Royal Proclamation of 1763 prohibited American colonists from settling the lands acquired from France at the conclusion of the French and Indian War, but this caused resentment among the colonists and is often cited as one of the causes of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The war spilled onto the frontier, with British military commanders in Canada working with North American Indian allies to provide a strategic diversion from the primary battles in the east coastal colonies. Many conflicts in this western theater would harden the animosity between the native tribal nations and the new United States, but with their losses in the long colonial war, Great Britain ceded the Old Northwest, home of many of Britain's Indian allies, and all of the lands between the mountains south to the Gulf of Mexico, extending to a new western border at the Mississippi River in the middle of the continent to the new United States without consulting their native allies, by negotiators three thousands miles away across the ocean in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: Following the 1783 peace treaty with Great Britain, a nascent United States sought expansion into the Ohio Territory. A large confederacy of Native American nations resisted settlement and sought to establish the Ohio River as the boundary between themselves and the United States. After years of minor skirmishes between militias and Native Americans, the United States launched a series of punitive campaigns deep into the Great Lakes region. The confederacy won overwhelming victories in 1790 and 1791, and gained support from Great Britain. The United States was forced to rebuild the Army and finally defeated the confederate forces at the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers. The confederation fractured, and the war officially ended with the Treaty of Greenville, which granted to the United States control over most of the modern state of contested Ohio.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: During this time period, U.S. Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, which stated "Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress." Seeking to avoid another costly war, President Thomas Jefferson promoted a policy of assimilation and removal. This continued to foster resentment among the native nations.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: A number of North American Indians under the leadership of famous Shawnee war chief Tecumseh formed a union to resist American hegemony and expansion in the Old Northwest. While Tecumseh was away, Tecumseh's Confederacy suffered a drastic defeat in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, a year before the second British-American War. The United States declared war on Great Britain in June 1812, and the British Canadians once again turned to North American Indians on the interior to provide manpower for their frontier war effort. Native American fighters were successful in multiple battles against the United States, including the Battle of Fort Dearborn (near the site of present-day Chicago), the Siege of Detroit, and Prairie du Chien. The war between the United States and British Canada eventually ended after numerous bloody border engagements as a stalemate, after resisting a set of American invasions seeking to assimilate the northern Canadian British and French colonials into the independent American union of states, a prime goal of the original western "War Hawks" agitators, south of the border.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: After the peace treaty signed in Ghent reached North America in 1815, joint efforts began establishing the Great Lakes as a permanent boundary between the two nations. The United Kingdom returned outposts and territories captured from the United States, leaving their Native allies without the advantages they had earned.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: Following this long struggle, the increasing numbers of Canadian immigrants from Europe were, like their more independent neighbors to the south, free to gradually develop the several northern British colonies of Upper and Lower Canada into semi-independent provinces, and eventual confederation in 1867 as an autonomous Dominion under the Crown in the British Empire. American Indians in the region no longer had European allies in the struggle against American and Canadian westward expansion.


title: Sixty Years' War

text: Andrew Cayton argues that while the wars in the Great Lakes region were downplayed by colonial powers along the Atlantic coast, their influence is immense. The United States greatly expanded in size, setting their shared border with British Canadians along the Great Lakes. French communities south of the lakes were soon Americanized, and Native American nations were marginalized, removed, or destroyed. The conclusion of hostilities permitted the United States to focus resources on the Creek War and Seminole Wars in the South. The United States and the Sauk later signed a treaty in 1816, but the United States used that treaty to claim Sauk lands east of the Mississippi River, leading to the Black Hawk War in 1832. The Ohio River continued to act as a border between southern states and the Northwest Territory, where slavery had been outlawed, setting regional differences that would help shape the American Civil War.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by THQ in 2006. It is the third game under the "WWE SmackDown vs Raw" name, the eighth game overall in the video game series based on the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) professional wrestling promotion, and is the successor to 2005's "WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006". The game was first announced on 31 March 2006, and was released worldwide in November 2006 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, and a month later for PlayStation Portable. The Xbox 360 version was the first game in the series to be published on a seventh generation video game console. A PlayStation 3 version was also planned as well as a launch title for the system, but was later cancelled.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: New features introduced included an analog control system, interactive hotspots, and fighting within the arena crowd. The game also included several improvements on the previous game's existing match types and modes.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: THQ said they would bring a more realistic fighting experience with a new analog control grappling system, enabling the player to throw their opponent anywhere they want, in contrast to previous preset animations. In the new system, grappling moves are now affected by analog control, in contrast to the button-based system from preceding games. Much like the previous game, one can also move around the ring by analog control instead of using the D-pad. An option to switch to the previous control layout is also possible. The chain reversal system has also been improved and now involves grapples as well as strikes.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: The Category 1 and Category 2 movesets are determined by weight-class now, so lighter wrestlers have access to martial arts or luchador move-sets, while heavier wrestlers have access to more power moves. In addition, a wrestler can only lift up or hurt with certain strikes, wrestlers one weight class heavier than them or less.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: The game features several arenas that WWE held events at in 2005 and 2006.There are also arenas based on each WWE television show.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: A lot more interactivity in the arenas is also present such as fighting within the crowd. Signs and objects from the crowd can be used to beat down the opponent. One major feature is the inclusion of environmental "hotspots" such as the ring ropes, steel steps and scaffolding which players can interact with. The PlayStation 2 version however has a restriction on crowd fighting and interaction for specific match types.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: The graphics have also improved with each superstar consisting of 20,000 polygons for the Xbox 360 compared to the total of 5,000 from the PlayStation 2 version of the previous game. Sweat from the wrestlers has now been included in the Xbox 360 version of the game. The game's audio system has been overhauled and features new sound effects in Dolby 5.1 as well as the inclusion of new crowd chants and grunting from the wrestlers.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: Cory Ledesma, creative manager of "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007", confirmed that the game has no new match types. However, there are improvements in existing match types. The Money in the Bank variant to the ladder match is now added and all ladder matches feature more flexibility in placing the ladders. The player now has to use the analog sticks as hands and arms to retrieve the match's prize.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: The tables match has also undergone a complete overhaul, requiring players to build up momentum for a finisher and damage their opponent enough before being able to put them through a table, and making one of an opponent's limbs red.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: This also marked the first game since "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth" to not feature a diva-specific match stipulation with the Fulfill Your Fantasy match from the previous game removed.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: This is the last game in the series to feature Chris Benoit. Initially, he was supposed to be in the follow up game "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008" before the double murder and suicide in June 2007.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: The Create-An-Entrance mode has been improved with a new preview mode. As well as instantaneous previews of the entrances when the player makes a change, one can also specifically set the timing for camera angles, pyrotechnics and other effects. Despite the Xbox 360's hard drive and MP3 capability, the game is unable to recognize any music the player may have saved onto the console's hard drive, unlike previous WWE games for the original Xbox, which allowed players to set custom entrance music.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: There is also a Create-A-Stable mode, which allows the player to make a tag-team, alliance, or a stable with up to five members. This also allows the player to come out in the same entrance as their teammates, unlike many other WWE games.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: Inspired by John Cena's custom spinner championship belts, the ability to create belts with spinning centerpieces in the returning Create-A-Championship mode is now possible. The player also has the ability to manually spin these belts during an entrance. The championship belts from the previous game are included in this game in addition to created belts. These include the belts used by WWE in 2006: the WWE, World Heavyweight, Intercontinental, United States, World Tag Team, WWE Tag Team, Women's and Cruiserweight championships. Stone Cold Steve Austin's "Smoking Skull" belt and the nWo's version of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship joined Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Championship and the WWE Hardcore Championship as classic belts that can also be won and defended in the game.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: The official demo for "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007" was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace on 28 September 2006, containing a No-DQ match between Triple H and Kane.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: Like the previous game, the game was released on the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable. While the series has traditionally been exclusive to the PlayStation series of consoles, this game was released on Xbox 360 after a series of lackluster wrestling games THQ released on the original Xbox. This is the first time a game in the "SmackDown!" series is featured in two different console generations. A steelbook version of the PlayStation 2 release was available exclusively in Australia.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: A PlayStation 3 version was also planned but was eventually cancelled along with "NBA Live 07". The developers publicly announced that they would rather concentrate their efforts on other game systems. The next installment, "Smackdown vs. Raw 2008" was released for the PlayStation 3 and all future WWE games for the following 10 years have been released for the console. However, the PlayStation 2 version can be played on any PlayStation 3 models with PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility support. There was also consideration over releasing the game on the Wii as the game's developers were waiting to learn more about the system. However, during a video interview, creative manager Cory Ledesma announced there were no plans for it to be released on the Wii.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: A special edition version for the Xbox 360 was sold for a limited time at EB Games and GameStop. This version featured the game in an aluminum case along with a bonus disc from "The History of the WWE Championship" DVD boxset and a copy of "The Ultimate WWE Trivia Book".


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: "SmackDown vs. Raw 2007" received highly positive reviews upon release. According to video game review aggregator Metacritic, "SmackDown vs. Raw 2007" received favorable reviews on all platforms. In Japan, "Famitsu" gave it a score of one eight and three sevens for the Xbox 360 version, and one five, one seven and two sixes for the PSP version.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: The game received praise for presentation and the high amount of content, but was criticized for glitches, including commentary and ring announcing problems, and collision detection issues, with wrestlers being able to skip climbing an occupied ladder, making the Money in the Bank match extremely difficult. For example, if one wrestler is on top of the ladder, another wrestler may suddenly superplex him, without even climbing the ladder.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: The match commentary and ring announcing were problematic in some arenas, such as WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble. These problems included a chair shot being referred to as a Stone Cold Stunner, a sweet chin music being referred to as an RKO, or a Khali chop being referred to as a back flip uranage slam. Similarly, the commentators may talk about wrestlers not even featured in the match, such as Lilian Garcia being heard announcing someone to the ring, despite the fact that Tony Chimel is in the ring, or Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler talking over Tazz and Michael Cole and vice versa. These bugs only occurred on the PS2 version, as the PSP version did not feature commentary and the Xbox 360 version had patched the commentary bugs.


title: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007

text: The PlayStation 2 version of "SmackDown vs. Raw 2007" received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of over 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.


title: Pat Freiermuth

text: Patrick John Freiermuth (born October 25, 1998) is an American football tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State and was drafted by the Steelers in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.


title: Pat Freiermuth

text: A longtime resident of Merrimac, Massachusetts, Freiermuth attended Pentucket Regional High School in West Newbury, Massachusetts, before transferring to the Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts. At Brooks, he played tight end and outside linebacker on the football team, wearing jersey number eight. He also played basketball there as a power forward and a small forward. During his career, he had 1,531 total yards and 24 total touchdowns. He committed to Penn State University to play college football.


title: Pat Freiermuth

text: As a freshman for the Nittany Lions in 2018, Freiermuth made nine starts and recorded 26 receptions for 368 yards and eight touchdowns, breaking the record of most receiving touchdowns by a freshman tight end. He remained the starter for the next two seasons, was voted Penn State Football's Most Valuable Offensive Player in 2019, and was invited to the NFL Draft Combine a year earlier. Although rumor said he would jump at this, he declined this chance, and in a press conference with Coach James Franklin announced that he had planned to recommit to Penn State for yet another year. He played in a total of 30 games there, and started all but four of them. He scored sixteen career touchdowns, tied for eighth place overall at Penn State for career touchdowns and first place by a tight end. In the end, he had a total of 92 career receptions, 1,185 career receiving yards, and he was named the Big Ten Conference's Kwalick–Clark Tight End of the Year in 2020, making him the first ever Penn State tight end to win this award. He was also voted first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches, and finished the season leading the conference for most receiving yards by a tight end.


title: Pat Freiermuth

text: Freiermuth was drafted in the second round (55th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers to replace tight end Vance McDonald, who retired after the 2020 season. He signed a four-year rookie contract with Pittsburgh on May 25, 2021. Freiermuth started his first NFL game in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills and recorded his first career reception for 24 yards. He finished the season with a total of 60 receptions, 497 yards, and seven touchdowns. During the season, Freiermuth sustained two concussions. The first happened in Week 12 during a 41–10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The second concussion was sustained in a 19–13 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 15.


title: Pat Freiermuth

text: Pat Freiermuth is not the only one in his family involved in athletics. Freiermuth's uncle, Michael Foley, is the offensive line coach for the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Prior to this, he was head football coach at Colgate University. His father, John Freiermuth, played basketball at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire and in 1988 he was named New Hampshire's "Mr. Basketball." His mom is a history teacher and former coach (fifteen seasons) for North Andover High School field hockey. She retired from coaching in 2007 after leading her team to two North sectional titles and a 147–85–66 record. She was also president of the Penn State Parents Football Parents Association. Tim Freiermuth, Patrick's brother, was an offensive lineman for the Springfield College of Massachusetts


title: Ex situ conservation

text: "Ex situ" conservation literally means, "off-site conservation". It is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety or breed, of plant or animal outside its natural habitat; for example, by removing part of the population from a threatened habitat and placing it in a new location, an artificial environment which is similar to the natural habitat of the respective animal and within the care of humans, example are zoological parks and wildlife safaris. The degree to which humans control or modify the natural dynamics of the managed population varies widely, and this may include alteration of living environments, reproductive patterns, access to resources, and protection from predation and mortality. "Ex situ" management can occur within or outside a species' natural geographic range. Individuals maintained "ex situ" exist outside an ecological niche. This means that they are not under the same selection pressures as wild populations, and they may undergo artificial selection if maintained "ex situ" for multiple generations.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Agricultural biodiversity is also conserved in "ex situ" collections. This is primarily in the form of gene banks where samples are stored in order to conserve the genetic resources of major crop plants and their wild relatives.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Botanical gardens, zoos, and aquariums are the most conventional methods of "ex situ" conservation. Also in "ex situ" conservation, all of which house whole, protected specimens for breeding and reintroduction into the wild when necessary and possible. These facilities provide not only housing and care for specimens of endangered species, but also have an educational value. They inform the public of the threatened status of endangered species and of those factors which cause the threat, with the hope of creating public interest in stopping and reversing those factors which jeopardize a species' survival in the first place. They are the most publicly visited "ex situ" conservation sites, with the WZCS (World Zoo Conservation Strategy) estimating that the 1,100 organized zoos in the world receive more than 600 million visitors annually. Globally there is an estimated total of 2,107 aquaria and zoos in 125 countries. Additionally many private collectors or other not-for-profit groups hold animals and they engage in conservation or reintroduction efforts. Similarly there are approximately 2,000 botanical gardens in 148 counties cultivating or storing an estimated 80,000 taxa of plants.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Plant cryopreservation consist of the storage of seeds, pollen, tissue, or embryos in liquid nitrogen. This method can be used for virtually indefinite storage of material without deterioration over a much greater time-period relative to all other methods of "ex situ" conservation. Cryopreservation is also used for the conservation of livestock genetics through cryoconservation of animal genetic resources. Technical limitations prevent the cryopreservation of many species, but cryobiology is a field of active research, and many studies concerning plants are underway.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: The storage of seeds in a temperature and moisture controlled environment. This technique is used for taxa with orthodox seeds that tolerate desiccation. Seed bank facilities vary from sealed boxes to climate controlled walk-in freezers or vaults. Taxa with recalcitrant seeds that do not tolerate desiccation are typically not held in seed banks for extended periods of time.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: An extensive open-air planting used maintain genetic diversity of wild, agricultural, or forestry species. Typically species that are either difficult or impossible to conserve in seed banks are conserved in field gene banks. Field gene banks may also be used grow and select progeny of species stored by other "ex situ" techniques.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Plants under horticultural care in a constructed landscape, typically a botanic garden or arboreta. This technique is similar to a field gene bank in that plants are maintained in the ambient environment, but the collections are typically not as genetically diverse or extensive. These collections are susceptible to hybridization, artificial selection, genetic drift, and disease transmission. Species that cannot be conserved by other "ex situ" techniques are often included in cultivated collections.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Plants are under horticulture care, but the environment is managed to near natural conditions. This occurs with either restored or semi-natural environments. This technique is primarily used for taxa that are rare or in areas where habitat has been severely degraded.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Somatic tissue can be stored "in vitro" for short periods of time. This is done in a light and temperature controlled environment that regulates the growth of cells. As an "ex situ" conservation technique tissue culture is primary used for clonal propagation of vegetative tissue or immature seeds. This allows for the proliferation of clonal plants from a relatively small amount of parent tissue.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Endangered animal species and breeds are preserved using similar techniques. Animal species can be preserved in genebanks, which consist of cryogenic facilities used to store living sperm, eggs, or embryos. For example, the Zoological Society of San Diego has established a "frozen zoo" to store such samples using cryopreservation techniques from more than 355 species, including mammals, reptiles, and birds.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: A potential technique for aiding in reproduction of endangered species is interspecific pregnancy, implanting embryos of an endangered species into the womb of a female of a related species, carrying it to term. It has been carried out for the Spanish ibex.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Captive populations are subject to problems such as inbreeding depression, loss of genetic diversity and adaptations to captivity. It is important to manage captive populations in a way that minimizes these issues so that the individuals to be introduced will resemble the original founders as closely as possible, which will increase the chances of successful reintroductions. During the initial growth phase, the population size is rapidly expanded until a target population size is reached. The target population size is the number of individuals that are required to maintain appropriate levels of genetic diversity, which is generally considered to be 90% of the current genetic diversity after 100 years. The number of individuals required to meet this goal varies based on potential growth rate, effective size, current genetic diversity, and generation time. Once the target population size is reached, the focus shifts to maintaining the population and avoiding genetic issues within the captive population.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Managing populations based on minimizing mean kinship values is often an effective way to increase genetic diversity and to avoid inbreeding within captive populations. Kinship is the probability that two alleles will be identical by descent when one allele is taken randomly from each mating individual. The mean kinship value is the average kinship value between a given individual and every other member of the population. Mean kinship values can help determine which individuals should be mated. In choosing individuals for breeding, it is important to choose individuals with the lowest mean kinship values because these individuals are least related to the rest of the population and have the least common alleles. This ensures that rarer alleles are passed on, which helps to increase genetic diversity. It is also important to avoid mating two individuals with very different mean kinship values because such pairings propagate both the rare alleles that are present in the individual with the low mean kinship value as well as the common alleles that are present in the individual with the high mean kinship value. This genetic management technique requires that ancestry is known, so in circumstances where ancestry is unknown, it might be necessary to use molecular genetics such as microsatellite data to help resolve unknowns.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Genetic diversity is often lost within captive populations due to the founder effect and subsequent small population sizes. Minimizing the loss of genetic diversity within the captive population is an important component of "ex situ" conservation and is critical for successful reintroductions and the long term success of the species, since more diverse populations have higher adaptive potential. The loss of genetic diversity due to the founder effect can be minimized by ensuring that the founder population is large enough and genetically representative of the wild population. This is often difficult because removing large numbers of individuals from the wild populations may further reduce the genetic diversity of a species that is already of conservation concern. An alternative to this is collecting sperm from wild individuals and using this via artificial insemination to bring in fresh genetic material. Maximizing the captive population size and the effective population size can decrease the loss of genetic diversity by minimizing the random loss of alleles due to genetic drift. Minimizing the number of generations in captivity is another effective method for reducing the loss of genetic diversity in captive populations.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Selection favors different traits in captive populations than it does in wild populations, so this may result in adaptations that are beneficial in captivity but are deleterious in the wild. This reduces the success of re-introductions, so it is important to manage captive populations in order to reduce adaptations to captivity. Adaptations to captivity can be reduced by minimizing the number of generations in captivity and by maximizing the number of migrants from wild populations. Minimizing selection on captive populations by creating an environment that is similar to their natural environment is another method of reducing adaptations to captivity, but it is important to find a balance between an environment that minimizes adaptation to captivity and an environment that permits adequate reproduction. Adaptations to captivity can also be reduced by managing the captive population as a series of population fragments. In this management strategy, the captive population is split into several sub-populations or fragments which are maintained separately. Smaller populations have lower adaptive potentials, so the population fragments are less likely to accumulate adaptations associated with captivity. The fragments are maintained separately until inbreeding becomes a concern. Immigrants are then exchanged between the fragments to reduce inbreeding, and then the fragments are managed separately again.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Genetic disorders are often an issue within captive populations due to the fact that the populations are usually established from a small number of founders. In large, outbreeding populations, the frequencies of most deleterious alleles are relatively low, but when a population undergoes a bottleneck during the founding of a captive population, previously rare alleles may survive and increase in number. Further inbreeding within the captive population may also increase the likelihood that deleterious alleles will be expressed due to increasing homozygosity within the population. The high occurrence of genetic disorders within a captive population can threaten both the survival of the captive population and its eventual reintroduction back into the wild. If the genetic disorder is dominant, it may be possible to eliminate the disease completely in a single generation by avoiding breeding of the affected individuals. However, if the genetic disorder is recessive, it may not be possible to completely eliminate the allele due to its presence in unaffected heterozygotes. In this case, the best option is to attempt to minimize the frequency of the allele by selectively choosing mating pairs. In the process of eliminating genetic disorders, it is important to consider that when certain individuals are prevented from breeding, alleles and therefore genetic diversity are removed from the population; if these alleles are not present in other individuals, they may be lost completely. Preventing certain individuals from the breeding also reduces the effective population size, which is associated with problems such as the loss of genetic diversity and increased inbreeding.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Showy Indian clover, "Trifolium amoenum", is an example of a species that was thought to be extinct, but was rediscovered in 1993 in the form of a single plant at a site in western Sonoma County. Seeds were harvested and the species grown in "ex situ" facilities.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: The Wollemi pine is another example of a plant that is being preserved via "ex situ" conservation, as they are being grown in nurseries to be sold to the general public.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: The Orange-bellied parrot, with a wild population of 14 birds as of early February 2017, are being bred in a captive breeding program. The captive population consists of around 300 birds.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: "Ex situ" conservation, while helpful in humankind's efforts to sustain and protect our environment, is rarely enough to save a species from extinction. It is to be used as a last resort, or as a supplement to "in situ" conservation because it cannot recreate the habitat as a whole: the entire genetic variation of a species, its symbiotic counterparts, or those elements which, over time, might help a species adapt to its changing surroundings. Instead, "ex situ" conservation removes the species from its natural ecological contexts, preserving it under semi-isolated conditions whereby natural evolution and adaptation processes are either temporarily halted or altered by introducing the specimen to an unnatural habitat. In the case of cryogenic storage methods, the preserved specimen's adaptation processes are (quite literally) frozen altogether. The downside to this is that, when re-released, the species may lack the genetic adaptations and mutations which would allow it to thrive in its ever-changing natural habitat.


title: Ex situ conservation

text: Furthermore, "ex situ" conservation techniques are often costly, with cryogenic storage being economically infeasible in most cases since species stored in this manner cannot provide a profit but instead slowly drain the financial resources of the government or organization determined to operate them. Seedbanks are ineffective for certain plant genera with recalcitrant seeds that do not remain fertile for long periods of time. Diseases and pests foreign to the species, to which the species has no natural defense, may also cripple crops of protected plants in "ex situ" plantations and in animals living in "ex situ" breeding grounds. These factors, combined with the specific environmental needs of many species, some of which are nearly impossible to recreate by man, make "ex situ" conservation impossible for a great number of the world's endangered flora and fauna.


title: Mazda MPV

text: The Mazda MPV (Multi-Purpose Passenger Vehicle) is a minivan manufactured by Mazda. Introduced in 1988 as a rear-wheel-drive model with optional selectable four-wheel drive, this was replaced in 1999 with a front-wheel-drive version with optional all-wheel-drive in some markets. Over one million MPV models have been produced since its introduction.


title: Mazda MPV

text: The MPV was designed from the ground-up as a minivan specifically for the American market, and was introduced in 1988 for the 1989 model year. It was based on the large rear-wheel-drive Mazda Luce's platform. The platform allowed such options as a V6 engine, and optional four-wheel drive. However this large platform created some liabilities in other markets. When it was introduced in Japan in January 1990, its engine displacement and exterior dimensions exceeded Japanese government regulations for vehicles classified as "compact", and as a result, Japanese buyers were liable for additional annual taxes. It was available at Mazda's Japanese luxury dealership network Ɛ̃fini starting in 1991.


title: Mazda MPV

text: Its selectable 4WD system is not to be confused with all road conditions "all-wheel-drive" systems; the MPV can be switched into locked 4WD with a switch mounted on the column gear selector. A dash mounted switch controlled the center differential, creating a locked power distributions on the front and rear axles. The 4WD is not for use on dry roads, but can be engaged and disengaged while moving. Its efficient use of interior space while offering a relatively small exterior drew from Mazda's experience with space efficient one-box minivans, like the Mazda Bongo.


title: Mazda MPV

text: Unlike other minivans, the MPV's parking brake was directly on the floor beside the driver's seat and operated by the hand, when most other minivans had the parking brake in the driver footwell area and operated by the left foot. Like the later Honda Odyssey introduced in North America in early 1995, it featured traditional hinged doors instead of sliding rear doors, though the original MPV only had a single rear door. This was also the only Mazda MPV generation sold in North America with a manual transmission, offered in the '89 through '91 model years. The middle row was available as a 3-person bench, allowing seating for eight, when most minivans only seated seven. Because of the MPV's optional 4WD, the Mazda Navajo version of the Ford Explorer (sold from 1990 to 1994) was only offered as a two-door, so as to minimize internal competition.


title: Mazda MPV

text: The van was named to "Car and Driver" magazine's Ten Best list for 1990 and 1991 and featured as one of their "vehicles for the coming (fuel) crisis". Initial sales were strong as well, but rapidly fell off once other makers introduced all-wheel drive and V6 engines. In the years to come, Toyota's 1991 Previa, Nissan's 1993 Quest, and Honda's 1995 Odyssey had entered the market and began diluting Mazda's market share. Sales weren't helped when the MPV received one star out of four in the Australian Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) crash tests and a "Marginal" rating in the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crash tests for damage to the occupant compartment, tire intrusion into the driver footwell area, poor dummy kinematics, and possibility of injuries to both legs.


title: Mazda MPV

text: In 1992 for the 1993 model year, a new Mazda emblem and a remote keyless entry system were introduced. A standard driver's airbag was later introduced in early 1993.


title: Mazda MPV

text: The van was facelifted in 1995 for the 1996 model year, adding driver's side rear door, passenger side airbag, and extending the nose for improved crash protection. While the four-cylinder engine was retired for the American and Canadian markets, it was replaced with a similar but somewhat smaller 2.5 L unit for the rest of the world. A mild refresh was introduced in 1997 for the 1998 model year with "all-sport" body cladding and wheel arches, and polished alloy wheels. Mazda discontinued the original MPV after the 1998 model year for North America, and after the 1999 model year for the rest of the world.


title: Mazda MPV

text: The MPV was replaced in June 1999, using the short-wheelbase, front-wheel-drive platform, with the optional 4WD system discontinued in most markets, or replaced with an all-conditions all-wheel-drive system in some markets. It now featured dual sliding rear doors equipped with roll-down windows and a third row seat that could fold and tumble into a floor recess much like the Honda Odyssey. In the North American markets, the MPV was set apart from other minivans by its comparatively sporty chassis.


title: Mazda MPV

text: At introduction, the MPV used the same 170 hp DOHC 2.5 L Ford Duratec V6 unit that powered the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique and Cougar. DX models featured a two-place middle bench seat. The LX model featured two middle buckets with a feature whereby the passenger side seat could slide sideways (marketed as "side by slide"), power windows and locks, heated power mirrors, privacy glass, and antilock brakes. The ES model added leather seating surfaces, wood tone interior trim, side impact air bags on the front seats, bigger wheels, and dual zone front and rear air conditioners.


title: Mazda MPV

text: In model year 2001, all models added child-safety seat tether anchors. An optional GFX sport appearance package was made available for LX and ES models, which included fog lights and aero body add-ons. The 2001 model year ran long, extending into early 2002 in anticipation of the 2002 refresh.


title: Mazda MPV

text: In model year 2002, the MPV received Mazda's AJ 3.0 L V6 producing and of torque, a 5-speed automatic transmission, a new grille featuring a single chrome bar at the top, power sliding side doors (not available on the Australian market), revised suspension settings, and 17-inch alloy wheels. In the Japanese and other markets, the 2.0 and 2.5-liter four-cylinders were replaced by the new 2.3 L L3-VE direct injection (DISI) inline four, as first seen in the all-new Mazda6. In Europe a , 2.0-liter "MZR" common-rail turbodiesel engine was also available.


title: Mazda MPV

text: In model year 2003, power operation of the side doors was made optional on the LX and ES. A base LX-SV model was added midway into the model year.


title: Mazda MPV

text: In model year 2004, the MPV received a mild exterior and interior makeover. The exterior featured new headlights and Altezza style clear taillights. Interior changes included a new steering wheel, gauge surrounds, and a spring assist to ease folding the third row seat into the floor. The LX Sport package added a customized look with alloy wheels, body side skirts, enhanced tail lights, anti-lock brakes, an air dam under the bumper, and an optional rear-mounted spoiler. The ES model added leather seats, rear air conditioner, power sliding doors, and a choice of moonroof or roof-mounted DVD player. No LX-SV model was offered.


title: Mazda MPV

text: In model year 2005, dual zone air conditioning became an optional feature on the LX (it had been standard on the LX in 2004).


title: Mazda MPV

text: The MPV was discontinued in both Europe and North America after model year 2006. The MPV was also replaced in North America and Australia by the full-size Mazda CX-9 crossover SUV. Australian models were available with three seats in the second row, and two seats in the third row instead of a folding third row.


title: Mazda MPV

text: The Mazda MPV earned an "Acceptable" rating in the IIHS offset frontal crash test in 2000 for fair structural performance and very high forces on the dummy's right foot. In 2005, it earned a "Poor" rating in the side-impact crash test without the optional side airbags, indicating that high injuries to the driver and rear occupant are possible.


title: Mazda MPV

text: In February 2006, the third generation Mazda MPV went on sale in Japan, having debuted earlier in October 2005 at the Tokyo Motor Show. It was powered by either a four-cylinder MZR Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) 2.3-litre naturally aspirated engine or the turbo version of the same. The second row reclining seats featured an unusual retracting footrest feature. The gear shift was moved from the steering column to the center console, much like most other minivans by Japanese automakers today. The launch of the third generation MPV was famously known for its television commercials narrated by a middle-aged woman saying the tagline, "Supōtsukā no hassō de, miniban wo kaeru." (スポーツカーの発想で、ミニバンを変える。"The idea of a sports car - inherited by a minivan.")


title: Mazda MPV

text: The third generation MPV was available only in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand. It was known as the Mazda8 in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. The 4WD and Turbo models are available only in the domestic (Japanese) market, while all export models (usually known as Mazda8) are naturally aspirated FWD models only. In New Zealand, it was known as the MPV and is available in four-cylinder only.


title: Mazda MPV

text: It was not sold to North America, Europe and other LHD markets besides China. The Mazda CX-9 (North America and Australasia only) and Mazda5 filled the segment gap in these markets.


title: Mazda MPV

text: In 2008, a facelifted version was introduced. External modifications include a new front bumper with new fog lights. A five-speed automatic transaxle replaced the four-speed unit used in NA FWD models. Six-speed Automatics remained in the turbo and 4WD models.


title: Mazda MPV

text: Turbo models were discontinued in 2010. A Malaysian version was introduced that year, making this the fourth market in which the third generation Mazda MPV was to be sold.


title: Mazda MPV

text: In 2012, a 2.5L engine version mated with five-speed automatic replaced the 2.3L with four-speed in China.


title: Sermon

text: A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. Elements of the sermon often include exposition, exhortation, and practical application. The act of delivering a sermon is called preaching. In secular usage, the word "sermon" may refer, often disparagingly, to a lecture on morals.


title: Sermon

text: In Christian practice, a sermon is usually preached to a congregation in a place of worship, either from an elevated architectural feature, known as a pulpit or an ambo, or from behind a lectern. The word "sermon" comes from a Middle English word which was derived from Old French, which in turn originates from the Latin word meaning 'discourse.' A "sermonette" is a short sermon (usually associated with television broadcasting, as stations would present a sermonette before signing off for the night). The Christian Bible contains many speeches without interlocution, which some take to be sermons: Jesus' sermon on the mount in Matthew 5–7 (though the gospel writers do not specifically call it a sermon; the popular descriptor for Jesus' speech there came much later); and Peter after Pentecost in Acts 2:14–40 (though this speech was delivered to non-Christians and as such is not quite parallel to the popular definition of a sermon).


title: Sermon

text: In Christianity, a sermon is typically identified as an address or discourse delivered to a congregation of Christians, typically containing theological or moral instruction. The sermon by Christian orators was partly based on the tradition of public lectures by classical orators. Although it is often called a homily, the original distinction between a sermon and a homily was that a sermon was delivered by a clergyman (licensed preacher) while a homily was read from a printed copy by a layman. In the 20th century the distinction has become one of the sermon being likely to be longer, have more structure, and contain more theological content. Homilies are usually considered to be a type of sermon, usually narrative or biographical .


title: Sermon

text: The word "sermon" is used contemporarily to describe many famous moments in Christian (and Jewish) history. The most famous example is the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus of Nazareth. This address was given around 30 AD, and is recounted in the Gospel of Matthew (, including introductory and concluding material) as being delivered on a mount on the north end of the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum. It is also contained in some of the other gospel narratives.


title: Sermon

text: During the later history of Christianity, several figures became known for their addresses that later became regarded as sermons. Examples in the early church include Peter (see especially Acts ), Stephen (see ), Tertullian and John Chrysostom. These addresses were used to spread Christianity across Europe and Asia Minor, and as such are not sermons in the modern sense, but evangelistic messages.


title: Sermon

text: The sermon has been an important part of Christian services since early Christianity, and remains prominent in both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Lay preachers sometimes figure in these traditions of worship, for example the Methodist local preachers, but in general preaching has usually been a function of the clergy. The Dominican Order is officially known as the "Order of Preachers" ( in Latin); friars of this order were trained to publicly preach in vernacular languages, and the order was created by Saint Dominic to preach to the Cathars of southern France in the early 13th century. The Franciscans are another important preaching order; Travelling preachers, usually friars, were an important feature of late medieval Catholicism. In 1448 the church authorities seated at Angers prohibited open-air preaching in France. If a sermon is delivered during the Mass it comes after the Gospel is sung or read. If it is delivered by the priest or bishop that offers the Mass then he removes his maniple, and in some cases his chasuble, because the sermon is not part of the Mass. A bishop preaches his sermon wearing his mitre while seated whereas a priest, or on rare occasions a deacon, preaches standing and wearing his biretta.


title: Sermon

text: In most denominations, modern preaching is kept below forty minutes, but historic preachers of all denominations could at times speak for several hours, and use techniques of rhetoric and theatre that are today somewhat out of fashion in mainline churches.


title: Sermon

text: During the Middle Ages, sermons inspired the beginnings of new religious institutes (e.g., Saint Dominic and Francis of Assisi). Pope Urban II began the First Crusade in November 1095 at the Council of Clermont, France, when he exhorted French knights to retake the Holy Land.


title: Sermon

text: The academic study of sermons, the analysis and classification of their preparation, composition and delivery, is called homiletics.


title: Sermon

text: A controversial issue that aroused strong feelings in early modern Britain was whether sermons should be read from a fully prepared text, or extemporized, perhaps from some notes. Many sermons have been written down, collected and published; published sermons were a major and profitable literary form, and category of books in the book trade, from at least the Late Antique Church to about the late 19th century. Many clergymen openly recycled large chunks of published sermons in their own preaching. Such sermons include John Wesley's "Forty-four Sermons", John Chrysostom's "Homily on the Resurrection" (preached every Easter in Orthodox churches) and Gregory Nazianzus' homily "On the Theophany, or Birthday of Christ" (preached every Christmas in Orthodox churches). The 80 sermons in German of the Dominican Johannes Tauler (1300–1361) were read for centuries after his death. Martin Luther published his sermons ("Hauspostille") on the Sunday lessons for the edification of readers. This tradition was continued by Chemnitz and Arndt and others into the following centuries—for example CH Spurgeon's stenographed sermons, "The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit". The widow of John Tillotson (1630–1694), Archbishop of Canterbury received £2,500 for the manuscripts of his sermons, a very large sum.


title: Sermon

text: The Reformation led to Protestant sermons, many of which defended the schism with the Roman Catholic Church and explained beliefs about the Bible, theology, and devotion. The distinctive doctrines of Protestantism held that salvation was by faith alone, and convincing people to believe the Gospel and place trust in God for their salvation through Jesus Christ was the decisive step in salvation.


title: Sermon

text: In many Protestant churches, the sermon came to replace the Eucharist as the central act of Christian worship (although some Protestants such as Lutherans give equal time to a sermon and the Eucharist in their Divine Service). While Luther retained the use of the lectionary for selecting texts for preaching, the Swiss Reformers, such as Ulrich Zwingli, Johannes Oecolampadius, and John Calvin, notably returned to the patristic model of preaching through books of the Bible. The goal of Protestant worship, as conditioned by these reforms, was above all to offer glory to God for the gift of grace in Jesus Christ, to rouse the congregation to a deeper faith, and to inspire them to practice works of love for the benefit of the neighbor, rather than carry on with potentially empty rituals.


title: Sermon

text: In the 18th and 19th centuries during the Great Awakening, major (evangelistic) sermons were made at revivals, which were especially popular in the United States. These sermons were noted for their "fire-and-brimstone" message, typified by Jonathan Edwards' famous "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" speech. In these sermons the wrath of God was intended to be made evident. Edwards also preached on "Religious Affections", which discussed the divided Christian world.


title: Sermon

text: In Evangelical Christianity, the sermon is often called the "message". It occupies an important place in worship service, half the time, about 45 to 60 minutes. This message can be supported by a powerpoint, images and videos. In some churches, messages are grouped into thematic series. The one who brings the message is usually a pastor trained either in a bible college or independently. Evangelical sermons are broadcast on the radio, on television channels (televangelism), on the Internet, on web portals, on the website of the churches and through social media like YouTube and Facebook.


title: Sermon

text: Roman Catholic preaching has evolved over time but generally the subject matter is similar. As the famous St. Alphonsus Ligouri states, "With regard to the subject matter of sermons. Those subjects should be selected which move most powerfully to detest sin and to love God; whence the preacher should often speak of the last things of death, of judgment, of Hell, of Heaven, and of eternity. According to the advice of the Holy Spirit, 'Remember your last end, and you shall never sin.' (Eccl. vii. 40)."


title: Sermon

text: Among the most famous Catholic sermons are St. Francis of Assisi's , St. Alphonsus Liguori's Italian , St. Robert Bellarmine's sermons during the counter-reformation period in , the French by St. John Vianney and the of Ælfric of Eynsham.


title: Sermon

text: "Khutbah" () serves as the primary formal occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition. In societies or communities with (for example) low literacy rates, strong habits of communal worship, and/or limited mass-media, the preaching of sermons throughout networks of congregations can have important informative and prescriptive propaganda functions


title: Sermon

text: and religious authorities—which may regulate the manner, frequency, licensing, personnel and content of preaching accordingly.


title: Sermon

text: There are a number of different types of sermons, that differ both in their subject matter and by their intended audience, and accordingly not every preacher is equally well-versed in every type. The types of sermons are:


title: Sermon

text: Sermons also differ in the amount of time and effort used to prepare them. Some are scripted while others are not.


title: Sermon

text: With the advent of reception theory, researchers also became aware that how sermons are listened to affects their meaning as much as how they are delivered. The expectations of the congregation, their prior experience of listening to oral texts, their level of scriptural education, and the relative social positions—often reflected in the physical arrangement—of sermon-goers vis-a-vis the preacher are part of the meaning of the sermon.


title: Sermon

text: Albert Raboteau describes a common style of Black preaching first developed in America in the early 19th century, and common throughout the 20th and into the 21st centuries:


title: Sermon

text: "Impromptu preaching" is a sermon technique where the preacher exhorts the congregation without any previous preparation. It can be aided with a reading of a Bible passage, aleatory opened or not, or even without any scriptural reference.


title: Sermon

text: According to some people, when Jesus says "take no thought how or what ye shall speak" he is saying that it is better not to script your speeches or sermons, but to let the Holy Spirit of your Father speak through you. Others see the expression as simply a comforting exhortation not to worry or be anxious, but to rest confident that God is in control (cf. Phil. 2:12-13). In other places the apostle Paul emphatically underscored the importance of diligent work in study and preparation (I Tim. 4:13-16; II Tim. 2:15).


title: Sermon

text: "Extemporaneous preaching" is a style of preaching involving extensive preparation of all the sermon except for the precise wording. The topic, basic structure and scripture to be used are all determined in advance, and the preachers saturate themselves in the details necessary to present their message so thoroughly that they are able to present the message with neither detailed notes nor perhaps even an outline. Consequently, unprepared preachers may find themselves unable to deliver a message with the same precision as people using detailed notes or memorizing detailed aspects of their speech.


title: Sermon

text: While some might say this style is distinct from impromptu preaching, and that the preacher gives no specific preparation to their message, what Charles Spurgeon referred to as "impromptu preaching" he considered to be the same as extemporaneous preaching. He, in his sermon "The Faculty of Impromptu Speech", describes extemporaneous preaching as a process of the preacher immersing himself in the Scriptures and prayer, knowing it so well that he only needs to find the appropriate words in the moment that the sermon is given. He states,


title: Sermon

text: On the other hand, it is distinct from many other forms of memorized preaching. Proponents claim that the importance of preaching demands it be extemporaneous.


title: Sermon

text: The style was popular in the late 19th century among Baptist (Primitive Baptist especially), Methodist, Unitarian, and some Presbyterians preachers, such as Blackleach Burritt. Some of the more famous preachers who employed it were Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Charles Grandison Finney and Peter Cartwright.


title: Sermon

text: In informal usage, the word "sermon" is used in secular terms, usually disapprovingly, to refer to "a long talk in which someone advises other people how they should behave in order to be better people".


title: USS Ohio (SSGN-726)

text: USS "Ohio" (SSBN-726/SSGN-726), the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered fleet ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), is the fourth vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the U.S. state of Ohio. She was commissioned with the hull designation of SSBN-726, and with her conversion to a guided missile submarine she was re-designated SSGN-726.


title: USS Ohio (SSGN-726)

text: Original plans called for "Ohio" to be retired in 2002. Instead, "Ohio" and three sister boats were modified and remain in service as cruise missile submarines (SSGNs). In November 2003 "Ohio" entered drydock, beginning a 36-month refueling and conversion overhaul. Electric Boat announced on 9 January 2006 that the conversion had been completed.


title: USS Ohio (SSGN-726)

text: The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 1 July 1974 and her keel was laid down on 10 April 1976 by Mrs. Robert A. Taft, JR., wife of Senator Robert Taft Jr. On 2 February 1978, the Precommissioning Unit was formed with Commander A. K. Thompson as its commanding officer. "Ohio" was launched on 7 April 1979 sponsored by Mrs. Annie Glenn, wife of Senator John H. Glenn.


title: USS Ohio (SSGN-726)

text: In the summer of 1981, sea trials were held to test the equipment and systems, and the submarine was delivered to the U.S. Navy on 28 October 1981. On 11 November 1981, "Ohio" was commissioned. The principal speaker, Vice President George H. W. Bush, remarked to the 8000 assembled guests that the boat introduced a "new dimension in our nation's strategic deterrence," and Admiral Hyman G. Rickover noted that "Ohio" should "strike fear in the hearts of our enemies." On that day, command of the two crews (designated Blue and Gold) of "Ohio" was assumed by Captain A. K. Thompson (Blue) and Captain A. F. Campbell (Gold).


title: USS Ohio (SSGN-726)

text: Following Post Shakedown Availability at Electric Boat Division, "Ohio" left the Atlantic and transited to her new home port, Bangor, Washington, by way of Cape Canaveral – where she tested her missile launch systems – and the Panama Canal, arriving on 12 August 1982. During August and September 1982, the first loadout of Trident C-4 missiles and a predeployment refit were conducted. "Ohio" and her Blue Crew departed on the first Trident Submarine Strategic Deterrent Patrol in October 1982.


title: USS Ohio (SSGN-726)

text: From June 1993 to June 1994 "Ohio" underwent overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, receiving extensive upgrades to sonar, fire control, and navigation systems. "Ohio" resumed strategic deterrent patrols in January 1995 as part of Submarine Squadron Seventeen, Submarine Group Nine, Pacific Submarine Force.


title: USS Ohio (SSGN-726)

text: Following her conversion to a SSGN, "Ohio" rejoined the fleet on 7 February 2006. On 21 January 2007, the Blue Crew departed Naval Base Kitsap for Hawaii to conduct a forward-deployed crew exchange, the first such forward-deployed swap in approximately 20 years. Ballistic submarines of "Ohio"s class employ two crews, "Blue" and "Gold", in order to facilitate continuous operation at sea, called "forward-presence" in USN parlance. "Ohio" left for her first mission as an SSGN on 15 October 2007. The Blue crew underwent several tests and inspections before completing a mission some time in December. "Ohio" was also the first one of the class to complete a mission.


title: USS Ohio (SSGN-726)

text: On 28 June 2010, "Ohio" was one of three "Ohio"-class submarines involved in a US response to Chinese missile testing in the contested East China Sea. "Ohio", , and all surfaced simultaneously in the waters of the Philippines, South Korea, and the British Indian Ocean Territory respectively. In November 2011, Lt. Britta Christianson became the first female officer, and first female overall, to qualify for service on a US Navy submarine, being assigned to "Ohio"s Gold Crew. The first female enlisted sailor qualified in August 2016, assigned to sister boat, "Michigan".


title: USS Ohio (SSGN-726)

text: In December 2020, it was announced that "Ohio" would be decommissioned and enter the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program by 2026.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: Natasha Khan (born 25 October 1979), known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released five studio albums: "Fur and Gold" (2006), "Two Suns" (2009), "The Haunted Man" (2012), "The Bride" (2016), and "Lost Girls" (2019). She has received three Mercury Prize nominations. Khan is also the vocalist for Sexwitch, a collaboration with the rock band Toy and producer Dan Carey.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: Khan was born to an English mother and an immigrant Pakistani father, professional squash player Rehmat Khan. A member of the Khan family, she is the granddaughter of squash player Nasrullah Khan, the niece of squash players Jahangir Khan and Torsam Khan, the stepdaughter of singer and actress Salma Agha, and half-sister of actress Sasha Agha. The family moved to Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, when she was five years old. She attended many of her father's and her uncle Jahangir's squash matches, which she felt inspired her creativity: "The roar of the crowd is intense; it is ceremonial, ritualistic, I feel like the banner got passed to me but I carried it on in a creative way. It is a similar thing, the need to thrive on heightened communal experience." After her father left the family when Khan was 11, she taught herself to play the piano, which became "a channel to express things, to get them out".


title: Bat for Lashes

text: Khan was subject to racial abuse during secondary school due to her Pakistani heritage. She played truant and was suspended after swearing and throwing a chair at a teacher. She told "The Daily Telegraph": "I was an outsider at school. When I came back from being suspended they had told the small group of friends that I did have there that they weren't allowed to talk to me because I was a really bad influence. Then it got quite lonely." After completing her GCSEs and A-Levels, Khan took a job in a card-packing factory where she would work while listening to songs she had made. She said: "My internal imaginary life was really fruitful at that time...All day long just listening and dreaming, while counting the cards to be packed." With money saved from the job, she embarked on a three-month road trip through the United States and Mexico.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: After returning to the UK, Khan settled in Brighton in 2000 to study music and visual arts at the University of Brighton, where she produced sound installations, animations, and performances influenced by artists including Steve Reich and Susan Hiller. After finishing her degree, Khan completed an NVQ in play work and childcare, and worked as a nursery school teacher, dedicating her spare time to developing songs, recording demos, and gigging in Brighton. She has said the name Bat for Lashes "doesn't really mean anything [...] It conjured up Halloween-y images, and it sounded metal and feminine.”


title: Bat for Lashes

text: Khan's debut single, "The Wizard", was released digitally through Drowned in Sound records and on 7" vinyl through Khan's own imprint, She Bear Records. In 2006, she signed to Echo, a record label owned by independent publisher Chrysalis Music that acted as an incubator for artists before "upstreaming" them to major labels. Echo released her debut album, "Fur and Gold", in September 2006. In 2007, Bat for Lashes and Echo signed an international licensing deal with Parlophone Records, which re-released "Fur and Gold" the same year. A limited vinyl version was released by Los Angeles indie label Manimal Vinyl in May 2007. "Fur and Gold" reached number forty-eight on the UK Albums Chart and has since been certified gold by the BPI for sales exceeding 100,000 copies. In 2007, Khan appeared at the Glastonbury Festival and toured the United States.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: "Fur and Gold" received critical acclaim, including a five-star review from "The Guardian". It was shortlisted for the 2007 Mercury Prize, losing out to Klaxons' "Myths of the Near Future", despite being a favourite of British media to win the award. Also in 2007, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) bestowed their Vanguard Award on her and chose her to perform at their "ASCAP Presents..." showcase at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. In 2008, Khan was nominated for British Breakthrough Act and British Female Solo Artist at the Brit Awards.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: Radiohead's 2008 tour featured several shows with Bat for Lashes as their opening act. Her version of The Cure's "A Forest" appeared on a charity album called "Perfect as Cats" on Manimal Vinyl in late 2008.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: Khan's second album, "Two Suns", was released in April 2009 and produced by Khan and David Kosten. In preparation for the album, Khan journeyed to Joshua Tree Desert in California to gain inspiration, before returning to New York and London to write and record the finished material for release.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: A concept album, "Two Suns" focuses on Khan's desert-born alter ego Pearl, whose personality she adopted while staying in New York to gain a better understanding of the character. She revealed to the BBC's "Newsbeat", "I really just did it as an experiment of dressing up myself with quite garish extreme feminine make-up. I wanted to photograph myself in that situation and just see what it made me feel." Khan believed that living in Brooklyn when bands such as TV on the Radio, MGMT, and Gang Gang Dance were emerging on the music scene had an influence on the album's musical style. In an interview with MTV, she said, "I experienced that whole thing coming out, in terms of beats and like going out dancing and checking out all this new music, it was really inspiring." During the album's production, she also collaborated with Brooklyn band Yeasayer for the bass and beat programming. In June 2009, Bat for Lashes first appeared on the cover of "The Fader", in its 60th issue.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: "Two Suns" debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart, and has been certified gold by the BPI for sales of 100,000 copies. The first single from the album, "Daniel", became Khan's first hit, peaking at number thirty-six on the UK Singles Chart; it later won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song and was nominated for the MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Video of the Year. The following singles were "Pearl's Dream" and a double A-side of "Sleep Alone" and "Moon and Moon", the latter of which was featured in a high-profile advertising campaign for children's charity Barnardo's in late 2009.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: Critical response to the album was mostly favourable, generating a score of 77 on the review aggregator Metacritic. In their review for "Two Suns", "NME" awarded it 8 out of 10, describing the album as "epic in scope and ambition and requires a similarly epic patience to unravel its charms." "Rolling Stone" also rated it favourably, stating "Khan proves she's a powerhouse under her billowy sleeves. She could be the next Kate Bush." However, some critics such as "PopMatters" found problems: reviewing the album, they wrote, "While the weaker songs are definitely not throwaways, they miss the mark in more than one way." "Blender" magazine also felt the album was average, awarding it 3 out 5 stars, saying, "The contrast between Pearl and Natasha isn't always crisply drawn". As with "Fur and Gold", Khan was nominated for the Mercury Prize for "Two Suns". In 2010, she won Best Alternative Act at the UK Asian Music Awards and received a second BRIT Award nomination for British Female Solo Artist.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: As part of the 2009 summer festival season, Khan played at Glastonbury, Somerset House, and the iTunes Festival. In September 2009, a special edition of "Two Suns" was released in the United Kingdom ahead of Khan's October tour. The special edition, which included a cover version of the Kings of Leon single "Use Somebody", was released simultaneously in the United States. Later in 2009, the cover artwork for "Two Suns" was nominated for Best Art Vinyl.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: In early 2010, Khan toured South America supporting Coldplay after a gig at The De La Warr Pavilion, including playing covers of Radiohead's "All I Need" and The Cure's "Lullaby". In 2010, she collaborated with Beck on the track "Let's Get Lost" for the , and contributed the song "Sleep Alone" from "Two Suns" to the Enough Project and Downtown Records' "Raise Hope for Congo" compilation. Proceeds from the compilation funded efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo's women a priority, as well as to inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in Congo.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: For Record Store Day 2010, Bat for Lashes released an exclusive double A-side 7" single comprising a live performance of the "Trophy" single B-side "Howl", recorded at De La Warr Pavilion, and a cover of "Wild Is the Wind", originally written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington. In 2011, Khan recorded a cover version of Depeche Mode's "Strangelove" for a Gucci advertising campaign. The song was released as a free download from Gucci's YouTube channel and various blogs. In June 2011, Khan performed two shows at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Vivid LIVE Arts Festival, her only performances of the year.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: The third Bat for Lashes album, "The Haunted Man", was released in October 2012 in the UK. The lead single, "Laura", was released in July; the second single, "All Your Gold", came out in September. "The Haunted Man" debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart, Khan's second consecutive top-ten album, and has since been certified Silver by the BPI for selling 60,000 copies. Subsequent singles were "A Wall" and "Lilies". Khan attended the 2013 Brit Awards, having been nominated in the Best British Female category, and was also nominated at the Ivor Novello Awards in the category of Best Song Musically and Lyrically (for "Laura").


title: Bat for Lashes

text: In 2013, Khan performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, supported Blur at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Ireland, and opened for Depeche Mode on the first half of their North American tour. In June, she released a cover of "The Bride", a pre-revolution Iranian song, with the rock band Toy. On 2 September 2013, Khan premiered the track "Garden's Heart", a collaboration with Jon Hopkins for the soundtrack to the film "How I Live Now".


title: Bat for Lashes

text: In 2014, Khan collaborated with Damon Albarn on a track for his 2014 solo album "Everyday Robots," premiered "Skin Song" from "Body of Songs"—a compilation album featuring songs inspired by anatomy and medical science—and contributed a cover of "Plan the Escape" by Son Lux to of the film "".


title: Bat for Lashes

text: On 15 August 2015, Khan began previewing new music on her Twitter and Instagram pages via a game of Hangman. During a surprise Green Man Festival set in Wales on 22 August, she debuted a music project with producer Dan Carey and the band Toy, called Sexwitch. Two days later, it was announced that Sexwitch's eponymous debut album would be released on 25 September 2015 by Echo and BMG, consisting of six covers of 1970s psychedelic and folk songs from different parts of the world.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: On 19 February 2016, a new song, "I Do", was released on YouTube with a picture of a wedding invitation reading "Save The Date 1st July 2016". The track was made available for purchase the same day. On 11 March, Khan released "In God's House", the lead single from her fourth studio album, "The Bride", which was released on 1 July and later nominated for the 2016 Mercury Music Prize.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: On 10 June 2019, the album "Lost Girls" was announced and the song "Kids in the Dark" was released on YouTube. "Lost Girls" was released on 6 September 2019.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: Khan is a contralto with an expansive range. Critics have likened her music to the work of Joni Mitchell, Nico, Siouxsie Sioux, Björk, Kate Bush, Cat Power, PJ Harvey, Annie Lennox, Tori Amos, and Fiona Apple. Her music has been described by MTV Iggy as "at once haunting and way danceable".


title: Bat for Lashes

text: Khan and fashion house YMC designed a limited edition capsule collection of sportswear and accessories for the spring/summer 2014 season. The release of the collection was accompanied by a fashion film, "Under the Indigo Moon", directed by and starring Khan, with a soundtrack she composed with Beck.


title: Bat for Lashes

text: In 2014, Film4 commissioned Cowboy Films to produce the short film "Gotcha", with Khan as writer and director. She said she intended to develop the project into a feature-length film. In 2016, she wrote and directed the short film "Madly".


title: Bat for Lashes

text: Khan moved from London to Los Angeles in 2017. She and her partner, Australian actor and model Samuel Watkins, live in Highland Park. Khan gave birth to their first child, a daughter, in July 2020.


title: Gorky Park (Moscow)

text: Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure () is a central park in Moscow, named after Maxim Gorky. In August 2018, the Park's 90th anniversary was celebrated.